Commonwealth Motors Corporation

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Commonwealth Motors Corporation
legal form Corporation
founding 1915
resolution 1922
Reason for dissolution Takeover after bankruptcy
Seat Joliet , Illinois , USA
management Randall A. Palmer, Charles C. Darnall, Morris Markin
Branch Automobile manufacturer

The Commonwealth Motors Corporation is a former American automobile manufacturer , which between 1915 and 1922 manufactured and / or manufactured quality automobiles in the middle and upper class of the Commonwealth brand and taxis of the Mogul brand. distribution. A luxury car called Goodspeed was developed but did not go into production. There is no reference to the Commonwealth - a prototype of AJ Coburn & Company in Boston to 1903. The Commonwealth Motors Corporation is a direct precursor of the Checker Motors Corporation and went on in this.

De foam and suburban

The company had roots that go back a long way to the pioneering days of the automobile. As early as 1900, William Andrew Schaum (later: De Schaum ) had built an automobile called Schaum in Baltimore ( Maryland ) that could be sold for three years even though it had no brakes. 1908-1909 his De Schaum Motor Syndicate Company in Buffalo ( New York ) produced highwheelers , which were offered under the brand names Seven Little Buffaloes and De Schaum and were moderately successful. A move of the company to Hornell in Steuben County (New York) and the renaming in De Schaum-Hornell Motor Car Company followed no further production. Instead founded De foam 1910 in Detroit ( Michigan ), the De Foam Motor Car Company , which the Suburban - Roadster should produce. Production should in Ecorse ( Wayne County arise, Michigan). After grandiose announcements, the renaming of the company to Suburban Motor Car Company in 1912, a financial scandal and just 10 automobiles built, De Schaum resigned in November 1912 under massive pressure.

Partin-Palmer

Palmer

He was succeeded by Randall A. Palmer , who had previously resigned as a board member of Cartercar . The experienced car specialist was a relative of the manufacturer of the Palmer-Singer in Long Island City (New York) . His attempt to put the company on a more serious footing soon led to the reorganization as the Palmer Motor Car Company . The Suburban was abandoned after only 15 more vehicles had been built. There were a few prototypes under the Palmer brand name that, according to a contemporary illustration, were influenced by the Suburban . Only a few months after it was founded, the company merged with the Partin Manufacturing Company in Chicago . This resulted in a further reorganization, which took place in June 1913 and led to the Partin-Palmer Motor Car Company , based in Rochelle ( Illinois ) and Chicago. Brand names were Partin , Partin-Palmer and Pioneer for a cycle car . Charles C. Darnall , most recently Sales Director at Partin-Palmer, took control of the company, which he reorganized as the Commonwealth Motors Corporation .

Pioneer

Pioneer Cyclecar (1914)

The Pioneer was manufactured in a dedicated subsidiary, the American Manufacturing Company , based in Chicago. The Pioneer was the last of a total of nine automobile projects of this name in the USA between 1896 and 1914 - and one of only four that actually resulted in at least one road vehicle. In addition, it was one of the few really serious constructions in this market segment dominated by hobbyists, tinkerers and improvisers. The pioneer was a typical representative of its genre. Manufactured in lightweight construction with an air-cooled V2 engine, friction gear , belt drive, narrow track and a roadster body that was so narrow that the front passenger seat had to be placed a little lower and a little further back so that the driver could enjoy some elbow room, it cost Vehicle comparatively moderate US $ 385. Its problems were that, on the one hand, it appeared when the cyclecar boom collapsed as quickly as it had flared up two years earlier, and on the other hand, the parent company was in great financial difficulties. The Pioneer only lasted a few months on the market.

Commonwealth automobiles

Commonwealth Ultra 4-40 Touring (1919)

Production of the Cyclecar was stopped at the end of 1914, but it was not until 1917 that the automobiles , which had previously been sold as Partin-Palmer , came onto the market under the new Commonwealth brand . The "new" Commonwealth Four largely corresponded to the old Partin-Palmer Model 32 with a chassis extended from 110 inches () to 112 inches (), but the price rose from US $ 595 ( Model 32 Roadster) to US $ 695 ( Model 32 5-pass Touring) at US $ 895 each for the Commonwealth Four .

