Chalmers / Chalmers-Detroit

US, 1908 – 1924

Chalmers Motor Car Co, Detroit, Mich.

The Chalmers was one of the most popular automobiles made in the United States for more than a decade. The Chalmers was the successor to the Thomas-Detroit which was built by a company which had been founded in 1906 by E.R. Thomas (builder of the Thomas car in Buffalo, N.Y.), Roy D. Chapin and Howard Earle Coffin; the two latter had previously served at Oldsmobile. The Thomas-Detroit of which some 500 were sold during the first year of production, was marketed through the parent firm in Buffalo which manufactured a larger line of cars under the Thomas emblem. The Thomas-Detroit was a medium priced four-cylinder car which had been designed by Coffin. In 1907, Hugh Chalmers, vice president of the National Cash Register Co and a noted salesman, entered the firm. Shortly after, he bought a half of E.R. Thomas’ stock and became president of the company which became the Chalmers-Detroit Motor Company. The Thomas-Detroit became the Chalmers-Detroit in 1908 and in 1910, the Chalmers. Open and closed Chalmers models in two lines comprised the Chalmers four-cylinder cars, with self-starters appearing in 1912. Chalmers (as Chalmers-Detroit) had distinguished itself in road races as early as 1908 when W.R. Burns won the Motor Parkway Sweekstakes at Jericho, N.Y., averaging 48.7mph in the six-lap 140.76 mile run.

In 1913, the Chalmers brought out its first 6-cylinder model, as well as the four and apart from small mechanical and design changes, continued both until 1914. The Chalmers four was dropped from the 1915 line, however, and sixes were to be used exclusively in Chalmers until the ending of manufacture. By 1915, some 20.000 Chalmers cars per year were coming off the Chalmers production line and would even exceed that figure before the advent of World War 1. In 1917, an L-head motor replaced the earlier overhead-valve type and on August 4th, Chalmers again headed racing news when Joe Dawson won the 24-hour stock Car Endurance Run at Sheepshead Bay, N.Y. Sales flagged following the end of the war and Hugh Chalmers, always the salesman, and with the realization that a competitor, Maxwell, wasn’t faring well either, arranged to lease his Chalmers plants to Maxwell, using his salesmanship to promote the two concerns and getting the benefit of Maxwell tooling and manufacturing equipment. By the early 1920s, however, many makes of cars were in financial difficulties due to over-expansion and recession, and Walter P. Chrysler was called in to try and reorganize Maxwell. Chrysler was at this time planning his own corporation and in 1922 Chalmers was taken over by Maxwell which had become a Chrysler subsidiary. The last Chalmer cars for sale were equipped with Lockheed hydraulic brakes but 1923 was the last year of Chalmers production with some 9000 units leaving the factories. The Maxwell survived until 1925 when it became the Chrysler Four.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; KM
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Lion-Peugeot

France, 1906 – 1913

(1) Les Fils de Peugeot Frères, Beaulieu-Valentigney, 1906 – 1910

(2) SA des Automobiles et Cycles Peugeot, Audincourt, 1910 – 1913

The Lion-Peugeot car started as an independent venture by Robert Peugeot in the motor cycle factory at Beaulieu-Valentigney, which had been used for Lion-Peugeot car manufacture until the establishment of the SA des Automobiles Peugeot in 1897. These Michaux-designed voiturettes Lion-Peugeot cars were produced in direct competition with the cars from Audincourt, and the original chain-driven single at £125 filled a gap left by the discontinuation of the original Peugeot Baby. Already the Lion-Peugeot car company were trying their hand in the Coupe des Voiturettes, but made no impression in 1906 or 1907 against Sizaire-Naudin and Delage. The first of the classic racing V-twin Lion-Peugeot cars made its appearance in 1908, and from 1909 to 1911 the Lion-Peugeot car marque was renowned for some very odd machines, which took advantage of regulations more concerned with bores than with strokes. The 1909 Lion-Peugeot cars, victorious in both the Catalan Cup and the Coupe itself, were made with 1.9-litre engines, a single of 100x250mm and a twin of 80x192mm, the former having three valves per cylinder, but the peak of Lion-Peugeot cars was reached in 1910 with the fantastic Lion-Peugeot VX5, an 80x280mm V-twin with twin carburetors, developing 95bhp. The driver of the Lion-Peugeot car had to look round, rather than over the engine. There was a companion 65x260mm V4, really two twins in series. In spite (or perhaps because) of this, Lion-Peugeot cars had to be content with 2nd place in that year’s Coupe des Voiturettes. They tried once again in 1911 with a Lion-Peugeot V4, this time using the relatively modest stroke/bore rato of 2:1.

By 1910, the production Lion-Peugeot cars had grown up into 1.7-litre transverse V-twins with 3-speed gearboxes and shaft drive, though chain-driven versions were still available on Lion-Peugeot cars as late as 1911. The reunion of the two rival Peugeot companies, however, signaled the end of these eccentricities: though a touring V4 Lion-Peugeot car was announced in 1911 and was made with a 4-speed gearbox, pressure lubrication, and pedal-operated rear-wheel brakes, the Lion-Peugeot car designation was dropped at the end of 1913. The 1.9-litre VD Peugeot of 1914 marked the end of this line of development and none of the Lion-Peugeot car derivatives survived World War 1.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com