Church Manufacturing Company

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Church Manufacturing Company
legal form Company
founding 1891
resolution 1926
Seat Adrian , Michigan , USA
management Walter Clement
Branch Fences , automobiles

Murray from 1902 in London
Murray from 1902
Lenawee from 1904
Side view

Church Manufacturing Company was an American manufacturer of fences and automobiles .

Company history

The company was founded in Adrian , Michigan in 1891 . It manufactured water pumps and later also gasoline engines. In 1901 Walter Clement was president. He hired Willis Grant Murray, who had automotive experience with Oldsmobile . The first prototype was ready in early 1902 . It was presented at the Chicago Automobile Show in March 1902 . Series production of automobiles began in April 1902. The brand name was Murray . In September 1902, Murray was released. In early 1903, the company temporarily ceased vehicle production. According to one source, 225 Murray were made, of which four still exist. Another source states that the last vehicle had order number 132 and concludes that 132 Murray were manufactured.

A little later production was continued. The brand name was now Church . That was true until the end of 1903.

In 1904 a new model came on the market. The designer was Andrew Bachle. Lenawee has now been chosen as the brand name , after Lenawee County . Series production ended at the end of 1904. Individual vehicles were made from existing parts in 1905. A total of 12 or around 15 Lenawee vehicles were built, one of which still exists.

The last vehicle was called the Wilcox-Bachle . It was a collaboration between Bachle and a Mr. Wilcox. Work began in January 1905. The first test drive took place on April 15, 1905. The vehicle remained a one-off.

Vehicle production was discontinued in the same year. In 1906 the Page Woven Wire Fence Company took over the plant. Fences were in place until 1926, when the company was closed. Walter Clement directed it to the end.

vehicles

Brand name Murray

The vehicles were technically similar to the Oldsmobile Curved Dash , but without the curved front. The single cylinder engine developed 14 hp . The setup was a runabout . The original price was 600 US dollars .

Brand name Church

No changes from the previous Murray are known.

Brand name Lenawee

This model also had a single cylinder engine. It was bodied as a touring car with five seats. It was $ 1,000.

Brand name Wilcox-Bachle

The only vehicle had a two-cylinder two - stroke engine . The chassis had a wheelbase of 259 cm . The curb weight was about 1134 kg. At that time, two-stroke engines were mainly used in the USA for light vehicles with an empty weight of up to 450 kg. One illustration shows a touring car.

literature

  • Beverly Rae Kimes, Henry Austin Clark Jr .: Standard catalog of American Cars. 1805-1942. Digital edition . 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola 2013, ISBN 978-1-4402-3778-2 , pp. 857, pp. 1010-1011 and p. 1544 (English).
  • George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . Volume 2: G-O . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , pp. 889 and p. 1087 (English).

Web links

Commons : Church Manufacturing Company  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Beverly Rae Kimes, Henry Austin Clark Jr .: Standard catalog of American Cars. 1805-1942. Digital edition . 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola 2013, ISBN 978-1-4402-3778-2 , pp. 1010-1011 (English).
  2. ↑ a b c Automobile Quarterly Volume 42, Issue 3, pp. 6-17.
  3. ↑ a b George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . Volume 2: G-O . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , pp. 1087 (English).
  4. ↑ a b George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . Volume 2: G-O . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , pp. 889 (English).
  5. ↑ a b Beverly Rae Kimes, Henry Austin Clark Jr .: Standard catalog of American Cars. 1805-1942. Digital edition . 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola 2013, ISBN 978-1-4402-3778-2 , pp. 857 (English).
  6. ↑ a b Beverly Rae Kimes, Henry Austin Clark Jr .: Standard catalog of American Cars. 1805-1942. Digital edition . 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola 2013, ISBN 978-1-4402-3778-2 , pp. 1544 (English).