F 521 148 VOL6 N02 - - - -

VOLUME 6 No2 RECEIVED JUL 1 ;j 1994

S.S. TR Leviathan Captain Cunningham supervises the loading of the first Cord L-29 Phaeton to be shipped a broad by the Auburn Automobile Company. It was exported to European sales agent Coldwell S. Johnston in Paris in 1929.

NG 9 9 4

�I Editors' Page 30J "The Car That Made Good in a Day": Stutz Motor �Made in Indiana Company of Indiana Paul Brockman William M. Gardner AS§� _!�j The Man from Kokomo: �Destination Indiana Elwood Haynes and the Ray Boomhower Origins of t e �utomobile Industry in Indiana 36J The Cord That Binds: Ralp/}D.G ray E. L. Cord and the Auburn Automobile Company • Lee Beck 42J Avanti: Sherwood Egbert's Ro�ed M. aylor Jr. Dream Car Patrick 1 Furlong � Carl G. Fisher: Front and back covers, Tlhe Hoosier Bar,num 47J Want to Buy a Hoosier t 9 3 2 Duesenberg SJ Speedster Ray Boomhower HUMMER? considered one of the best Patrick 1 Furlong �He's Gone on Ahead: American automobiles Harry Ostermann and 48J Contributors and ever built.

the Lincoln Highway Further Reading AUBURN-CORIJ-DUESENBERG MUSEUM Peter T Harstad INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

BOARD OF TRUSTEES James]. Barnes, Crawfordsville Dianne]. Cartmel, Seymour William E. Ervin , Hartford City Ralph D. Gray, Indianapolis H. Roll McLaughlin, Carmel Ronald Morris, Greenwood Mary M. Mullin, Brookville Kathleen Stiso Mullins,South Bend Alan T. Nolan, Indianapolis, Chairman Larry K. Pitts, Indianapolis William G. Prime, Madison Evaline H. Rhodehamel, Indianapolis, Vice President RichardS. Simons, Marion, President John Martin Smith. Auburn Theodore L. Steele, Indianapolis P R. Sweeney, Vincennes Stanley Warren, Indianapolis, Treasurer Herman B Wells, Bloomington

ADMINISTRATION Peter T. Harstad , Executive Director Raymond L. Shoemaker, Assistant Executive Director and Business Manager Annabelle J. Jackson, Controller Susan P. Brown, Director Human Resources Carolyn S. Smith, Membership Secretary

DIVISION DIRECTORS Bruce L. Johnson, Library Thomas K. Krasean, Community Relations Thomas A. Mason, Publications Robert M. Taylor Jr., Education

TRACES OF INDIANA AND MmWESTERN HISTORY Thomas A. Mason, Executive Editor J. Kent Calder, Managing Editor Megan L. McKee, Editor Kathleen M. Breen, Editorial Assistant George R. Hanlin, Editorial Assistant

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Ray E. Boomhower Douglas E. Clanin Paula]. Corpuz Ruth Darrel

PHOTOGRAPHY Stephen J. fletcher, Curator Visual Collections Kim Charles Ferrill, Photographer Susan L. S. Sutton, Coordinator

EDITORIAL BOARD Richard]. M. Blackett, Indiana University, Bloomington Edward E. Breen, Marion Chronic!£-Tribune Andrew R. L. Cayton, Miami University David E. Dawson, Indianapolis Robert L. Gildea, Indianapolis Ralph D. Gray, Indiana University, Indianapolis Monroe H. Little Jr. , Indiana University, Indianapolis James H. Madison, Indiana University, Bloomington Richard S. Simons, Marion Emma Lou Thornbrough, Butler University

DESIGN

Dean Johnson Design R. Lloyd Brooks, Art Director Scott Johnson, Mike Schwab, Designers

TYPOGRAPHY "\Veimer Graphics, Inc.

PRINTING Shepard Poorman Communications Corp.

1'raw oflndiaruz. rmd Midmestt'm Hi.slfn)' (ISSN 1040-7SSX) i!i. published quar­ ltrl�· and distribmed as a benel'it of mt'mber!ihip bv Lhe lndi:m� Historic3l Soc: el)·. trlilorial and executive o_ffkes, 315 West Ohiu Stn:-et. lndiana lis, � 46202-�299. m 1p _ p� lndtana Me benh categopes are Annual S20. Sustammg $30, C:ontribUiing $50, and Life $!100. Single copi�s arc $5. Second-das� postag(' paid at lndian:\polis, Indiana: USPS Number 003-275. U/erary1:011tri· lmtio1u: A brochure containing form ti in a on for conlributors is aVailable upon reque�l. Trnrna epu no respons b lity fOr un.rolicitt'd ml:l.nuscripu . cc i i mbm�tt�cl WI I home rn p Indiana ne.... � lU _ mlagc -spaper publisher� may obtain �rm•ss•nn to repnm aruclcs w t reque�l by �i ten to tht'Society. Th(' S<:Jciet)· Will refer requests from other publishers to thf" or (OHJ94 I auth ndiana Hi�· torica.lSociety. r gh 1·e�uvecl. rrintecl in the United St.uc� of Am('rica. PflstmtJJin': Plea!lf'Al �ncli l!i l aclclres..� changes to Tmr15 � Jndinnn m1d Mid11..,.1tml t i r :�is;m.{6J�����;�i������l 1 ��� ����������/���j;� �c i Journals. ��:j � ;v�: �; : � ------I E D 1 r o R s' P A G E I

' h memorzes of even the oldest among us are dominated by images of cars. We remember the cars our fathers drove and their constant efforts to keepJ. them� running; we remember longtr ips to visit relatives and our parents' ultimate lack of Cord, and Stutz are just a few of the names of the rise and fa ll of Indiana's last classic, patience with such often-asked questions of those who fa ll into this category. the Avanti, and with a short piece on what as "What town is this?" and "How many Many others also succeeded in building may yet become a classic, the Mishawaka­ more miles?" Even more indelible are automobiles. In his introductory essay, made HUMMER. memories of our own cars: our first car, Paul Brockman men­ best car, first ticket, first wreck, first date. tions that more than Freedom and responsibility came to us eighty Indiana cities simultaneously with our cars. produced more than We also display our identities through five hundred makes of our cars. From the luxury car drivers who motor vehicles. This cruise from one meeting to the next with a issue of Traces, therefore, cellular phone glued to an ear to the dri­ is by no means compre­ vers of pickups, subcompacts, minivans, hensive. The articles four-wheel drives, and muscle cars, we are presented here, how­ in America what we drive. Automotive ever, are loaded with engineering, design, and marketing have information and tell always been geared toward reflecting a dri­ some good stories. ver's persona, and during a good part of Ralph D. Gray, the automotive history the cars Americans biographer of Elwood most wanted to drive came from Indiana. Haynes, contributes a This issue of 1races commemorates 100 profile of this metal­ years of Indiana automotive history, which lurgist and inventor's formally began when Elwood Haynes brilliant career and drove the first Indiana-made horseless car­ attempts to set the historical record Clar k Gable and his riage on Pumpkinvine Pike near Kokomo straight regarding his reputation. Stories 1935 Duesenbw; Model in July 1894. While that history, like most, by automobile historians Lee Beck and 1. can be interpreted from varied perspec­ William M. Gardner treat the works of tives, this issue fo cuses on the vision, E. L. Cord and Harry C. Stutz. Ro bert M. In an era dominated by traffic jams, air enthusiasm, and technical skill of those Taylor Jr. offers the cautionary tale of the and noise pollution, decaying inner cities, who participated in an industry that pro­ Ridgeville Senator, an Indiana broom man­ labor strife, and trade imbalances, one may duced some of America's best-known and ufacturer's short-lived entry into the auto­ view the automobile's legacy as mixed at best-loved automobiles. mobile competition. Ray Boomhower's best. Few of us, however, could be per­ Fueled by the natural gas boom, Indi­ essay on promoter and entrepreneur Carl suaded to give up our cars. For the last ana's automotive industry spawned scores G. Fisher, cofounder of the Indianapolis century, the automobile and the American of inventors and entrepreneurs. As Motor Speedway and developer of the dream have been inextricably linked, and Hoosier journalist .John Bartlow Martin Lincoln Highway, complements Peter T. Indiana played a significant role in bring­ wrote, "men kept starting up alley machine Harstad's look at Harry Ostermann, who ing them together. shops that in a few years became giant lived and died in an effort to promote the enterprises." Haynes, Apperson, Duesen­ Lincoln Highway Association. Patrick J. ). KENT CALDER berg, Marmon, Perry, Cole, Studebaker, Furlong closes the issue with a description Managing Editor

Spring 1994 3 ROM THE 19105 TO THE 19305 INDIANA VIED WI TH

MICHIGAN FOR THE TITLE OF AU TOMOBILE CAPI TAL

OF THE UNI TED STATES. IN ITS FEBRUARY-MARCH 1986

ISSUE, AMERICAN HERITAGE LISTED THE TEN GREATEST

AMERICAN-MADE CARS

1 9 3 2

DUESENBERG MODEL SJ,

THE 1931 MARMON V-16, AND THE 1937 CORD 812, AMONG

THE BEST AMERICAN CARS EVER PRODUCED. MICHIGAN-

BUILT CARS MADE UP FIVE OF THE REMAINING SI X. ONLY

NEW YORK'S BUFFALO-BUILT PIERCE-ARROW WA S ABLE TO

BREAK THE TWO-STATE DOMINATION. • INDIANA PRODUCED

A SU BSTAN TIAL NUMBER AND VA RIE TY OF CARS IN THE

FOUR DECADES FOLLOWING THE FIRST DOCUMEN TED

P A BROCKMAN U L TRACES

4July 1894 ElwoodHa_, ·nes's test�driveon Pumplrinvine PikP. MADE IN 9NOIANA

Like all Indiana gas stations, the Brookville Filling Station

(seen here in 1926 )

began charging a state gasoline tax in 19231

the federal gasoline tax followed in 1932.

Spri>�g 1994 5 1909 Dollarvalue ofJndia ruz'sauto pTOduction ranks JouTth in lhenatzon. MADE IN Spring 1994 7 MADE IN EIND IANA

Right The owner and wtfe of this Ohto Below, left : As early as 1905, in response Mud Hen greet a local official while the to the growing number of auto accidents, driver looks on. Governor Winfield T Durbin asked the Indiana General Assembly to Below: The owners of this car decorated it regulate the speed and handling of for use as the Bath To wnship float in a automobiles. Legislation, however, t 916 Indiana centennial celebration. cannot prevent all accidents, as this 1915 wreck in Brookville illustrates.

Left The Cincinnati Auto Club stops for a break at the Va lley House, Brookville, - 2 December 19 11.

8 TRA E MADE IN test-drive by Elwood Haynes down Pumpkinvine Pike, three miles no surprise to many experts that the first two "500" winners drove southeast of Kokomo, on 4 July 1894. The late Wallace Spencer Indianapolis-made cars: a Marmon in 1911 and a National in 1912. Huffman, who was one of Indiana's fo remost automobile authori­ An Indianapolis-built HCS (Stutz) won the 1923 Indianapolis 500, ties and whose research is located in the Indiana Historical Soci­ and Duesenbergs took the checkered flags from 1924 to 1926. ety's library, fo und evidence of 510 different automobiles, here are fe w similarities characterizing the individuals respon­ motorcycles, trucks, cyclecars, and other types of vehicles claim­ sible fo r Indiana's rise to automotive inventive prominence. ing Indiana production or assemblage. These vehicles were pro­ Some were college educated engineers. Elwood Haynes gradu­ pelled by a variety of means, including gasoline, electricity, steam, l ated from the Worcester (Massachusetts) County Free Institute and fuel oil. of Industrial Science (later Worcester Polytechnic Institute) in The economic impact of the automobile industry in Indiana 1881 . Walter and Howard C. Marmon were engineering school was great. More than eighty Indiana cities and towns either manu­ graduates from the Massachusetts Institute of Te chnology and the fac tured or assembled automobiles. Indianapolis claimed the University of California respectively. Others developed their skills greatest number of producers with at least sixty-four. Thirty Indi­ without fo rmal education. Harry C. Stutz was a gifted self-taught ana cities, including Anderson, Auburn, Connersville, Decatur, mechanic from Ohio. The Duesenberg brothers, Frederick and Elkhart. Evansville, Indianapolis, Knightstown, Kokomo, Marion, August, were German immigrants who started out as bicycle Mishawaka, New Albany, New Castle, Peru, and Richmond, pro­ builders in Iowa. Still others such as the Studebakers, David M. duced automobiles by 1920. In that year automobile-related pro­ Parry, and Joseph J. Cole were carriage and wagon manufacturers duction ranked second in dollar value in the state behind that of who saw the automobile's fu ture. Despite these differences, two iron and steel, and the state boasted 530 establishments employ­ common threads link these men: their individuality and their ing 26,658 workers in either the production of automobiles or genuine love of the auto. their parts. While the number of establishments declined over the Indiana's auto industry can be divided into three periods. The next two decades, the number of employed workers and the value first, lasting from the mid-1890s to the early 1900s, involved the of their products continued to rise, and the industry retained its construction of the prototypes. These vehicles were powered by second rank among Indiana's industries. electricity, gasoline, and other energy sources. During this period Though Indiana never competed with Michigan in terms of the almost every Indiana town had an inventor who experimented number of cars produced, the value of its production was consis­ with a vehicle of this sort. Along with the Haynes, according to tently higher. By 1909 the value of Indiana's automotive production Huffman's research, other early automobiles were the Munsen in was fo urth in the nation, but the number of vehicles produced was La Porte (1898), the Roach and Albanus in Fort Wayne (1899), the not large. For example, in its best year, 19 16, the Haynes company Cook and the De Freet, both in Indianapolis (1895), and the sold 7,100 cars. In 1919 all Indiana companies produced 63,402 Howe in Bloomington (1895), to name a few. cars. In contrast, Ford alone sold 250,000 of its Model Ts in 1914. The second period, which saw the rise of the commercially pro­ Ranked fourth nationally in the number of autos produced in 1907 duced automobile, began in the early 1900s and ended about and second by 1913, Indianapolis dropped from the top ten auto­ 1920. Ve hicles that began as experiments were now being con­ producing cities by 1920. The dollar value of Indianapolis's output, structed fo r individuals who could afford them. Because of its effi­ however, was still greater than that of Detroit. ciency and low production cost, gasoline replaced electricity as Indiana's contribution to the auto industry did not lie in num­ the propellant of choice. Manufacturers who started producing ber of cars produced but rather in the innovation of the state's electric cars, such as Studebaker and Cole, switched to internal auto builders. Despite the persisting argument about who first combustion engines in the early 1900s. Few of these companies, successfully test-drove an automobile in the United States, however, lasted more than one or two ye ars. During this time Elwood Haynes's achievement cannot be underestimated. Indiana produced more than its share of recognizable machines Haynes's work paved the way fo r other pioneer manufacturers. whose advertisements graced the pages of motor enthusiast maga­ Indianapolis carriage builder Charles H. Black is often credited zines and whose technological advancements were second to none. with operating the first horseless carriage, a modified German­ Among the more identifiable were the Maxwell, produced in New made Benz, in the state in the spring of 1891. He probably pro­ Castle from 1906 to 1916; the National in Indianapolis, 1903 to duced his first car, now on display at the Indianapolis Children's 1924; the Lexington in Connersville, 1910 to 1927; the Elcar in Museum, in 1895, but he never manufactured on a commercial Elkhart, 1916 to 1931; the ReVere in Logansport, 19 18 to 1926; scale. No one person invented the car; it evolved as a result of the Auburn in Auburn, 1900 to 1936; the Premier in Indianapolis, many individual contributions. Among the many in Indiana who 1903 to 1925; and the Cole in Indianapolis, 1909 to 1925. played a part in the automobile's development, Haynes and the Te chnological firsts produced by Indiana auto builders during Apperson brothers, Elmer and Edgar, deserve special credit for this period are significant. The 1902 Marmon was the first to use their contributions. a gear pump that created pressure to fe ed oil to the crankshaft Indiana emerged as a center of automobile technology by the and rod bearings (the procedure still in use today). The liberal 1910s and 1920s. Michigan and Wisconsin ranked ahead of Indi­ use of aluminum, which allowed fo r a lightweight engine, also dis­ ana in number of cars produced, but neither could claim they tinguished the Marmon. The National boasted that its engineers made better vehicles. To help buttress the state's reputation fo r manufactured the first six-cylinder engine in 1905. The Haynes quality automobile production and innovation, Carl G. Fisher and was the first to use both the carburetor and the muffler. James A. Allison decided to create an automobile proving ground, The third, and probably most glorious, phase in Indiana auto which became known as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was manufacturing history lasted from the middle 1920s to the middle

Spring 1994 9

1920 1932 1937 530plnn tsempwy 26,658Hoosiers One of the finest cars m r buill, the E. L. Cord liquidnll>s the Auburn in automobile-relatedproduction. Dwsen berg Model Sf� son sale. A.utomobikCompany. Right, Early automobile drivers �------�;;;;;;�li!ijiiiiiiiMiddle, The Walter M. Murphy were at the mercy of the Company made the custom elements, so a protective coat coach for this 19 2 9 Duesenberg was de rigueur. Model 1 Clear Vision Sedan. Murphy built more Duesenberg bodies than any other custom coachbuilder. MADE IN

