 | |
| Industry | Automobile |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1899 |
| Defunct | 1922 |
| Fate | Purchased, marque used until 1929 |
| Successor | Durant Motors |
| Headquarters | Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States |
Key people | John Brisben Walker, Amzi L. Barber, Francis Edgar Stanley and Freelan O. Stanley |
| Products | Vehicles |
TheLocomobile Company of America was a pioneering Americanautomobile manufacturer founded in 1899, known for its dedication to precision before the assembly-line era.[1] It was one of the earliest car manufacturers in the advent of the automobile age. For the first two years after its founding, the company was located inWatertown, Massachusetts. Production was transferred toBridgeport, Connecticut, in 1900, where it remained until the company's demise in 1929. The company manufactured affordable, smallsteam cars until 1903, when production switched entirely tointernal combustion-powered luxury automobiles. Locomobile was taken over in 1922 byDurant Motors and eventually went out of business in 1929. All cars produced by the original company were always sold under the brand name Locomobile.
The Locomobile Company of America was founded in 1899, the name coined from "locomotive" and "automobile".John B. Walker, editor and publisher ofCosmopolitan, bought the plans for an early steam-powered vehicle produced byFrancis andFreelan Stanley for a price they could not resist,US$250,000 (equivalent to $9,449,000 in 2024). At the time, one car had been built, and 199 more had been ordered. Walker promptly sold half of his interest to paving contractorAmzi L. Barber for the same price as he had purchased the entire company.[2] Walker and Barber's partnership lasted two weeks. Walker went on to foundMobile Company of America inNorth Tarrytown, New York, while Barber moved house toBridgeport, Connecticut, as Locomobile, where the Stanley twins were named general managers.[3] The Stanley twins founded theStanley Motor Carriage Company in 1902, becoming the sharpest rival to Locomobile.[4]: 853
Locomobile began by producing steam cars. The steam Locomobiles were unreliable, finicky to operate, prone tokerosene fires, had small water tanks (getting only 20 mi (32 km) per tank), and took time to raise steam; authorRudyard Kipling described one example as a "nickel-plated fraud".[3]: 1207 Initially, they were offered with a single body style only, an inexpensiverunabout at$600[4]: 852 (equivalent to $22,678 in 2024). Nevertheless, they were a curiosity and middle-class Americans clamoured for the latest technology. Salesmen, doctors, and people needing quick mobility found them useful. More than 4,000 were built between 1899 and 1902.[3]: 1207
In 1901, Locomobile offered seven body styles at prices between $600 (equivalent to $22,678 in 2024) and $1,400 (equivalent to $52,914 in 2024). Most Locomobiles had simple twin-cylinder engines (3x4 in, 76.2x102 mm; 57 in3, 927 cm3) and a wire-wrapped 300-psi boiler, and burned the liquid fuelnaphtha to create steam. Typical of the product was the 1904 Runabout, which seated two passengers and sold for $750[4]: 854 (equivalent to $26,247 in 2024). The two-cylinder steam engine was situated amidships of the wood-framed car. By now, the car had improved boilers and a new water pump, manufactured by theOverman Wheel Company inChicopee Falls, Massachusetts. This company itself built theVictor Steamer.[4]: 1453
During theBoer War, Locomobile did establish a new mark of sorts, becoming the first automobile to be used in war; it was a generator andsearchlight tractor used to dismantle the Klein Nek minefield.[5] It also served as a catering vehicle, with the useful ability (in British eyes, at least) of being able to brew a cup of tea by tapping the boiler.[3]: 1208
This was, unfortunately, not a sure way to guarantee commercial success, even in Britain, and Locomobile started experimenting with gasoline internal combustion engines in 1902, starting with a four-cylinder, steel-chassis model designed byAndrew L. Riker.[6] This encouraged the firm to drop steam vehicles the following year, selling the Stanley brothers back their rights for $20,000.[3]: 1208 In 1903, Barber relinquished his position to his son-in-law Samuel Todd Davis, Jr., who became President of the Locomobile Company.[7]
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The 1904 internal combustion LocomobileTouring car had atonneau and space for five passengers, and sold for $4500, quite a change from the low-priced steam buggies. The front-mounted, vertical, water-cooledstraight-four engine produced 16 hp (12 kW). A three-speed sliding transmission was used, as on theSystème Panhard cars with which it competed. The angle steel-framed car weighed 2,200 lb (1,000 kg). The 1908 Locomobile 40 Runabout was a 60 hp (45 kW) two-seater and sold for $4,750 (equivalent to $166,232 in 2024). On the strength of recent competition successes, Locomobile soon became known for well-built and speedy luxury cars.
