Clarkmobile

Last updated
Clarkmobile
IndustryAutomotive
Founded1902
FounderFrank Clark
Defunct1905
FateReorganized into the New Way Motor Company; automotive assets sold to Deere-Clark
SuccessorNew Way Motor Company, Deere-Clark
HeadquartersLansing, Michigan
ProductsAutomobiles
1904 Clarkmobile Advertisement 1904 Clarkmobile Advertisement.webp
1904 Clarkmobile Advertisement

Clarkmobile was an automobile first built in 1902 by Frank Clark of Clark & Company in Lansing, Michigan. The first model became available in 1903. A newspaper article referred to the automobile as the 'Unbreakable Clarkmobile' and showed it surviving an accident.

Contents

Before the Clarkmobile, Clark & Company Carriage Works built the body for the first test car produced by Ransom E. Olds. [1]

Production ceased in 1904. The Deere-Clark company purchased the company's tools and machinery. [2] Frank Clark went on to make the Clark car in Shelbyville, Indiana. [3]

History

The Clarkmobile Co. was founded in April of 1902 in Lansing Michigan. The car was the brainchild of F. G. Clark who has been working on a prototype for two years. The company was incorporated with a capital of $50,000. The president would be A.C Stebbins, H.E. Thomas as vice president and F.G. Clark as secretary, treasurer and general manager. [4]

In 1905 the Clarkmobile company would reorganize and be titled the New Way Motor Company. The new firm would be captialized at $100,000 and would now produce air cooled gasoline engines. Stebbins would remain as president [5] Clark would leave the firm to work for another sucessor company called Deere-Clark. [6]

The Clarkmobile

The Clarkmobile included a number of innovative features such as wheel steering, shaft drive, a front end with hood, and a new engine design.

1903 Clarkmobile 1903 Clarkmobile.jpg
1903 Clarkmobile

The first model was exhibited around April of 1903. The car weighed 1,100 pounds. Powering the car was a 1 cylinder four stroke water cooled engine making 7 horsepower. The transmission was a Upton 2 speed planetary type with a reverse. [7] The wheels were wood with Dunlop tires. A steering wheel was used instead of a tiller which was still fairly novel at the time. The wheelbase was 72 inches. The listed price for 1903 was $750 [8] The front of the car like many early runabouts does not contain an engine, so that the front serves as a trunk. [9]

References

  1. ↑ "Clarkmobile — CADL Website". Archived from the original on 2009-10-25. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  2. ↑ Kimes, Beverly Rae; Clark, Henry Austin Jr (1996). Standard Catalog of American Cars: 1805–1942. Iola, WI: Krause Publications. p. 423. ISBN   978-0-87341-428-9.
  3. ↑ Georgano, N. (2000). Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. London: HMSO. ISBN   1-57958-293-1.
  4. ↑ Motor Age. Vol. III No. 19. May 7, 1903. p. 16.
  5. ↑ Motor Age. Vol. VII No. 1. January 4, 1905.
  6. ↑ Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal. January 1, 1906. p. 200.
  7. ↑ The Horseless Age. Vol. II No. 16. April 22, 1903. p. 504.
  8. ↑ Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal. Vol. VII No. 10. April 1, 1903. p. 72.
  9. ↑ The Automobile Review. May 1, 1903. p. 172.


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