1930s. Those Hoosier automakers that survived the postwar reces­ rather than succumb to the new trend fo r low-priced, mass­ sion were few, but famous. Financially stable manufacturers such produced vehicles. Cole remained true to his principles, and his as the Auburn, Studebaker, and Elcar companies offered moder­ business was liquidated in 1925. Haynes's stockhol�ers tried to ately priced vehicles and survived. Even in this difficult economic merge their company with the Winton Company of Cleveland and climate, however, Indiana automakers, like Nordyke and Marmon the Dorris Company of Saint Louis in 1923, but the merger never and the Auburn Automobile Company, continued to produce took place. more costly cars that were stylistically and technically innovative he Hoosier financial community generally proved to be of little and advanced; witness the Duesenberg, Marmon, Stutz, and Cord. assistance to the local automobile industry. There is no evi­ The 1932 Duesenberg SJ contained a 320-horsepower engine dence that local government offered assistance to the troubled that could go from 0 to 100 miles per hour in 17 seconds. Many l industry. Also, Indiana investors and creditors were financially experts in automotive history consider this to be the best Ameri­ conservative and skeptical about the automobile's ability to can car ever built. The 1929 Cord L-29 with its "X" frame and make a profit. As early as 1907, John N. Willys, owner of the new front-wheel drive was ahead of its time. Marmons were noted fo r Indianapolis-based Overland Company, was only a few hundred their engineering mo,jesty and Stutzes fo r their speed and classic dollars away from bankruptcy. Willys, of Elmira, New Yo rk, went designs. The 1932 Stutz DV-32 was one of the few American-made to Indianapolis to save the company. The company was $350 short cars equipped with a fo ur-speed transmission. fo r its payroll, and the local bank refused to accept Willys's check. Indiana automakers were not modest about their products. With cash assistance from the hotel where he was staying, Willys Magazines and trade journals contained numerous Indiana-built managed to collect enough to cover the payroll checks. Willys, automobile advertisements on their pages. These advertisements carrying the money in a paper bag, presented the bank with the generally appealed to the wealthier classes and to the rising num­ needed cash and saved the company from receivership. Within ber of automobile aficionados interested in fast and technologi­ the month, Willys had agreed to terms with his creditors and cally advanced machines. In one of its more ingenious reorganized the company. He then moved the operation to To ledo promotions, the Indiana Automobile Manufacturers Association where it eventually gained fame fo r manufacturing the Jeep. sponsored a caravan of twenty-two Indiana-produced automobiles Kokomo made a commendable effort to save Haynes in 1923, but and two trucks that left Indianapolis on 1 July 1913 for a cross­ it was too little too late. Haynes's business manager, A. G. Seiber­ country trip to California. The excursion sought to demonstrate ling, advocated the introduction of a smaller, less expensive car the state's manufacturing ability and to highlight the need fo r when the company underwent a major expansion in 1920. Seiber­ improved roads and highways. The Indiana-Pacific caravan passed ling later claimed that several of the owners refused to consider through Saint Louis, Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Lake Tahoe, San his proposal. He maintained that if Haynes had expanded its line Francisco, and Los Angeles. Tw enty of the twenty-two passenger to include a more affordable model in 1920, the business could vehicles completed the cross-country venture to Los Angeles, with have been saved. one car dropping out in Saint Louis and one in San Francisco. Unlike competitors in Detroit who had less expensive models Although roads were rough and maps were incorrect at times, the that could appeal to a greater variety of incomes, Indiana Hoosier-made autos gathered outside San Francisco and entered manufacturers continued to concentrate on higher priced vehicles the city together. Despite two serious accidents, both occurring in during the depression years. When sales of Lincolns and Cadillacs Los Angeles and neither caused by mechanical failure, the venture dipped in hard times, Ford and General Motors could rely on less was considered successful. expensive models for continued sales. Indiana's producers refused Notwithstanding their successes, Hoosier carmakers could not to compromise and paid the price. Stutz sold only six cars in 1934 or did not want to enter the low-cost, mass-production competi­ and went out of business the fol lowing year. Marmon relied heav­ tion with the Fords, Chevrolets, and Buicks in Detroit. Highly ily on the economic success of its new luxury car with a V- 16 inflationary times resulting from the end of Wo rld War I forced engine. The car was a work of engineering genius; but in an era many Indiana companies to cease operations by the early or mid­ when most Americans could not afford a Model T, it proved to be dle 1920s. Joseph J. Cole of Indianapolis reflected this unwilling­ a financial disaster, and the company fo lded in May 1933. E. L. ness to compete in a changing world. Offered the option to merge Cord, who used his financial genius to save the Duesenberg with other manufacturers in 1921, he refused, preferring to quit brothers in 1926, could not continue to manufacture either the Auburn, the Cord, or the Duesenberg past 1937. Although Cord had reduced the prices of his autos in the middle 1930s to the Opposite, bottom left This 192 5 Indianapolis service and level of Detroit's luxury vehicles, he decided that the battle could filling station filled a niche created by the American not be won and voluntarily liquidated his empire in 1937. automobile industry, which by the 1920s was the anchor of Studebaker, the only survivor of the depression, remained mar­ a new consumer goods-oriented nation. ginally solvent until its merger with the floundering Packard Company in 1955 and ceased production in December 1963. A Opposite, bottom right Joe Boyer and L. L. Corum took turns handful of Indiana manufacturers produced automobiles during driving to a 1924 Indianapolis 500 win, which was the first the next thirty years, with many firms lasting only a year. The of three in a row for Duesenbergs. In 1925 Duesenberg introduction in the 1980s and 1990s of the Mishawaka-produced Hummers and the Lafayette-produced Subarus, Isuzus, and Hon­ driver P,eter De Paolo became the first to win the race with das marks the beginning of a new chapter in Indiana and Ameri­ an average speed greater than 100 miles per hour- 10 1. 1 2. can auto history. II

Sprinlj 1994 II 1963 1984 1994 Studebakerceases production. Fir..st HUMMER made in Mishawaka. Honda announces plansfiJ produce Passport at Lafayette plo.nt. THE Ma n FROM

Recalling his first ride in his Pioneer, Elwood Haynes remembered the expressions of the onlookers as they gazed "wond-rr-eyed at the uncouth and utterly unexpected little machine."

12 TRACES ELWOOD HAYNES AND

THE ORIGINS OF THE

AUTOMOBILE IND USTRY

IN INDIANA

n 4 July 1894 Elwood

Haynes made his famous

trial run along the twisting

route of Pumpkinvine Pike

leading southeast from Kokomo. He was

driving a vehicle of his own design, later

known as the Haynes Pioneer. This

mechanical wonder, promising but imperfect

on its successful first test run, had been

constructed at the Riverside Machine Shop

near the downtown area of Kokomo. Elmer

Apperson owned and operated the

shop, and his younger brother,

SpriMg i994 13

14 October 1857 1886 1891 Elwood Hayrv..s born In Haynes bn:oml's superintendent of the Hayms makes preliminar-y.slutches for a Portland, Indiana. Portland/'lr'atural Gas Company. ·stlfpropellt!tl vehicle. MAN FROM J\..QKOMO

Edgar, also worked at the shop and on the experimental machine. Subsequently, Haynes and the elder Apperson went into business together, designing, improving, building, and selling Haynes-Apperson automobiles. After only a fe w years, in late 1901, each man went his sep­ arate way, and both Haynes and Apperson Brothers automobiles were manufactured in Kokomo until the mid-1920s. Various claims, none of which has yet been substantiated, suggest that Haynes was not the first person to build (or cause to be built) and drive a gasoline-powered, self-propelled vehicle designed fo r the nation's streets and highways. It is clear, nonetheless, that the com­ mercial production of automobiles in Indiana began in Kokomo in the mid-1890s. More­ over, the one company that had already begun to produce automobiles in quantity HAYNES elsewhere in the country prior to Haynes and Apperson failed in 1898. Charles E. and J. Frank Duryea fo unded the Duryea Motor Wagon Works in Springfield, Massachusetts. The brothers first tested their vehicle in September 1893 (unsuccessfully) and again, success­ fully, in January 1894. They went on to win the first American automobile race in Chicago in November 1895, and the company began production of motor vehicles at once. Conse­ quently, fo llowing the early demise of this firm, Elwood Haynes was widely recognized as the proprietor and inventive genius behind the oldest automobile company in America, some­ thing that Haynes Automobile Company advertising people interpreted to mean also the first such company in America. An example of such recognition was Haynes's prominent role in New Yo rk City's celebration in 1908 of the first decade of the automobile there; Haynes was privileged to drive his little Pioneer vehicle at the head of the "historical sec­ tion" of a massive parade down Broadway, fo llowed immediately by ten more Haynes or Carl Fisher and the Trailblazers Haynes-Apperson automobiles, one fo r each year of the decade. Shortly after this thrilling drove this Haynes, event, Haynes donated the Pioneer to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., as well as sixteen other where it remains on permanent display. In time, of course, this special attention led to disputes with others, particularly the Indiana-built autos, Apperson Brothers, who could argue that they were the builders of the first car, and Charles on a thirty-four-day trip Duryea, who properly claimed priority fo r himself and his brother Frank in manufacturing to San Francisco automobiles. Charles, however, damaged his cause by predating the first Duryea vehicle and and Los Angeles by exaggerating his own role in the family business. Subsequently other claims, including one by Henry Ford in Michigan (who predated his first car-building efforts by four years) to promote the and one by Charles H. Black in Indianapolis (whose purchase of a Benz automobile in the Lincoln Highway 1890s may have antedated the Haynes Pioneer, but whose construction of his own Black in 1913. automobile at an earlier time than Haynes has not yet been established), have muddied the waters considerably regarding early automobile chronology within the state and nation. Curiously, too, as time goes on, Haynes's role as a genuine automobile pioneer continues to diminish outside the state, even to some extent within it. Whereas he was showered with

14 TRACES 1893 Ha•m,es arranges for construction of vehicleat Elmer Apperson's Riverside Machine Works, Kokomo. MAN FROM .KoKOMO

aynes was a native of Portland, in Jay County, Indiana. He was born on 14 October 1857 and died 13 April 1925. His parents, .Judge Jacob M. Haynes ' and Hilinda (Haines) Haynes, had several remarkable children, jncluding Elwood Haynes was a teacher, a merchant, a miller, a farmer, a banker, a lawyer-and Elwood. 'This sometimes dreamy lad caused no little concern among the family as widely RECOGNIZED to his ability to earn a living, but he himself had no doubts. His first goal was to obtain a suitable fo rmal education, which he eventually did, even though it meant returning to as the proprietor and highJ school C (as soon as one was established in Portland) at the age of almost nineteen. His two years qualified him (barely) for admission to the Wo rcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science, in Wo rcester, Massachusetts. Haynes moved there in 1878, lived fo r inventive GENIUS a time in the public library (in return fo r janitorial services), and completed the three­ year program on schedule, even though he had considerable trouble with that "wicked behind the oldest algebra." Despite being the oldest student in the class of 1881 (a full three years above the average age), Haynes was popular with his classmates and served as class president his junior (middle) year. His studies laid the fo undation fo r his eventual achievements in automobile company metallurgical discoveries. For his senior thesis he analyzed the effect of tungsten upon iron and steel, a topic to which he returned twenty years later. Significantly, it was the in America, addition of tungsten to new binary (two-part) alloys Haynes had already discovered (and patented) that transformed his cobalt-chromium and nickel-chromium combinations something that into the incredibly hard, heat-, wear-, and corrosion-resistant tool metal that revolution­ ized the machine tool industry. Haynes named these alloys Stellite, from the Latin word stella, for star, because of their lustrous finish and appearance. Indeed, because of the HAYNES AUTOMOBILE personal losses involved in the collapse of his automobile company in 1924-25, Stellite, not the automobile, provided the basis fo r his and his family's wealth. COMPANY advertising Immediately upon graduation from Wo rcester, Haynes returned to Portland and began his planned career as a teacher. Demonstrating great ability, he moved rapidly up the lad­ people interpr eted der. He went from the proverbial one-room district schools in Jay County (where he boarded with the families of his students) to Portland High School as principal. Then, fol lowing additional schooling at Johns Hopkins University, one of this country's first to mean also the graduate schools, Haynes became the professor of science at the newly established East­ ern Indiana Normal School in Portland. "I like teaching first rate," he once confided to FIRST such company his special friend, Bertha Lanterman, "and the more I teach the better I like it." The discovery of natural gas in Indiana in 1886, near Portland, had a profound effect upon Elwood Haynes. Given his scientific background, he was prevailed upon to become in America. the superintendent of the Portland Natural Gas and Oil Company. As such, he oversaw -+------+-the drilling of wells, the piping of the city, and office operations fo r four years. His talents fo r invention were utilized in this job, as he designed and installed gas meters, an "auto­ acclaim during his lifetime, he now has matic gas regulator" or thermostat, and a specially made alarm system he placed in his been relegated by some to a small role in home to notify him instantly of any sudden changes in the gas pressure in the lines. His the story. Even worse, some respected ref­ new employment also enabled him, at age thirty, to marry Bertha Lanterman. erence works, such as those issued by the Haynes's outstanding management of the local gas company brought him to the atten­ editors of Automobile Quarterly, have given tion of a Chicago firm, misnamed intentionally the Indiana Natural Gas and Oil Com­ credence to the story that Haynes bribed pany, which was seeking to monopolize the supply of gas to the city of Chicago. others to remain silent about their early Masterminded by Charles 'lyson Ye rkes, an urban corruptionist ("robber baron") whose work, in particular .John Lambert, suppos­ scandalous career supplied Indiana novelist Theodore Dreiser with the basis for his cen­ edly the inventor of a very early automo­ tral Frank Cowperwood character in his trilogy about late Victorian urban society (The bile that he unsuccessfully attempted to Financier, The Titan, and The Stoic), the plan called for constructing a pipeline from the manufacture. The Lambert story appears heart of the Indiana gas field (now known to extend westward from Portland to beyond in both the Lambert and Haynes entries of Kokomo) to the Indiana-Illinois border near Lake Michigan. As this project was an The Starulard Catalogof American Automobiles, unprecedented undertaking, company officials searched carefully for the person to 1805-1942 (1985). Such stories, evidently direct the field operations. They decided upon Haynes, then considered "the most based upon long-after-the-time reminis­ knowledgeable natural gas man in the state." Ostensibly working for the Columbus Con­ cences of a Lambert. acquaintance, fly in struction Company and perhaps unaware of its ownership by the Ye rkes group in the face of well-substantiated evidence Chicago, Haynes accepted the new challenge, moved to Greentown, Indiana, and super­ regarding Haynes's activities in connection vised the construction of two 120-mile-long, 8-inch pipelines across northwest Indiana. with his experimentation in developing This job, too, required innovation, including Haynes's solution-since used univer­ the Pioneer. The brief summary that fo l­ sally-of dehydrating the gas prior to its being pumped through the pipes to prevent lows is intended, as Thomas Jefferson said freezing. It was also necessary to erect a pumping station at Greentown, the "largest of its in his most famous writing, to "let facts be kind" in 1901, to install fe eder pipes from the many wells surrounding Greentown to the submitted to a candid world." company's reservoir, and to travel extensively along the main line from Greentown to

Spring 1994 15

1898 Haynes-AppnsonAutomobile Company organized. MAN FR OM . K oK O MO

Hammond during the construction, 1890-92. This travel rekindled Haynes's desire fo r a mechanical vehicle, one that could relieve his horses of their drudgery and long hours in harness nearly every day. During a lull in construction activity in 1891, caused by litiga­ tion contesting the company's right to ship gas to points outside the state, Haynes used his free time to make preliminary drawings for a self-propelled vehicle, but he put them aside when construction resumed. l";- ollowing successful completion of the pipeline, Haynes moved from Greentown \. ' to nearby Kokomo, becoming manager of the gas plant there. His duties afforded him time fo r other activities, and he soon made important advances in the two careers-as an automobile inventor and manufacturer and as a met­ allurgical inventor and producer-to which he devoted himself subsequently. Indeed, some of his earliest alloys were produced at night in his gas company office using tiny crucibles the size of teacups and small gas-fired furnaces to melt the ingredi­ Jents. It is interesting also that the frame of his first automobile was built from sections of small-diameter gas pipes. Haynes could not begin serious and sustained work toward building his first car until 1894. As early as 1890 he had written to the editors of Scientific AmRricanto inquire about Theodore Roosevelt sits in a the most suitable power sources fo r self-propelled vehicles: electricity, steam, or gasoline. Model 19 Haynes outside the The editors recommended steam, saying the other types were unproven, but Haynes was not convinced. A breakthrough came in the fall of 1893 when he attended the Chicago English Theater in Indianapolis, Wo rld's Fair and visited the exhibition of the Sintz Gas Engine Company of Grand circa 1911.