The headquarters were moved to Joliet, Illinois in 1919 . Was advertised with the slogan "The Car with a Foundation" ( "The car with a foundation"), which was related to the complex construction. The chassis was manufactured by Parish & Bingham in an extremely heavy design from chrome-nickel steel. The extra reinforced side members were over 12 cm thick and there were 6 cross members. Oversized insulation mats were used between the chassis and the body in order to prevent squeaking noises from the outset. More rivets were used to hold the parts of the hood together than on any other car.

The engines were first bought in by Lycoming and from around mid-1920 by Herschell-Spillman . Except for the 1919 model year when a Lycoming six-cylinder engine was also offered, all Commonwealth automobiles had four-cylinder engines. At times the four-cylinder roadster was sold as an American Traveler with a tent supplied ; there is no reference to the American Motors Company model of the same name .

Mughal taxis

Some Commonwealth was used because of their sturdy construction of taxi racks in Chicago. At the end of 1919, the manufacturer responded by offering taxi versions on the chassis of its four-cylinder cars. The body was supplied by the Lomberg Auto Body Manufacturing Company, also based in Joliet . These taxis were only built until the end of 1920. The mogul was made for the Checker Cab Company , a taxi operator in Chicago, Illinois. Although there is no direct reference to the later Checker Motors Corporation , its company and product name can still go back to this taxi company. The Mogul was run as a series by Commonwealth ; Whether Checker Cab acquired the model exclusively has not been established. However, it largely corresponds to the first Checker Taxi, which was also built in the Commonwealth facilities. There is no connection to the Mogul Automobile Company in Newburgh (New York), founded in 1910 , which aimed at car production but probably did not achieve it.

Goodspeed

In late 1921, Leland F. Goodspeed joined the Commonwealth as chief engineer. As Vice President of the Barley Motor Car Company and designer of their flagship, the Roamer , he enjoyed an excellent reputation in the industry. With a Roamer he personally set several world records for production cars in Daytona Beach . At Commonwealth he wanted to realize his project for a new luxury brand that would bear his name. The Goodspeed was designed as a sporty six-cylinder model. While a purchased four-cylinder Rochester-Duesenberg engine was still used for the Roamer , Goodspeed had developed this engine itself. It had dual ignition and, for smoother running, and pump valves instead of the usual valves with bucket tappets . The chassis, a solid ladder frame with integrated mountings for the bumpers , which were often optional at the time , had a wheelbase of 3,150 mm. In fact, test drives with a prototype were undertaken earlier this year. A second car was even on the automotive exhibition shown in Chicago in January 1922nd It had an open touring structure with “helmet-shaped” (according to the profile view) fenders, fashionable tread plates instead of continuous running boards, dark-lacquered chrome-spoke wheels with white tires and a windshield, the upper part of which could be exposed to the front. The planned sales price should be US $ 5400, which would have placed the car in the upper luxury range. The manufacturer spoke of a planned, limited production. However, that did not happen.

Engines and tractors

Advertisements by the company for the Ultra-4-Forty between 1919 and 1920 also indicate a four-cylinder Quayle engine built by Commonwealth , which could expressly run on any “liquid oil”. It developed 25/35 hp and got by without an electric ignition , carburetor or fuel pump . This indicates a heavy oil engine that is structurally similar to the diesel engine . The Lanz Bulldog single cylinder from 1921 also worked according to this principle. In 1920 the Thorobred (sic) tractor was advertised, a conventional-looking farm tractor with thin spoked wheels at the front and solid steel wheels at the rear. According to this, he had steel tires with patented self-cleaning and Timken ball bearings throughout, which was understood as a quality feature. The noted "ölverbrennende" Motor suggests naturally to a house Quayle out. The power is noted on the belt at 18 bhp (13.4 kW).

The existence of a Thorobred Tractor & Manufacturing Company in Moobridge ( Ohio ) around 1918 and a Commonwealth Tractor Company in Chicago as manufacturer of a Thorobred (sic) tractor around 1920 are documented. More is not known about either company or their product. An obvious but unsubstantiated assumption is that the Thorobred Tractor & Manufacturing Company was bought by Commonwealth and operated as a subsidiary; the domicile in Chicago does not necessarily have to be the place of manufacture.

