HH Buffum Company

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The HH Buffum Company was an American automobile and motor boat manufacturer at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. It was founded in 1901 (according to a source: 1903) by Henry Buffum and had its seat in Abington in Plymouth County in Massachusetts . About 70 cars were built over a period of 13 years. Several milestones in automotive history can be attributed to this small manufacturer: In 1895 Buffum built the first automobile with a four-cylinder engine . This car can be seen today in the Louwman Museum in The Hague . Later, his built HH Buffum Company a race car with 180 ° - V8 engine , the eight-cylinder-road vehicle and the first "production" race car is considered to be the first manufactured in the United States because it was listed in the sales catalog of the 1904th

Henry H. Buffum

Henry Buffum came to Abington from the west coast in 1890 and was mainly concerned with the automation of shoe production, for which he designed a nail and sewing machine . He also ran a small bicycle shop and carried out repairs on mechanical devices. The spray head of a sprinkler system is one of the numerous inventions of the inventor and designer . Buffum received numerous patents for its developments.

Six automobiles were built in his workshop before 1900, probably on the side in his spare time. Each showed improvements over its predecessor. Buffum rarely drove these automobiles, fearing his ideas might be stolen from him.

Buffum Four Cylinder Stanhope (1895)

Buffum Four Cylinder Stanhope from 1895 in the Louwman Museum .

The Buffum Four Cylinder Stanhope is one of the oldest automobiles from American production in running order. Buffum began work on his first car as early as 1894. The vehicle, which was completed the following year, is remarkable in several respects and represents a milestone in automotive history. It is the world's first car with a four-cylinder engine, which was also specially built for this purpose is. So it is not an adapted stationary engine . The valves are overhead , which is a very early application of this principle. As is typical of the time, the engine is mounted transversely under the driver's seat and consists of individually cast cylinders with removable cylinder heads that are mounted on a common crankshaft housing. The water cooler designed by Buffum supplies each cylinder with its own cooling line.

The power is transmitted via a two-speed planetary gearbox and a drive chain directly to the rear axle, on which no differential is provided. The controls are innovative: the two forward gears are engaged using the shift lever on the right of the seat. A rotary knob at the top of this lever regulates the speed. A foot pedal is provided for the brake and reverse gear.

The chassis and body were probably created with the help of the local carriage builder George Pierce (not identical to George N. Pierce , the founder of Pierce-Arrow ). The frame was made of steel tubes, the car body is suspended over the actual chassis with springs.

Stanhope is a body name from the early days of the automobile. The name goes back to the carriage of the same name . She describes a motor vehicle as a somewhat larger and more comfortable motor buggy or runabout .

There are some indications that Henry Buffum temporarily used the vehicle as a test vehicle for his ideas. He kept it until his death. It has been preserved and is now in the Louwman Museum in The Hague ( Netherlands ).

HH Buffum Company

It was not until 1900 that Henry Buffum began to take orders for automobiles; his customers came mostly from Abington and the surrounding area. Obviously business was good enough to contemplate regular production. Buffum was always looking for independent technical solutions and was more interested in technical improvements than in regulated production, which historians see as a possible reason for the company's subsequent failure.

Buffum 20 HP

The first model from the HH Buffum Company was the 20 HP, introduced in 1901 and heavily influenced by French designs . This vehicle was one of the first to be manufactured in the USA with a front-mounted engine and rear-wheel drive (" Système Panhard "). The water-cooled four-cylinder was designed as a boxer engine with a centrally located flywheel . The power transmission took place by means of drive chains. The wheelbase was 94½ inches (2426 mm). Innovations included a pedal operated starter. The 20 HP was only available with a Roi des Belges body. Buffum made the handcrafted aluminum structure himself; he weighed only 120 pounds (about 55 kg). At a price of US $ 2500, the car was in the upper middle class of the time . It remained the only regular model on offer up to and including the 1903 model year.

A single source names a model with a four-cylinder boxer engine and 16 HP in 1902.

Pioneer of the eight-cylinder engine

The first road vehicle with a V8 engine is the French racing and world record car Darracq 200 (also known as Darracq V8 ) from 1901, whose engine consists of two Grand Prix engine blocks placed on a common crankshaft housing. The vehicle exists and is drivable.

Buffum Greyhound

Buffum 80 HP Model G "Greyhound" racing car with 180 ° V8 engine (1904).