The vehicle was ready fo r its initial test run on 4 July 1894. Because of the crowd in town fo r the holiday, Haynes and Apperson decided to have the contraption towed by horses to the edge of town before attempt­ ing to operate it. No one in the group had ever seen an automobile before. To the delight of its builders, the engine caught at once, and the car moved off under its own power, reaching a speed of 7 to 8 miles per hour. After traveling eastward about a mile and a half, Haynes permitted the car, which had no brakes, to coast to a stop, whereupon it was turned around and dri­ ven all the way back to the shop. It was a promising beginning, but there were a number of problems to be solved. The small engine was insufficiently power­ ful; the steering mechanism was unreli­ able; and the original wheels were too small. After modifying the first vehicle, Haynes and Apperson, now in partnership, built a second car in 1895 expressly fo r the purpose of competing in the race held in Chicago on 28 November 1895. This race, -t------+the first held in America fo r automobiles, had but a fe w entrants, including cars from Rapids, Michigan. Believing that the Sintz engine, manufactured in diffe rent sizes fo r Europe (where racing had started in 1894) various marine or boating purposes, could also serve his purposes, Haynes ordered a and cars powered by electricity. Only the small, one-cylinder, one-horsepower model upon his return home. Haynes initially Duryea brothers, who won the race, and worked on the engine, delivered in November 1893, at home, but he soon arranged to Haynes and Apperson were on hand with have further testing of the engine, and the construction of a vehicle to accommodate it, gasoline-powered vehicles made in Amer­ to be done at a local shop, Elmer Apperson's Riverside Machine Works. Apperson agreed ica. Unfortunately, the Haynes-Apperson to do the job during "slack time" at a rate of fo rty cents an hour fo r himself and his men, car damaged a wheel en route to the start­ including his brother, Edgar, and Jonathan D. Maxwell. According to the testimony of ing line (while dodging a streetcar on the other workmen in the shop, at first the Appersons considered the project absurd. As the snow-covered streets) and was unable to work progressed, however, those involved became captivated by it, "often working over­ compete, but the company did win a prize time on the machine." for its original "double opposed" (two-

16 TRACES 1901 Havnes and Apperson fo rm separatecompanif's. MAN FROM :'KoKOMO cylinder), virtually vibration-free engine. Indeed, the interest this car attracted in Chicago induced Haynes and Apperson to continue their partnership and begin producing automobiles on order. In 1898 they organized the Haynes-Apperson Automobile Company to begin relatively large-scale production, and the company enjoyed reasonable success for a full quarter century. At the outset Haynes and Apperson made several notable improvements in their automobile. They patented some of their ideas, but others they incorporated into their cars without protection. Haynes was particularly proud of the metallurgical innovations. He was the first manufacturer to use aluminum in an engine and a nickel-steel alloy elsewhere in the car. After the Appersons started their own company, producing the first Apperson in 1902, Haynes renamed his company to sim­ ply the Haynes Automobile Company. He personally managed its affairs, however,

n Elwood Haynes, third from the left, poses with a late-model Haynes car, JCT'fl l . t 'La\) l 1923 or 1924, in front of his home in Kokomo. The other men are believed to be {a�n businessmen called in to help the struggling Haynes Automobile Company.

Vt a. f

e vJ{ · /11(?, Rant a �. astrous fire in 1911, and during the severe financial problems in 1923-24. For most of ufd the years that Haynes and Apperson produced cars in Kokomo, they were, while person­ ne, lRat ally on friendly terms, business competitors. Both men and their companies stressed the longevity of their automotive careers and vied with each other fo r recognition as the '{ fi , t_ K Ka builder of "America's First Car." The Haynes company prevailed in the contest and used LR L'L ckud� � this slogan on the hood ornament of each car produced after 1913. a{ Eventually the Haynes Automobile Company became the largest manufacturing con­ d a n ea"'3 K U'L cern in Kokomo. As early as 1908 the Haynes plant, occupying three large factory build­ ings, employed approximately five hundred workers, and its production capacity ln Ka ne. exceeded 350 cars a year. Small in comparison with the automotive leaders in Detroit, Haynes nevertheless was one of the top twenty-five companies in the United States by 1913, and Haynes continued to produce a sizable number of good, reliable, medium- to high-priced automobiles fo r a decade. Sales averaged more than 4,000 cars a year from -----+ 1910 to 1923, peaking in 1916 at 7, 100, but tailed off precipitously after 1923. The com- pany failed in 1924, with the last Haynes cars, assembled from stock on hand, rolling off the assembly line in February 1925. Ultimately the victim of the economies of production achieved in Detroit, many pioneer companies in the industry, including Winton and Maxwell, as well as Haynes and Apperson, disappeared from the scene in the mid-1920s. Long before that happened, Elwood Haynes had made his mark in the world as a bril­ liant metallurgist. In time Haynes produced enormously significant and valuable new alloys, particularly Stellite and stainless steel. Tw o companies-Haynes Stellite and Ameri­ can Stainless Steel-based upon his experiments and discoveries were established, and both products are still very much a part of the modern, industrialized world. An effective teacher, an imaginative and innovative natural gas worker, the inventor of one of the first automobiles in America and the first manufacturer of cars in Indiana, and the developer of remarkably useful and versatile alloys that continue to play an important role in modern life, Haynes deserves to be better known as a true pioneer in Elwood Haynes. tht American automobile industry.J 17

1924 13 April 1925 HayTI£SAuloTTWbile CompanyJai/.5. Elwood Haynes dies. AS§� ASA 93

"The case is being fo ught bitterly," Mattoon's Daily .Journal Gazette observed in March 19 11. So intense did the legal battle y rage that the newspaper warned its readers that the term of court could "drag out fo r a long time." But such matters troubled fe w people in this small Illinois community, for they were being treated to an "array of legal talent on the firing lines" in a litiga­ tion pitting a well-known local citizen against a Hoosier manufac­ turer. The parties, much to everyone's interest, brought to the bar of justice the issue of the worthiness and stamina of America's RIDGEVILLE newest object of devotion, the automobile. Occasionally in the early days of car manufacturing a court of law had to decide whether buyers of a poorly made machine had SENATOR been defrauded by an unscrupulous builder, who might make just enough cars to turn a handsome profit, or whether well-meaning incompetence had caused the problem. The court record of the Mattoon case provides a glimpse of the start-up side of car manu­ facturing and distribution along with some details about a little­ known Indiana automobile. Joseph Lay and Company made brooms and brushes. Begun in Olmsted Falls, Ohio, in 1875, the business moved in 1886 to an

18 TRACE S 1886 Joseph La"fand Compan.v moves k 1906-1912Ridgeville,lndimla. T H E �j(_ I D G E V I L L E S E N A T 0 R abandoned brewery in Ridgeville, Randolph County, Indiana, and Ridgeville machinist, to design and supeYvise the Senator's con­ in 1902Joseph and his son Sam settled their operation into the old struction. Carpenter turned to his onetime associate Joe Landwich Ridgeville College building. About that time the Lays pioneered a to fashion the armored frame, running boards, levers, top skele­ new way of securing broomcorn to wooden handles using metal tons, detachable tonneau, and the white ash chassis framework. bands and flaring metal caps. From the Ridgeville headquarters Landwich was assisted by Fred Stebbleton, a Lay employee who had the signature Lay brooms and Victor brushes swept the nation's fo rmerly worked at the Speed Changing Pulley Company of Indi­ homes and factories. By 1909 unit sales topped 326,000. anapolis. White ash also went into the car beds made by Samuel In 1906 the joseph Lay company created a subsidiary, the Victor Stick, a Ridgeville planing mill owner, who made furniture and Automobile Company, to make a vehicle called the Senator. The wooden novelties. The Tu cker Bending Company of Sidney, Ohio, Lays were no strangers to the principles and components of car sold Stick poplar to create the panels and doors. Harry Horn of construction. In 1902, when nationwide production numbered less Union City oversaw putting on the finish. E. A. Cadwallader, a car­ than 11,000, the Lays owned curved-dash Oldsmobiles and dab­ riage and automobile painter, did the touch-up work and painted bled in improvements on them. The broom factory, too, fu nc­ the drip pans. tioned as a training ground fo r budding car builders with its buzz The Lays manufactured much of the exterior, but they saws, ripsaws, planers, borers, sanders, lathes, nailers, presses, purchased the mechanical parts elsewhere. The fo ur-cylinder, grain cutters, veneerers, and staplers. Personal experience, a vir­ tual fo rest of machinery, skilled operatives, and wealth combined Opposite, The Lay brothers operated this successful to propel the Lays into the automobile sweepstakes. Designating one of their outbuildings as the automobile plant, broom factory in Ridgeville, Indiana. the Lays stocked it with shapers, lathes, drill presses, emery wheels, fo rges, dies, and other small tools. They hired J. 0. Carpenter, a Below Lay and Company letter head .

JOSEPH LAY £R HOH NUST IU IUPORTtO PHONPTL Y ON R£Ctii'T OF GOODS S C LAY.

RA IL ROAD BROOMS FOR SNOW: SWI TCH SHOPANO iLAT,O�N U$E

.eASS � STEEL WIRE PU SH BROOMS. FOR STAelf:S.STREETS & c STRI!:I!:T SW[EPfR RO LLS RE,-1LLfO

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Spring 1 994 19 1906 1909 Lay brothnsfo rm the Victor offe rs two Seruttor nwdelsfo r sale. Victor Aukmwbile Company. T H E ·)� I I> < I \ I I I I 5 E N A T 0 R

The tonneau, a feature of many early automobiles including the Senator, wa s a source of concern for some, especially those who agreed with a Muncie judge's proclamation that automobiles were nothing but "a house of pros titution on wheels ."

20 TRACES

1910 William M. Check!ey ami Cha rles 1ayitJr purchaseSenato rs. THE �Jl IDGEVILLE SENATOR

air-cooled Carrico gas motors and the Universal carburetor came Upon arriving in Ridgeville, Harvey Checkley met with Car­ from the Speed Changing Pulley Company of Indianapolis. That penter, the car's designer, who instructed him on the rudiments city's Marion Motor Car Company supplied the Hester trans­ of driving. A fo ursome, including Carpenter, Sam Lay, Harry Lay mission, all axles, and the wheels made with white hickory (Sam's son), and Checkley, took several spins around town. Check­ spokes. The Fiske Rubber Company produced the tires. Other ley finally took the wheel, only to kill the engine. He got the hang firms produced everything from the iron bolts and nuts fo r the of it, however, in the next few days as he and Harry Lay drove to chassis to the curled hair and machine-tufted leather used in the nearby Dunkirk and Redkey. After driving his father's car Check­ upholstery to the baked enamel pressed steel fe nders and the ley authorized the Lays to bank his father's draft of $1,278, previ­ Fairfield duck top. ously sent. The twenty-eight dollars added to the base price of r-;-; rom all evidence the Lays earnestly entered their new $1,250 got Checkley a speedometer, a gadget unknown to him enterprise. In 1909 they were among thirty-six Hoosier until described by Sam Lay. automakers listed by the In dianapolis Star. They faced Checkley, anxious to get back to school and wary of the muddy their competition roads of a Midwest spring­ with two Senator time, opted not to drive models, a family five­ the car home but have it seat touring car weighing shipped, which created spe­ J1,950 pounds and costing cial problems. The railroad between $1,850 and $2,000, had difficulty supplying a and a runabout of 1,700 freight car with a door wide pounds with a price tag of enough fo r the unit to be $1,650 to $1,850. They stowed intact. The railroad pitched the cars as being wanted to dismantle the extremely light, thereby Senator, but Sam Lay using less gas, power, and demanded it be shipped in tire rubber than competi­ one piece. Ultimately the tors. Light, yet strong. Who railway supplied a carrier wouldn't want the strength with an eight-foot door. The of an armored wood frame, Sen'ltor, cleaned of mud the advantage of a rear-axle after road tests, was loaded transmission, heavy brakes, on a platform wagon and full elliptic springs, and the eased into the railcar. air-cooled engine over the On 6 May 1910 Checkley weightier and more complex Joseph Lay and John Oliver Carpenter take a and his employee Rosse! F. water-cooled engine? Johnson supervised the ride in i 901 curved-dash automobiles. Making and advertising a unloading of the Senator at car appeared to be easy the Mattoon freight station. compared to selling it, Johnson, who had gradu­ which typically occurred after a customer successfully tested it, a ated from an automobile school in Chicago, ran it off the plat­ problematic step given the usual road conditions. The novice car fo rm wagon and drove it to Checkley's house. The next day, vendor craved buyers as evidence of stability and to provide the Johnson noticed imperfections in the vehicle: holes in the fe nders, momentum fo r further production. For the Lays, their many sup­ unused holes in the back of the frame, tarnished lamps, a bat­ pliers of broomcorn comprised a pool of consumers. In October tered horn, loose doors because of a cracked molding, door 1909 while in Greenup, Illinois, after broomcorn, Samuel Lay dis­ scratches, marks and holes from a nonexistent robe or coat rail, closed to his jobber James Nunemaker the Lays' recent entry into an old carburetor and extra tire, and a loose-fitting tonneau. car manufacturing. After receiving info rmation on the Senator, Undaunted at first by such imperfections, Checkley went Nunemaker stopped off in Ridgeville inJanuary 1910 to look over "a-whooping" in his new machine into the countryside. "A-whoop­ the car. Allegedly, Lay and Nunemaker sealed a bargain whereby if ing is 20 miles an hour," Checkley explained. Unfortunately, Nunemaker would get several acquaintances to join in buying cars Checkley's a-whooping ended prematurely as the car faltered at a reduced price he would get the agency fo r the Senator. As on the rural roads, rarely cresting any hill and overheating contin­ promised, two Mattoon, Illinois, broomcorn brokers, William M. ually. "At Dry Grove church we pushed the car up the hill, then Checkley, who also happened to be Mattoon's postmaster, and on south the road running to Neoga we pushed it up another hill. Charles Taylor, signed contracts to purchase the Ridgeville cars at The engine got too hot and lost power," described Rosse! Johnson $1,250 each. of a trip. One time, after another engine overheating, the passen­ William Checkley sent his son Harvey, a University of Illinois gers drove back toward Mattoon carrying the detached hood on student, to pick up his car with a letter of introduction that read: their laps. "This is my son, Harvey. I want you to show him how to run the Meanwhile, Taylor went to Ridgeville, picked up his car and car so he can bring it back to Mattoon." The elder Checkley had attempted to drive it back to Illinois. Somewhere along U.S. 40 in originally wanted to send Harvey to Chicago to take a "chauffers" Indiana Taylor had to replace spark plugs. Then at Brazil, the [sic] course, but Sam Lay assured the father that he could teach wheels locked after they ran over a railroad track and through a his son everything he needed to know. pile of gravel. The car was loaded on a dray and hauled to a

Spring j994 21 6May 1910 Checkley 's Senator unloaded in Mattoon, lllirwis. THE �j( IDGEVILLE SENATOR garage in Brazil for repairs. Back on the road, the car overheated the Lays stood behind the car, and that it would hold five passen­ and could not maneuver the hills. gers and be powered by a 24 horsepower, air-cooled engine. If ack in Mattoon, Checkley apprehensively wrote the it turned out to be less than an up-to-date, first-class automobile Lays requesting someone to look after the structural in every respect, so Checkley presumably was told, he could deficiencies of the car and its poor performance. Car­ decline it. penter received the assignment and came to Mattoon, Attorneys fo r Checkley paraded witnesses, primarily friends from where, with Johnson, Taylor, Checkley, and son, and garage owners, who had run or fixed the car. The defense, on he drove to Greenup, Illinois. the other hand, called on fa mily On this trip, the car was pushed members, car builders, and up fo ur hills, and it ran out of parts suppliers. The latter oil. A nearby farmer provided included Edward S. De Ta mble the oil, and Carpenter drove the of Anderson, who manufactured car to a blacksmith shop in the De Ta mble car, and Edward Neoga, where he fo und a broken G. Sourvier, who built the Over­ cog in the transmission. land and Marion cars in Indi­ Sam Lay and L. P. Simms fo l­ anapolis. Both testified to the lowed Carpenter over to Mat­ newness of the parts that went toon. The next day after the into the Senator as well as to its group's troubled backwoods overall acceptable quality. They trip, Checkley confronted Sam acknowledged, however, that the Lay in downtown Mattoon and air-cooled engine and the Hester accused the Lays of "only mak­ transmission, although unused, ing automobiles for experi­ had been sold to Sam Lay sev­ ment." Checkley wanted to eral years earlier, and neither De return the car, but Lay refused Ta mble or Sourvier were now that solution. Lay did, however, John Oliver Ca rpenter at the wheel, which is using that transmission in their bet Checkley $500 that two dis­ on the right-hand side, of the Senator that he cars. These admissions aside, the interested persons driving the defense witnesses reasonably and Joseph La ndwich built in Ridgeville. Senator from Mattoon to answered charges about blem- Greenup would herald it as good ishes on the car noticed upon as any car of its size and compo- delivery of the vehicle in Mat­ sition. Checkley declined this toon. As fo r the engine fa ilures, offer and again asked Lay to the defense attacked both the take back the car and return the Landwich and his fa mily pose in another handling of the car by Check­ money. Lay refused once more, automobile tha t he and Ca rpenter built for ley's drivers and repairs made by his mechanics. whereupon Checkley brought the Victor Automobile Company. suit against the company. An What the Lays could not neu­ amended declaration contained tralize fo r the jury was the effec­ two counts of fraud, charging tive tactic by Checkley's lawyers the Lay company with falsely of keying on the inferiority of warranting the Senator to be a the Senator when compared to new five-passenger touring car the Buick. Nunemaker swore and with claiming that the auto­ Sam Lay had assured him that mobile was to be as good or bet­ the Senator "was as good as the ter "than a certain car known as Buick or better. " Both Nune­ the 'Buick' car." maker and Checkley testified The case, as argued in the they had considered the Buick Mattoon city court, hinged on before being approached by the representations about the car Lays. Mattoon had a Buick made to Checkley by Nune­ salesroom and two-thirds of maker and the Lays and whether Checkley's witnesses either sold these claims were made falsely or worked on Buicks. To push in order to induce Checkley to the point home fo r the jury, buy the car. The principle of "good fa ith transaction" lay at the Checkley's counsel usually concluded examination of each witness heart of the litigation. It fe ll on Check ley to prove bad faith on the by asking, over defense objections, the fo llowing: "I will ask you if Lays' part. His case rested largely on his horrid experience with the Senator car, in controversy in this case, is as good as the car the car, the descriptions of which, according to the Mattoon news­ known as the Buick." Invariably the answer came back, "No, Sir." paper, "brought laughter to the entire court room." Checkley's Sam Lay denied making any representation to Nunemaker lawyers sharply contrasted his misfortune with Nunemaker's sup­ about the Buick or any comparison with it. This position, lost in posed sales pitch that the Senator was better than a Buick, that the voluminous declarations on the other side, made little head-