Merger

A brief but very severe economic crisis hit the automotive industry hard in the aftermath of the First World War in 1920–1921 . The numerous small and very small manufacturers in particular suffered considerably, and many had to close. Commonwealth Motors had an additional problem because of the numerous brand names and name changes also by predecessor companies ( Partin , Palmer , Partin-Palmer , Pioneer , Commonwealth , Mogul , Goodspeed ), which had not stuck in the minds of the public, and the competitors Palmer-Singer with similar name. Given the quality standards with which the Commonwealth automobiles were built, list prices between $ 895 and $ 1,395 for the open-top versions are astonishingly low. The crisis had a particularly fatal effect on the taxi business; the taxi companies switched to cheap used cars that they could adapt to their needs. In the end, ten taxis were made a week. Lomberg Auto Body had since been taken over by the largest creditor, Morris Markin . The company was reorganized and renamed the Markin Body Corporation .

Shortly before this fate befell Commonwealth Motors , the company was temporarily saved by a capital injection and the aforementioned major order for the Checker Cab . This allowed Commonwealth to hold out for a few months, but then had to file for bankruptcy. Markin offered creditors to acquire Commonwealth in exchange for shares in Markin Body Corporation . Not everything seems to have been handled properly from a legal perspective; the value of Markin Body was overestimated at US $ 182,703. The creditors nevertheless accepted in October 1921 because they could not hope for a better offer, and Markin replaced Darnall as president of the Commonwealth Motors Corporation . In May 1922, Commonwealth and Lomberg Auto Body merged to form the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company . The name was chosen based on the previous major customer, the Commonwealth brand was extinguished. Leland Goodspeed became Checker's first chief engineer.

Models


HP NACC model 		Construction period engine Cubic capacity
ci / cm³ 		Power
bhp / kW 		Wheelbase
mm / in 		body Price
US $ 		Remarks
Model 44
19.6 HP 		1917-1918 4 row; sv
Herschell-Spillman 		192.4 / 3153 40 / 29.8 2845/112 Roadster 4 pl. 895.- Data carfolio
Model 44
19.6 HP 		1917-1918 4 row; sv
Herschell-Spillman 		192.4 / 3153 40 / 29.8 2845/112 Roadster 4 pl. 895.- Data carfolio
Model 44
19.6 HP 		1919 4
Herschell-Spillman row		 192.4 / 3153 40 / 29.8 2921/115 Roadster 4 pl. 1095.- Data carfolio
Model 44
19.6 HP 		1919 4
Herschell-Spillman row		 192.4 / 3153 40 / 29.8 2921/115 Touring 5 pl. 1095.- Data carfolio
Victoria Six
25.3 		1919 6 Lycoming series
 2921/115 Touring 1295.- incomplete data
Mogul
21.3 HP 		1919-1922 4 row, sv
Buda 		211.6 / 3467 33.75 / 25.1 2972/117 taxi Data CCDb (1919-1920); NACC
Four-40 1920 4 row
Lycoming sv 		35 / 26.1 2972/117 Touring 5 pl. 1395.- incomplete data
Four-45 1921-1922 4 row
Lycoming sv 		35 / 26.1 2972/117 Touring 5 pl. 1595.- incomplete data
Four-45 1921-1922 4 row
Lycoming sv 		35 / 26.1 2972/117 Sport ( Phaeton ) 4 pl. 1785.- incomplete data
Four-45 1921-1922 4 row
Lycoming sv 		35 / 26.1 2972/117 Sedan 5 pl. 2465.- incomplete data
Goodspeed 1922 (prototypes) 6 series of
Goodspeed 		3150/124 various 5400.- incomplete data

Model 44 is listed according to some sources until 1921. The similarity to the Four-40 resp. Four-45 suggests that the older and newer models were produced in parallel.

A single source consistently names “own engines”, which is nowhere else confirmed in the extensive literature; Herschell-Spillmann, Lycoming and Buda, on the other hand, are very well documented. One possible cause is that the manufacturer does not mention the origin of the engines in its advertising material.

Rating according to NACC : The NACC ( National Automobile Chamber of Commerce ) was a manufacturer's organization whose predecessor introduced the first standards for motor vehicles in the USA. HP according to NACC build on it; these data are calculated, not measured.

