Doble (make of car)

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Doble Series E from 1924
Doble E 10 from 1924

Doble was an American automobile brand.

Brand history

Abner Doble (1895–1961) had already built a steam car in 1910 . From 1910 he was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . There he manufactured five vehicles from 1914, of which he sold four. The brand name was Doble . It was not until October 1914 that he founded the Abner Doble Motor Vehicle Company in Waltham , Massachusetts . Only a prototype was made here until 1915 . Underfunding is given as the reason for failure.

In 1916 Doble met CL Lewis, who manufactured the Abbott-Detroit with his Consolidated Car Company . Doble founded the General Engineering Company in Detroit , Michigan . Lewis supported him in this. A new vehicle was presented at the New York Automobile Show and received great acclaim. The company received 50,000 inquiries from people wishing to become shareholders or dealers. 11,000 orders were received within three months. Shortly after the start of series production, the war-related restriction of raw materials , especially steel , caused enormous problems. The vehicles were unofficially called GEC Doble .

In 1917 the name was changed to Doble-Detroit Steam Motors Company . The unofficial brand name Doble-Detroit is now passed down. Production in Detroit ended in 1918. Estimates of the number of production run from three to two hundred. Doble sold the manufacturing rights to Amalgamated in Chicago in 1919 .

In 1920 he founded the Doble Steam Motors Corporation in San Francisco , California . His brothers John and Warren were also involved. In 1922 a prototype called Doble-Simplex was built on a chassis from the Jordan Motor Car Company . In 1923 the company moved into a plant in Emeryville , California. The annual production capacity was given as 300 vehicles. However, sales of luxury cars were sluggish. The world economic crisis came on top. Liquidation followed in April 1931 . About 45 vehicles were made in California.

vehicles

Only steam cars were on offer. The Model A from 1914 had a steam engine with two cylinders and 25 hp . The wheelbase was 338 cm. Touring cars and roadsters have been handed down as superstructures .

The 1915 Model B remained a prototype.

The Model C was available from 1916 to 1917 . It still had a two-cylinder engine . The chassis had a wheelbase of 325 cm. There was a choice of a seven-seat touring car, a two-seat roadster, a five-seat town car and a four-seat roadster coupé .

No name is known for the 1918 model. The wheelbase was lengthened to 343 cm. Only a seven-seater touring car was available.

In 1920 there was the Model D with a two-cylinder engine as a touring car with seven seats.

The Series E was in the range from 1923 to 1931. The four-cylinder engine developed 75 hp. The wheelbase was 361 cm. Available were five- and seven-seat Phaeton , five-seat Phaeton in luxury version, five- and seven-seat sedan, five-seat vestibule sedan , three-seat runabout and a three-seat runabout in luxury version. Several versions are known as E-11 and E-18 . According to a source, twelve vehicles were built from the Series E.

Series F followed and sold even worse.

Model overview

year model cylinder Power ( hp ) Wheelbase (cm) construction
1914 Model A 2 25th 338 Touring cars, roadsters
1915 Model B
1916-1917 Model C 2 325 7-seater touring car, 2-seater roadster, 5-seater town car, 4-seater roadster coupé
1918 2 343 7-seater touring car
1920 Model D 2 7-seater touring car
1923-1931 Series E 4th 75 361 Phaeton 5-seat and 7-seat, Phaeton De Luxe 5-seat, Limousine 5-seat and 7-seat, Vestibule Limousine 5-seat, Runabout 3-seat, Runabout De Luxe 3-seat

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. 458-459 (English).
  • George Nick Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Volume 1: A – F. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 444 (English).

Web links

Commons : Doble  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e 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. 458-459 (English).
  2. ↑ a b c George Nick Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 444 (English).