22 TRACES

March 1911 Jury awards ChtrklPy dmnages. THE �Jl IDGEVILLE SENATOR way with the jury. Other issues did surface. Was Nunemaker a evidence in the previous testimony and enough problems with commissioned agent whose statements could be construed as the court's instructions to the jurors that it reversed the verdict speaking fo r the Lays? Had the car been built as a two-seat run­ and remanded the case to the Mattoon city court. about with the tonneau added deliberately and criminally to make y every indication the case died at this point. No new it appear as a five-seater? Did Checkley's boy really represent his trial ensued on the Checkley claim. Taylor, too, had father's best interests? These disputed matters, nonetheless, often filed suit against the Lays, but his trial did not take isolated in the evidence, could not effectively challenge the space 93place. No new trials occurred because the Lays set­ or weight given to the some fo rty references to the Buick brought tled the dispute in late 1912. Sam Lay wrote his fo rward by the plaintiff. Chicago attorney Lyman M. Paine on 14 December with the news At least fo ur of the court's instructions to the jury charged that "I settled those cases to day [sic] out of court by giving them to find fo r Checkley if, as put fo r example in instruction Check ley 750.00, Taylor 575.00 and standing half of present court fo urteen, "you believe from a preponderance of evidence that costs and storage on Machines and we take the machines back." this car is not as good as Regaining possession of a Buick, and that the the cars without refund­ defendants knew that it ing the full cost despite was not." The trial had court and storage lasted fo ur days, longer expenditures probably than expected, made gave the Lays a slight longer in part by the edge in the fiscal con­ continual call by untu­ "It 's a good RULE to fol low, test. The Lays' decision tored lawyers and jury to conclude the lawsuit members fo r clarifi­ pleased lawyer Paine fo r cation of technical keep your money in the he fe lt the Mattoon mechanical terms. The court prejudicial "in Mattoon newspaper CHANNE L in which it was view of the suit being in noted that because none Illinois before Judge of the lawyers in the case McNutt, and the lawyers owned or had operated made, and don't try to being such as they are." an automobile "their " The family, however, knowledge was theoreti­ double it at another 's GAME. had not finished fight- cal and it showed." ing. Asked to explore Notwithstanding the the possibility of drag­ length and bitterness of ging Checkley, Taylor, the trial, the jury took a and Nunemaker into brief ninety minutes court on conspiracy to hand in a verdict charges, Paine rendered against the Lays and an adverse opinion on award Checkley damages fo r the full amount of the initial cost of the matter, a judgment accepted in Ridgeville. As with most cases the automobile, $1,278. The court overruled a motion fo r a new of this kind, both sides gained something. trial; the Lays appealed the case, which was heard at Springfield The court case ended automobile manufacturing fo r the Lays in the Illinois Appellate Court fo r the Third District at its Octo­ after they produced just seven Senator cars. The litigation under­ ber 191 1 session. scores the numerous hazards entrepreneurs and buyers faced in In arguing the Lays' case before the appellate court the attor­ the car industry's infancy. The Lays, like all good businessmen, neys reiterated the Lays' firm decision to make good in the auto­ knew when the game was up. Automobile technology had mobile business, hence having no reason for making fraudulent advanced so rapidly that expertise in 1912 was a fa r cry from that statements. By adhering to the contract terms and by having com­ required five years earlier. Moreover, the economies of produc­ petent workers assemble a vehicle composed of new parts, the tion quickly weeded out many small firms so that by 1912 a per­ Lays had demonstrated a fixed resolve to succeed. The car's ceptive businessman like Samuel Lay clearly understood the problems, they contended, began with the disrepairs by Check­ consolidation process that lay ahead in the automobile industry. ley's mechanics. Moreover, the court had failed to specify which The Lays returned to the brooms and brushes that had brought of several Buick models should be used as a basis of comparison. them success in the first place and perhaps reflected on advice The court, too, had mistaken "puffery" of a product fo r decep­ the firm had given the public in the Ridgeville Record in 1903: tion, when in fact "salesmanship" was common and allowable by "It's a good rule to fo llow, keep your money in the channel in law. Finally, they argued, personal preference determined what which it was made, and don't try to double it a[ another's game."J comprised a better car, that "some makes of cars appeal to the fa ncy of one man, some to another," and expressions of taste or opinion are not fraudulent. The hammering home of the Lays' rectitude and of the oppo­ The author thanks Harry Huffman, In dianapolis; jo hn Martin Smith, nent's suspicious mechanical adjustments failed to move the Auburn; and H-ayne L. Norton of the Ridgeville-Kitselman Museum, Appellate Court. However, the court did find enough conflicting Inc., Ridgeville, fo r their assistance in the preparation of this article.

Spring 199 4 23

Oriober 1911 December 1912 Illinois ApjJellalf Court Lays settiR out of court reverses verdict, rrmaruL� with CJu.rkiRy and Ta ylor, cast to Mattoon city court. lmve automobile bu..'iineu. B 0 0 M H 0 W E Rl

i fteen-year-old things even before he had Indianapolis resident heard of Florida than any Jane Watt was walking man I ever met" came into the along Meridian Street world on 12 January 1874 one fall afternoon in in Greensburg, Indiana, the 1908 when she noticed some­ second of three sons born to thing strange. All traffic on Albert H. and Ida Graham the street had stopped, and Fisher. His parents separated F when Fisher was young, and people were craning their necks upward. Following their his mother moved the family lead, Watt stopped, looked up, to Indianapolis. Suffering and was stunned to see a giant from severe astigmatism, hot-air balloon floating by Fisher quit school when he with, instead of the usual was twelve. According to his wicker basket, a Stoddard­ future wife, Jane, who pro­ Dayton automobile. Sitting in duced a biography of her hus­ the car she saw, fo r the first band titled Fa bulous Ho osier, time, the man she would marry Fisher got a job in a grocery -Carl G. Fisher. store, took a bundle of grocer­ Wild stunts were a regular ies home to his mother, and fe ature of Fisher's career. boldly announced: "From now Regarded as a promotional on, I'm supporting this family. " In the coming years Fisher genius for most of his life, Car l G. Fis her. Fisher, responsible for turning held a number of jobs, every­ Miami Beach from a man­ thing from clerking in a book­ grove swamp into America's store to working as a "news favorite resort, also played an butcher" hawking newspapers, important role in Indiana's tobacco, candy, and other early automotive history. products on trains leaving Although the onetime million­ Indianapolis. In 1891 the sev­ aire was nearly penniless upon enteen-year-old Fisher and his his death in 1939, his stamp two brothers opened a bicycle had been put on such impres­ shop in Indianapolis, where sive automotive achievements �fLu they repaired flat tires fo r as the Prest-O-Lite Storage just twenty-five cents. Fisher Battery Company, the Indi­ managed to be in the right ., anapolis Motor Speedway, and place at the right time with his the Lincoln and Dixie high­ HOOSIER new venture as a bicycle craze ways. Fisher, more than any­ swept the country. An India­ one else, according to Hoosier napolis Zig-Zag Cycling Club writer John Bartlow Martin, member, Fisher participated "symbolized the glorification of the automobile in Indiana." The man Will Rogers de­ scribed as doing "more unique

24 TRAC ES II 0 0 ' I I R ��� A R ll M

in the organization's Sunday of champion racer Barney a tightrope stretched over field, immediately embraced rides to such Hoosier cities as Oldfield, later a skilled race Washington Street; he built the new means of transporta­ Columbus, Danville, Franklin, car driver. Fisher had better and rode a twenty-foot-high tion, telling the champion Greenfield, Lebanon, and luck with his Indianapolis bicycle; and he released a racer, "I don't see why the Shelbyville. Joining Fisher on shop than his bicycle racing, thousand toy balloons, one automobile can't be made to those rides were James A. Alli­ managing to convince George hundred of which contained do everything the bicycle has son and Arthur C. Newby, Erland, a leading Ohio bicycle �umbers that meant a person done." Fisher converted his fu ture founders, along with manufacturer, to supply him, received a free bicycle. bicycle shop into an automo­ Frank H. Wheeler, of the Indi­ on credit, with $50,000 worth As the bicycle craze died bile repair/sales facility. Along anapolis Motor Speedway. of merchandise. With little down in the state at the turn with Oldfield and his other Although handicapped by cash on hand fo r advertising, of the century, another tech­ friends from the Zig-Zag club, poor eyesight, Fisher managed Fisher turned to promotional nological marvel burst onto Fisher barnstormed through to participate in a number of stunts to help him sell his the scene to take its place­ the Midwest with a group bill­ bicycle races, slugging it out product. We aring a padded the automobile. Fisher, like his ing itself as "the world's most wheel to wheel with the likes suit, he rode a bicycle across fellow bicycle enthusiast Old- daring automobile racers."

Above Drivers prepare for the start of Below left Howdy Wilcox drove his number three an early Indianapolis 500 race. Peugeot to a win in the 19 19 Indianapolis 500.

Above right In 1911 the gentlemen start Below Ray Harroun earned a share of the total their engines for the first 500-mile ra ce. purse of $25,100 in gold for his victory in The timer's stand is at the right. the 1911 Indianapolis 500.

Spri"g 1994 25

I 2 ja nULlry I 874 1891 1901 Carl G. Fzsher born in Grumburg, Fisher and his brothers open a bicycle Fisher barmtorms 1/u> Midwest in a Indiana. shop in Indianapolis. Winton race. car. H 0 0 S I E R �J3 A R N U M

The product may have been Fisher, however, could different, but Fisher used never keep still. He pursued tricks similar to his bicycle his dream of building a major stunts to promote automobile American automobile race­ sales. In addition to his Stod­ track. On a 1905 trip overseas dard-Dayton balloon trip, he to compete in the Gordon turned to an Indianapolis roof� Bennett Cup Series in France, top as the stage fo r his unusual Fisher was stunned by the advertising. While his broth­ European cars' superiority ers waited on the street below, over the American models. To Fisher shoved a seven-passen­ help improve the automobile ger car off a building's roof. An In dianapolis cycling club pauses industry back home, Fisher When the car safely reached during an outing in 1886. conceived of a proving ground the street, one of the brothers where cars could be tested started the car and Fisher and raced. In 1909 Fisher, drove off with the crowd's Allison, Newby, and Wheeler cheers ringing in his ears. put together $250,000 in capi­ The Fisher fo rtune, how­ tal to fo rm the Indianapolis ever, would not be made with Motor Speedway Company wild gimmicks, but with a lit­ and transformed the Pressley tle luck. In 1904 Fred Avery, Fa rm on Indianapolis's west holder of a French patent fo r a side into a two-and-a-half-mile method using compressed gas oval that became synonymous as headlights fo r automobiles, From left to right, Hen ry Ford and In dianapolis Motor with automobile racing. convinced Fisher (who brought n 19 August 1909, Speedway fo unders Arthur Newby, Frank Wheeler, in Allison) to market his inven­ �a week after tion. The result was the Prest­ Carl Fisher, and James Allison. motorcyclists O-Lite company, which soon had first tried had factories in Indianapolis their luck, the (later moved to Speedway), inaugural automobile races Cleveland, Omaha, New Yo rk, were run at the Speedway. Boston, and Chicago. The only OThe results were deadly; one problem was with the often driver, two mechanics, and unstable chemicals employed two spectators were killed. in the process; the plants kept Although scheduled fo r 300 blowing up. Jane Fisher miles, Fisher stopped the race remembered that Fisher and after 235 miles had been Allison employed a code to Carl Fisher. on the far left, and the fi rst group completed. With a crushed keep secret their plant's frag­ stone track proving to be of cars on the grounds of the soon-to-be-built ile nature. For example, when unsuitable fo r racing, Fisher the Omaha factory exploded, In dianapolis Motor Speedway returned to the drawing a wire was sent reading: board. He persuaded Newby "Omaha left at fo ur thirty." to pay fo r repaving the track The tanks were finally made with 3,200,000 ten-pound safe when they were lined bricks, and "The Brickyard" with asbestos. With Fisher's was born. The new surface ideas and Allison's good busi­ stood up well in the 1910 ness sense, Prest-O-Lite pros­ racing season, and Fisher pered. Union Carbide eventually promised bigger things to bought the company fo r nine come fo r the next year. On million dollars. Allison took Memorial Day 1911 the Speed­ his money and invested it, The In dianapolis Cit y Council ordered the Pres t-O-Lite way hosted the first in a long telling Jane Fisher he was line of five-hundred-mile factor y to move to the.. countr yside following .an explosion going "to be the goddamned­ races. Ray Harroun, driving est laziest man in the ·whole at the first fac tory at 28th and Pennsylvania that an Indianapolis-made Marmon goddamned universe." shattered windows for miles around. Wasp, won the race with an

26 TRACES

/9114 1 9119 19 Allgusl 1 9119 Fishn and Allison found tN fl.shn, Allison, NP wby, arul l\'lwln Fir.�lauhJmobik mas nm at Pm;t-()-Ut, Compan)'. p!lt "P $2.511.111111w fo rm tlv Spmlwa_,. Indianapolis Motor Spml wa_v Compan�. H 0 0 S I E R �11 A R N U M

average speed of 74.59 miles received a letter from Henry the Hoosier auto tour was Georgia-to a meeting about per hour. Fisher had helped B. Joy, Packard Motor Com­ greeted enthusiastically by the highway, which was held in inaugurate an event that pany president, pledging western cities and towns. Each Chattanooga, Te nnessee, on became known as "the great­ $150,000 fo r the proposed community, it seemed, wanted 3 April 1915. At the meeting, est spectacle in racing. " roadway. Joy, a leading fo rce the Lincoln Highway to pass Ralston stated that the Dixie Fisher next turned his behind getting the coast-to­ through its borders. Highway could act "as an relentless energy to a problem coast highway built, also sug­ As work progressed on advance agent of social inter­ that had plagued the automo­ gested that the road be named completing America's first course, mutual understanding, tive industry f<>r years: bad for Abraham Lincoln. On 1 transcontinental highway, and national unity and good roads. ''The highways of Amer­ July 1913 the Lincoln Highway Fisher had turned his sights to will." The other governors ica," Fisher wrote his writer Association was created with other projects, especially agreed with Ralston's vision friend Elbert Hubbard, "are Joy as president and Fisher as improving a jungle of swamps and pledged their support. In built chiefly of politics, September 1916 Fisher and whereas the proper material Ralston attended a celebration is crushed rock or concrete." in Martinsville opening the Potholes and rough terrain 1 roadway from Indianapolis were not the only problems to Miami. facing drivers. In campaigning isher's grand dreams, f(>r better roads, Fisher often which sprang to real­ told a story about an automo­ ity with such projects bile trip he made out of Incli­ as the Indianapolis anapolis with a few friends. Motor Speedway (sold Caught in a rainstorm at in 1927 to Wo rld War I flying night, Fisher and his compan­ ace and fo rmer race car driver ions had reached a f(>rk in the FEddie Rickenbacker), the Lin­ road and were unsure about coln and Dixie highways, and which way to proceed. Sight­ Miami Beach, came crashing ing a white sign on a tele­ down with those of many phone pole, Fisher stopped other businessmen in the the car and proceeded to 1929 Wa ll Street crash. He climb up the pole in an eff(>rt .1II III e A . A IIi 0 H . had sunk millions of dollars "'" ··•·· to see whether it could tell k J into a new development at him which road to take. The vice president. Fisher, as he to be known as Miami Beach. Montauk on Long Island's sign offered no assistance; its had fo r his other ventures, Florida, as Fisher envisioned eastern tip and, with the message read: "Chew Battle employed a very direct the state, could be the perfect Great Depression's onset, had Ax Plug. " method f(>r raising money. He vacation spot f(>r midwestern to sell his Miami property in The Indianapolis industrial- wrote one Lincoln Highway automobile executives and order to satisfy Montauk ist met the road problem head Association official that it was their families tired of frigid bondholders' claims. on. At a I September 1912 din- easy to get contributions from winter weather. But in order Fisher died from a gastric ner party f(>r automobile man- people. "\bu should first give to get vacationers to his resort, hemorrhage on 15 July 1939 ufacturers at the Deutsche them a good dinner, then a Fisher had to use his promo­ in Miami Beach. Jane Fisher, Hans in Indianapolis, Fisher good cussing, whenever you tiona! talents once again to divorced from Fisher in 1926 unveiled his plan fo r a high- want money," Fisher explained. nurture another highway's and remarried, never fo rgot way spanning the country While the Lincoln Highway birth. On 4 December 1914 her life with a man some from New \brk City to Cali for- Association was taking shape he wrote to Indiana Governor Hoosiers had labeled "crazy. " nia. "A road across the United in July, Fisher was absent from Samuel Ral ston suggesting Living with her first husband, States! Let's build it bef(>re its deliberations. Instead, he that an interstate highway be said Jane Fisher, was like we're too old to enjoy it!" he had started out on another built from Chicago, Illinois, to "living in a circus: there was urged the auto executives. His great adventure, setting out Miami, Florida. something going on-some­ idea was to build a coast-to- from Indianapolis with a A strong believer in good thing exciting going on­ coast highway in time for group of Indiana-made auto- roads, Ralston quickly acted every minute of the day. the May 1915 Panama-Pacific mobiles-American Under- on Fisher's proposal. The Indi­ Sometimes it was very good; International Exposition in slung, Apperson, Haynes, ana politician invited his sometimes it was very bad. San Francisco. Marmon, McFarlan-on a fe llow governors from the Still, it was living. It was excite­ A fe w months after the tour to the west coast. Calling affected states-Illinois, Ohio, ment, aliveness, that I never Indianapolis dinner, Fisher themselves the Trailblazers, Kentucky, Te nnessee, and f()Und again ... ,

Spring 199 1 27

I .July 1913 1Dt>rPmbn 1914 15.fuly /939 l.inmln Highwav A.\sotialion finmPd Fi.�lwrpropo.w� inln.�talf' highway from FiJiwr dif'l in Miami Bmrh, Florida. with FiJiwr as via• Jm•Jidmt. Chimgo to Miami-tlw Dtxir Highway. HE's Gone On AHEAD

�OandST THERE MANN

This section of State Road 7, about two miles east of Monticello, r------�--- typified the challenges faced by the Lincoln Highway Association.

