Industry | Automotive |
---|---|
Founded | 1923 |
Founder | Rollin H. White |
Defunct | 1925 |
Fate | Bankruptcy |
Headquarters | Cleveland, Ohio, |
Key people | Henry Rollins, James G. Heaslet, E. E. Allyne |
Products | Automobiles |
Production output | 5,750 (1924-1925) |
The Rollin Motors Company was an American automobile manufacturer from 1923 until 1925 and founded by Rollin Henry White. [1] The company was based in Cleveland, Ohio. [2]
The Rollin automobile [3] had advanced technology, brakes on all four wheels (mechanical internal expanding type), pistons and connecting rods of special aluminum, lubrication oil through a pump and a four-bearing crankshaft. [4] There were four models: Touring ($995, equivalent to $16,990in 2022), Brougham, Sedan and a three-passenger Coupe($1,175). Cars were sold in the US, Australia and a very few in Europe. The cars were designed and built by Rollin H. White, formerly chief engineer of the White Motor Company. [5]
The car was planned as an economical automobile to capture a share of the lower price market. Its engine was similar to that of the Cletrac tractor, a White subsidiary. The chairman was Rollin Henry White. His father, Thomas White, was chairman of the White Sewing Machine Company, and the White Motor Company. The Rollin was too high-priced for the market for which it had been intended. In its most successful year, 1924, approximately 3,622 units were produced. [5] By the end of 1925 the factory was closed due to bankruptcy. [6]
In December 1924 the car carrier SS Lakeland transported on Lake Michigan several new automobiles. The Lakeland sank with at least twenty-two model-year vehicles aboard from Nash Motors, Kissel Motor Car Company, and a Rollin. Recreational divers recovered the Rollin automobile in 1979 but it was too damaged to save. [7]
As of 2018, there are several Rollin automobiles in the US and in Australia, as well as a few in Europe, at least one in the Netherlands and two in Sweden.
In 2023 the Rollin Preservation Society (NL) presented a documentary about a unique Rollin still registered for use on public roads. [8]
{{cite magazine}}
: Cite magazine requires |magazine=
(help)The Winton Motor Carriage Company was a pioneer United States automobile manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. Winton was one of the first American companies to sell a motor car. In 1912, Winton became one of the first American manufacturers of diesel engines.
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.
The Brass Era is an American term for the early period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such features as lights and radiators. It is generally considered to encompass 1896 through 1915, a time when cars were often referred to as horseless carriages.
Rickenbacker was a Vintage Era automobile manufactured in Detroit, Michigan, from 1922 until 1927. The car is best known for pioneering production of four-wheel brakes.
A steam car is a car (automobile) propelled by a steam engine. A steam engine is an external combustion engine (ECE) in which the fuel is combusted outside of the engine, unlike an internal combustion engine (ICE) in which fuel is combusted inside the engine. ECEs have a lower thermal efficiency, but carbon monoxide production is more readily regulated.
The National Motor Vehicle Company was an American manufacturer of automobiles in Indianapolis, Indiana, between 1900 and 1924. One of its presidents, Arthur C. Newby, was also one of the investors who created the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Phelps Motor Vehicle Company was a manufacturer of automobiles in Stoneham, Massachusetts, between 1903 and 1905. In 1906 it was succeeded by the Shamut Motor Company.
Established in 1901, Belsize Motors was based in Clayton, Manchester, England. The company was founded by Marshall & Company and took its name from their Belsize works, where they had built bicycles.
The Premier Motor Manufacturing Company built the brass era and vintage Premier luxury automobile in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 1903 to 1925.
F. B. Stearns and Company, later known as F. B. Stearns Company was an American manufacturer of luxury cars in Cleveland, Ohio marketed under the brand names Stearns from 1900 to 1911 then Stearns-Knight from 1911 until 1929.
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).
Moon Motor Car Company was an American automobile company that was located in St. Louis, Missouri. The company had a venerable reputation among the buying public, as it was known for fully assembled, easily affordable mid-level cars using high-quality parts. Often this meant the manufacturing process required more human intervention, leading to operating losses. The company was founded by carriage maker Joseph W. Moon. Moon produced both cars and trucks.
Alexander Winton was a Scottish-American bicycle, automobile, and diesel engine designer and inventor, as well as a businessman and racecar driver. Winton founded the Winton Motor Carriage Company in 1897 in Cleveland, Ohio, making the city an important hub of early automotive manufacturing. His pioneering achievements in the automotive industry included taking one of the first long-distance journeys in America by car and developing one of the first commercial diesel engines. Winton left the automotive manufacturing business when he liquidated his car company in 1924 to focus on his powertrain engineering firm, Winton Gas Engine & Mfg. Co., which he had established twelve years earlier to focus on engine development. This business was sold to General Motors in 1930 and became the Cleveland Diesel Engine Division. Winton died in 1932 and is interred in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.
Mercer was an American automobile manufacturer from 1909 until 1925. It was notable for its high-performance cars, especially the Type 35 Raceabout.
The Bignan was a French automobile manufactured between 1918 and 1931 on the north side of central Paris, in Courbevoie. The business was created, and till the mid 1920s-headed up, by Jacques Bignan.
The Kessler Motor Company was a short-lived American manufacturer of aircraft engines and automobiles. The brand name for engines and automobiles was Kessler; also Kess-Line for some cars.
The Columbus Buggy Company was an early buggy and automotive manufacturer based in Columbus, Ohio, United States, from 1875 to 1913.