Columbia Automobile Company

Advertisement for Columbia automobiles from 1901

The Columbia Mark III Phaeton

The Columbia Automobile Company was a leading American manufacturer of automobiles , especially electric cars from Hartford (Connecticut) . The Columbia Automobile Company was founded in 1899 as a joint subsidiary of the auto division of Colonel Albert A. Popes Pope Manufacturing Company , Hartford (Connecticut), and the Electric Vehicle Company, which had recently been bought by William Collins Whitney . A cooperation between Pope and Whitney with the aim of establishing a taxi in all major US cities - monopoly failed. This was followed by a reorientation towards automobiles, initially with electric drive, later with a steadily increasing proportion of gasoline vehicles in the range.

By the turn of the century, the company sold hundreds of electric cars each year under the Pope's Columbia brand, while internal combustion engine car makers were only selling a few dozen a year at the time. In 1908 the company was renamed Columbia Motor Car Co. and in 1910 it was bought by the United States Motor Company .

Electric cars

The 1904 Columbia Brougham was a brougham , a type of car. Equipped with a folding roof, it offered space for four passengers and was sold for 3500 dollars . Two electric motors drove the rear wheels. At the same time were coupe Columbia Coupe and the Columbia Hansom produced and sold at the same price. The cars reached a speed of 13 mph (21 km / h). The Columbia Victoria Phaeton , type Phaeton (body shape) , which was based on the same design, was sold for $ 3,000.

The bodies of the Columbia Surrey and Columbia Victoria models were similar to traditional horse-drawn carriages, but used the same propulsion system as the larger models. They were sold much cheaper, for less than $ 1,500 and $ 1,600, respectively.

The smallest model was the Columbia Runabout , a small open two-seater that sold for $ 750. It was only with an electric motor, a battery of Exide and springs fitted from Concord.

Columbia's base model was typical of the time, it resembled the horse-drawn cart and was steered with a tiller. It sold for $ 850, $ 200 more than contemporary rival Oldsmobile Curved Dash . The 544 kg vehicle with a bench seat had a wheelbase of 162 cm and rode on wooden spoke wheels 76 cm in diameter with leather fenders. The drive concept had its roots in Pope's bicycle business : the rear axle was driven by a chain, which was responsible for the only noise when driving. A transmission with three forward and two reverse gears was connected between the engine and the chain drive . Twenty batteries made by Exide , a company affiliated with the Electric Vehicle Company, were placed over the two axles to counterbalance the weight. The brakes on the two rear wheels were connected to a bell that rang when the brakes were fully applied. The top speed was 15 miles per hour (24 km / h).

In total, Columbia offered around 20 different electric cars, including electric buses , taxis, and police cars . The cars were very popular in cities with relatively good roads, where their quiet and steady electric motors played out their superiority over cars with internal combustion engines. There were also numerous ways to recharge the batteries in the cities. The range was 40 miles (64 km). In 1903 a Columbia drove the 250 miles (400 km) from Boston to New York City in 23 hours. The Columbia was sold as a luxury car, e.g. B. with salesrooms opposite the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

Cars with internal combustion engines

The Columbia Touring Car was a completely different car. It offered space for six passengers under a hood. The prices of 4500 to 5000, - sold dollars model had a front vertically installed four-cylinder engine with 24 hp (17.9 kW ) and a four-speed gearbox . The car weighed 1361 kg.

In 1912 and 1913, a model with a more powerful valve motor was also produced.

literature

David Burgess-Wise: The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles. ISBN 0-7858-1106-0 .
Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly. January 1904

Web links

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