Ha rry Ostermann.

B. Joy, Packard Motor Car Company nrelident, was in trouble. Deciding to test-dr�,��lone of the firm's cars all the way to the We st Coast, he ran into difficulty in Omaha, Nebraska, where he stopped to ask directions to the road west from a local Packard distributor. 'There isn't any, " the dealer replied. 'Then how do I go?" Joy wondered. "Follow me and I'll show you," the man responded. The two men drove out of town until they came to a wire fe nce. The dealer instructed Joy to take down the fe nce and drive west and continue the procedure as he went. Joy 's experience highlighted the sad state of roads in America upon the advent of the automobile. For the most part, roads were unmarked because travelers who used them lived in the immediate locality and knew where they wanted to go. No fe deral high­ way system existed because trains and interurbans, powered by steam or electric­ ity, provided reliable transportation for people and cargo. In the 1910s, however, a Hoosier-born automobile dealer, Henry C. Ostermann, played an important role in developing the country's first coast-to-coast highway, which came to be known as the Lincoln Highway.

29 August 1876 1914 Ha rry O.stermamt born in "Tell City, O.�lammm beco mn the Jitld sec ·retar.v Indiana. fo r lhe Lincoln Hightua.v Assor.ialirm. LINCOLN J( IGHWAY

orn on 29 August 1876 in Te ll certificate to President Wo odrow Wilson, military equipment. Lieutenant Colonel City, Indiana, Ostermann was the second went to a fe male donor in Dwight D. Eisenhower joined the convoy in only one year old when his Maine, and the third to Robert lbdd Lin­ Maryland, and after three days he calcu­ fa ther, a Luxembourg opera coln, son of the slain president. Members in lated that he had traveled 165 miles during 93 twenty-nine hours on the road, averaging singer, died. At an early age, each of the twelve states through which the Ostermann, whose mother was an actress, Lincoln Highway passed (New Yo rk, New 5.6 miles per hour. The excitement of a played children's roles on the stage with his Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, circus parade and the patriotism of a two sisters. Upon his mother's death, Oster­ Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Fourth of July celebration attended the mann joined his sisters in Brooklyn, New and California) reported to the national arrival of the convoy in the communities Yo rk, where he worked as a newsboy and organization through state consuls, who along the way. The distance from Milestone received some education at a boys' home. worked with county and community consuls One in Washington, D.C., to Lincoln Park He worked at a number of jobs: at age ten to maintain communication with the gen­ in San Francisco was 3,310 miles; the trip he was a bellboy in a New Yo rk hotel; at eral membership. Merchants vied fo r the took sixty-two days. twelve, a cash boy fo r a department store; at privilege of becoming consuls and member­ Ostermann and the leadership of the thirteen, a telegraph messenger; and at ship recruiters, a task overseen fo r the asso­ Lincoln Highway Association asserted fo urteen, a clerk in a cigar store. ciation by Ostermann. emphatically that the trip established the Enlisting in the United States Navy, Always genial and a master storyteller, "correctness" of the route. It also aroused Ostermann fo und himself on a man-of-war Ostermann worked constantly to expand public opinion regarding the need to destined fo r South America. He jumped the Lincoln Highway's constituency. At least improve the nation's highways. When the ship at Lima, Peru, but the ship's officers twice a year he endeavored to contact every Federal Highway Act became law in 1921, apprehended Ostermann, and he spent the Lincoln Highway consul from coast to establishing a rudimentary fe deral highway rest of the voyage scraping rust deep in the coast, a task that required 500 personal system, the Lincoln Highway Association bowels of the ship. After receiving an hon­ visits and 15,000 miles behind the wheel. could claim some of the credit. Harry orable discharge from the navy, Ostermann Ostermann became a familiar sight as he Ostermann, however, would not be around worked at a number of jobs, including a visited towns across the country in his open to celebrate. stint with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild We st Packard touring car. He needed all the In the summer of 1920 Ostermann set Show. Ostermann used the promotional geniality he could muster as the route h>r out on his twenty-first transcontinental skills he developed in that job to help him the highway was developed. Communities trip in his Packard Tw in Six with his bride with an automobile dealership he estab­ clamored to have the road pass through of seven months. Heading west and keep­ lished in Deadwood, South Dakota, and he their town, hoping to realize an economic ing the usual hectic schedule, the Oster­ organized the first automobile show west of boom from the expected traffic. manns had dinner with the Iowa Lincoln the Missouri River. Much wrangling was involved in deter­ Highway consul and others on the evening Ostermann's zeal and contagious opti­ mining the precise route of the Lincoln of 7 June. After the evening's fe stivities mism became known to automotive leaders Highway. In Indiana, Fort Wayne and Val­ Ostermann left his wife with friends in Detroit and Indianapolis, namely Henry paraiso remained fixed points on opposite in Ta ma, Iowa, with the arrangement that B. Joy and Carl G. Fisher. Although Oster­ ends of the state. Initially, the Lincoln High­ she would join him down the road the mann became the Apostle Paul of the Lin­ way served Elkhart, South Bend, and La next day. He struck out in darkness to pick coln Highway Association, he was not its Porte, but a straightening eliminated that up dispatches from headquarters and creator. Fisher deserves credit fo r unfolding northern kink in the late 1920s in favor of a to meet his engagements the next day. the plan, including financial details, fo r a more direct route paralleling the Pennsylva­ Making good time on the "good graded "Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway" at a 1 Sep­ nia Railroad. dirt" of the Lincoln Highway, Ostermann tember 1912 dinner in Indianapolis. Joy and When the United States entered World pulled out to pass a solitary Ford early others came up with the idea of attaching War I, the Lincoln Highway was passable, that morning. The tires slipped on the dewy Lincoln's name to the venture. The Lincoln but in Iowa and points west the route was in grass at the edge of the road, and the big Highway Association was incorporated in little better condition than when originally Packard skidded two hundred fe et, Michigan in 1913; its list of officers and marked. During the winter of 1917, when "turned turtle" twice, then righted itself. major donors read like a who's who of the the United States was straining its trans­ Although the Packard sustained little dam­ automobile industry. Conspicuously absent, portation facilities to move men and supplies age, Harry Ostermann lay dead on the however, was the name of Detroit automo­ to the Atlantic coast fo r shipment to France, highway, his head crushed by the steering bile magnate Henry Ford, who refused any Harry Ostermann patriotically piloted con­ wheel. He was buried near the Lincoln financial assistance, declaring that public voys of government trucks along the eastern Highway in East Liverpool, Ohio, his wife's roads should be built with public money. section of the Lincoln Highway. During this hometown, but the Lincoln Highway Asso­ Ostermann first worked fo r the associa­ service Ostermann conceived of a promo­ ciation's monument to him is in his native tion as a volunteer, became its paid field tional scheme to send a military convoy state, just east of the Illinois-Indiana line. secretary in 1914, and later its vice presi­ over the entire length of the highway. The deteriorating monument stands on dent. The organization's directors devised a The idea became a reality on 7 July 1919, the south side of what was once the high­ model structure fo r the association, and when "First Army Transcontinental Motor way's Ideal Section, now U.S. 30. Oster­ from the outset its public relations thrust, Convoy" headed westward from Washing­ mann would be proud of the sign, which couched in patriotism, hit hard and effec­ ton, D.C., with Ostermann leading the way explains, "This was the finest section of tively. The LHA sold its first membership in his Packard fo r fifty-six pieces of wheeled road in the world."J

Spring 1 994 29 ?July 1919 8Jmw 1920 0\· termmm Ust.ermarm in ra1· liU' leads a miltlar'f' convo-y. over dif's a c-rash on the Lincoln Highwa)'· Lincoln Highway. jfHE CAR THAT MADE GOOD IN A D�

STUTZ MOTOR COMPANY OF INDIANA! I � � t1ALfTlAU AN D MOST TH INK OF THE BEARCAT FEW CARS IN

HIS�TO RY ARE AS EASILY REC OLLEC TED PERHAPS BECAUSE OF THE EXCI TING NAME OR PERHAPS BECAUSE OF THE CAR'S

RACING HISTORY, THE BEA RCAT IS ON E CAR AMERICA WILL NOT FORGET • ITS CREATOR, HARRY CLAY TON STU TZ, WA S

BORN IN 1876 AN D GREW UP ON A FA RM NEAR AN SON IA, OHIO HE WA S NOT, HOWEVER, RESTRIC TED BY THE TRADI -

TIONAL RURAL LIFEST YLE. IN STEAD, STU TZ, LIKE MOST AU TOMO TIVE PIONEERS, WA S AN IN VEN TOR AN D EN TREPRE-

NEUR, AN D BY AGE TWEN TYTWO HE HAD DEVELOPED A HOMEMADE AU TOMOBILE. • IN 1899 STU TZ MOVED TO

DAY TON, FOUNDED THE STU TZ MAN UFAC TURING COMPAN Y, AN D DESIGNED AN D PRODUCED A SI NGLE-C YLIN DER

GASOLINE ENGINE. THREE YEARS LATER HE SO LD THAT COMPAN Y AN D RELOCATED TO IN DIANAPOLIS WHERE HE

QUICKLY DEVELOPED A REPU TATION AS AN AU TOMO TIVE EXPERT BESIDES WORKING FOR THE G & ] TIRE COMPAN Y,

THE SC HEBLER CARBURETOR COMPAN Y, AN D THE MARION MO TOR CAR COMPAN Y, HE ALSO DEVELOPED A CHASSI S

DESIGN FOR THE AMERICAN (UNDERSLUNG) COMPAN Y AND HELPED THE EMPIRE MOTOR CAR COMPAN Y CONVERT

ITS AU TOMOBILES FROM CHAIN TO SH AF T DRIVE . W L L A M M. C A R D N E R

30 TRACES

11176 /9/0 Ha rT\' Cla�ton Stutz bornin Stutz fo rms Stutz Auto Pa rt Compan_"', Ansonia, Ohio. India napolis. -n 1910 Stutz once again fo rmed his own business and Because of its racing successes, the car caught the public's named it the Stutz Auto Parts Company. The company attention. Bearcats finished fourth and sixth at the Indianapolis produced his transaxle, which combined the transmis­ 500 in 19 12 and won twenty-five of the thirty races in which 9sion and the differential gear. Meanwhile, as Henry they were entered that year. The next year a Bearcat finished Ford had done ten years earlier, Stutz used racing as a second at the Indianapolis 500. Only Mercer's Raceabout pro­ stepping-stone to enter automobile production. Five weeks vided competition, both on the track and in the showroom, but before the first running of the Indianapolis 500 in 1911, Stutz it lacked the Bearcat's name recognition. built a car with a fo ur-cylinder Wisconsin engine and entered it Despite the fact that the one-price policy was dropped and in the race. Driven by Cal Anderson, it finished eleventh in the that prices were increasing, Stutz's sales grew steadily in the very competitive years prior to Amer­ field of twenty-two ica's entry into Wo rld cars. Capitalizing War I. In 1912 the on the publicity company sold 266 generated by this cars. Five years later, showing, Stutz the number of cars introduced a pro­ sold had increased duction version of nearly tenfold to a the race car and total of 2,207. Sales advertised it as "The depended heavily Car That Made upon the Bearcat Good in a Day. " model and its reputa­ To begin manu- tion as a race winner. facturing cars, In 1915 E. G. "Cannon- Stutz fo rmed the "The Stutz worm-gea r permitted a lowered body and chassis without sa crifice ball" Baker drove a Ideal Motor Com- of either headroom or road cleara nce." Stutz Bearcat coast­ pany but continued ::to-coast in the record- supplying trans- breaking time of axles through the Stutz Auto Parts Company. Stutz leased a eleven days, seven and a half hours. Considering the primitive three-story building on North Capitol Avenue in Indianapolis roads of the time, the fe at was phenomenal. The company's and in August 191 1 delivered the first Stutz automobile. It was models continued to impress at the Indianapolis 500 as well. powered by the same 50-horsepower, four-cylinder Wisconsin T­ Stutz fielded a team of race cars known as the White Squadron. head engine that was used in his original race car. These cars were powered by 130-horsepower Wisconsin over­ Stutz cars were not at all revolutionary and looked quite typi­ head-camshaft four-cylinder engines with four valves per cylin­ cal for mid-priced cars of the time. Their fe nders were flat with der-a very advanced feature fo r the day. White Squadron the edge rolled over. Front and rear fe nders were connected by cars won a number of races and finished in third, fo urth, a running board. The Stutz body style is termed "torpedo" and seventh places at the 1915 Indianapolis 500. Stutz driver because a cowling provided a continuous sweep between the Earl Cooper reentered the fourth-place car, number eight, in hood and the body sides, removing the sharp demarcation the 1919 Indianapolis 500 and scored a second-place finish that behind the fire wall, which had been the standard in earlier time out. years. But until the early 1920s, Stutz did have two increasingly While Stutz automobiles were winning races, however, a unusual fe atures: right-side steering and Stutz's combination cloud was developing over the company. In 1915 Stutz stock was transmission-diffe rential. offered on the New Yo rk Stock Exchange, and a young financier, By November 1911 Stutz offered a line of models which Alan A. Ryan, invested heavily and installed himself as vice pres­ included a roadster, toy-tonneau, touring car, and coupe-all ident of the company. Harry Stutz, still company president, dis­ priced at $2,000. Of these, it was the sporty roadster which liked Ryan's financial dealings. Stutz sold his interest in the would make Stutz a profitable company. In 1912 the Ideal Motor company and in 1919 left to form HCS Motor Company. Company and the Stutz Auto Parts Company merged to form Stutz's timing was not good. The economic recession of the Stutz Motor Company of Indiana, and that same year a rac­ 1921-22 cast a pall on the automobile industry. In 1924 Stutz ing version of the roadster was given the name Stutz Bearcat, a decided HCS should concentrate on cab production, and sales name as stirring as the car itself. The low-slung Bearcat had two of passenger cars suffered. The company survived only three bucket seats and no top. Wire-spoke wheels replaced the stan­ more years, and Harry Stutz died of complications from appen­ dard wooden-spoke artillery wheels. Ve ry fast fo r the time­ dicitis in 1930. though not so fast as legend might have it-the Bearcat attained Back at Stutz Motor Company, Ryan had acquired all Stutz speeds greater than 70 miles per hour. With no windshield save stock by 1920 and began to engage in price manipulation, the little round monocle attached to the steering column, such increasing the price per share from $134 to $750. Because of speeds were frightening-especially when driving on the rutted this, he was barred from trading on the New Yo rk Stock dirt roads of the day. Exchange, and he was subsequently fo rced to sell his holdings

Spring 1994 �I

Ma_v 1911 1912 /912 Cal Arulersondrives a Stutz Motor Company (SMC) of Stutz. Bmrmt hitJ thr market. Stutz.-built rar tor!Rventh lrulUuulfa nned. pku-e in thP lndimwpoli.\· 500. ?i r uTz at the bargain price of $20 per share, which left him in finan­ cial ruin. Charles M. Schwab, the flamboyant chairman of Bethlehem Steel, bought Ryan's stock. Schwab's arrival was good fo r the company. The economic recession of the early 1920s meant little to the wealthy industrialist. From 1919 to 1922 the Stutz line continued with few This 193 3 Stutz DV-3 2 Phaeton Sedan is a changes. In 1923 the company introduced a 70-horsepower handsome example of the luxury cars produced by the overhead-valve six, known as the Special Six, designed by Stutz Motor Company of Indianapolis. Charles S. Crawford. It also developed an 88-horsepower Speedway Four. Like most automobile manufacturers of the era, Stutz began offering a line of sedans priced competitively with touring cars. In 1925 the Special Six was replaced by a larger Stutz-built Speedway Six, which produced a very com­ petitive 80 horsepower. s Stutz lost its performance-car image, the Bearcat model lost its distinction. A well-equipped roadster without racing pretensions, it wasn't selling well and was discontinued in 1925. To solve the company's identity crisis, Schwab installed Frederic E. Moskovics, formerly with Marmon and Franklin, as president. Under Moskovics's leadership the company renounced its racing heritage and sought to establish itself as a leader in luxury and safety. Moskovics, in turn, hired Edgar S. Gorrell, a former Mar­ mon engineer, and Charles R. "Pop" Greuter. They, along with the rest of the company's team, were given the task of creating the new Stutz. The result was the 1926 Ve rtical Eight, or Safety Stutz, which bristled with engineering advances. The heart of the car was Pop Greuter's 92-horsepower straight-eight engine with chain­ driven overhead-camshaft, one-piece casting of cylinders and crankcase, and a crankshaft that balanced front and rear recip­ rocating fo rces. The Stutz Eight could attain speeds above 75 miles per hour. The term Safety Stutz seemed a paradox for such a fast car, but it emphasized the car's low center of gravity, wire-reinforced windshield, and four-wheel hydraulic brakes. The worm drive to the bottom of the differential allowed the new body to be mounted low so that the Safety Stutz stood only seventy inches high. The handsome new sedan reflected European styling influ­ ences and was the equal of any American sedan of its day. Road­ sters were available only with six-cylinder engines, but four- and five-passenger Speedsters offered the new eight. Stutz brought back the single-price strategy: $2,995 for any model. It was a wise customer who bought the new Stutz Ve rtical Eight. Packards typically cost half again as much, and Duesenbergs were twice as high. Because of its quality and competitiveness, Stutz saw sales skyrocket from 2,000 in 1925 to 5,000 in 1926. The company introduced another new model, the Black Hawk Speedster, in 1927 and again began taking an interest in racing. The new speedster won the Stevens Trophy Cup, setting.

