Stilson Motor Car Company

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Stilson Motor Car Company
legal form Company
founding 1907
resolution 1910
Reason for dissolution insolvency
Seat Pittsfield , Massachusetts , USA
management Harry M. Stilson
Branch Automobiles

The Stilson Motor Car Company was an American automobile manufacturer. The brand name was Stilson .

Company history

The new automaker was announced as the Pittsfield Motor Car Company in January 1907 , but was registered as the Stilson Motor Car Company in March . The share capital was US $ 100,000. The company was financed and organized by Harry M. Stilson , a local jeweler and watchmaker with a weakness for automobiles. Perhaps, however, the impetus for founding Clarence P. Hollister , who had previously designed the Berkshire and also received the position of chief engineer in the new company, came. He had the patent for a hydraulic transmission he developed, which he used in Berkshire and in 1908 in the Stilson . It appears to have performed the shifting process more smoothly and efficiently than it was then, but it turned out to be so unreliable that it was dropped by both brands after a short period of time.

Both manufacturers had their headquarters at 92 Rennie Avenue in Pittsfield ( Massachusetts ); whether Hollister worked for Berkshire and Stilson at the same time or successively is not clear from the sources. However, there is no evidence that Harry M. Stilson played a role in the Berkshire Motor Car Co.

The company's only model was the Stilson 50/60 HP , of which there were different variants. All were given a Herschell-Spillman - six-cylinder engine with 9.3 liter displacement and an output of 50 bhp (37.3 kW approximately); it is in Berkshire Model F 1912 as a T-head described and was (rounded: 60) with 58 fiscal horsepower to NA.CC prized.

In 1907 the 50/60 HP was only offered as a seven-seater touring with a conventional four-speed gearbox at US $ 4,500.

In 1908 the designation was Stilson 50/60 HP Type C , the wheelbase grew by approx. 8 cm (15 cm according to another source) and a chauffeur limousine supplemented the range. This year only the Hollister gearbox was used, which apparently only had three forward gears. The prices were US $ 4500.- for the Touring and US $ 5500.- for the sedan.

In the last year of production, the touring grew again; in this version he was 50/60 HP Model H . With the price unchanged, the wheelbase was now 3378 mm. The sedan was discontinued, but a four-seater Runabout 50/60 HP Model J was new . with short (3099 mm) chassis. at US $ 4250.-.

Apart from the mentioned gearbox and the varying wheelbases, no technical changes can be proven during the production time of the Stilson . Production seems to have ended in 1909. The company went bankrupt and was dissolved in December 1910. In the course of the proceedings it turned out that only US $ 33,700 of the share capital had actually been paid in. There were assets found approximately US $ 3000.-. Harry Stilson left Pittsfield and settled in Manhattan ( New York City ) as a jeweler down.

literature

  • Beverly Rae Kimes (Ed.), Henry Austin Clark Jr.: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. Krause Publications, Iola WI 1996, ISBN 0-87341-428-4 .
  • George Nick Georgano (Ed.): Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present. 2nd Edition. Dutton Press, New York 1973, ISBN 0-525-08351-0 .
  • 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, Jefferson NC 2013, ISBN 978-0-7864-7136-2 .
  • Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (Ed.): Handbook of Gasoline Automobiles / 1904–1905–1906. Introduction by Clarence P. Hornung. Dover Publications, New York 1969.
  • National Automobile Chamber of Commerce (Ed.): Handbook of Automobiles 1915–1916. Dover Publications, 1970.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Georgiano: Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present. 1973, p. 561 (Stilson).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Kimes, Cark: Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942. 1996, p. 1403 (Stilson).
  3. ^ Kimes, Cark: Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942. 1996, pp. 121-122 (Berkshire).
  4. ↑ Classic Car Database: Specifications, 1912 Berkshire F Series, T-head, 134 in. Wheelbase.
  5. ↑ NACC: Handbook of Automobiles 1915. P. 212 (NACC rating, table)
  6. ↑ a b c d Dluhy: American Automobiles of the Brass Era. 2013, p. 121 (Stilson).
  7. ↑ a b carfolio.com: 1908 Stilson Six.