Crawford Automobile Company

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The Crawford Automobile Company was an American automobile manufacturer based in Hagerstown, Maryland from 1904 to 1923 .

history

The company emerged from the merger of an organ manufacturer in Hagerstown under the leadership of the Dane Mathias Peter Moller with a bicycle manufacturer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , a Scot named Robert S. Crawford , and another businessman in Hagerstown, Henry Holzapfel .

In the years 1904/1905 only two vehicles were built, small runabouts with 10 hp two-cylinder engines and planetary gears . In 1906 there was a change to four-seater touring cars equipped with four-cylinder in - line engines. 41 cars have already been produced this year. The engines initially came from Rutenber , later exclusively from Continental . The chain drives were replaced by cardan drives and the planetary gears by spur gears that were installed on the rear axle ( transaxle system). 275 cars were built in 1910, the first inline six-cylinder came in 1913, and from 1916 only six-cylinder cars were built . Due to material bottlenecks due to the First World War , production fell this year to 104 vehicles; in the following year there were only 38 pieces. A twelve-cylinder car was announced, but was never built.

In 1921 Moller became the sole owner. In addition, he founded another automobile brand, which he named after his daughter Dagmar . In 1922 54 vehicles were built, in 1923 only a few examples. In March 1924, Moller renamed the company MP Moller Motor Car Company , discontinued the Crawford brand and announced in the press that the Dagmar would succeed it.

In 1916, a Crawford racing car with a Duesenberg racing engine (4 cylinders, 16 valves, 4.9 liters) took part in the 300-mile race in Indianapolis , which was shortened due to the war , but retired after 177 miles (285 km) with a broken brake line. The driver, Dave Lewis , later helped develop the Cord L-29.

Models

1909 Crawford Model H touring car
model Construction period cylinder power wheelbase construction
A. 1904-1906 2 row 10 hp (7.4 kW) 1981 mm Runabout 2 seats
C. 1906 4 row 28 hp (21 kW) 2540 mm Touring car 5 seats
E. 1907-1908 4 row 35 hp (25.7 kW) 2692 mm Touring car 5 seats
F. 1907-1909 4 row 35–50 hp (25.7–37 kW) 2896-2997 mm Touring car 7 seats, sedan 4 doors
D. 1908-1909 4 row 35–40 hp (25.7–29 kW) 2692 mm Runabout 3–4 seats, touring cars 5 seats
G 1908-1909 4 row 40 hp (29 kW) 2896 mm Touring car 5 seats
H 1909 4 row 25 hp (18.4 kW) 2692 mm Runabout 4 seats, touring car 5 seats
10 1910 4 row 30 hp (22 kW) 2794 mm Roadster 3 seats, touring car 5 seats
FG 1910 4 row 50 hp (37 kW) 3302 mm Touring car
11-30 1911 4 row 30 hp (22 kW) 2845 mm Touring car 5 seats
11-35 1911 4 row 35 hp (25.7 kW) 3048 mm Touring car 4 doors
12-30 1912 4 row 30 hp (22 kW) 2921 mm Roadster 2 doors, touring cars 4 doors
12-35 1912 4 row 35 hp (25.7 kW) 3277 mm Touring car 4 doors
13-30 1913 4 row 30 hp (22 kW) 2921 mm Roadster 2 doors, touring cars 4 doors
13-40 1913 4 row 40 hp (29 kW) 3175 mm Roadster 2 doors, touring cars 4 doors
13-6-45 1913 6 row 45 hp (33 kW) 3353 mm Touring car 7 seats
4-40 1914-1915 4 row 40 hp (29 kW) 3175 mm Roadster 2 seats, touring car 5 seats
6-35 1915 6 row 35 hp (25.7 kW) 3048 mm Touring goods 5 seats
6-40 1916-1922 6 row 40 hp (29 kW) 3048-3112 mm Roadster 3 seats, tonneau 4 seats, touring car 5–7 seats, sedan 4 doors
6-70 1923 6 row 70 hp (51 kW) 3505 mm Coupé 5 seats, touring car 7 seats, sedan 4 doors

Production numbers

year Production number
1904 2
1905 25th
1906 150
1907 137
1908 218
1909 226
1910 275
1911 163
1912 110
1913 85
1914 60
1915 102
1916 104
1917 38
1918 59
1919 42
1920 312
1921 327
1922 54
1923 36
total 2525

literature

  • Beverly Rae Kimes (Editor), Henry Austin Clark Jr.: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805–1942. 2nd Edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI (1985), ISBN 0-87341-111-0 . (English)
  • Jon M. Bill: Duesenberg Racecars & Passenger Cars Photo Archive. Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum (Editor), Iconografix, Hudson WI, Photo Archive Series, ISBN 1-58388-145-X . (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bill: Duesenberg Race Cars & Passenger Cars Photo Archive ; Pp. 20-21