Built 'from 191'1 to 1919, the former home of the Stutz Motor Company at 1036 N. Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, is now the Stutz Business Center with leased office space.

32 TRACES

1919 1925 Stu�z sell� his intere.st in SMC and.f orms Stutz discontinues Bearcal tTWlkl. HCS Mowr 0Jmpan.�. a;TUTZ

At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1913, Earl Cooper drove a Stutz 4-cylinder ra ce car with a Wisconsin engine. Cooper replaced driver Charlie Merz. Entered by the Ideal Motor Car Company, the car finished in third place

an endurance speed of 68.44 miles per hour fo r twenty-four hours, and won the American Automobile Association Stock Car Championship in 1927 and 1928. Also in 1928 the Black Hawk Speedster established a two-way average of 106.53 miles per hour at Daytona and finished second to a 4.5-liter Bentley at the Tw enty-four Hours of Le Mans in France. The Stutz might have won had it not lost top gear and run the last ninety min­ utes in its lower gears. In 1927 Stutz President Moskovics gave his backing to the cre­ ation of the aerodynamic Black Hawk Special, a sixteen-cylinder race car designed to attempt a new land speed record. This small, exquisitely crafted speedster had a torpedo-shaped body with each wheel encapsulated in a streamlined fairing. Tw o supercharged and intercooled Miller racing engines, each with only ninety-one cubic inches of displacement, were combined on a common crankcase. The two straight eights produced more than 400 horsepower. As hoped, the car's design allowed it to reach record speeds. The daring driver Frank Lockhart made a two-way warm-up run at Daytona Beach in April 1928, averaging 198.29 miles per hour. This speed would stand as a class record for thirty-two years. On the record run, however, a tire blew. The car, traveling in excess of 220 miles per hour, became airborne and crashed, killing Lockhart. For 1928 the Ve rtical Eight's horsepower was increased to ll5, but prices also rose, ranging from $3,495 to $6,895. Trying to improve sales, Stutz entered the low-price market with a new model, the Blackhawk. It initially sold well, but sales declined sharply in 1931, and it was absorbed into the regular Stutz line. In an attempt to improve sales in the upper end of the mar­ ket, the company brought out a dual-overhead camshaft version , of the straight eight, the DV- 32, in 1932. The single-camshaft eight was also continued but was renamed the SV- 16. The new DV-32 had fo ur valves per cylinder and produced 156 horse­ ; power. With the new eight, the Bearcat name returned to the ., lineup. The Bearcat had a 134.5-inch wheelbase, and the Super Bearcat used a shorter, ] 16-inch wheelbase. Priced at $5,895, very few of these fast roadsters found buyers. Meanwhile, as the economic depression of the 1930s took its toll, smaller manufacturers lacked the financial resilience to survive very long. After Stutz sold a record 5,000 cars in 1926, business quickly declined. The company sold only 110 automo­ biles in 1933, and when that number dropped to 6 the next year, Stutz stopped production of its cars altogether. It continued to manufacture a delivery van, the Pak-Age-Kar, until 1938, but on 23 April of that year, a fe deral court ordered liquidation. Even the indomitable Charles Schwab could not save Stutz--{)r him­ self-from bankruptcy. J

SpriHg 199 4 33

1934 1938 The Stutz company sells just six carsfo r Fedeml wurt ·orders Stutz rumpany fu the year. liquidate. I DE

H cs

THE AU BURN-CORD-DUESENBERG MUSEUM companies springing up in Detroit. In June 1919 the Eckhart uburn, Indiana's Eckhart Carriage Company, fo unded in family sold their automotive company for $1 million to a group 1874 by Civil War veteran Charles Eckhart, had achieved of Chicago investors, which included chewing-gum magnate -. by the turn of the century a reputation fo r producing William Wrigley Jr. reliable vehicles. Looking fo r new markets, the firm in 1900 Although the new owners expanded production facilities and Acreated the separate Auburn Automobile Company in order to introduced sales and marketing programs, the Auburn company "manufacture and sell buggies, phaetons, surreys, carriages, languished until 1924, when Errett Lobban Cord took over as automobiles and other vehicles propelled by horsepower or general manager. Tw o years later he owned the business. Cord other power. " The young Hoosier automotive business, however, utilized a simple, direct philosophy in his automobile operation: could not successfully compete with the various automobile "Get the fac ts, make your plan, then act, regardless of what

TR l'i outsiders or friends may say. The worst you can do is fail-the Products Company, Jenkins Glass Company, Superior 1ool Com­ experience is worth the effort." Cord's entrepreneurial spirit is pany, and the Apperson Automobile Company. The museum nurtured by the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum, which also has on exhibit a 1905 Model L Haynes automobile, which occupies the fo rmer Auburn Au tomobile Company's art deco cost $1,350 fo r aspiring buyers eighty-nine years ago. Located at showrooms and administration building. As "Home of the 1915 S. We bster St., Kokomo, the museum is open free to the Classics," the museum, which is listed on the National Register public from 1 P.M. to 4 P. M. Tu esday through Saturday and 1 P. M. of Historic Places, fe atures more than 100 vehicles from the to 5 P. M. on Sunday. Call the museum at (317) 452-3471 fo r nineteenth century to the present exhibited on two floors in more information. the 80,000-square-foot building. Despite its failure to keep up with the changing business cli­ INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY HALL OF FA ME mate, the Auburn Au tomobile Company did manage to make its ocated in the infield of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, mark in the automotive industry. "No company produced more this museum includes a world-renowned collection of Classics relative to its size than Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg," L Indiana-built automobiles and winning cars from the noted Dick Nesbitt in his book 50 lears of American Automobile annual Indianapolis 500. The Hall of Fame also holds a large Design, 1930-1980. "Brought together by flamboyant financier collection of racing memorabilia, including equipment and Errett Lobban Cord, these three marques were arguably the photographs. Visitors can take bus tours on the famed two-and­ finest expression of American design in the Thirties, and each a-half-mile oval (weather permitting). The museum is open has a special place in the affections of car lovers today. " Nesbitt's from 9 A.M. to 5 P. M. seven days a week. Admission is $2 for statement is highlighted each Labor Day weekend as owners of those age sixteen and older; children are admitted free. For these classic cars flock to northwestern Indiana for the annual more information, contact the Hall of Fame at 4 790 W 16th St., Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Festival. Speedway, IN 46224; (317) 248-6747. Keeping alive the company's physical presence in Auburn proved to be a bigger challenge than preserving its reputation. S. RAY MILLER ANTIQUE AUTO MUSEUM After the Auburn Automobile Company stopped production in pened in 1987 by retired Elkhart, Indiana, manufac­ 1937, the firm's administration building suffered greatly from turer and car collector S. Ray Miller Jr., this 20,000- the hands of its subsequent tenants. Original light fixtures 0 square-foot museum displays approximately fo rty were removed, false ceilings were installed, and machines antique automobiles, the majority of which have been winners were bolted to the main showroom's intricate terrazzo floors. in a variety of national car shows. Cars on exhibit include a Concerned Auburn citizens, calling themselves Auburn 1930 Duesenberg Convertible Coupe originally owned by Au tomobile Heritage, Incorporated, banded together to save Jake "The Barber" Factor, AI Capone's lawyer, and a 1909 the town's automotive heritage. A fu nd drive raised Sterling Model "K" Brass Car owned by Frank Gotch, a world $100,000 to aid in restoring the building, and in July 197 4 the champion heavyweight wrestler from 1904 to 1913. Miller's Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum opened its doors to Antique Auto Museum is open from 1 P. M. to 4 P. M. Monday the public. through Friday and from noon to 4 P. M. the last weekend of the Owned and operated by the AAH, the museum fe atures month. Admission is $4 fo r adults and $3 fo r senior citizens (age not only Auburns, Cords, and Duesenbergs, but also such sixty-two and over) and students (ages seven to seventeen). For Auburn-produced cars as the Imp, Kiblinger, Mcintyre, and more information, write or call the museum at 2130 Middlebury Zimmerman. The building's second floor includes re-creations St., Elkhart, IN 46516; (219) 522-0539. of the Auburn Automobile Company's accounting, advertising, and engineering offices. Located at 1600 S. Wayne St. in STUDEBAKER NATIONAL MUSEUM Auburn, the museum is open from 9 A.M. to 6 P. M. seven days a ocated in South Bend, Indiana, the museum maintains week (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Ye ar's Day). the legacy of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Admission is $6 fo r adults and $4 fo r students and senior L Company, which produced vehicles fo r one hundred and citizens. Children under the age of six are admitted free. For fou rteen years under the motto, "Always give more than you more information, contact the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg promised." Opened in 1983, the museum includes a large col­ Museum at P. 0. Box 271, Auburn, IN 46706; (219) 925-1444. lection of Studebaker wagons, carriages, cars, and trucks, as well as the carriage in which Abraham Lincoln reportedly rode the ELWOOD HAYNES MUSEUM night he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. The Studebaker eveloped as a memorial to the life and accomplishments museum is open from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Monday through Saturday of Elwood Haynes, an automobile pioneer and inventor, and from noon to 5 P. M. on Sundays. Admission is $3.50 for this Kokomo museum is housed in Haynes's two-story adults, $2.50 fo r senior citizens (over age sixty) and students brick home, which was built in 1915. The museum's main floor (over age twelve), and $1.50 fo r children twelve· and under. For displaDy depicts Haynes's life and many achievements, including information, write or call the museum at 525 S. Main St., South the invention of Stellite, an extremely durable alloy still used Bend, IN 46601; (219) 235-9 108. today. The second floor examines Kokomo's industries both past and present. Some of the fe atured firms are General RAY BOOMHOWER Motors' Delco Radio Division, Chrysler Corporation, Kingston Contributing Editor

Spring 1 994 35 H A T

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Indiana has been responsible fo r a num­ ruptcy by the end of the thirties, like so little faith in Auburn's future that he pur­ ber of notable automobiles during its cen­ many lesser automakers before. So why chased a Moon from Errett Lobban Cord. tury of production. Witness the Stutz have the names of Auburn, Cord, and Due­ By that time, Cord had a well-founded rep­ Bearcat and DV-32, the Marmon 16, Ameri­ senberg come to the forefront of our atten­ utation as a shaker and mover in Chicago can Underslung, Studebaker President and tion today? Why do they serve as the automotive circles. Cord was a restless soul, Av anti, the Auburn Speedster, the Cord epitome of the Classic Car? History reveals always wanting to do more. More was wait­ L-29 or 810, and the Duesenberg Model J. the answers in a fo rtuitous set of circum­ ing just around the corner. The passing years have only served to stances that merged within a limited time Cord's fa mily originally hailed from Mis­ enhance the importance and reputation of frame to produce a unique result. souri, where Cord was born in 1894, but it these models. The Eckhart family-long known in eventually migrated west to the Los Ange­ The last three marques mentioned­ northeast Indiana fo r producing quality les area. In California Cord went through Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg-emerged buggies and carriages-formed the numerous jobs and failed business enter­ from under one corporate umbrella. Ye t Auburn Automobile Company in 1900. By prises. Forced by the need to care fo r his the company never once produced more 1919 the family sold out to a group of than 50,000 automobiles in any given financiers, most-hailing from Chicago. Right Gary Cooper purchased his twelve-month period, only .enjoyed a fe w Simply referred to as The Bankers today, bright yellow 1930 Duesenberg 1 years of relative financial security, mostly this group found itself with a hot potato in labored under a tenuous management its hands before too long. In fact, by 1923 Derham To urster, designed by Gordon arrangement, and dissolved into bank- Ralph Bard-one of The Bankers-had so Beuhrig, at the Los Angeles auto show.

36 TRACES

THE foRD THAT BINDS

young fa mily, he headed east by 19 19, In exchange fo r a modest salary and a Left to right by row: notably to Chicago, where the same routine percentage of the profits, The Bankers unfolded fo r awhile. gave Cord the title of general manager. The Ja mes Cagney stands next to a ord's fortunes started to change story goes that Cord proceeded to paint 193 2 Duesenberg Dietrich the fo llowing year. This entrepre­ and pinstripe in bright colors, and load 1 neur wanna-be got a job selling with nickel-plated trim, the forlorn and Convertible Berline in Chicago. eChandlers at the Chicago agency; unsold Auburns at the fac tory. He then the sales manager, Jack Quinlan, proceeded to sell the cars with all haste. Ray Fa ulkner, president of the was immediately taken by Cord's sales abil­ Cord sold the cars all right, but in truth Auburn Automobile Company, ities. Although Cord eventually left the the bright colors and nickel trim origi­ Curt Hilkey, Auburn production dealership, Qui nlan never fo rgot Cord. nated with The Bankers. The story When the Moon Motor Car Company of attributing the sprucing up to Cord, in manager, and Arthur Landis, Saint Louis awarded Quinlan a regional fac t, almost belittles what he actually vice president of Auburn, inspect the distributorship, he immediately sought accomplished. He had to pull off a miracle, 1936 Cord 810 Sedan, which was Cord's help. Quinlan tempted him with a motivating workers, lining up credit from built at Auburn's Connersville fa ctory. 25 percent interest in the business. Cord's banks for a shaky company, and pleading ship had finally arrived. with suppliers to help. Cord had to piece Alan H. Leamy designed the 193 2 The Moon was a solid car and competed back together a strong dealer network and with the best. Quinlan and Cord made the cut those not producing. Auburn 12-160 Speedster, seen here at most of a good product, and the distribu­ That fa ll, he went to the Central Manu­ a Chicago-area country club. torship took almost two-thirds of Moon's fac turing Company in Connersville asking Auburn used a 1 2-cylinder engine annual output. Moon countered with an for bargain prices on bodies. Central, now offer of additional territory, giving the duo almost wiped out along with the rest of the for the first time in 1932, giving the three more states. Cord left Qu inlan and manufacturing base in the town, probably car 160 horsepower; the avera ge of took on the distributorship of these states figured it had little to lose and agreed to the day was 85 horsepower. personally. It was in this phase of his career run with Cord's idea fo r an updated car. that Cord learned firsthaml many aspects Cord, in turn, never fo rgot the favor. A 1936 publicity photo for the new of the automobile business, including Updating the Auburn Ii ne fo r 1925 was front-drive Cord 81o Phaeton, made marketing, distribution, and, most impor­ an idea that met with great approval from tant, financing. He learned what it took to the dealers, the very souls Cord had to sat­ in Auburn's Connersville plant. establish a dealership, what qualities to isfy most. Elements of Cord's dream car Designed by Gordon Buehrig, look fo r in those interested in a dealer­ appeared. Cord was no designer, but he the car was the fina l product of fered ship, and how to coax banks into loaning knew a balanced design when he saw it. money for such operations during the post­ More important, Cord added the straight­ by the company. war recession. eight engine to the Auburn line. Here, Cord eventually returned to the Quin­ finally, was an eight-cylinder car modestly Pa ul Beaverforden, sergeant at the lan agency, and Quinlan appointed him priced under $2,000. If one couldn't afford Ligonier post of the Indiana State general manager. The commissions were a Packard or Duesenberg eight-and many Police, proudly poses with the piling up in the bank, and Cord was get­ couldn't-Auburn became the choice. State Police safety tra ining ca r, an ting restless again. He was now ready to be Cord started to double Auburn sales a real entrepreneur, and he wanted to get every year. He took his share of the profits unexpected new 1936 Cord 810 Sedan. into the automobile business in a big way. and started to buy Auburn stock, eventu­ He started to look at the Haynes Automo­ ally gaining control of the company. By Some of the luxurious accessories of bile Company in Kokomo with the help of 1926 Cord was president. He never rested. this 1932 12-160 Speedster are twin L. B. Manning (a securities salesman who He backed speed record attempts to publi­ side-mount spare tires, wire wheels, would later become an officer in the Cord cize the nameplate. In 1928 Auburns Corporation). That fateful day when Cord sported hydraulic instead of mechanical a powerfu l 1 2-cylinder engine sold a Moon to Bard took the young maver­ brakes. Cord brought in designers, not by Lycoming, and a two-speed ick in a different direction. only to update the Auburns, but also to (two gear ra tio) rea r axle. Bard knew Cord could pull Auburn out turn them into styling leaders fo r the of the abyss. The rest of The Bankers, how­ times. The now-famous boattail speedster Va udeville performer Huston Ray ever, thought little of him, but with the sit­ emerged, a design that became synony­ uation getting worse, they eventually mous with the company. ("The Music Healer") attached deferred to Bard. In the summer of 1924 Duesenberg became part of Cord's a novelty pia no to the ta il of his Bard invited Cord to Auburn to tour the growing automotive empire. In 1926 Cord 1928 Auburn 8-cylinder Speedster. facilities. The company's employees were purchased the company and brought it out demoralized; its dealer Qetwork was in of receivership. He was taken by the suc­ To m Mix at home in Hollywood shambles; and hundreds of unsold cars sat cess of the Duesenbergs at the Indianapolis with his new Duesenberg Model A in the humid Hoosier sun around the fac tory 500 and the Duesenberg Model A. It was complex. Cord had his work cut out fo r him. no coincidence that the Auburns emerging Roadster in 1921.

