Matheson Automobile Company

Matheson Motor Car Company ; Matheson Automobile Company
legal form	Company
founding	1903
resolution	1913
Seat	Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania , USA
Branch	Automobiles

Matheson Automobile Company , previously Matheson Motor Car Company , was an American manufacturer of automobiles .

Company history

The Matheson factory at Forty Fort, 1911

The brothers Charles Walter and Frank F. Matheson founded the Matheson Motor Car Company in 1903 . The headquarters were initially in Grand Rapids , Michigan . They bought the Holyoke Automobile Company and also took over its designer Charles G. Greuter. They started producing automobiles in the same year. The brand name was Matheson . 60 vehicles were built in the first twelve months.

In 1904 they moved to Holyoke , Massachusetts and in March 1906 to the Wyoming Valley , Pennsylvania : a factory was built in Forty Fort , while offices were set up in the new Second National Bank building in downtown Wilkes-Barre . Around 300 vehicles were built in 1907. After Greuter left in 1908, first LD Kenan and then AM Dean was the designer. In 1909 around 400 people were employed. Financial problems led to the first bankruptcy in July 1910 , the name change to Matheson Automobile Company in November 1910 and the second bankruptcy in December 1912.

Production ended in 1912. A total of around 900 vehicles were built. In 1913 the company was dissolved.

vehicles

All vehicles up to 1908 had a four-cylinder engine . Then six-cylinder engines were added. The four-cylinder models were discontinued last year. Initially, chain drives were used. The six-cylinder models had cardan drive and so did the last four-cylinder models from 1910.

From 1903 to 1904 there was the 24 HP . The engine developed 24 hp . The chassis had a wheelbase of 244 cm . The structure was an open touring car with seven seats.

In 1905, the wheelbase of this model was extended to 269 cm. Also appeared with the same wheelbase as a seven-seat sedan of 40 HP with a 40 HP engine.

In 1906 there was the 40/45 HP with a 284 cm wheelbase and the 60/65 HP with a 300 cm wheelbase. They were bodied as seven-seater touring cars.

In 1907 the range consisted of the 35 HP with 312 cm wheelbase and the 50 HP with 328 cm wheelbase. Runabouts with two seats as well as touring cars, limousines and landaulets with seven seats each were available. A 60 HP is also mentioned as a touring car.

In 1908 the offer was limited to the medium model. The wheelbase was shortened to 325 cm. The body range remained unchanged.

In 1909 it became the Four . The landaulet was omitted. The Six was new with a six-cylinder engine that also developed 50 hp. The wheelbase was a little shorter at 319 cm. Only touring cars with five and seven seats have survived.

1910 there was the four-cylinder model Model E . The roadster fell away. The six-cylinder model was called Model M. There was a choice of Toy Tonneau with four and five seats, touring cars with five seats and sedans with seven seats.

In 1911 the four-cylinder model was called the Big Four . The touring car, toy tonneau, limousine and landaulet bodies each offered space for seven people. The six-cylinder model became the Silent Six . Are called Model 18 as a five-seater touring cars and as viersitziger Toy Tonneau and model 23 as a six-seater saloon. There was also the Model 18 with a 343 cm wheelbase as a touring car.

In 1912, both wheelbases were known for the Silent Six . On offer were an open touring , five- and seven-seat touring car with front doors, four-seat toy tonneau, two-seat speedster , six-seat sedan, six-seat landaulet, seven-seat demi-sedan with front doors, seven-seat sedan with front doors, two-seat roadster, four-seat cruiser and one another seven-seater sedan.

Model overview

year	model	execution	cylinder	Power ( hp )	Wheelbase (cm)	construction
1903-1904	24 HP		4th	24	244	7-seater touring car
1905	24HP		4th	24	269	7-seater touring car
1905	40 HP		4th	40	269	7-seater sedan
1906	40/45 HP		4th	40/45	284	7-seater touring car
1906	60/65 HP		4th	60/65	300	7-seater touring car
1907	35 HP		4th	35	312	2-seater runabout, 7-seater touring car, 7-seater sedan, 7-seater landaulet
1907	50 HP		4th	50	328	2-seater runabout, 7-seater touring car, 7-seater sedan, 7-seater landaulet
1907	60 HP			60		Touring car
1908	50 HP		4th	50	325	7-seater touring car, 2-seater runabout, 7-seater sedan, 7-seater landaulet
1909	Four		4th	50	325	7-seater touring car, 2-seater roadster, 7-seater sedan
1909	Six		6th	50	319	5-seater and 7-seater touring cars
1910	Model E.		4th	50	325	7-seater touring car, 7-seater sedan
1910	Model M		6th	50	319	Toy Tonneau 4-seat and 5-seat, touring car 5-seat, sedan 7-seat
1911	Big Four		4th	50	325	7-seater touring car, 7-seater toy tonneau, 7-seater sedan, 7-seater landaulet
1911	Silent Six	Model 18	6th	50	319	5-seater touring car, 4-seater Toy Tonneau
1911	Silent Six	Model 18	6th	50	343	Touring car
1911	Silent Six	Model 23	6th	50	319	6-seater sedan
1912	Silent Six		6th	50	319 and 343	Open touring cars, Fore-Door touring cars 5-seat and 7-seat, Toy Tonneau 4-seat, Speedster 2-seat, Sedan 6-seat, Landaulet 6-seat, Fore-Door demi-sedan 7-seat, Fore-Door sedan 7-seater, roadster 2-seater, cruiser 4-seater, sedan 7-seater

Motorsport

The vehicles were also used in motorsport. The drivers named are Louis Chevrolet , Ralph DePalma , Frank Lescault and Ralph Mongini .

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. 937-939 (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. 971 (English).

Web links

Commons : Matheson Automobile Company - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ 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. 937-939 (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. 971 (English).
^ Elena Castrignano: Wilkes-Barre (Postcard History Series) . 1st edition. Arcadia Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4396-3581-0 (English): “The manufacturing plant was in Forty Fort, but the main offices took up the entire top floor of what was the Second National Bank on the corner of North Franklin and West Market Streets (in Wilkes-Barre). ”

[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. 937-939 (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. 971 (English).

[3] Elena Castrignano: Wilkes-Barre (Postcard History Series) . 1st edition. Arcadia Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4396-3581-0 (English): “The manufacturing plant was in Forty Fort, but the main offices took up the entire top floor of what was the Second National Bank on the corner of North Franklin and West Market Streets (in Wilkes-Barre). ”