Holley Motor Company

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Holley Motor Company was an automobile and motorcycle manufacturer founded in Bradford ( Pennsylvania , USA ) in 1899 or 1900 and the first company of the later founders of Holley Performance Products . The company was reorganized as Bradford Motor Works in 1904 and dissolved in 1911.

description

The brothers George M. (1878-1963) and Earl Holley (1881-1958) began around 1896 as a nineteen and sixteen to build a single cylinder - petrol engine , the George built into a specially constructed frame. Possibly this was the first two-wheeled vehicle designed as a motorcycle in the USA. Other designs at the time consisted of bicycle frames with motors attached. However, reservations are appropriate here; The Thomas Autobi (1900) or the Orient-Aster (exact date between 1899 and 1900 unclear) are usually mentioned as the first motorcycle in the USA .

In 1897, the brothers manufactured a complete motorized tricycle with a single powered rear wheel and steering lever. This "runabout" is said to have been around 48 km / h. It had a wheelbase of 60 inches (1524 mm), the single cylinder designed by the Holleys developed a respectable 9 hp - more than the first Packard from 1899. The vehicle had a two-speed transmission without reverse gear and weighed 306  lb (approx. 140  kg ).

motorcycles

At first they concentrated on engines and, after these could not be sold in satisfactory numbers, on complete motorcycles. Series production of the Holley motorcycle was initially carried out by the Olive Wheel Company in Syracuse (New York), but in 1901 at the latest in its own facilities in Bradford.

From May 1 to November 2, 1901, the world exhibition Pan-American Exposition took place in Buffalo (New York) , in the context of which various motor sport events were carried out. George Holley broke all motorcycle records over 5 miles (8.045 km) on August 22nd, despite a fall on the same day. The first ever recorded motorsport event in the USA took place on July 31, 1900 at the Charles River Race Park in Boston ( Massachusetts ), where Albert Champion completed the 5 miles in just over 7 minutes on the Orient-Aster .

In 1902, George won the first endurance motorcycle race in the United States and set other records.

Motorette

An automobile was presented in 1902 (according to another source as early as 1900). The motorette or touring runabout called Voiturette received a single-cylinder engine of its own design with exactly 5.27 bhp. The wheelbase was again a modest 1524 mm.

The Holley motorette was an advanced design with front engine stopped, chain drive to the rear axle, a steering wheel and an attached front under the chassis coil condenser . The shaft for cranking the engine was passed through the radiator, the position of which allowed the use of a "French" bonnet . Such "shovel noses" had, among others, CGV or Mors ; in the more well-known Renault or Clément-Bayard , the radiator is behind the engine, but in front of the bulkhead. Depending on the source, the Holley cost a moderate US $ 550 or 650.

Despite this low price, attention was paid to details. There were many trim parts made of bare brass, for example on the bonnet. Around 150 motorettes had been built by 1904 .

Carburetor

The Holley brothers were busy improving the vulnerable carburetors. On a trip to Europe, George Holley secured the representation of the leading French Longuemare carburetors, which were also common in the USA, as well as the license to reproduce them. In addition to the automobile business, the brothers began selling carburetors to automobile manufacturers, for example for the early Oldsmobile Curved Dash , Ford , Buick , Pierce-Arrow and Winton . Packard, however, relied on Longuemare carburetors for years.

Kit car

This area developed so well that the brothers decided to give up the less lucrative vehicle construction. They sold the Holley Motor Company to a group of local businessmen in 1904 . These changed the company's name to Bradford Motor Works and sold the motorettes as Bradford . Their new strategy was to offer the vehicle as a kit car . However, the interest seems to have been limited to dismantling the stock of ingredients; the Bradford disappeared from the market in 1905.

Motorcycles were built until 1911 and were also improved during this time, for example in 1905 a new frame with an engine placed further forward and a new front fork .

The Holleys invested the proceeds from the company in the Holley Carburator Company , which was founded in 1903 and built its first large plant in Detroit (Michigan) in 1907. The company still exists today as Holley Performance Products .

Holley vehicles today

About 150 Holley Motorettes and 450 Bradford were built. An unused motorette was found in mint condition on a farm in Maryland in the 1940s . Probably the only one of its kind still in existence, the vehicle is owned by Holley Performance Products and is on display at their Bowling Green, Kentucky headquarters .

literature

  • Mirco de Cet: Illustrated Directory of Motorcycles. Motorbooks International, 2002, ISBN 0-7603-1417-9 . (English)
  • Beverly Rae Kimes (Ed.), Henry Austin Clark Jr.: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI 1996, ISBN 0-87341-428-4 . (English)
  • Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly. Americana Review, Scotia NY January 1904. (English)
  • Beverly Rae Kimes: Pioneers, Engineers, and Scoundrels: The Dawn of the Automobile in America. SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Permissions, Warrendale PA 2005, ISBN 0-7680-1431-X . (English)
  • James J. Flink: America Adopts the Automobile - 1895-1910. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1970, ISBN 0-262-06036-1 . (English)
  • David Beecroft: History of the American Automobile Industry. A series of articles reprinted in The Automobile magazine . first published between October 1915 and August 1916. Publisher: lulu.com, 2009, ISBN 978-0-557-05575-3 . (English)
  • George Nick Georgano (Ed.): Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present. 2nd Edition. Dutton Press, New York 1973, ISBN 0-525-08351-0 . (English)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e de Cet: Illustrated Directory of Motorcycles. 2002, pp. 202-203.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Kimes (1996), p. 708.
  3. ↑ Kimes (1996), p. 140.
  4. ↑ a b c Holley Motor Company Historical Marker . ExplorePAhistory.com
  5. ↑ Motorcycle history Part 2 . motorcycle.com
  6. ↑ a b Motorcycles Chapter 1 . statnekov.com
  7. ↑ a b c d Holley Carborator Co. smethporthistory.org
  8. ^ Antique Motorcycles: Charles Metz & Waltham Mfg. theworldofmotorcycles.com
  9. ↑ a b c Ancêtres / Holley . trombinoscar.com
  10. ^ Corporate / History . holley.com