Type | Automobile Manufacturing |
---|---|
Industry | Automotive |
Founded | 1920 |
Founder | Homer T. Severin |
Defunct | 1921 |
Fate | Bankrupt |
Headquarters | , |
Products | Automobiles |
The Severin Motor Car Company was a short-lived automobile manufacturer that started making cars in 1920 in Kansas City, Missouri and ended in accusations of stock fraud in 1921. [1]
Homer T. Severin formed Severin Motor Car Company in his native Kansas City and production began in July 1920. The Severin Model H was offered as a 5-passenger touring car for $2,400 (equivalent to $35,059in 2022). [2] Power came from a Continental Motors Company six-cylinder engine. [1]
Homer Severin went to California and announce intentions to move the company to a site in Oakland, California. He began selling stock but did not get permits to do so. He decided to leave the automobile business and went into real estate instead. Mohawk Motor Company took over the Severin assets but was bankrupt within a month. Metropolitan Motors Corporation took over the assets to build the remaining 300 Severins from parts on hand. The last Severins were assembled in 1922 [1]
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.
A vintage car is, in the most general sense, an old automobile, and in the narrower senses of car enthusiasts and collectors, it is a car from the period of 1919 to 1930. Such enthusiasts have categorization schemes for ages of cars that enforce distinctions between antique cars, vintage cars, classic cars, and so on. The classification criteria vary, but consensus within any country is often maintained by major car clubs, for example the Vintage Sports-Car Club (VSCC) in the UK.
William Crapo Durant was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry and co-founder of General Motors and Chevrolet. He created a system in which a company held multiple marques – each seemingly independent, with different automobile lines – bound under a unified corporate holding company. Durant, along with Frederic L. Smith, co-founded General Motors, as well as Chevrolet with Louis Chevrolet. He also founded Frigidaire.
Raffaele "Ralph" De Palma was an Italian-American racecar driving champion who won the 1915 Indianapolis 500. His entry at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame estimates that he won about 2,000 races. DePalma won the 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911 American AAA national dirt track championships and is credited with winning 24 American Champ car races. He won the Canadian national championship in 1929. DePalma estimated that he had earned $1.5 million by 1934 after racing for 27 years. He is inducted in numerous halls of fame. He competed on boards and dirt road courses and ovals.
The Dorris Motor Car Company was founded by George Preston Dorris in 1906. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Dorris had built an experimental gasoline car circa 1896–1897 in his family's bicycle shop. He relocated to St. Louis, Missouri, where he joined with John L. French to found the St. Louis Motor Company. Dorris served as chief engineer.
Durant Motors Inc. was established in 1921 by former General Motors CEO William "Billy" Durant following his termination by the GM board of directors and the New York bankers who financed GM.
The Stutz Motor Car Company was an American producer of high-end sports and luxury cars based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Production began in 1911 and ended in 1935.
Horace Elgin Dodge Sr. was an American automobile manufacturing pioneer and co-founder of Dodge Brothers Company.
Crane-Simplex was the common name of the Simplex Crane Model 5 luxury automobile, produced by the Simplex Automobile Company in New Brunswick, New Jersey, from 1915 to 1918.
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).
The Standard was an American automobile manufactured in Butler, Pennsylvania from 1914 until 1923 by the Standard Steel Car Company.
Elwood Haynes was an American inventor, metallurgist, automotive pioneer, entrepreneur and industrialist. He invented the metal alloy stellite and independently co-discovered martensitic stainless steel along with Englishman Harry Brearley in 1912 and designed one of the earliest automobiles made in the United States. He is recognized for having created the earliest American design that was feasible for mass production and, with the Apperson brothers, he formed the first company in the United States to produce automobiles profitably. He made many advances in the automotive industry.
Founded in Kansas City, Missouri in 1908, the American Automobile Manufacturing Company acquired the Jonz Automobile Company of Beatrice, Nebraska in 1910 with a planned initial capitalization of $1,000,000. In early news releases, the company claimed "$100,000 of the stock has been subscribed for by Chicago and Kansas City men". Initial plans called for the establishment of factories in Kansas City and Louisville, Kentucky.
Daniels Motor Company was a pioneer brass era American automobile company, founded in 1915 by George E. Daniels with Neff E. Parish. George Daniels was a known lawyer, engineer, and mechanic. He was considered the best motorcar designer in the United States. Neff Parish had his own automobile parts and framing manufacturing company. Neff was the creator of the time's highest-grade heat-treated alloy steel frames, respected in the steel industry. Daniels Motor Company produced 1,500 high-quality automobiles between 1916 and 1924, branding themselves as “the distinguished car with just a little more power than you will ever need”, and “The aristocrat of American cars”.
Justice brothers were figures in motorsports and automotive industry. Founding a company in the oil additive industry.
A Darracq and Company Limited owned a French manufacturer of motor vehicles and aero engines in Suresnes, near Paris. The French enterprise, known at first as A. Darracq et Cie, was founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq after he sold his Gladiator Bicycle business. In 1902, it took effect in 1903, he sold his new business to a privately held English company named A Darracq and Company Limited, taking a substantial shareholding and a directorship himself.
Ferdinand Nickolas Kahler, Sr. was an American inventor, entrepreneur and automobile pioneer who founded The Kahler Co. in New Albany, Indiana.
The Simplex Automobile Company was formed in 1907 to take over the manufacturer of the S & M Simplex. The Simplex was an American luxury Brass Era automobile manufactured from 1907 to 1918. Headquartered with a manufacturing plant in New York City, manufacturing from 1912 was in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The Simplex Crane Model 5 was commonly called Simplex-Crane and Crane-Simplex. The Crane-Simplex Company of Long Island, New York was an attempt in 1922 to revive the brand but closed after only a few chassis were built.
Homer B. Roberts (1885–1952) was a graduate of Kansas State Agricultural College and veteran of World War I who was the first black man to attain the rank of lieutenant in the United States Army Signal Corps. He began his auto business by placing ads in the local paper advertising used cars. By the end of 1919, Roberts had negotiated over 60 car sales exclusively for African-American buyers. He hired two salesmen to work his lot, offered auto insurance and payment terms to customers, and later founded Roberts Motors, the first African-American owned car dealership in the United States.