Kissel

US, 1906 – 1931

Kissel Motor Co, Hartford, Wisc.

At first the name of Kissel was associated with agricultural equipment, then with stationary gas engines. A conventional shaft-driven 35hp 4-cylinder Kissel automobile called, rather unfortunately, the Kissel Kar (originally the Badger), was offered from 1906. This Kissel car was made almost entirely by the company; few parts were bought out. A Kissel six with ‘square’ dimensions (121x121mm) appeared in 1909, electric starting came in 1913 on the Kissel car, and there was a short-lived Kissel V12 powered by Weidely, built from 1917 to 1918. None of these Kissel cars had any sporting pretensions. From 1918, however, the policy of the Kissel car company changed rapidly. The metamorphosis had begun in the previous year, when the Kissel Kar Silver Special Speedster was unveiled. This Kissel car was named after its designer, C.T. Silver. At the New York Show of January 1918 the Kissel car firm’s new speedster policy was taken a step further with the Kissel Gold Bug, a development of the Kissel Silver Special Speedster. It earned its name because from 1919 chrome yellow was the make’s standard colour. It had a Kissel-made 6-cylinder sv engine at first, of 4.3-litres, later 4.7-litres. More touring Kissel cars were offered as well, such as the Kissel Coach-Sedan and the Kissel Tourer, which used the same engines as the Gold Bug. In 1924 external contracting Lockheed hydraulic brakes were a listed option. In that year, too, the alternative of a straight-8 with a modified Lycoming engine could be had on Kissel cars. 1928 was the last  year of Kissel-built engines. The handsome 1929 Kissel White Eagle with 3-litre 6-cylinder and 4- and 4.9-litre straight-8 engines, as well as internally expanding hydraulic brakes, could not compete at prices ranging from $1.595 to $3.885, and only 1.531 Kissel cars were sold. In 1930 the Kissel car firm assembled a few Ruxton cars on contract to New Era Motors, and in 1933 a reorganized company was hired to build Lever engines in order to demonstrate them to a large manufacturer for possible mass production.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; TRN

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