The Buffum Model G "Greyhound" (sometimes also known as the Central Greyhound ), which was presented to the public in 1903, was the first road vehicle with an eight-cylinder engine made in the USA . He was named shortly after the Winton Bullet No. 2 completed, which is powered by two four-cylinder engines mounted one behind the other (the vehicle is preserved). Both were supposed to start at the Gordon Bennett Cup in Ireland in 1903 , but the greyhound was not finished in time. The two reported Winton, that of Alexander Winton driven Bullet No. 2 as well as the four-cylinder Bullet No. 3 disappointed and dropped out.

In 1904 Buffum offered the Greyhound as a regular model in the sales catalog, which also made it the first production racing car in the world.

More four-cylinder

Buffum ad from 1905. Model E was new and Model H was redesigned. Both vehicles are referred to as "touring", although tonneaus are shown with rear entry.

In 1904 and 1905 more conventional series with four-cylinder in- line engines were produced.

Buffum models H, K, E and F

In addition to the Greyhound , the 1904 program also included a successor to the 20 HP . The new engine had an ALAM rating of 28 HP. It does not necessarily have to be greater than 20 HP , because only the cylinder bore was used for the calculation , but not the stroke . Compared to the predecessor, the wheelbase and price initially remained unchanged; a tonneau replaced the Roi-des-Belges structure.

In 1905 the greyhound was no longer listed. However, there was a revised version of the Model H with a longer wheelbase of 105 inches (2667 mm) and a significantly higher price of US $ 4,000; this version was called " Touring " by Buffum , although the accompanying illustration shows a tonneau with a rear entry. Another source names a Model K Touring with the same data and at the same price.

Buffum Model F 3-passenger runabout (1905).

New was a smaller model with a rating of 12 HP. Its wheelbase was only 86 inches (2184 mm). Apparently several versions were also available here. The above ad names a Model E , which was available in the basic configuration as a two-seater roadster for US $ 1200. An additional, detachable tonneau made the vehicle a four to five-seater; the price for such a vehicle including a stable roof was US $ 1350. The other source instead lists a Model F Roadster at US $ 1200 without mentioning a tonneau.

Buffum was a very small manufacturer and therefore flexible in its range. It is both conceivable that further variants were added at short notice and that models were easily replaced.

The first eight-cylinder production car in the USA?

Early V8 engine: De Dion Bouton 20 CV Type DM (1912).

The Rolls-Royce V8 from 1905 is occasionally mentioned as a possible "contender" for the first mass-produced passenger car with a V8 engine . Of this, however, only three copies were made; the only one that was delivered to a customer was later withdrawn by the plant. V8 engines were used to power aircraft to a certain extent. A prominent manufacturer was the French Société Antoinette , which in 1906 also presented an automobile with a V8 engine with a displacement of 7270 cc. But this was probably only built to order. Instead of a gearbox and differential , this vehicle featured hydraulic clutches . Antoinette engines were from the Adams Manufacturing Company in Bedford ( Bedfordshire , England , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland reconstructed) under license. Adams also presented the 35/40 HP with a slightly smaller Antoinette -V8 in 1906 .

In 1910, both Renault and De Dion-Bouton launched V8 commercial vehicles . The latter company also launched a corresponding car, which was sold in up to three sizes by 1923. Therefore the models CJ and DM (35 and 20 CV respectively) are considered to be the first regularly produced V8 passenger cars. A license replica of this engine was carried out by the General Motors subsidiary Northway , which supplied such engines to Cadillac , Oldsmobile and Oakland . The Cadillac Type 51 , introduced in 1914 for the 1915 model year , is therefore usually mentioned as the first US production car with a V8 engine.

The development of the first US-American V8 passenger car was no less complex. There were two serious attempts to bring such a vehicle onto the market as early as 1906. From today's perspective, it is no longer possible to determine which of the two was actually the first. One supplier was the Hewitt Motor Company , an automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer from New York City . Its owner, Edward Ringwood Hewitt , had excellent connections to Europe and to the aforementioned Adams Manufacturing Company . From there he obtained the licensed version of the 7.4 liter Antoinette engine, which he used in the Hewitt 50/60 HP introduced in 1907 . While the French original had mechanically controlled inlet valves , in the Adams version these were regulated "atmospherically", i.e. by negative pressure ( sniffer valves ).

