Owen Magnetic

Emblem on the grille

Owen Magnetic from 1916 in the Tupelo Automobile Museum

Owen Magnetic Model M-25 from 1916 in the Louwman Museum

Owen Magnetic was an American automobile brand.

Brand history

Justus Bulkley Entz had worked on an electromagnetic gear for many years and received a patent as early as 1898 . In 1914 he founded the Entz Motor Car Corporation in New York City . He made an automobile . RM Owen & Company , a New York City car dealership , presented the vehicle at the New York Automobile Show in January 1914. Entz was planned as the brand name . Series production did not succeed.

RM Owen & Company bought the patent rights to the gearbox. Further development work followed. In January 1915, the vehicle was displayed as Owen Magnetic at the New York Automobile Show . Series production began. Rauch & Lang from Cleveland in Ohio initially manufactured the bodies .

During 1916, it emerged that Owen's New York City facility was unsuitable for production. Now the Baker Motor Vehicle Company manufactured the vehicles. The bodies continued to come from Rauch & Lang. Owen drove the wagons away.

Relations with Baker and Rauch & Lang ended in mid-1919. Now the Owen Magnetic Automobile Company was the manufacturer. Production took place from March 1920 at a plant of the International Fabricating Company in Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania , and final assembly in the former Matheson Automobile Company plant in Forty Fort , also in Pennsylvania. The Ohio Body & Blower Company from Cleveland, Ohio made the bodies.

The bankruptcy began in August 1920 . In 1921 the name was changed to Owen Magnetic Motor Car Corporation . In November 1921, parts of the company were auctioned. In March 1922 the final end came.

Deering Magnetic used power transmission. For export to the United Kingdom , the vehicles were given the brand name Crown Magnetic .

vehicles

The vehicles had a six-cylinder engine - gasoline engine . The special feature was the power transmission. The transmission was switched electromagnetically. The elements of power transmission were also used to start the engine, drive the electrical components and charge the battery .

In 1915 there was only the 34 HP . The side valve engine came from Buda . 95.25 mm bore and 139.7 mm stroke resulted in 5972 cm³ displacement . The engine was specified with 34 hp. The chassis had a wheelbase of 345 cm . There was a choice of an open touring car with seven seats and a roadster with two seats.

Between 1916 and 1917 there were two models in the range. The M-25 model was the smaller one. The type 6 N engine came from the Continental Motors Company . It had a displacement of 4969 cc. It was specified with 29 hp, but made 45 hp. The wheelbase was 318 cm. Touring cars with five seats, limousines , coupés , town cars and landaulets are named . The model O-36 was slightly larger. His data were 34 hp and a 345 cm wheelbase. It was available as a touring car with four and seven seats, a Cloverleaf roadster with three seats, a sedan, a landaulet and a Holbrook sports touring car.

Three models have survived for the period from 1918 to 1919, but no superstructures. The 40 HP had a 40 HP engine and 361 cm wheelbase. The 43.2 HP was a little more powerful with 43.2 HP, but only had a 325 cm wheelbase. There was also the Model O with 34 hp and 345 cm wheelbase. One of the first two models was named W-42 according to another source and had a Weidely Motors Company engine with overhead valve timing and 6798 cc.

From 1920 to 1921 the range was limited to the 70 HP . The engine developed 70 hp. The wheelbase was 361 cm. There was a choice of touring cars with four and seven seats, coupés with four seats and two different sedans with seven seats.

Model overview

year	model	cylinder	Power ( hp )	Wheelbase (cm)	construction
1915	34 HP	6th	34	345	7-seater touring car, 2-seater roadster
1916-1917	Model M-25	6th	29	318	5-seater touring car, limousine, coupé, town car, landaulet
1916-1917	Model O-36	6th	34	345	4-seater and 7-seater touring cars, 3-seater Cloverleaf Roadster, sedan, Landaulet, Holbrook Sport touring car
1918-1919	40 HP	6th	40	361
1918-1919	43.2 HP	6th	43.2	325
1918-1919	Model O	6th	34	345
1920-1921	70 HP	6th	70	361	4-seater and 7-seater touring cars, 4-seater coupé, 7-seater sedan

Source:

Production numbers

One source names exactly 974 vehicles. A second source gives the annual production figures, which also add up to 974. But there is also the indication that only about 700 vehicles are said to have been built.

year	Production number
1915	250
1916	156
1917	173
1918	127
1919	163
1920	78
1921	27
total	974

Received vehicles

One source says there are only four vehicles left. Another gives 15 vehicles.

A light-colored touring car model O-36 from 1916 with wire- spoke wheels, which was exhibited in the Tupelo Automobile Museum , and which was auctioned on April 27, 2019 for 115,288 euros , is known.

Another light-colored touring car from the Nethercutt Collection , model M-25 from 1917 with wooden spoked wheels , was auctioned for $ 44,000 in 2011 .

A dark model M-25 from 1916 is in the Louwman Museum .

Jay Leno owns a 1916 blue vehicle.

A classic vehicle dealer sold an unrestored 1917 Model M-25 in dark color.

A dark vehicle from 1915 is in the Henry Ford Museum .

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. 1100-1102 (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. 1164-1165 (English).

Web links

Commons : Owen Magnetic  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} 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. 1100-1102 (English).
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} 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. 1164-1165 (English).
3. ^ Robert D. Dluhy: American Automobiles of the Brass Era. Essential Specifications of 4,000+ Gasoline Powered Passenger Cars, 1906-1915, with a Statistical and Historical Overview. McFarland & Company, Jefferson NC 2013, ISBN 978-0-7864-7136-2 , p. 105.
4. ↑ Marián Šuman-Hreblay: Automobile Manufacturers Worldwide Registry . McFarland & Company, London 2000, ISBN 978-0-7864-0972-3 , pp. 218 (English).
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Conceptcarz (English, accessed May 25, 2019)
6. ↑ Stuart W. Wells: Automobile Quarterly Volume 36, Issue 3.
7. ↑ Auction 2019 (accessed on May 25, 2019)
8. ↑ Auction 2011 (accessed on May 25, 2019)
9. ↑ Auction 2017 (accessed May 25, 2019)
10. ↑ Popular Mechanics (accessed May 25, 2019)
11. ↑ Offer from a dealer for classic vehicles (accessed on May 25, 2019)
12. ^ The Henry Ford (accessed May 25, 2019)