 | |
| Industry | Automobile manufacturer |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1908 |
| Founder | Joseph Middleby or Charles M. Middleby |
| Defunct | 1913 |
| Fate | Closed and sold |
| Headquarters | Reading, Pennsylvania |
| Products | Automobiles |
| Brands | Middleby, Reading |
The Middleby Auto Company (1908-1913) was a brass era American automobile manufacturer, based in Reading, Pennsylvania. [1] [2]
The company was founded by Joseph Middleby, who purchased the Duryea Power Company factory. [2] Some Middlebys were sold as Readings. [1] [2]
Middleby's first 1908 Model A automobile was a runabout with a 108-inch wheelbase and 30 x 3+1⁄2-inch tires, a four-cylinder, air-cooled engine, with a sliding-gear shaft-drive transmission with three speeds forward and one reverse. Standard equipment included two gas lamps, two side oil lamps, one rear lamp, tools, and a French horn. Its price was $850, equivalent to $27,685in 2022. [2]
Model B was a touring car, based on the same chassis, and priced at $1,000. By 1910 the company had sold about 400 automobiles. After 1911, the wheel base increased to 120 inches, with 36-inch wheels and a 4-cylinder water-cooled engine. [2] Middleby automobiles were produced in six models: a Runabout for $850, single rumble for $1,000, surrey for $1,000, double rumble for $1,100, touring car for $1,200, and Toy Tonneau for $1,200, equivalent to $37,689in 2022. [1] [3]
Two automobile reference books show Charles M. Middleby as company owner. His relationship to the plant property owner, Joseph Middleby, is not known. Joseph Middleby died in 1911, and the company was operated by his executors until closed and sold in 1913. [4] [5] [6]
Between 1910 and 1913,an up-market Middleby was market as the Reading. It had a larger four-cylinder engine, was a foot longer in wheelbase, and was priced several hundred dollars more. Charles M. Middleby decided that his top-of-the-line car should carry his own name, a bigger and pricier Middleby was introduced for 1911. Both marques ended in 1913. [2]
The Locomobile Company of America was a pioneering American automobile manufacturer founded in 1899, and known for its dedication to precision before the assembly-line era. It was one of the earliest car manufacturers in the advent of the automobile age. For the first two years after its founding, the company was located in Watertown, Massachusetts. Production was transferred to Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1900, where it remained until the company's demise in 1929. The company manufactured affordable, small steam cars until 1903, when production switched entirely to internal combustion-powered luxury automobiles. Locomobile was taken over in 1922 by Durant Motors and eventually went out of business in 1929. All cars ever produced by the original company were always sold under the brand name Locomobile.
Brush Motor Car Company (1907-1909), later the Brush Runabout Company (1909-1913), was based in Highland Park, Michigan.
The Acme was a make of American automobiles made in Reading, Pennsylvania from 1903 to 1911. They were the successor of the Reber which was made from 1902 to 1903 by Reber Manufacturing.
The Ford Model N is an automobile produced by Ford Motor Company; it was introduced in 1906 as a successor to the Models A and C as the company's inexpensive, entry-level line. It was built at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant.
St. Louis Motor Carriage Company was a manufacturer of automobiles at 1211–13 North Vandeventer Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri, founded by George Preston Dorris and John L. French in 1898, with French taking charge of marketing and Dorris heading engineering and production. St. Louis Motor Carriage was the first of many St. Louis automakers and produced automobiles from 1899 to 1907.
Stevens-Duryea was an American manufacturer of Veteran and Brass Era automobiles in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, between 1901 and 1915 and Vintage Cars from 1919 to 1927.
The Premier Motor Manufacturing Company built the brass era and vintage Premier luxury automobile in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 1903 to 1925.
The first Cadillac automobiles were the 1903 Model built in the last quarter of 1902. These were 2-seater "horseless carriages" powered by a reliable and sturdy 10 hp (7 kW) single-cylinder engine developed by Henry Martyn Leland and built by Leland and Faulconer Manufacturing Company of Detroit, of which Henry Leland was founder, vice-president and general manager.
Penn was the name of three American automobiles of the veteran era, but Penn Motor Car Company, located at 7510 Thomas Boulevard in Pittsburgh was the only one to enter production. The Penn brass era automobile was produced from 1911 to 1912.
Standard Motor Construction Company (1904-1905) was the successor to the U. S. Long Distance Automobile Company (1900-1903) of Jersey City, New Jersey. The American Veteran Era Long Distance automobile was developed into the Standard automobile in 1904.
Spaulding was used as an automobile marque by two separate companies. The Spaulding Automobile and Motor Company of Buffalo, New York built Veteran Era automobiles in 1902 and 1903. Spaulding Manufacturing Company of Grinnell, Iowa built Brass Era automobiles from 1910 to 1916.
Schacht was an American marque of automobiles and High-wheelers from 1904 to 1913, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Schacht Manufacturing Company, later renamed Schacht Motor Car Company produced over 9,000 automobiles. The company was reorganized as the G.A. Schacht Motor Truck Company in 1914 and production of trucks and fire trucks continued until 1938.
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.
The Metz Company was a pioneer brass era automobile maker established by Charles Herman Metz in Waltham, Massachusetts, from 1909 to 1922.
Mitchell was a major brass-era automobile marque in Racine, Wisconsin, from 1903 to 1923.
The Pierce Engine Company of Racine, Wisconsin, was the manufacturer of the brass era Pierce-Racine automobile. The company was founded in 1892 and produced automobiles from 1904 to 1910.
The Packard Motor Car Company introduced their first four-cylinder engine in 1903 initially as a top level car along with the Packard Model F. It was their only automobile offered and exclusively used a four-cylinder engine from 1903 until 1912 and established Packard as a luxury car maker, and was replaced by the 1913 Packard Six.
The Searchmont Motor Company was a Veteran Era American luxury automobile manufacturer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1900 to 1903.
The Mason was a Brass Era automobile manufactured in Des Moines, Iowa from 1906 to 1909 and Waterloo, Iowa from 1911 to 1914. In 1909 and 1910 it was marketed as the Maytag-Mason.
