Successor to the ‘Drunken Mitchell’: ouch or slouch?

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Confidence in your product is essential for any salesman. So if you advertise your car, make sure everyone knows it’s the one to go for. The Mitchell Motors Company of Racine, Wisconsin, understood that – or so it seemed when their new ‘White Streak’ model flashed past, leaving onlookers with barely enough time to read all the recommendations painted along its sides.

From what we can make out:

F-50 Mitchell White Streak No. 19

• We guarantee that this is a regular stock model.
• Unique motor design quickly eliminates dead gases and allows spark plugs to last indefinitely without fouling. Ask about the wedge of power.
• 18 to 20 miles per gallon of petrol under normal driving conditions.
• A spiral bevel gear full-floating axle, Mitchell-made, designed to carry twice its normal load.
• From 5 to 30 miles per hour in 10 seconds.
• From 1 to 40 miles per hour in 20 seconds.
• Let’s climb. Goes over them all in high.
• Extra-long full cantilever springs.
• No Mitchell spring breakage has been recorded in over six years.
• Counterbalanced crankshaft, three bronze-backed main bearings, practically eliminates vibration.

Those are some bold claims! But then the Mitchell Motors Company had something to make up for, following a recent misstep that had brought them into serious disrepute. In an attempt to make the car more streamlined, Mitchell’s designers had introduced a sloping radiator configuration in 1920 – not to everyone’s liking. In fact, the new model soon became known as the ‘Drunken Mitchell’. Ouch. And yes, sales suffered badly.

So Mitchell needed some good publicity, and they went all in when launching their new F-50 ‘White Streak’ model in 1922. Not only were all its supposed advantages written across these demonstrator cars; in 1922 no fewer than 109 of them, all painted white, set off on a tour across the USA, collectively covering a grand total of one million miles to prove their reliability and durability.

It didn’t have the effect they hoped for. The earlier styling blunder, fierce competition and the post-war depression only drove sales further down. In June 1923 the Mitchell Motors Company, Inc. filed for bankruptcy and by early 1924 the once-proud Mitchell factory had been sold to Nash Motors.

Words: Jeroen Booij
Pictures: Detroit Public Library

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