Rainier Motor Car Company

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Rainier Motor Car Company

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1905
resolution 1909 (brand until 1911)
Reason for dissolution Merger under General Motors
Seat Flushing ( New York ), Saginaw ( Michigan ), USA
management John T. Rainier , Charles W. Nash
Branch Passenger cars

The Rainier Motor Car Company was an American manufacturer of luxury automobiles active between 1905 and 1909. Vehicles of this brand were built until 1911.

description

Founded in 1905 by John T. Rainier in Flushing , New York , the company specialized in the construction of representative automobiles. The company was initially housed in John Rainier's agency for Vehicle Equipment (VE) automobiles.

The Rainier automobiles were developed by chief designer James G. Heaslet, who remained loyal to the company throughout the production period. Rainiers were large, conventional, solidly built automobiles with high performance. Therefore, they were able to achieve some local successes in "Hill Climbs" and mountain races. Rainier was one of the very first automotive companies to give a one-year guarantee on “use without repair costs”.

Initially, only the final assembly of the Rainier automobiles took place in Flushing. The chassis came from the Garford Company of Elyria , Ohio . This company also supplied a number of other manufacturers; her most important partner was Studebaker . In mid-1907 it became apparent that the collaboration between Garford and Studebaker would deepen and that Garford would subsequently fail as a supplier for chassis due to insufficient capacities. So John Rainier decided to build his vehicles completely himself from now on. To this end , new manufacturing facilities were built in Saginaw , Michigan , an early center of automobile production, and put into operation for the 1908 model year.

Rainier Model A 22-28 HP Touring (1906)

A brief but severe economic crisis in November 1907 hit the company at the worst possible moment. After the production of around 300 Rainier in Saginaw, it had to file for bankruptcy in November 1908 because, as a result of the high investments in the production facilities, there was a lack of cash even for materials and wages. It was doubly bitter that, according to the company's own statements, the company's assets always exceeded its liabilities. On January 25, 1909, the plant was auctioned. The bid went to attorney George C. Comstock for $ 20,000, who tried to save the company on behalf of John Rainier. However, the additional funds required did not come together, so that the project had to be abandoned. In May of the same year, William Durant took over the company for General Motors .

A new company, the Marquette Motor Company , was founded in Saginaw for the purpose of continuing to produce the Rainier on the one hand and manufacturing components for the GM luxury brands Welch and Welch-Detroit on the other . Their management was controlled by the Buick management under Charles W. Nash (1864-1948). In September 1910, however, there was a momentous change in power at GM: Founder William Durant had to leave the company after it got into financial difficulties with numerous company acquisitions due to his expansion policy. The new GM management pursued a consolidation course to which many group brands fell victim. For Rainier, however, this change in strategy did not mean the end. Until the end of 1911, attempts were made to make the brand successful again. When this did not succeed, the production of the Rainier and Welch-Detroit in Saginaw was merged. For this purpose, machines and tools for the production of the Welch-Detroit had to be transferred from Pontiac (Michigan) to Rainier.

Last Rainier logo, ca.1912

As a result, two new models were created, which both combined elements of the last Rainier (Model F, 50 HP) as well as the Welch-Detroit (Model S, 45/50 HP). But they were sold as Marquette 40 HP and 45 HP. At $ 3,000 and $ 4,000, sales prices were on par with the previous brands. After the very last models had been marketed as Peninsulars, production finally ended at the end of 1912.

John Rainier founded in 1916 in New York City , the Rainier Motor Corporation for the production of commercial vehicles and in particular lighter trucks . After a reorganization, the company existed as Rainer Trucks, Inc. in Flushing until 1927.

Buick commemorated this pioneering brand in 2007–2008 with the Rainier SUV model .

Model overview 1905–1911

construction time model Cubic capacity ci Cubic capacity cm³ Wheelbase (inch) Wheelbase (mm) body List price US $
1905-1906 Model A
22/28 HP		 226.2 3707 98 2489 Touring, 5-pass. 3500
1906 Model B
30/35 HP		 297.9 4882 104 2642 Town Car , 7-pass. 4000
1907 Model C
30/35 HP		 297.9 4882 104 2642 Touring, 5-pass. 4250
1907 Model C
30/35 HP		 297.9 4882 104 2642 Landaulet , 7-pass. 4250
1908-1909 Model D
40/50 HP		 412.3 6756 104 2642 Touring, 5-pass. 4500
1908-1909 Model D
40/50 HP		 412.3 6756 104 2642 Limousine, 7-pass. 5500
1910 Model F
50 HP		 412.3 6756 119 3023 Enclosed Touring, 7-pass. 4500
1910 Model F
50 HP		 412.3 6756 119 3023 Touring, 7-pass. 4500
1910 Model F
50 HP		 412.3 6756 119 3023 Baby tonneau, 5-pass. 4500
1910 Model F
50 HP		 412.3 6756 119 3023 Close-Coupled Touring, 5-pass. 4500
1910 Model F
50 HP		 412.3 6756 119 3023 Limousine, 7-pass. 5750
1910 Model F
50 HP		 412.3 6756 119 3023 Landaulet, 7-pass. 5850
1911 Model F
50 HP		 412.3 6756 120 3048 Roadster, 2-pass. 4250
1911 Model F
50 HP		 412.3 6756 120 3048 Close-Coupled Touring, 4-pass. 4250
1911 Model F
50 HP		 412.3 6756 120 3048 Special Touring, 7-pass. 4250
1911 Model F
50 HP		 412.3 6756 120 3048 Regulation touring, 7-pass. 4500
1911 Model F
50 HP		 412.3 6756 120 3048 Close-Coupled Touring, 5-pass. 4500
1911 Model F
50 HP		 412.3 6756 120 3048 Limousine, 7-pass. 4600
1911 Model F
50 HP		 412.3 6756 120 3048 Landaulet, 7-pass. 4600

All data in the table unless otherwise noted: Beverly Rae Kimes / Henry Austin Clark jr .: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI (1996); Pp. 1258-1259

Remarks

  1. ↑ calculated

literature

  • 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 (Editor), Henry Austin Clark Jr.: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805–1942. 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI (1996), ISBN 978-0-87341-428-9 ISBN 0-87341-428-4 . (English)
  • [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 & Co Inc (2013); ISBN 0-78647-136-0 ; ISBN 978-078647-136-2 ; soft cover] (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 (hardcover). (English)
  • James J. Flink: America Adopts the Automobile - 1895-1910 , MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), 1970. ISBN 0-262 06036-1 (hardcover). (English)
  • GN Georgano (Editor), G. Marshall Naul: Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles ; MBI Motor Books International, Osceola WI (1979); ISBN 0-87341-024-6 ; Hardcover
  • Albert Mroz: Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks and Commercial Vehicles ; Krause Publications, Iola WI (1996); ISBN 0-87341-368-7 ; ISBN 978-0-87341-368-8 ; Softcover (english)
  • John Gunnell (Editor): American Work Trucks: A Pictorial History of Commercial Trucks, 1900-1994 ; Krause Publications, Iola WI (1994); ISBN 0-87341-290-7 ; ISBN 978-0-87341-290-2 ; Softcover (english)

Web links

Commons : Rainier Motor Car Company  - Collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Kimes / Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 (1996), pp. 1258-1259
  2. ↑ Georgiano / Naul: Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles (1979) 508
  3. ^ Dluhy: American Automobiles of the Brass Era (2013); P. 112