Production numbers

Model year number of pieces
1917 213
1918 436
1919 627
1920 1828
1921 912
1922 324
Total 4340

The adjacent production figures by model year are based on information from automotive historians Beverly Rae Kimes and Henry Austin Clark, Jr. in the Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 . The last Partin-Palmer vehicles are also included in the production figures.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Data sheet Handbook of Automobiles 1922, found at American Automobiles / Goodspeed; see. Link. The cubic capacity is calculated (W × H = 3⅝ × 5⅛ inches). Buda engines are documented from 1922, but were therefore used before that. The table in the NACC Handbook of Automobiles (1915–1916 is available and is linked under literature) also mentions 21.3 HP. See also the comments on NACC at the end of the table.
  2. ↑ Predecessor formula for SAE-PS . NACC ( National Automobile Chamber of Commerce ) was an association of the automobile industry founded in 1913 and the successor to the ALAM ( Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers ), which introduced the first standards in US automobile manufacture in 1903. The benefit is calculated; Cylinder bore ² × number of cylinders; the result is divided by 2.5. SAE-PS was later developed from this formula , it is also the basis of the British tax-PS at that time.

literature

  • Ben Merkel, John Fay: Checker the All-American Taxi. Earlswood Press, 2015; ISBN 0-95747-547-0 .
  • George Nick Georgano (Ed.): Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present. Dutton Press, New York, 2nd edition (hardcover) 1973, ISBN 0-525-08351-0 .
  • Beverly Rae Kimes (ed.), Henry Austin Clark Jr.: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI; 1996; ISBN 978-0-87341-428-9 .
  • Beverly Rae Kimes: Pioneers, Engineers, and Scoundrels: The Dawn of the Automobile in America. Ed. SAE ( Society of Automotive Engineers ) Permissions, Warrendale PA, 2005; ISBN 0-7680-1431-X .
  • Ferdinand Hediger: Classic Cars 1919–1939. Hallwag-Verlag Ostfildern (July 1998); ISBN 3444103484 .
  • Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 .
  • Tad Burness: American Car Spotter's Guide, 1920-39. ; MBI Motorbooks International, Osceola WI, 1975; ISBN 0-87938-026-8 .
  • Commonwealth Motors Co .: Commonwealth advertisement Ultra-4-Forty 1919–1920.
  • Commonwealth Motors Co .: Commonwealth advertisement Ultra-4-Forty 1920.
  • National Automobile Chamber of Commerce : Handbook of Automobiles 1915–1916. Dover Publications, 1970.
  • Charles H. Wendel: Standard Catalog of Farm Tractors 1890-1980. Krause Publications, Iola WI, 2005; ISBN 0-87349-726-0 .

Web links

Commons : Commonwealth Motors Corporation  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, p. 1328 (foam).
  2. ↑ a b Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, pp. 428-429 (De Schaum).
  3. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, pp. 1447-1448 (Suburban).
  4. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, p. 1147 (Palmer).
  5. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, pp. 1153-1154 (Palmer, Partin-Palmer).
  6. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, pp. 1194-1195 (div. Pioneer).
  7. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, p. 1195 (Pioneer).
  8. ↑ Merkel, Fay: Checker the All-American Taxi. 2015; P. 12. (Partin-Palmer / Commonwealth)
  9. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, pp. 1153-1154 (Commonwealth).
  10. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, pp. 367-368 (Commonwealth).
  11. ↑ coachbuilt.com: Checker.
  12. ^ A b Commonwealth advertisement Ultra-4-Forty 1919–1920
  13. ↑ Merkel, Fay: Checker the All-American Taxi. 2015; Pp. 13-14. (Commonwealth)
  14. ^ A b c d Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, p. 367 (Commonwealth).
  15. ↑ a b c Merkel, Fay: Checker the All-American Taxi. 2015; P. 14. (Mughal)
  16. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, p. 985 (Mogul).
  17. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, p. 645 (Goodspeed).
  18. ↑ American Automobiles: Goodspeed with NACC data sheet Commonwealth Mogul 1922.
  19. ↑ Commonwealth advertisement Ultra-4-Forty 1920
  20. ^ A b Wendel: Standard Catalog of Farm Tractors 1890–1980. 2005, p. 207 (Commonwealth Tractor Co.).
  21. ↑ Wendel: Standard Catalog of Farm Tractors 1890-1980. 2005, p. 662 (Thorobred).
  22. ↑ coachbuilt.com: Lomberg.
  23. ↑ a b c d e carfolio.com: 1921 Commonwealth 44 technical specifications.
  24. ↑ a b Classic Car Database: 1922 Commonwealth Mogul Series.
  25. ↑ Classic Car Database: 1921 Commonwealth 44 Series.
  26. ^ Classic Car Database: Commonwealth.
  27. ^ Checker Cab Club: Manual, 1920 Commonwealth Four-40.