Reber Manufacturing Company

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Reber Manufacturing Company

logo
legal form Company
founding 1902
resolution 1903
Reason for dissolution Reorganized as:
Acme Motor Car Company (Pennsylvania)
Seat Reading , Pennsylvania , USA
management James C. Reber
Branch Automobiles

The Reber Manufacturing Company was an American manufacturer of automobiles .

prehistory

James C. Reber founded the Acme Manufacturing Company in 1892 to manufacture Acme and Stormer branded bicycles .

In 1900 Reber began to experiment with an automobile he had designed. Apparently he planned to set up an automobile factory early on, because the Reber Manufacturing Company was an offshoot of the Acme Manufacturing Company . This in turn was sold to the bicycle holding company American Bicycle Company (ABC) by Albert Augustus Pope , who sought a monopoly . A date for the sale is not available, but ABC only existed from the end of 1899 to 1901. After all, the establishment of Reber's motor vehicle department can be set to the year 1900 or 1901.

Company history

1902 Reber Type IV Model A rear entrance Tonneau (1902).
This 1903 Acme Motor Car Company advertisement advertises the Reber for 1904. Actual production can only be verified until 1903.

The company was not formally founded until 1902. Unhappy with his prototype , Reber sought technical assistance from James Heaslet , an engineer he had poached from the Autocar Company in Ardmore, Pennsylvania . The Type IV, Model A , which then came on the market, had a two-cylinder engine of unknown origin and a "French" style hood, which at the time meant a forward sloping hood. The structure is described as a five-seat tonneau with rear entry to the rear. Images show great similarity with the Autocar Type VII . From them it can also be deduced that the Reber had water cooling ; the cooler is clearly visible in front of the front axle. This construction corresponds to that of contemporary Darracq , De Dion-Bouton or CGV ; at Renault , the radiator was always located behind the engine. Unfortunately, further technical information is missing. With a sales price of US $ 1,800, the vehicle was in the upper end of its market segment.

Soon Reber changed his mind. He brought in Viktor Jakob an engineer from Daimler from Germany and set up the Acme Motor Car Company in June 1903 . The new company sold the Reber for a short time and switched to the models developed by Jakob in 1904. It is conceivable that the Reber should initially continue to be built as a supplement to the larger Acme 16 hp; however, the sources speak of the end of production in 1903.

Model overview

construction time model cylinder Power ( hp ) construction List price
1902 Reber 12 HP 2 12 Rear Entrance Tonneau 5-seater US $ 1,800.00

literature

  • George Nick Georgano (Ed.): Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present. Dutton Press, New York, 2nd Edition, 1973; ISBN 0-525-08351-0 .
  • Beverly Rae Kimes (ed.), Henry Austin Clark Jr.: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI; 1996; ISBN 978-0-87341-428-9 .
  • Albert Mroz: Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks and Commercial Vehicles. Krause Publications, Iola WI, 1996; ISBN 0-87341-368-7 .

Web links

Commons : Reber Manufacturing Company  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Georgano: Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present. 1973, p. 75.
  2. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, pp. 15-16 (Acme).
  3. ↑ a b Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, p. 1270 (Reber).
  4. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, p. 84 (Autocar Type VII).