 Lion Radiator Emblem | |
| Predecessor | Gyroscope (automobile) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1910 |
| Founder | Henry Bowen, Fred Postal |
| Defunct | 1912 |
| Fate | Factory Fire |
| Headquarters | |
| Products | Automobile Manufacturer |
The Lion was a brass era automobile built in Adrian, Michigan, United States by the Lion Motor Car Company from 1909 to 1912. [1]
The Lion Motor Car Company was formed to produce the engine developed for the Gyroscope automobile. This plan was abandoned and the Lion was a four-cylinder 40 hp engine model called the Forty. [1] In 1910 Runabout and Tourers were medium-priced at $1,500 and $1,600, equivalent to $52,320in 2023. [1] Lion advertised " The Lion Forty runs like a Sixty". [2] [1]
A fire on June 2, 1912, destroyed the factory and 150 cars, including a prototype model Thirty. The city of Adrian and citizens raised $8,000 to help, but the Lion Motor Car Company was under-insured and went into receivership by October. [2]
Two Lion examples are known to be extant; one in a museum in Adrian, Michigan and another in Australia. The Australian car is located in Queensland.
The REO Motor Car Company was a company based in Lansing, Michigan, which produced automobiles and trucks from 1905 to 1975. At one point, the company also manufactured buses on its truck platforms.
The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relatively low price was partly the result of Ford's efficient fabrication, including assembly line production instead of individual handcrafting. The savings from mass production allowed the price to decline from $780 in 1910 to $290 in 1924. It was mainly designed by three engineers, Joseph A. Galamb, Eugene Farkas, and Childe Harold Wills. The Model T was colloquially known as the "Tin Lizzie".
The Chalmers Motor Company was an American automobile manufacturer headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1908 by Hugh Chalmers, the company was known for producing high-end vehicles. Chalmers automobiles gained recognition for their toughness, durability, and engineering receiving particular praise for their performance in touring events. The company reached its peak in 1911, becoming the eighth-largest auto producer in the United States. Despite initial success, the company faced challenges with increasing competition in the auto industry, and sales began to decline in the following years. In 1923, Chalmers Motor Company merged with Maxwell Motor, ultimately forming the basis for the Chrysler Corporation.
The Saxon Motor Car Company was located in Detroit, Michigan, from 1914 to 1922. In 1917, 28,000 cars were made, making it the seventh largest car maker in the United States.
Brush Motor Car Company (1907-1909), later the Brush Runabout Company (1909-1913), was based in Highland Park, Michigan.
The Terraplane was a car brand and model built by the Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, between 1932 and 1938. In its maiden year, the car was branded as the Essex-Terraplane; in 1934 the car became simply the Terraplane. They were inexpensive, yet powerful vehicles that were used in both town and country. The Terraplane name was used for both cars and trucks.
The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant is a former factory located within the Milwaukee Junction area of Detroit, Michigan, in the United States. Built in 1904, it was the second center of automobile production for the Ford Motor Company, after the Ford Mack Avenue Plant. At the Piquette Avenue Plant, the company created and first produced the Ford Model T, the car credited with initiating the mass use of automobiles in the United States. Prior to the Model T, several other car models were assembled at the factory. Early experiments using a moving assembly line to make cars were also conducted there. It was also the first factory where more than 100 cars were assembled in one day. While it was headquartered at the Piquette Avenue Plant, Ford Motor Company became the biggest U.S.-based automaker, and it would remain so until the mid-1920s. The factory was used by the company until 1910, when its car production activity was relocated to the new, larger Highland Park Ford Plant.
The Peerless Motor Car Company was an American automobile manufacturer that produced the Peerless brand of motorcars in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1900 to 1931. One of the "Three Ps" – Packard, Peerless, and Pierce-Arrow – the company was known for building high-quality luxury automobiles. Peerless popularized a number of vehicle innovations that later became standard equipment, including drum brakes and the first enclosed-body production cars.
Star was an American automobile company that was assembled by the Durant Motors Company between 1922 and 1928. Also known as the Star Car, Star was envisioned as a competitor against the Ford Model T and Chevrolet. In the United Kingdom, it was sold as the Rugby, to avoid confusion with the British marque.
The Marion was an automobile produced by the Marion Motor Car Company in Indianapolis, Indiana from 1904 to 1915.
Barley Motor Car Co. was a manufacturer of luxury automobiles in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Streator, Illinois. It manufactured the Roamer automobile (1916–29) and briefly, the Barley (1922–24), and the Pennant (1924–25).
Cartercar was an American automotive manufacturing company established in 1905 in Jackson, Michigan, and founded by Byron J. Carter. After several relocations in other cities, Cartercar was acquired by General Motors in 1909.
The Staver and Staver-Chicago was an American Brass Era automobile manufactured at 76th and Wallace Streets in Chicago, Illinois, by the Staver Carriage Company from 1906 until 1914.
The Speedwell Motor Car Company was a Brass Era American automobile manufacturing company established by Pierce Davies Schenck that produced cars from 1907 to 1914. The Great Dayton Flood of 1913 greatly damaged the Speedwell factory and inventory, and the company entered receivership in 1915 after having built an estimated 4,000 cars and trucks.
The Havers was an American automobile built in Port Huron, Michigan by the Havers Motor Car Company from 1911 until 1914. The company was established by brothers Fred and Ernest Havers in 1910, with the first cars being manufactured within the Port Huron Engine & Thresher Company's premises. In 1912, Havers bought the old E-M-F factory and moved production there. The factory suffered a disastrous fire on 7 July 1914, destroying almost everything apart from the offices. While originally planning to resume production within a month, Havers was unable to sway their creditors who forced the company into bankruptcy.
The Michigan was a brass era automobile manufactured in Kalamazoo, Michigan from 1904 to 1913 by the Michigan Buggy Company and its subsidiary the Michigan Motor Car Company.
Nyberg was the name of a brass era American automobile built by Henry Nyberg of Chicago, Illinois, in Anderson, Indiana, and Chattanooga, Tennessee from 1911 to 1914.
The Sampson and Alden Sampson was a brass era automobile manufactured by the Alden Sampson Manufacturing Company of Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 1904. The Sampson was built again in 1911 by United States Motors, Alden Sampson Division, in Detroit, Michigan.
The Matheson was a luxury American automobile manufactured from 1903 to 1912, first in Grand Rapids, Michigan, then Holyoke, Massachusetts and from 1906 in a purpose-built factory in Forty Fort, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Mitchell was a major brass-era automobile marque in Racine, Wisconsin, from 1903 to 1923.