Hercules Motor Car Company

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The Hercules Motor Car Company was an American automobile manufacturer .

description

The company existed in New Albany (Indiana) from 1914 to 1915 . It emerged from the Crown Motor Car Company in Louisville (Kentucky) , a foundation of the Lambert family , who built a small car in 1913/1914 . This company bought the Ohio Falls Motor Company building in New Albany and manufactured cars there under the name Hercules .

BF Lambert was President, AB Lambert Vice President and CH Lambert Chief Financial Officer of the company. The new car, the Hercules Twenty, also resembled a cycle car, but was a fully-fledged automobile. It had a four-cylinder engine with 20 bhp (14.7 kW) and a two-speed gearbox that was connected to the rear axle by means of a cardan shaft . The only structure available was that of a touring car with four seats.

Soon there was a lot of shouting among the former Crown dealers who had to pay bail but were no longer given any Crown automobiles. About 200 of the 400 dealers agreed to sell the Hercules automobile and change their contracts accordingly, the others got their 100 US dollar stake back. The uproar had caused so much dust in the press that the new Hercules was robbed of any market opportunity.

By November 1914, around 100 Hercules Twenty had been built. The number of vehicles after that is unknown. In late 1915, the company was sold to the Kentucky Wagon Manufacturing Company , which then built the Dixie Flyer . In 1917 the old Hercules factory was destroyed by a tornado .

Models

model Construction period cylinder power wheelbase Superstructures
1914-1915 4 row 20 bhp (14.7 kW) 2540 mm Touring car 4 seats

literature

  • Beverly Ray Kimes, Henry Austin Clark Jr .: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. Krause Publications, Iola 1985, ISBN 0-87341-045-9 (English).