Buffum 40 HP Eight

With the new 40 HP, the HH Buffum Company also had a V8 model on offer at almost the same time, which had also been presented in 1906 for the 1907 model year. Like all Buffum vehicles, this one also had a self-constructed engine. This had a square ratio of bore and stroke of 4 inches (101.6 mm), resulting in a displacement of 402.146 ci (6590 cm³). The rating of 40 HP seems to have been proven, but it is likely to have been determined individually because it was not until 1915 that the ALAM successor organization, the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce (NACC), listed V8 engines in its rating list. The wheelbase was 100 inches (2540 mm).

insolvency

The HH Buffum Company produced automobiles until 1907, most recently only the 40 HP . Then she went bankrupt. In October it was taken over by Bickney Hall from Taunton and reorganized as the Hall Manufacturing Company . The plan was to continue the last Buffum eight-cylinder as Hall 40 HP , but it only seems to have sold off the stocks and the vehicles assembled from existing components. Production was finally stopped before the end of 1907.

Henry Buffum's later activities

Henry Buffum then moved to Laconia ( New Hampshire ) and several years focused on building long motorboats. In 1914, he designed the Laconia, a high-quality cycle car , of which fewer than 100 were made in the first and only year of production. He did not set up his own companies either for boat building or for car production. Henry Buffum died on the west coast in 1933.

Model overview

No information is available on five of the six automobiles built before 1900.

model construction time Cyl. ALAM rating Wheelbase
inches / mm		 body List price Remarks
Stanhope 1894-1895 R4 Stanhope
2 pl.
20 HP 1901-1903 B4 20 HP 94½ / 2426 Roi-des-Belges US $ 2500.- 16 HP?
Model H 1904 R4 28 HP 94½ / 2426 Tonneau US $ 2500.-
Model G
Greyhound		 1904 V8
180 °		 120/3048 Racing car
2 pl.		 80-100 bhp (59.7-79.6 kW) depending on the source.
Model E. 1905 R4 12 HP 86/2184 Roadster
2 pl.		 US $ 1200.-
Model E. 1905 R4 12 HP 86/2184 Detachable Canopy Tonneau US $ 1350.- Roadster with detachable tonneau and fixed roof.
Model F 1905 R4 12 HP 86/2184 Roadster
3 pl.		 US $ 1200.-
Model H 1905 R4 28 HP 105/2667 Tonneau US $ 4000.-
Model K 1905 R4 28 HP 105/2667 Touring US $ 4000.-
40 HP 1906-1907 V8 40 HP 100/2540 Runabout
2 pl.		 US $ 2500.-
Hall 40 HP 1907 V8 40 HP 100/2540 Runabout
2 pl.

The ALAM rating

These performance data are calculated, not measured. They refer to a standard of the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM). The association , founded in 1903, also represented the interests of the owners of the Selden patent , the incorporated (licensed) motor vehicle manufacturers and the first US American standards organization. It was replaced by the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce (NACC) after the unfavorable Selden patent dispute in 1912 . The benefit is calculated; Cylinder bore ² × number of cylinders; the result is divided by the constant 2.5. Their problem was that the factor 2.5 became less precise with increasingly higher speeds. The more practical formula of the Society of Automobile Engineers ( SAE-PS ) emerged from this later .

The NACC did not set values ​​for eight and twelve-cylinder engines until 1915. Therefore, no corresponding data can be determined for the eight-cylinder Greyhound . The Buffum eight-cylinder from 1906–1907 is mentioned by several sources as 40 HP; it cannot be ruled out that it was power horsepower.

literature

Web links

Commons : HH Buffum Company  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter Buffum.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g american-automobiles.com: The Buffum Automobile & The HH Buffum & Co.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Bonham’s: Quail Lodge Sale; 17 Aug 2012, Lot 446: 1895 Buffum Four-Cylinder Stanhope.
  4. ↑ a b c d conceptcarz.com: Buffum Stanhope (1895)
  5. ↑ Louwman Museum: Buffum four cylinder stanhope (1895)
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805–1942 , (1996), p. 160 (Buffum)
  7. ↑ a b c d e Buffum advertisement from 1905
  8. ↑ Grace's Guide: Antoinette
  9. ↑ Grace's Guide: Adams Manufacturing Co
  10. ^ Kimes: Pioneers, Engineers, and Scoundrels , (2005), p. 357
  11. ↑ a b Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 , (1996), pp. 701-702 (Hewitt)
  12. ↑ Georgano: Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present (1979), p. 74 (Hewitt)
  13. ↑ Carfolio: 1907 Buffum 8 Cylinder Runabout 40 hp technical specifications.
  14. ↑ a b Dluhy: American Automobiles of the Brass Era (2013), p. 62
  15. ↑ a b Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 , (1996), p. 668 (Hall)
  16. ↑ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 , (1996), p. 833 (Laconia)
  17. ^ Dluhy: American Automobiles of the Brass Era (2013), p. 6 (ALAM).
  18. ↑ Flink: America Adopts the Automobile - 1895-1910 (1970), pp. 288-290 (ALAM).