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

Cord

US, 1929 – 1937

Auburn Automobile Co, Auburn, Ind., 1929 -1937

The first American front-wheel-drive car to win popular approval, the Cord was one of a trio of distinctive cars (the others being the Auburn and the Duesenburg) that made up Erret Lobban Cord’s empire. The first Cord for sale was the Cord Model L-29, powered by a 4.934cc straight 8 engine made by Lycoming, another Cord subsidiary. The Cord L-29 was much lower than most contemporary American cars and was made in open and closed models, as well as being given special coachwork by such firms as Murphy, Hayes, and in England, Freestone & Webb. However, the price of over $3.300 was against the car in the Depression years, and production ended in 1932 after some 4400 Cord cars had been sold.
The Cord name re-emerged later in 1935 with the strikingly modernistic Cord Model 810. Designed by Gordon Buehrig, this car had originally been intended as a small model of Duesenberg. Like the Cord L-29 the new car was front-driven and Lycoming-powered, although by a slightly smaller V8 engine of 4.730cc. The body was of a very advanced design, and featured retractable headlamps and a wrap-around grille. Body styles were the Westchester and Beverly sedans (identical except for upholstery pattern), two-seater Sportsman and four-seater Phaeton convertibles. In 1937 the Cord Model 812 series was introduced, featuring a long-wheelbase Custom berline with chauffeur division, while an optional supercharger boosted power to 195bhp. Prices ranged from $1.995 for the early models to $3.575 for the 1937 Cord Supercharged Custom berline, and this drastically restricted sales. Only 2320 examples of the Cord 810 and Cord 812 were made.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; KM
The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com