Marathon Motor Works

Southern Motor Works ; Marathon Motor Works
legal form
founding	1908
resolution	1918
Seat	Nashville , Tennessee , USA
Branch	Automobiles

The Marathon Motor Works

marathon

Marathon Motor Works , previously Southern Motor Works , was an American manufacturer of automobiles .

prehistory

The origins lie in the Southern Engine & Boiler Works, founded in Jackson , Tennessee in 1884 . Around 1900 300 people were employed. From this time on, engines were made . In 1906 experiments with automobiles began. William Henry Collier was the designer. According to a source, the first vehicles were built in 1907.

Company history

Southern Motor Works was founded in 1908 in the same place. In that year the production of automobiles began. The brand names were Southern and Marathon . In 1910 the company moved to Nashville , Tennessee and renamed itself Marathon Motor Works . The Southern brand name has been dropped.

In May 1914 there were financial difficulties. Driggs-Seabury Ordnance Company filed for bankruptcy due to outstanding debts of nearly $ 9,000 . The application was rejected. Nevertheless, vehicle production ended in 1914. The Herff-Brooks Corporation took over the machines. The company was dissolved around 1918.

vehicles

All vehicles had a four-cylinder engine . They differed in terms of engine power, wheelbase and bodies.

The Model C existed from 1908 to 1909 . The engine was specified with 30/35 hp . The chassis had a wheelbase of 274 cm. There was a choice of touring cars with five seats, Tourabouts with four seats and roadsters with three and four seats.

Model 10 as a roadster and Model M-10 as a touring car followed in 1910 . The engine developed 30 hp. The wheelbase was 284 cm.

In 1911 it became the 35 HP . The engine output had been increased to 35 hp. Touring cars, roadsters, another touring car with front doors and a torpedo roadster had 295 cm wheelbase. There was also a torpedo touring car with a 305 cm wheelbase.

In 1912 there were four models in the range. In the K-20 model , the engine produced 20 hp. Roadsters with 229 cm wheelbase and roadsters with front doors and 244 cm wheelbase have been handed down. The L-30 model had a 30 horsepower engine. The wheelbase was 295 cm. A touring car with front doors and a torpedo roadster were available. In the M-40 model , the engine developed 35 hp. The wheelbase was 305 cm. The choices were torpedoes, touring cars with front doors and roadsters. The top model was the N-50 . The engine was specified with 45 hp. The chassis had a 314 cm wheelbase. In addition to touring cars with front doors and a roadster, there was a sedan for the first time .

From 1913 different models were Series divided. The Runner Series was the cheapest model. The data were 25 HP engine power and 264 cm wheelbase. The vehicles were bodied as a light delivery van , two-seat roadster, five-seat touring car and two-seat coupe . The Winner Series had a 35 hp engine and a 295 cm wheelbase chassis. The range of bodies corresponded to the smaller model, apart from the lack of the van. In the Champion Series the engine developed 45 hp. The wheelbase was 312 cm. In addition to a roadster with two seats, there were touring cars with five and seven seats.

In 1914 a change concerned the extension of the wheelbase of the two smaller models by 5 cm. All models were available as touring cars and roadsters.

Model overview

year	model	cylinder	Power ( hp )	Wheelbase (cm)	construction
1908-1909	Model C	4th	30/35	274	Touring car 5-seat, Tourabout 4-seat, Roadster 3-seat and 4-seat
1910	Model 10	4th	30th	284	Roadster
1910	Model M-10	4th	30th	284	Touring car
1911	35 HP	4th	35	295	Touring Cars, Roadsters, Fore-Door Touring Cars, Torpedo Roadsters
1911	35 HP	4th	35	305	Torpedo touring car
1912	Model K-20	4th	20th	229	Roadster
1912	Model K-20	4th	20th	244	Fore-Door Roadster
1912	Model L-30	4th	30th	295	Fore-door touring car, torpedo roadster
1912	Model M-40	4th	35	305	Torpedo, Fore-Door Touring Car, Roadster
1912	Model N-50	4th	45	314	Fore-door touring cars, roadsters, limousines
1913	Runner Series	4th	25th	264	light delivery van, roadster 2-seater, touring car 5-seater, coupé 2-seater
1913	Winner Series	4th	35	295	Roadster 2-seater, touring car 5-seater, Coupé 3-seater
1913	Champion Series	4th	45	312	Roadster 2-seater, touring car 5-seater and 7-seater
1914	Runner Series	4th	25th	269	Touring cars, roadsters
1914	Winner Series	4th	35	300	Touring cars, roadsters
1914	Champion Series	4th	45	312	Touring cars, roadsters

Production numbers

According to one source, 20 vehicles were built in 1907, while other sources put production starting in 1908. 200 vehicles have survived for 1908 and 400 for the following year. The capacity was 800 vehicles in 1909 and 1500 in the next year, although it remains unclear how many were actually produced. Plans for 1912 were 3,600 vehicles and 5,000 thereafter.

According to a source, a vehicle still exists. Another source has knowledge of a 1912 touring car in the Barry Walker Marathon Village & Museum and a few more. A vehicle in need of restoration is said to be in Argentina and a dismantled one in Australia. There are three vehicles on the museum website, not all of which are complete.

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. 920-921 and p. 1361 (English).
George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . Volume 2: G-O . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , pp. 947 (English).

Web links

Commons : Marathon Motor Works - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Richard: Marathon Village & Museum. Home of American Pickers. From April 21, 2019. (English)
Marathon Village (English)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b 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. 920-921 (English).
↑ George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . Volume 2: G-O . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , pp. 947 (English).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Automobile Quarterly Volume 31, Issue 2, pp. 5–21.
↑ 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. 1361 (English).

[Kimes-1] 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. 920-921 (English).

[Beaulieu-2] George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . Volume 2: G-O . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , pp. 947 (English).

[AQ-3] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Automobile Quarterly Volume 31, Issue 2, pp. 5–21.

[Kimes-Southern-4] 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. 1361 (English).