Chalmers Motor Car Company

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emblem
Chalmers (1913)
Chalmers 6-30 (1917)
Chalmers Six (1922)
Chalmers Six Touring (1922)

The Chalmers Motor Car Company , previously the Chalmers-Detroit Motor Car Company , was an American automobile manufacturer that was based in Detroit from 1908 to 1924 .

history

Chalmers emerged from the ER Thomas-Detroit Company . In 1908, Hugh Chalmers , then Vice President of NCR Corporation , bought the company and renamed it Chalmers-Detroit Motor Car Company . In the same year the first cars appeared under the name Chalmers-Detroit , basically just new editions of the earlier Thomas-Detroit. The cars were popular with the dignitaries of the time and were found in the garages of the Vanderbilt , Rockefeller , etc. families . At the end of 1910, Chalmers renamed his company the Chalmers Motor Car Company and the cars were renamed Chalmers . Production had risen to around 20,000 copies a year. A Chalmers also won the 1910 Glidden Tour , the premier motor vehicle reliability test of that time in the United States.

As a result of the First World War and the subsequent economic recession, sales figures fell sharply. In 1921 Chalmers rented part of its company buildings to the Maxwell Motor Company , and in 1922 the merger took place. Maxwell purchased Chalmers' buildings and land for $ 1,987,000 and assumed the company's debt. The new man at the helm of Maxwell-Chalmers was Walter P. Chrysler . At the end of 1923 Chalmers had to stop production, and Maxwell a year later. The first Chrysler appeared in 1924 .

Models

With their 2921 mm wheelbase and 34 ″ wheels, the Chalmers were very expensive back then. The 30 Touring and 30 Roadster were priced at $ 1,500. This compares with the Black for $ 375, the Brush Runabout for $ 485, the Western Gale Model A for $ 500, and the mass-produced Oldsmobile Curved Dash for $ 650. In contrast, the Cole 30 was $ 1,500 and the Oakland 40 was $ 1,600. Chalmers 30 coupe for 2400 USD was priced the Enger 40 for 2000 USD closer, while the 40 Touring and the 40 Roadster for 2750 and 40 torpedo for 3000 USD were still cheaper than Americans lowest priced model for 4250 USD (the most expensive cost 5250 USD).

model Construction period cylinder power wheelbase
F. 1908 4 row 24 bhp (17.6 kW) 2794 mm
E. 1908 4 row 40 bhp (29 kW) 2845 mm
30th 1909-1911 4 row 30 bhp (22 kW) 2794-2921 mm
40 1909-1911 4 row 40 bhp (29 kW) 2845-3099 mm
30-9 / 30-11 / 30-16 1912-1913 4 row 30 bhp (22 kW) 2921 mm
36-10 / 36-17 1912-1913 4 row 36 bhp (26.5 kW) 2921-2997 mm
Six-12 / Six-18 1912-1913 6 row 54 bhp (40 kW) 3302 mm
19th 1914 4 row 36 bhp (26.5 kW) 2997 mm
24 1914 6 row 60 bhp (44 kW) 3353 mm
Light Six 1915 6 row 48 bhp (35 kW) 3200 mm
Master Six 1915 6 row 60 bhp (44 kW) 3353 mm
6-30 1916-1919 6 row 30 bhp (22 kW) 2921-3099 mm
6-40 1916 6 row 40 bhp (29 kW) 3150 mm
6-48 1916 6 row 48 bhp (35 kW) 3200 mm
6-54 1916 6 row 54 bhp (40 kW) 3353 mm
35-C 1920-1921 6 row 45 bhp (33 kW) 2972 mm
35-B 1920-1921 6 row 45 bhp (33 kW) 3099 mm
Six 1922-1923 6 row 45 bhp (33 kW) 2972 mm
Y 1924 6 row 45 bhp (33 kW) 2972 mm

Sports sponsorship

The company also awarded the Chalmers Award in professional baseball .

literature

  • Beverly Ray Kimes, Henry Austin Clark Jr. Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. Krause Publications, Iola WI 1985, ISBN 0-87341-045-9 .

Web links

Commons : Chalmers  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Clymer, Floyd: Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925 , Bonanza Books, New York (1950)