The Waterhouse Company of Webster, Massachusetts were coachbuilders making high quality custom bodies for chassis supplied by the major automotive businesses.
Waterhouse was founded in 1928 by Charles L Waterhouse (1870-1953) with his sons Moses Sargent Waterhouse and Lewis Osbourne Waterhouse. Charles L Waterhouse senior had been a key employee at Judkins and the brothers had spent some years there. [1]
When demand was high in 1929 they received an order from Packard's export department for a car to be exhibited at the Paris salon. It was a very short notice order which no other coachbuilder would accept. The new body attracted the attention of Packard's president and orders for duplicates followed. [1]
The doors were closed on the coachbuilding section in 1933 [1] but they continued to make small boats and during World War 2 supplied marine ordnance and, after the war, furniture.
Waterhouse also put their custom bodies on Pierce-Arrow, Lincoln, Du Pont, Chrysler, Marmon and Stutz.
Packard was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana, in 1958.
Nash Motors Company was an American automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin from 1916 until 1937. From 1937 through 1954, Nash Motors was the automotive division of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation. As sales of smaller firms declined after 1950 in the wake of the domestic Big Three automakers’ advantages in production, distribution, and revenue, Nash merged with Hudson Motors to form American Motors Corporation (AMC). Nash automobile production continued from 1954 through 1957 under AMC.
The Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other branded automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., from 1909 until 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator to form American Motors Corporation (AMC). The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year, after which it was discontinued.
Du Pont Motors was founded by E. Paul du Pont to produce marine engines for the Allied nations during World War I. After the war, Du Pont Motors produced extremely high-end automobiles. The cars were manufactured in Wilmington, Delaware.
The Chrysler LeBaron, also known as the Imperial LeBaron, is a line of automobiles built by Chrysler from 1931 to 1941 and from 1955 to 1995. The model was introduced in 1931, with a body manufactured by LeBaron, and competed with other luxury cars of the era such as Lincoln and Packard. After purchasing LeBaron with its parent Briggs Manufacturing Company, Chrysler introduced the luxury make Imperial in 1955, and sold automobiles under the name Imperial LeBaron until 1975. Chrysler discontinued the Imperial brand in 1975, and reintroduced the Chrysler LeBaron in 1977 to what was then Chrysler's lowest priced model.
The Chrysler Imperial, introduced in 1926, was Chrysler's top-of-the-line vehicle for much of its history. Models were produced with the Chrysler name until 1954, after which it became a standalone brand; and again from 1990 to 1993. The company positioned the cars as a prestige marque to rival Cadillac, Continental, Lincoln, Duesenberg, Pierce Arrow, Cord, and Packard. According to Antique Automobile, "The adjective 'imperial' according to Webster's Dictionary means sovereign, supreme, superior or of unusual size or excellence. The word imperial thus justly befits Chrysler's highest priced model."
The Packard Clipper is an automobile that was built by the Packard Motor Car Company for model years 1941–1942, 1946–1947 and 1953–1957. For 1956 only, Clipper was classified as a stand-alone marque. The Clipper was introduced in April 1941, as a mid-model year entry. It was available only as a four-door sedan. The Clipper name was re-introduced in 1953, for the automaker's lowest-priced lineup. By 1955, the Clipper models were seen as diluting Packard's marketing as a luxury automobile marque. It was named for a type of sailing ship, called a clipper.
A coachbuilder or body-maker is a person or company who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles. Coachwork is the body of an automobile, bus, horse-drawn carriage, or railway carriage. The word "coach" was derived from the Hungarian town of Kocs. A vehicle body constructed by a coachbuilder may be called a "coachbuilt body" or "custom body".
The Cadillac V-63 is a large luxury automobile that was introduced in September 1923 by Cadillac as a 1924 model, replacing the previous Type 61. It used the GM C platform and was replaced by the Cadillac Series 355 in 1931. It retained the name Cadillac V8 introduced with the previous generation Cadillac Type 51.
The Bentley 3 Litre was a car chassis manufactured by Bentley. The company's first, it was developed from 1919 and made available to customers' coachbuilders from 1921 to 1929. The Bentley was very much larger than the 1368 cc Bugattis that dominated racing at the time, but double the size of engine and strength compensated for the extra weight. The 4000 lb (1800 kg) car won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924, with drivers John Duff and Frank Clement, and again in 1927, this time in Super Sports form, with drivers S. C. H. "Sammy" Davis and Dudley Benjafield. Its weight, size, and speed prompted Ettore Bugatti to call it "the fastest lorry in the world", which was regarded as a compliment. Built in 3 main variants, Blue label, Red Label Speed models all carrying a 5-year warranty, and the coveted and rare Green Label 100 mph cars, which only carried a 12-month warranty reflecting the high state of tune.
The Lincoln Custom is a custom limousine and long-wheelbase touring sedan that was built by Lincoln in 1941 and 1942 and the lower level series Lincoln produced in 1955. Initially it was a replacement for the previous Model K Lincolns and earlier luxury cars of the 1920s and 1930s. The body work for the Custom was provided by the factory and came in one appearance and abandoned the previous Model L and Model K of years past of manufacturing only the chassis then a long list of coachbuilders would provide coachwork to the customer's preference. In later years it was simply the base model series.
The Lincoln K series is a luxury vehicle that was produced by the Lincoln Motor Company between 1931 and 1940. The second motor line produced by the company, the Model K was developed from the Model L, including a modernized chassis on a longer wheelbase. In 1931, Lincoln also introduced a V-12, becoming a feature of the company for nearly 20 years.
Rolls-Royce Limited was a British luxury car and later an aero-engine manufacturing business established in 1904 in Manchester by the partnership of Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. Building on Royce's good reputation established with his cranes, they quickly developed a reputation for superior engineering by manufacturing the "best car in the world". The business was incorporated as "Rolls-Royce Limited" in 1906, and a new factory in Derby was opened in 1908. The First World War brought the company into manufacturing aero-engines. Joint development of jet engines began in 1940, and they entered production in 1944. Rolls-Royce has since built an enduring reputation for the development and manufacturing of engines for military and commercial aircraft.
The Packard Custom Super Eight One-Eighty was introduced for the 1940 model year by the Packard Motor Car Company to replace the discontinued Packard Twelve as their top-of-the-line luxury model. The car was derived from the Packard Super Eight One-Sixty with which it shared the complete running gear including the in-line eight-cylinder, 356-cubic-inch (5,830 cc) engine that developed 180 horsepower. It was advertised as the most powerful eight-cylinder engine offered by any automobile manufacturer in 1940.. It was complemented and gradually replaced by the more modern looking and mid-level Packard Clipper in 1941 and integrated into the Super Eight after the war.
Charles H Roe was a Yorkshire coachbuilding company. It was for most of its life based at Crossgates Carriage Works, in Leeds.
LeBaron Incorporated was an American design business from 1920 and also a coachbuilder from 1924 until 1953.
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Corsica Coachworks was a small British coachbuilding business founded in 1920 just after World War I. They were builders of bespoke car bodies, employing no in-house designer. They realised customers' designs for them. Almost every Corsica body is unique.
The Carlton Carriage Company was a highly respected London coachbuilder that provided bespoke coachwork for some of the finest car makers of the 1920s and 1930s. They are best known for their drophead coupes which are archetypal designs of the British Jazz Era.
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