38 TRACES 1894 1900 1914 1924 Errett I.obhrm Cord Erhhartfamily 01ganiu.1· E. LCord marrie.5 Auburn Automobile Company born in Mzssouri. Aubum Autmnohile Comjmny. Hrlm Ma rirFriJche. hire.r Cord.

THE t oRD THAT iiNDS from the factory wore a radiator shell not development could fill a spy novel. Had nomic calamity a redesigned Auburn for unlike that of the Model A. Duesenberg the L-29 been successful in the market­ 1931 produced the company's best sales to was a prestigious automobile, and the air place, one could easily imagine Packard, date: more than 32,000 fo r the year. How­ of superiority was exactly what Cord Buick, and others introducing their own ever, sales dropped to fe wer than 12,000 thought his new automobile empire versions. Many engineering minds had the following year, beginning a slide that needed. He then pushed fo r the all-time some access to the information that would end at almost nothing. Ye t, as his ultimate in automobiles: the Duesenberg emerged from the L-29 pr�ject and passed automotive endeavors faced tough times, Model]. it along to the competition. Cord made money on other holdings. The Using a 420-cubic-inch straight-eight Ye t, against these odds, Cord managed funds realized elsewhere could have kept engine developing 265 horsepower, the to get to the marketplace first. It was one the automotive assembly lines moving until Model J was an engineering tour-de-force. of the most elegantly styled cars of the better days arrived. So what else could It fe atured twin overhead cams, four valves period. Low, rakish, with tablespoon fend­ have contributed to this sudden downturn per cylinder, and a mechanical onboard ers that almost flowed, the L-29 sat nearly in automobile production? computer that alerted the driver to change ten inches lower than most other cars, A factor few have recognized was Helen oil or check the battery. The car was daunt­ thanks to the absence of a driveline. Origi­ Marie Frische, who married Cord in 1914. ing in proportions; 142.5- and 153.5-inch nally priced at $3,000 and higher, the She had been through all the hard times wheelbases were standard, although a fe w prices dropped to the mid-$2,000 range as of the struggling entrepreneur. When shorter and a few longer versions were the ongoing depression took its toll. Cord needed it, Helen propped up his fail­ By now, Cord owned ing spirits. Tw o years older than her hus­ a conglomerate, buying band, Helen bore two sons. The family was d ''u (.( nl. out his suppliers along close-knit, and apparently a cohesive unit. the way: Lycoming in Though affections did not bubble over, Williamsport, Limousine Cord always made time for his family. It"' ''" 'I.C I,.,, Body in Kalamazoo, There were the fa mily outings, the picnics, Central Manufacturing the camping trips. All came to a sudden in Connersville, and end late in 1929 when Helen took ill. Doc­ Duesenberg in Indi­ tors struggled to pinpoint the problem anapolis. Later, Cord until exploratory surgery revealed the would buy such diverse answer the fo llowing year. The diagnosis properties as Stinson was terminal cancer. Helen passed away on bul af o lo lu 11 tf:.('rn inl, Aircraft Corporation, 13 September 1930. New Yo rk Shipbuilding There was no visible grieving from I i "' '. Corporation, Chicago Cord. Business had to go on. A wealthy and Ye llow Cab Company, prominent person, he was deluged by well­ Checker Cab Manufac- meaning friends who tried to arrange made. To p speed was around 120 miles per turing Corporation, and the Av iation Cor­ meetings with appropriate available hour. A later supercharged version devel­ poration. The umbrella fo r all of these women. Perhaps out of frustration over the oped 320 horsepower. The Model .J 's cus­ concerns was the Cord Corporation, head­ fu ss, Cord remarried very quickly, in Janu­ tomer list read like a who's who of the quartered in Chicago. It was big, to be ary of 1931 . It certainly wasn't because he world, including royalty, movie actors, and sure, but as fast as Cord built this empire, had fo rgotten Helen. business magnates. With prices starting at it began to unravel. After Helen's death, everything slipped. $8,500 for a bare chassis-coachwork Only 5,000 or so L-29s were made from The 1931 Auburn was an initial success, adding another fe w grand-not many 1929 to 1932, a production figure Cord but that was achieved by previous momen­ could afford such luxury. had envisioned early on. Cord, however, tum. Sales fe ll so quickly fo r all three lines The Model .) made its debut in 1929, the wanted to move that many L-29s in the after 193 1 primarily because Cord lost same year as the Cord L-29, America's first first year and planned fo r a replacement interest in automobiles. He sold the fa mily production front-wheel-drive car. The L-29 L-30 the fo llowing year. He had also home in Au burn and spent less and less served to fill the price gap between wanted 500 Model .Js produced-480 even­ time at the company's administration Auburn and Duesenberg. It was a major tually emerged from the factory-but building (now the Auburn-Cord-Duesen­ gap to fill, but the car did it admirably. again, he was thinking in terms of a couple berg Museum). Infighting broke out in The idea behind front-wheel drive pre­ of years, not seven. Te llingly, almost 75 per­ management as the company's goals and ceded World War I but fe ll from the public cent of all Model .Js made were completed vision waned. eye until Harry Miller's front-wheel-drive in the first three years, with production More important, Cord became more racers started to dominate at Indy. The barely trickling OtJ.t afterwards. cynical in his business dealings. He started fe ud between Miller and Duesenberg race The stock market crash eliminated the to play the stock market heavily, manipulat­ cars in the 1920s has become a classic tale. marketplace fo r such models just as Cord's ing Auburn stocks in particular, although Now it was possible to buy into that front­ finest cars were emerging. Many would at the time such activities were not neces­ wheel-drive technology with the L-29. have us believe that the ensuing depres­ sarily illegal. He bought into the taxi busi­ The amount of espionage and counter­ sion did in Auburn Automobile, but that is ness, a rough affair that took on the air of espionage that went on during the L-29's not entirely true. Tw o years into this eco- organized crime in areas such as Chicago.

40 TRACES 1926 1926 1929 Cord becomts president of Cord buys lhl' The Duesenbrrg Model] debul.t. Auburn compan.y. /)LU!senberg compmt\'. THE THAT BINDS

He delved into other interests, particularly Griffith Borgeson, in his landmark work, SEC levied no criminal indictments against aviation, where he shook up the existing Hrrett [,obban Cord: His }<,' mjJ ire, His Moto r Cord-Cord never officially admitted power structure. Along the way, he cal­ Cars: Au1mrn-Corrl-Duesenberg, pieced together wrongdoing-a fe deral court gave him lously stepped on a fe w of the wrong toes, all that will probably ever be told publicly legal notice to abstain from stock manipu­ actions not easily fo rgotten. about the last days of the Cord empire. lations in the fu ture. Cord went west again bright spot during these times Certainly Cord's inattention to managing and continued to make money, this time was the unexpected boom in the his holdings, rather than merely manip­ from real estate investments. He quietly metal kitchen cabinet business. ulating them, did not help matters. Parties passed away in 1974 in the home state of a <;ord took on this sideline to in the fe deral government became inter­ his later years, Nevada. keep the assembly lines active in ested in these "business deals." The Senate The newspapers announced publicly on Connersville. A large contract from Mont­ Banking and Currency subcommittee was 5 August 1937 that Cord had sold out. The gomery Ward infused the now-struggling one; the Senate Munitions Investigating new owners could amortize their invest­ company with much-needed capital and Committee was another. The Treasury ment in no time merely by liquidating gave Auburn Automobile the chance fo r Department also came into play. By the late Auburn Automobile. That is exactly what one last hurrah. 1930s it was common knowledge that the gov­ happened. Later that year, the decision was The 1936 Cord 810 started as a proto­ ernment's collective gaze was fixed on Cord. made to shut down automotive production type fi x a new, less expensive Duesenberg. Another factor was Victor Emanuel. fo r good. No longer would money from the Management decided to let that name facie, Emanuel was a peer of Cord's, age- and other subsidiaries go into keeping the instead reviving the Cord moniker of fo ur entrepreneurial-wise. He made his millions automotive sector afloat. years earlier. The project came to fruition, in utility companies, selling out his first died, then revived. Fifteen weeks was all conglomerate fix $13 million by the age of the time permitted to get the early proto­ twenty-eight. He went into a pseudo semi­ types ready fo r the New \'c:>rk Auto Show. retirement, moving to England fo r a time The cars made it, but they were not in run­ and playing amongst the landed gentry. ning order. Blocks of wood filled the gap Only a few years later, he looked toward where the transmission was supposed to the United States and proceeded to involve be. Nevertheless, the cars were an instant himself in the utilities game again. He smash, with crowds of onlookers standing gained a reputation for being rather ruth­ on the displays of other companies trying less in his takeover tactics, always finding to catch a glimpse of this new wonder. his adversary's soft spot and pounding The new Cord was unlike anything hard at it. before it, and there has been nothing like When the Public Utilities Holding Com­ it since. In one fe ll swoop all the conven­ pany Act of 1935 rained on Emanuel's utili­ tions of car design were eliminated. Such ties parade, he began to look fo r new innovative touches as no running boards, territory. What attracted him to the Cord August (left) and Frederick hidden headlights, and the elimination of Corporation is unknown. Was it a weak Duesenberg stand next to one of the radiator shell would all be seen again company ripe fo r takeover? Did others 1919 but not in the unique form of the Cord 810. behind the scenes let Emanuel play front their racing cars. August The 810, like its older brother, the L-29, man but join fo rces just long enough to concentrated his talents on the was front-wheel drive, but that was the only damage Cord in a sweet revenge play? This manufacture of race cars, while similarity. The new Cord used a Lycoming is where the details become murky. A fe w Frederick developed passenger cars. V- 8 engine, supercharged for 1937. It was, names surface behind Emanuel: John in short, the ultimate expression of the Hertz of the rental company fa me; Gerald Streamlining Era of design. Ye t it faltered E. Donovan of Schroder, Rockefeller, and The Cord Corporation's final annual -not because of its price, which ranged Company, the American incarnation of an report was issued on 30 November 1937. At from $2,000 to $3,000, and not because of English investment banking group; C. C. the stockholders' meeting of II February the annoying problems that arose in the Darling; Harry Lockard Jr., of Shell Oil; 1938, the name of the Cord Corporation early cars. Such an innovative car could be and To m Girdler, of Re public Steel. The was dropped, replaced by Av iation and expected to have a few of those. In the name of John Flynn, a fo rmer Securities Transportation Corporation, or simply end, only the demise of the Auburn Auto­ and Exchange Commission (SEC) investiga­ ATCO. This corporation is better known mobile Company tolled the death bell for tor, also rises to the top. Flynn was practic­ today as Avco. the Cord 810. The Cord was, most appro­ ing private law by 1937, when the takeover The days of the Classic cars were draw­ priately, the last car to come off a Cord of the Cord Corporation took place, and ing to a close, and certainly the significant Corporation assembly line. was involved in the negotiations of the buy­ mark left by Auburn, Cord, and Duesen­ The slide of the Cord Corporation into out. He was reported to have represented berg on the era was over. Va rious attempts oblivion-hence, the Auburn Automobile the interests of some "New Yo rk bankers," to revive these names have come and gone Company-is a complex tale to weave. but who the bankers were and what inter­ over the years, but it's just as well. Any Some aspects are still not clear, and it is ests they had in the deal remain a mystery. modern-day re-creations would only spoil doubtful the full story will ever be known. Meanwhile, the SEC launched an investi­ the hallowed place in history these cars The principal actors left the stage long ago. gation into Cord's dealings. Although the have kept.J

SpriHg 1994 41

13 SejJlf'7nber 1930 1936 _5Augu.\·f 1937 /937 11rkn Cord rlif's. lrmovalilll,Cord 810is intmtlurnl. NewsjmjJPn annmmrl' Cord has Cord Corporation Pliminall's sold out li fCord Corpomtiou. automotive ojJemtions. fter more than a century of president in December 1960. A powerful success as a vehicle manufac­ ex-Marine only fo rty-one years old, Egbert turer, Studebaker was in was the ultimate outsider in the view of desperate difficulty by the Studebaker people, a Calif(>rnian from a - A-�--.. early 1960s. From its begin­ chain-saw company with no experience in ning in 1852, when Henry automobile manufacturing. Ve ry soon after and Clement Studebaker his arrival in early 1961, Egbert devised a opened a blacksmith and wagon-making plan to save Studebaker by introducing a business in South Bend, Studebaker had dramatically diffe rent automobile. flourished by building a wide variety of According to company legend, Egbert quality vehicles, from farm wagons to experienced a flash of inspiration presidential carriages f( >r Benjamin in midair and made the first sketch Harrison, from police paddy wagons f(>r an exciting personal car on the to Death Va lley ore carriers. back of an envelope. Some say he By the 1890s the Studebaker was flying back to South Bend Brothers Manufacturing Company from the Paris Auto Show, while advertised itself as the nation's others believe he was on his way to largest vehicle manufacturer, and Calif()rnia, but all accounts agree Studebaker successfully continued that Egbert conceived the Avanti into automobile manufacturing. in an airplane. The firm survived a depression­ Car X, as it was called by the era bankruptcy and prospered handful of employees who shared from 1939 until 1952. Intense competi­ the secret, was intended to stimulate

tion from large r manufacturers and a dis­ ALL PHOTOS COURTESY STUDEBAKER NATIONAL MUSEUM interest, revive the company's reputation, mal merger with Packard (well described and attract new customers f()r the entire by a participant as "two drunks trying to Above This overhead view Studebaker line. The daring new car was hold one another up") diminished Stude­ shows the startling never expected to sell in large numbers, baker's stature in the American automo­ but Egbert hoped that the excitement bile industry. The compact and economical sloped hood of the Avanti. would entice the curious to Studebaker 1959 Lark brought a brief revival that was showrooms where eager salesmen would soon undermined by competition from Opposite Company president be able to sell more of the ordinary Larks American Motors' Rambler and General Sherwood Egbert with the and Hawks. Car X, sometimes called Model Motors' much-criticized Corvair. flamboyant Raymond Loewy RQ or Model J5 f( )r secrecy, was to be a fast To save Studebaker from imminent and sporty specialty car, with production disaster, a bitterly divided board of direc­ planned at 6,000 a year. tors looked f( >r a fresh, hard-driving execu­ Unfo rtunately Studebaker's dismal tive leader and named Sherwood Egbert as PATRICK J. FURLONG financial condition did not permit devel-

