Kessler Motor Company

Kessler Motor Company
legal form	Company
founding	1917
resolution	1927
Seat	Detroit , United States
management	Martin C. Kessler William H. Radford HH Scott
Branch	Engine manufacturers , automakers

The Kessler Motor Company was a short-lived American manufacturer of aircraft engines and automobiles . The brand name for engines and automobiles was Kessler ; for some vehicles also Kess-Line .

Company history

Martin C. Kessler designed the first automobile engine in 1907 for the Chandler Motor Car Company in Cleveland, Ohio . He then worked as a freelance consulting engineer. In 1917, after several attempts, he founded the Kessler Motor Company in Detroit . The company supplied engines for fighter jets to the US government . It is unclear whether it was affiliated with the Liberty program . Kessler was President and CEO of the company. William H. Radford was appointed chief engineer and vice president .

Automobile manufacturing

The armament orders ceased with the end of the First World War . Like many similar companies, the Kessler Motor Company came to the automotive industry by searching for other products. The first model, the Kessler Super-Charge Four, was announced in January 1920 and was shown at the Detroit Auto Show in February .

The super-charge engine

A technically interesting engine was prepared for the Kessler automobile, the design of which was subsequently claimed by both Kessler and Radford. It was a two-liter four-cylinder in - line engine with an integrated compressor . The innovative approach was to integrate a compression chamber in the crankcase ; the pressure was built up by the downward movement of the pistons . The specified output was more than a respectable 70 bhp (52.2 kW); as much as a Bugatti Type 35 in the basic version. The Ford Model T developed 20 bhp (15 kW). In advertising, it was important to Kessler that his engine produced hardly any carbon residue.

Models

Kessler Super Charge Four

Apart from the engine, the Kessler Super-Charge was a very conventionally built passenger car. According to the possibilities of the manufacturer, it was a ready-made automobile that was built from purchased and coordinated components. The chassis consisted of a ladder frame with rigid axles at the front and rear. The wheelbase was 117 inches (2972 mm). Outwardly, the Super-Charge Four , which was only available as a Touring, was a smooth copy of the Packard Single Six that had just been introduced , with a clear output (Packard: 52 bhp / 38.8 kW) and a tight wheelbase (Packard: 116 in. / 2946 mm). The Touring Single Six cost US $ 3,640 when it was launched (price reductions followed quickly), the Kessler Super-Charge Four a moderate US $ 1995. Nevertheless, the Super-Charge Four flopped heavily; 16 vehicles had just been built by the end of 1921. The reasons are unclear, but it seems reasonable to assume that the cause is to be found in the engine.

Kess-Line Motors Company

Kessler had not given up engine construction. When it came to a successor to the hapless Super-Charge Four, the Kess-Line Motors Company was set up as a subsidiary to manufacture it and a new brand name was introduced with Kess-Line . Again, Kessler served as President and CEO and Radford as Chief Engineer and Vice President. Chief Financial Officer and Secretary was HH Scott , of the Co. Fisher Body came. A new production facility was found and rented on the former premises of the Liberty Motor Car Company in Detroit. Kessler must have had high expectations for his new product; in its prime (1921) no fewer than 21,000 Liberty six-cylinders had been sold; these systems were therefore much too big for Kessler.

The Kess-Line 8 also made extensive use of the competition; The bonnet and radiator grille looked very similar to those of the much more expensive Lincoln Model L. Unlike the massive Lincoln, the Kess-Line has sportier lines with “helmet-shaped” fenders (close to the wheel and protruding below; the profile is reminiscent of an antique helmet). Instead of running boards , there was a nickel-plated step to each of the four doors of the vehicle, which was still only offered as a Touring. The radiator grille was also nickel-plated. The engine was now an in-line eight-cylinder with 100 bhp (74.6 kW) power. That was a very high figure, which was only exceeded by a few production vehicles of the time, such as the aforementioned Bugatti Type 35 in the supercharged version or the Mercedes 24/100/140 hp . In the USA only vehicles like the small-scale Porter (125 bhp) achieved similar values; local luxury cars produced around 80 to 90 bhp.

• Lincoln Model L : 81 bhp (60 kW); side-controlled V8 engine with a displacement of 5.8 liters
• Packard Twin Six : 88 bhp (65.6 kW); side-controlled V12 engine with a displacement of 6.8 liters
• Duesenberg Model A : 88 bhp (65.6 kW); Overhead steering in-line eight-cylinder engine with 4.3 liter displacement
• Daniel's Model D: 90 bhp (67.1 kW); side-controlled V8 engine with a displacement of 6.6 liters
• Locomobile Model 48: 95 bhp (70.8 kW); Six-cylinder T-head engine with a displacement of 8.5 liters

The Kess-Line 8 did not meet expectations either; only 12 vehicles were built, according to an older source only one.

Survival without automobile construction

After that, Kessler gave up car manufacturing. Radford went to California to prepare the production of the Balboa with a Kessler eight-cylinder engine; this project, however, did not get beyond the prototype stage . No other applications of the super-charge engine are known.

How long the company existed after that is also not known. It is documented until at least 1927. Martin Kessler took over financially when he developed a ten-cylinder automobile in the 1930s.

Model overview

construction time	model	Cyl.	Cubic capacity cm³	Power bhp / kW	Wheelbase in. / Mm	body	List price
1920-1921	Kessler Super Charge Four	R4	2000	70 / 52.2	117/2972	Touring	US $ 1995
1922	Kess-Line 8	R8		100 / 74.6	119/3023	Touring	US $ 2195
1924-1925	Balboa Eight	R8	2917	100 / 74.6	127/3226	Touring	US $ 2900

literature

• Beverly Rae Kimes (Editor) and Henry Austin Clark, Jr. "The Standard Catalog of American Cars", 2nd edition, Krause Publications, Iola WI 54990, USA (1985), ISBN 0-87341-111-0 .
• Beverly Rae Kimes (Editor), Henry Austin Clark Jr.: Standard Catalogs of American Cars 1805–1942. 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI (1996), ISBN 978-0-87341-428-9 ISBN 0-87341-428-4 . (English).
• George Nick Georgano (Editor): Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present ; Dutton Press, New York, 2nd edition (hardcover) 1973, ISBN 0-525-08351-0 (English).
• Beverly Rae Kimes: Pioneers, Engineers, and Scoundrels: The Dawn of the Automobile in America ; Published by SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Permissions, Warrendale PA (2005), ISBN 0-7680-1431-X (English).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Kimes / Clark: Standard Catalog (1996), p. 804
2. ^ Georgano: Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present (1973), p. 123
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Kimes / Clark: Standard Catalog (1996), p. 101
4. ↑ ^{a b} Kimes / Clark: Standard Catalog (1996), p. 804; Fig.
5. ↑ Kimes / Clark: Standard Catalog (1996), p. 1116, fig.
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Kimes / Clark: Standard Catalog (1996), p. 1116
7. ↑ Kimes / Clark: Standard Catalog (1996), p. 864
8. ↑ Kimes / Clark: Standard Catalog (1996), p. 868, fig.
9. ↑ Kimes / Clark: Standard Catalog (1996), p. 1238
10. ↑ Kimes / Clark: Standard Catalog (1996), p. 497
11. ↑ Kimes / Clark: Standard Catalog (1996), p. 413
12. ^ Georgano: Complete Encyclopedia (1973), p. 437
13. ^ Georgano: Complete Encyclopedia (1973), p. 403

Remarks

1. ↑ It can be assumed that this engine largely corresponded to that of the Balboa Eight with 2917 cm³