Columbus Motor Vehicle Company

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Groff-Runkle Motor Vehicle Company
Columbus Motor Vehicle Company
legal form Corporation
founding 1901
resolution 1904
Reason for dissolution Bankrupt
Seat Columbus , Ohio , USA
management William Frisbe
Branch Automobiles

The Columbus Motor Vehicle Company was an American automobile manufacturer pioneer times. His vehicles came on the market as Santos Dumont .

history

Since 1899 Charles W. Groff and J. Frank Runkle experimented with their own automobile. In late 1901 they founded the Groff-Runkle Motor Vehicle Company in Columbus , Ohio . Frank Burkholder, Barton Griffiths and George W. Groff were also involved. In the same year a prototype was ready. It was called Groff & Runkle . He successfully completed a test drive of 320 kilometers between Columbus and Wooster .

It was not until 1902 that the production vehicle appeared as Santos Dumont , named after the Brazilian - French balloonist and aviation pioneer Alberto Santos Dumont , whose consent had probably not been obtained in advance. To manufacture the Santos Dumont , the Columbus Motor Vehicle Company was founded with a share capital of 50,000 US dollars . Two sources present it as a change of name.

The Santos Dumont was a conventional automobile with a water-cooled two - cylinder engine (possibly in boxer design ) with an output of 12 to 14 hp (according to the calculation method used at the time) under the driver's seat and chain drive on the rear axle. It was only available as a four to five-seat rear entrance tonneau ; that is, access to the rear seats was via a door in the rear wall of the body. The Columbus Motor Vehicle Company demanded $ 1,500 for the vehicle on a ladder frame was constructed with steel beams. The wheelbase was 2082 mm (82 inches). The 30 inch wooden spoke wheels were 89 mm (3½ inches) wide. The vehicle weighed 839 kg (1850 lbs).

The following year the company introduced an additional, smaller model. This single cylinder - Runabout 9 HP was similar in construction and cost $ 1250th

As early as March 1903, the company was in deep trouble. She was saved by investor William Frisbe , who increased the share capital to $ 100,000 and took over the presidency of the company. He had a completely new car developed, which went on sale in 1904. It was larger and now had an air-cooled engine mounted in the front of the vehicle. This had four cylinders, 20 hp, a five-seater tonneau body and should cost $ 2,000. Frisbe began to advertise the car as Dumont from around February 1904 . It was occasionally referred to as Columbus in the local press , although there were already several makes of car with that name.

Sure, the confusion about the name wasn't helpful, but what ultimately caused Frisbe to have financial problems is unclear. In any case, bankruptcy was probably filed by a creditor in the fall of 1904 and declared in October. An announced reorganization did not materialize. One source calls it bankruptcy .

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. 662 and p. 1323 (English).
  • George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . Volume 3: P-Z . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , pp. 1413 (English).
  • George Nick Georgano (Editor): Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present. Dutton Press, New York 1973, ISBN 0-525-08351-0 (English).
  • The Automobile of 1904. Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly (January 1904), Americana Review, 725 Dongan Ave., Scotia NY (USA); published 1904 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f 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. 662 (English).
  2. ^ A b c d e Kimes, Clark: Catalog of the American Automobile. P. 1278.
  3. ↑ 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. 1323 (English).
  4. ↑ a b c d e Leslie’s: Automobiles of 1904.
  5. ↑ a b c Georgano: Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars. P. 610
  6. ^ Kimes, Clark: Catalog of the American Automobile. P. 349.
  7. ↑ George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . Volume 3: P-Z . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , pp. 1413 (English).