SHERWO OD EGBERT'S DREAM CAR

42 TRACES ll VAN TI opment of an entirely new model. Car X weeks. The result featured smooth curves Ford Mustang was still Lee Iacocca's secret would of necessity be a compact Lark and a narrow-waisted "Coke-bottle" shape plan fo r a fo ur-seater "personal car. " under the skin, built on the existing resembling the aerodynamic form of con­ he public reception of the Av anti 1 09-inch wheelbase. Eugene Hardig, vice temporary fighter planes. It displayed no 'was everything Sherwood Egbert president fo r engineering, led the com­ straight lines, no grille, and ve ry little had dreamed. There was ample pany team that designed the chassis and chrome. From the side the design resem­ ublicity, general admiration, enor­ power train. Egbert was dissatisfied by bled a wedge, with the front noticeably ms curiosity among the motoring the fi rst sketches from company stylists closer to the ground. Loewy personally press, and thousands of advance purchase and turned to a freelance designer fo r a supervised every detail, developing con­ orders. At the Indianapolis 500 the pace more daring approach. The result was the cepts he had pioneered on BMW and Lan­ car for 1962 was a Lark Daytona, but it was finest automotive achievement in the long cia prototype models that never entered led around the track by the far more excit­ career of the famed industrial designer production. Loewy later named the new ing Avanti, which was afterward presented Raymond Loewy. car Avanti, Italian for "forward." Although to the winning driver, Roger Ward. Born in Paris in 1893, Loewy was a lead­ ing advocate of the concept of industrial design. Beginning with his initial success in 1929, he turned machines from office duplicators to railroad locomotives into objects of streamlined beauty. Loewy's firm worked under contract fo r Stude­ baker from 1938 until 1956, helping shape the popular 1939 Champion, the 1947 Champion (designed by Virgil Exner), and the elegant 1953 Starlite (designed by Bob Bourke), which continued in production for eleven years as the Golden Hawk and finally the GT Hawk. Both for secrecy and fo r Loewy's convenience, the Car X design team worked in a Palm Springs studio near Loewy's California home. The Car X chassis was fu ndamentally the Lark convertible with its stiffe ning X-frame, upgraded with a heavy-duty suspension adapted in part from the model sold for police service. To keep costs low, the basic dimensions remained un­ changed. There was no money fo r a new engine either, so Car X was equipped with Studebaker's standard V-8, a 289-cubic­ inch (4.7-liter) engine far behind Big Three standards. lo achieve the power that Egbert demanded, Studebaker purchased the Av anti was not really a sports car in There was one unfortunate difficulty. Paxton Products, a supercharger manufac­ size or performance, it was certainly Studebaker revealed the Av anti to the pub­ turer headed by Andy Granatelli, the flam­ intended to resemble the Jaguar XKE, and lic long before it was ready to manufacture boyant Indianapolis 500 race car builder Loewy worked closely with Studebaker the car on the assembly line. There were so and sponsor. Thanks to Granatelli's efforts engineers to be sure that it sounded like a fe w available fo r display that two Avantis the new car set remarkable performance sports car, with specially designed large were airlifted to twenty-four cities around records. To stop the speedy new Stude­ diameter resonating dual exhausts. the country for dealer showings. baker, Hardig's engineers decided to use Egbert was determined to show the The Av anti's most unusual fe ature, its European sports car technology: front disc Av anti by April 1962, with simultaneous fiberglass body, caused production diffi­ brakes designed by Dunlop in Great introductions at the New Yo rk Auto Show culties. The initial design was intended fo r Britain and built under license by Bendix and the Studebaker shareholders meeting the fa miliar pressed steel, but Egbert in South Bend. Egbert also insisted that in South Bend. lb do so, the typical three decided on fiberglass in order to save time the interior be sized so that his six-foot years or more of design effort and proto­ and tooling costs, a decision leading to fo ur-inch frame would fit comfortably in type testing for a new automobile was con­ lengthy delays and endless worry. No one the driver's seat. siderably shortened. A few Av antis were at Studebaker knew anything about fiber­ Meanwhile in Palm Springs, Loewy's rushed to completion, hand built just in glass body construction, and there was only design team-Robert Andrews, Thomas time for the showings. The Av anti created one manufacturer in the country, the Kellogg, and John Ebstein-sculpted a rev­ an immediate sensation. There was noth­ Molded Fiber Glass Body Company of olutionary automobile body in only six ing like it on the market in 1962, when the Ashtabula, Ohio, which produced the

Spring 199 4 43

1852 1890.< December 1960 HP nr_v and Cfl>mn1t Studl'baker Studebaker Brotlvn ,\tanuf( l('turing Shnwood Egbl' rt lurrd. a� prf'Jidn!t opm a wagon-makmgbusinns in (:ompam .\ ucus.iful/y rontinut'.s into of ailing Studebaker. South Bmd. aufnmobifr mtlnu(rtrluring. c:f vANT I

To p From the side the Avanti offe rs a Middle, Shown here with a happy crowd clean look of sculpted style during the twenty-four-city, sixteen-day

tour in Spring 1962, these two Avantis we re flown around the country for dealer Bollom Loewy 's refined des ign was and press showings since Studebaker remarkably free of chrome for its day, had built so few of the cars. and there was no hint of a tail fin .

44 TRACES (f VANTI

Corvette body fo r General Motors. The the Av anti had faded. By April production complete only one hand-built Avanti II bodies were delivered to South Bend in exceeded sales, but Egbert remained hope­ from leftover Studebaker parts by the end one piece, but at Ashtabula more than 130 ful while the New Yo rk investment bankers of the year. Hardig helped design a modest pieces were molded separately and then and lawyers on the board began seriously production line, and in 1965 some 25 cars fastened together with adhesives and metal to consider closing Studebaker's entire were built and sold. In the last year of stiffeners to fo rm the body shell, with the automotive operation. Diversification into Altman ownership ( 1982), production seams laboriously filled and sanded other industries in recent years offered was 182. smooth. Once molded, a fiberglass part corporate managers a chance to save the Nate Altman had no ambitions of large­ could not be reshaped except fo r minor company by eliminating its namesake scale production (his goal was 240 cars a smoothing and trimming. Steel body parts product, its only money-losing division. year, one fo r each working day). He always could be "adjusted" on the assembly line Egbert still hoped against all odds to emphasized high quality and total customer with discreet thumping and shoving, but save Studebaker as an automobile manu­ service. Customers chose the exterior and fiberglass bodies were unyielding. They facturer while the board was determined interior colors, interior accessories, and were also very difficult to paint. to save the corporation instead. Egbert's upholstery; no two cars were exactly the Car and Driver called the Av anti "sensa­ declining health gave the board an oppor­ same. Each Avanti II was road tested fo r tional fo r its appearance alone" while "its tunity to push him aside as he was recover­ two hundred miles before delivery. The performance places it in a class by itself."It ing from cancer surgery, and his sick leave Av anti II was powered by a Chevrolet V- 8, was fast, with production cars capable of was converted into a resignation on 22 which could be serviced by any dealer. For 125 miles per hour with the stock super­ November 1963. On 9 December the news serious repairs Av anti lis were returned to charged engine, and a spectacular 168.15 leaked that Studebaker would close auto­ South Bend, and the company provided a miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats mobile production in South Bend by the loaner, driven as far as New Yo rk if neces­ with some additional Granatelli touches. end of the year. There was a pretense of sary. Altman deliberately de-emphasized Road and Tr ack praised the Av anti as a true continuing Lark production in Canada, but high-speed performance to make the grand touring car, a worthy rival fo r any the Avanti was immediately discontinued. Avanti II a "family sports car," luxurious European model. The comfortable bucket though Studebaker did not and fa st enough fo r any reasonable driver. seats, padded interior, and disc brakes were believe that Avanti had a future, The privately held Avanti Motors was widely admired, but the overhead aircraft­ longtime South Bend business­ carefully managed and always profitable style lighting switches were often criticized. ma n Nathan Altman did. under Altman and Newman management, The Avanti, with a base price of $4,500, AOwner with his brother Arnold but the sale of parts fo r old Studebakers was to go on sale with the 1963 models in and their partner Leo Newman earned more than the manufacture of September. There were no marketing stud­ of the hometown Studebaker dealership, new Avantis. Most cars were sold directly ies or carefully targeted potential buyers, Altman tried to find a company willing to by the fac tory, which was located in one of only the hope that a dramatic new car continue production of the Av anti. The Big Studebaker's oldest buildings, dating to the would bring glamour and excitement to Three in Detroit scorned his proposal; 1880s. The Av anti II sold steadily to a small the entire Studebaker line. Many dealers American Motors rejected the idea as well. number of intensely loyal and happy own­ prepared special showrooms fo r this won­ Checker Motors in Kalamazoo, Michigan, ers who were determined to possess a dis­ drously elegant car that was to revive best known fo r making taxicabs, almost tinctive automobile of elegant appearance Studebaker's declining fo rtunes. The pub­ accepted but declined because its presi­ and solid performance. lic was eager to see the widely publicized dent thought the Av anti was ugly. After Leo Newman's retirement and Av anti, but Studebaker was unable to pro­ As a last measure to save the Avanti, then Nathan Altman's death in 1976, duce enough cars to provide one fi :>r every Nate Altman persuaded Studebaker Arnold Altman considered selling Avanti. dealer. The motoring public bought the management to sell the company's parts He had no desire to continue the business idea of the Av anti, but many customers inventory and the design rights and tool­ after his brother's death; his own sons demanded their money back when Stude­ ing. The Altmans and Newman purchased were in business elsewhere; and no one baker dealers told them they would have to the remains on 1 July 1964. Newman locally seemed interested in taking over wait unknown months fo r delivery. played a vital role in securing financing, Avanti. Stephen H. Blake, an Avanti enthu­ Fa r from saving Studebaker, the Av anti as did Richard Rosenthal, the young presi­ siast and Washington realtor, agreed to with its production problems further tar­ dent of the St. Joseph Bank in South Bend buy the company in 1980, and two years nished the company's reputation, fo rcing (and now athletic director at the University were needed to arrange financing. Studebaker to absorb millions of dollars it of Notre Dame). Altman next persuaded Blake was eager to develop a f(mr-door could ill afford to lose. Egbert hoped fo r Gene Hardig to join the enterprise. model and to increase production, but he production of 500 cars a month, and about "You're crazy," the fo rmer Studebaker vice had little idea of how to run an automobile 4,000 customers placed advance orders, president told Altman, but he quickly manufacturer. His many changes, some but only 670 Av antis were delivered to buy­ reconsidered. A few years later Hardig needed, others mistaken, soon antago­ ers before the end of 1962. By the time told an interviewer that working on the nized employees, supplien, and customers. Studebaker solved its production problems Av anti II was "more fun than working on His New Avanti Motor Corporation never the fo llowing spring, in large part by the original Avanti." There were plenty matched the Altmans' concern fo r high assembling the fiberglass parts in South of fo rmer Studebaker workers willing to quality and generous customer service. Bend rather than moving completed bod­ take a chance working fo r the new Av anti Av anti sales in 1983 reached a record 289, ies from Ashtabula, the retail demand fo r Motor Corporation, but they were able to but collapsed the next year. Blake threat-

45

Apri/ 1962 Deum!Nr1963 Atmnti fMJuls in N'w lbrh Stttthbakn amwuncrs it will end and South Bnui. aulomnbiiR JmKhu:tion in ,\'outh Hnul. WA NT TO BUY A HOOSIER HUMMER?

The two-passenger, hardtop HUMMER. The four-passenger, hardtop HUMMER.

entagon procurement officers call Green camouflage, since Operation Desert Storm HUMMERs it the High Mobility Multipurpose are more familiar in Desert Tan. It is the only light truck on the Wheeled Ve hicle or HMMWV-soldiers American market that can be advertised as fully combat tested. pronounce it "Hum-vee" and write AM General designed the HUMMER exclusively fo r mili­ HMMWV in official documents-the tary use, but with the decline of military spending and the manufacturer and the civilian world know it end of the Cold War the company is moving energetically to as the HUMMER. (HUMMER and HUMVEE develop civilian and export markets. This aluminum-bodied are registered trademarks of AM General Cor­ multipurpose vehicle offers full-time fo ur-wheel drive, six­ poration.) This remarkable vehicle, more than teen-inch ground clearance, automatic transmission, and a fifteen fe et long and seven fe et wide, is manufac­ top road speed of 83 miles per hour. For civilian use the tured at a fo rmer bus factory in Mishawaka by the AM General HUMMER was modified with a more powerful 6.5-liter diesel Corporation, which maintains its general offices in South engine, bucket seats, interior padding, impact-resistant doors, Bend. The company's genealogy traces by one line to Overland and halogen headlights in place of the Army's blackout lights. Auto of Terre Haute and then Indianapolis, by way of Willys­ AM/FM stereo is standard equipment, but air conditioning is Overland of 1oledo, later known as Kaiser Jeep, and by another a dealer option. line to the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend and its The first civilian-bought HUMMER was delivered to the military truck division, purchased by Kaiser-Jeep in 1964. action movie hero Arnold Schwarzenegger, but most are sold Kaiser-J eep became AM General in 1970, a subsidiary of for government and corporate use in fo restry, mining, and oil American Motors, only to be sold to LTV Corporation in 1983. exploration. The People's Republic of China placed the first Following LTV's bankruptcy, AM General emerged in 1992 as a fo reign-civilian order fo r use in petroleum exploration. For a wholly owned subsidiary of the Renco Group, Inc. The hourly vehicle that can go almost anywhere, up a sixty-degree slope, workers who build the HUMMER are represented by United across a stream thirty inches deep, through snowdrifts or sand Auto Wo rkers Local No. 5, organized in 1935 to represent dunes, there is nothing on wheels that can rival a HUMMER. Studebaker employees. The National Guard often uses HUMMERs in disaster relief The Army realized by the late seventies that the faithful Jeep duties, and the U.S. Border Patrol may become a major cus­ was ready fo r retirement as it neared fo rty years of exceptional tomer in the Southwest. service and issued a request fo r proposals for a much-improved The HUMMER is a fine example of the continuing impor­ replacement to meet the HMMWV requirement. The new vehi­ tance of manufacturing in Indiana, a state which many Ameri­ cle would be larger, fa ster, tougher, and more versatile, safer to cans still imagine as part of the Rust Belt of the early 1980s. No drive, and longer-lasting as well. Jeep engineers designed an other manufacturer in the world makes a truly competitive entirely new vehicle in 1979 to 1980 and proved it in competi­ vehicle fo r serious rough terrain service. The HUMMER is tive tests against Chrysler and Te ledyne prototypes adapted built in a fo rty-year-old factory by union labor, and it is built to from existing vehicles. The first HUMMERs rolled from the exacting military quality standards once limited to aircraft Mishawaka plant late in 1984, and total production exceeds manufacturers. There are not yet any dealers in Indiana, where 110,000, delivered to the Army, Marines, and more than twenty there are no mountains and few oil companies, but "The Most nations abroad. HUMMER� are used to carry personnel, sup­ Serious 4 X 4 on Earth" is indeed on the market, and every plies, communications equipment, machine guns, and antitank HUMMER is "Made in Mishawaka." J missile launchers over any sort of ground, from Arctic snow­ drifts to desert sand dunes. Originally seen in Wo odland PATRICK ]. FURLONG

Spring 1994 47 CONTRIBUTORS FURTHER READING ---l L E E BE C K is a freelance writer who lives in Piqua, Ohio, and Beatty, Michael, Patrick Furlong, and I ' ' contributes regularly to Auto We ek, Car Collector, Specialty Car, Loren Pe nnington. Studebaker: Less Than' L.. Classic American (England), and Moto Legende (France). They Promised. South Bend, Ind.: and books, 1984. Borgeson, Griffith. Errett Lobban Cord: His RAY B 0 0 M H 0 WE R is a contributing editor fo r Tr aces. His Empire, His Motorcars: Auburn, Cord, profi le of Kin Hu bbard appeared in thefaJl 1993 issue. Duesenberg. Princeton, NJ. : Au tomobile Quarterly Publications, 1983. processed the �allace Spencer Huffrrwn P AU L B R 0 C K MAN Fisher, .Jane Wat ts. Fa bulous Hoosier: A Story Collection in his role as rruznuscript archivist at the IHS. He is also of American Achievement. New Yo rk: Robert coauthor �(Indiana: A New Historical Guide ( 1989). McBride and Co., 1947. Gray, Ralph D. Alloys and Automobiles: The PATRICK J. F U R L 0 N C, professor of history at Indiana Un iversity Life of Elwood Hay nes. Indianapolis: South Bend, came to South Bend a fe w years after Studebaker closed. Indiana Historical Society, 1979. His study of lo cal history and business history frequently leads him to Hanley, George P.,and Stacey P. Hanley. the automotive industry. He has neverbeen able to affo rd an Avanti. The Marmon He ritage. Rochester, Mich.: Doyle Hyk Publishing Co., 1985. Hokanson, Drake. The Lincoln High way: W I L L I A M M . C A R D N E R is an automotive historian and Main Street across America. Iowa City: columnist who resides in Fayette, Alabarruz. He recently published University of Iowa Press, 1988. "Ha lf-Hour History of Straight Eights " in Special Interest Autos. *Huffman, Wa llace Spencer, comp. Indiana "Early V-8Po wer" will appear in Bulbhorn. Built Automobiles. Rev. ed. Ko komo, Ind.: W S. Huffm an, 1989. RALPH D. C RAY is a member of the Department of History at Lewis, David L.,and Laurence Goldstein, Indiana Un iversity-Purdue Un iversity at IndianajJolis. His writings eds. The Automobile and American Culture. on Indiana history include Alloys and Automobiles: The Life Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, of Elwood Haynes ( 1979) and a fo rthcoming book on the history 1983. of the Indiana Po rt Commission; he also has edited, and contributed to, The Hoosier State: Re adings in Indiana History (1980) and *A new revised version entitled Gentlemen from Indiana: National Party Candidates, Iruliana Built Motor Vehicles will 1836-1940 (1977). be unveiled at the 1-2 .July 1994 "Celebration of the Au tomobile PET E R T. H A R S T A D is the executive director of the Indiana and its Effects on Humankind" Historical Society. He is coauthor with Bonnie Lindemann of Gilbert symposium in Auburn, Indiana. N. Haugen: Norwegian-American Fa rm Politician, published by Front matter includes contributions from V the State HistoricalSociet y of Io wa in 1992. Harry Huffm an and Ralph D. Gray. After the conference copies will be available fo r purchase from the IHS ROBERT M. TAY LOR ] R. is the director of the JHS Education and elsewhere. Persons interested in Division and a frequent contributor to Tr aces. His Arts & Crafts receiving conference information movement articles appeared in the rruzgazine's previous issue. He is should contact the IHS by calling senior author of Indiana: A New Historical Guide and coauthor of (317) 232-1876. The Early Architecture of Madison, Indiana (1986).

_)___48 TRACES