Car nation
The Car-Nation - often called Carnation - was an American automobile brand that was built from 1912 to 1915 in Detroit (Michigan) by the American Voiturette Company .
description
The Car-Nation Roadster was a small car with a curb weight of 500 kg, which was offered for 495 US dollars . It had a four-cylinder engine , type Herreshoff 25 , and a three-speed gearbox.
Car-Nation also built a larger , four-seat touring car model at a base price of $ 520. A tandem seat was also advertised, although it is not clear whether more than a few prototypes of this vehicle were made. Two roadsters and five touring cars have survived to this day.
In 1912, the former manager of Pope-Toledo , Forest Keeton , relocated his Keeton Towncar Works to a factory in Wyandotte, Michigan on the shores of Lake Superior and renamed it Keeton Motor Company . He began building the first air-cooled Keeton from France, influenced by the great Renault . This sold well enough to enable Keeton to build another, cheaper, European-influenced model range under a new name in 1913: Car-Nation. These activities did not go unnoticed by the oil magnate Charles Schaeffer and shortly after the introduction of the new car, the short-lived Car-Nation Motorette Company and the previous Keeton Motor Company were combined under his leadership to form the American Voiturette Company , based in Detroit.
The hesitant market acceptance of the unusual track of the Car-Nation with 1219 mm and problems with the Herreshoff engines meant that the company had to file for bankruptcy in 1914. At a public auction of the company's assets in February 1915, Forest Keeton appears to have bought all of the company's remains, including 60 Keeton vehicles and 350 Car-Nation vehicles, as well as tools and thousands of parts. However, he then switched to car repairs and never made an automobile again.
Data of the Car-Nation Roadster (1913)
Engine:
Herreshoff
type
cast iron inline four-cylinder with side-mounted valves
Displacement:
2196 cm³
Bore × stroke:
85.7 mm × 95.3 mm
Power:
18 bhp (13.2 kW.)
Main bearings:
2 nickel-white metal
Fuel system:
gravity, Zenith rising flow carburetor, aluminum fresh gas distributor
Ignition:
6 volts, Splitdorf magnet
Lubrication:
spray oil, submersible pump (Note: Car-Nation advertised pressure circulation lubrication, but obviously none of the well-known automobiles had this system)
Exhaust system:
single exhaust , steel
Transmission:
Type
three-speed spur gear from Detroit Gear & Machine , cone clutch (Note: Early cars had a clutch pressure plate made of aluminum. As this broke easily, later models had a clutch pressure plate made of steel)
Differential:
Type
Weston-Mott , semi-rigid
Steering:
worm
steering
type
Brakes:
type
with hand lever
in front
none
rear
1¼ "× 10" (254 mm) drum brakes; Outer band brake on the cardan shaft
Chassis and body:
Construction
Separate frame made of 1/8 ”U-iron, mixed construction
Shape:
2-seater roadster , one door
Layout:
front engine, rear wheel drive
Chassis:
front
quarter elliptical leaf springs
rear
quarter elliptical leaf springs
Wheels and Tires:
Wheels
Detroit Stanweld demountable wire-spoke wheels
front / rear
30 "× 3"
Weights:
wheelbase
2667 mm
Length:
3581 mm
Width:
1448 mm
Height:
1626 mm (1854 mm with roof)
Front track:
1219 mm
Rear track:
1219 mm
Empty weight:
534 kg
Filling quantities:
Crankcase:
3.4 ltr.
Cooling system:
9.1 ltr.
Petrol tank:
38 ltr.
Gearbox:
3.8 ltr.
Rear axle:
1.9 ltr.
Reference
output : liter output
8,196 bhp / ltr.
Power-to-weight ratio:
29.67 kg / bhp
DRIVING PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed
80 km / h
Gasoline consumption:
9.4 ltr. / 100 km
Production:
Car-Nation,
2000 copies in
total
literature
- George Nick Georgano : The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to present. 1968.