Like other early marques, Locomobile enteredmotor racing, contesting the 1905Gordon Bennett Cup with a 17.7-litre (1,080 in3) racer; after suffering a transmission gear failure, and with no spare available, driverJoe Tracy only managed two circuits ofAuvergne before the transmission packed up entirely. Tracy did better for the company at theVanderbilt Cup, placing third.[3]: 1208 A 90 hp (67 kW), 16.2-litre (990 cu in) F-head was damaged by tire trouble, so Tracy failed again in the 1906 Vanderbilt, but in 1908,George Robertson (wearing number 16) took the win in this car, ahead of fellow Locomobile pilotJoe Florida in third, becoming the first United States-built car to win in international competition. This was the high-water mark for Locomobile racing, and they soon faded from the scene, thoughOrin Davis did score a win in the Los Angeles–Phoenixrally in 1913.[3]: 1209 A Locomobile was raced byEva Mudge, believed to be the first female driving licence holder and first female racing driver.[10] In 1925, the Locomobile team entered a front-wheel-driveMiller car called the "Junior Eight Special" after their recently introduced smaller car at theIndianapolis 500, but there was nothing Locomobile about it aside from the name.[7]
The most important for the marque became the impressive Model 48. Introduced in 1911 as the "type M," it had a very conservative, perhaps dated, concept. It had a conventional but huge chassis with a wheelbase of 143 inches (3,632 mm). Its engine was a straight six with side valves; cylinders were still cast in pairs and it featured a nonremovable cylinder head. Displacement was 429.4 cu in (7.0 L), from a4+1⁄2 in × 4+1⁄2 in (114 mm × 114 mm) bore and stroke, giving it a 48.6-hptax rating by the North American Chamber of Commerce.[11] While called the "M" internally, this car is usually referred to by its tax hp rating. The brake horsepower rating was somewhere north of 90 for the original model, higher in the later versions.[12] Quality of materials and workmanship were impeccable and among the best in the world.[13] Such was also its pricing: A typical open-body cost about $10,000 when the average Model T Ford Phaeton cost about $300. Locomobile also offered custom designs for the lamps and metal work, carried out byTiffany Studios.[13] Until 1915, left- or right-hand drive could be specified; afterwards, left-hand drive became standard. Right-hand drive cars were meant for export and sat on a chassis four inches shorter.[5] Around 1919, the engine was updated with a longer5+1⁄2 in (140 mm) stroke, for 525 cu in (8.6 L) displacement while retaining the same tax hp rating.[12]
A smaller "38 hp" model, very similar to the Model 48, was added in 1913.[14] The model 38 has a 425 cu in (7.0 L), 62 bhp (46 kW) version of the T-head six and sits on a somewhat shorter 140 inches (3,556 mm) wheelbase. By 1914, Locomobile had stopped selling all four-cylinder models to concentrate exclusively on sixes.[15]
In July 1922,[16] Locomobile was acquired byDurant Motors, which not only continued using the Locomobile brand name for their top-of-the-line autos until 1929, but also still produced the Model 48 until its demise in 1929. Until the mid-1920s, this car was Locomobile's only offering. In 1925, the marque brought out their first new model, the 8-66 Junior Eight, with a more contemporary straight-eight engine, and more importantly, a lower price of $1,785.
Introduction of the even smaller Junior Six was in 1926, but this car remained available only for one model year. The larger Model 90 that appeared in the same year was produced until 1929.
With the 8-70 of 1927, Locomobile added one more eight-cylinder car. Using an off the shelf Lycoming engine, this was not accepted as a true Locomobile in the marketplace and it served to damage the company's reputation.[17] In the following year, the Junior Eight 8-66 was phased out.
For 1929, a new 8-86 and 8-88 came out, but it was too late to save the company. Locomobile production ended in 1929.
| Year | Production | Vehicle types this year |
|---|---|---|
| 1899 | 337 | Steam Runabout |
| 1900 | 767 | Steam Runabout |
| 1901 | 1.561 | Steam Runabout, Steam Buggy, Steam Locosurrey |
| 1902 | 2.750 | Steam Runabout, Steam Buggy, Steam Locosurrey, Steam Locotrap, Steam Locodilivery, A, B |
| 1903 | 1.897 | Steam Runabout, Steam Locosurrey, A, B, C, D, Dos-a-Dos |
| 1904 | 927 | Steam Runabout, Steam Locosurrey, A, B, C, D, Dos-a-Dos |
| 1905 | 688 | D, E, H, F |
| 1906 | 723 | E, H, Special |
| 1907 | 627 | E, H, Special |
| 1908 | 1.000 | E, I |
| 1909 | 1.000 | 30(L), 40(I) |
| 1910 | 1.000 | 30(L), 40(I), 48(M) |
| 1911 | 1.000 | 30(L), 48(M) |
| 1912 | 1.000 | 30(L), 48(M) |
| 1913 | 1.000 | 30(L), 48(M), 38(R) |
| 1914 | 1.000 | 48(M), 38(R) |
| 1915 | 1.000 | 48(M), 38(R) |
| 1916 | 1.000 | 48(M), 38(R) |
| 1917 | 1.000 | 48(M), 38(R) |
| 1918 | 627 | 48(M), 38(R) |
| 1919 | 429 | 48(M) |
| 1920 | 1.000 | 48(M) |
| 1921 | 721 | 48(M) |
| 1922 | 221 | 48(M) |
| 1923 | 116 | 48(M) |
| 1924 | 230 | 48(M) |
| 1925 | 828 | 48(M), Junior 8 |
| 1926 | 2.586 | 48(M), Junior 8, 90 |
| 1927 | 2.037 | 48(M), Junior 8, 90, 8-80 |
| 1928 | 1.112 | 48(M), 90, 8-80 |
| 1929 | 327 | 48(M), 90, 88 |
| Sum | 30.511 |
A Locomobile is the setting for one of the final scenes of F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel,This Side of Paradise, in which the protagonist, Amory Blaine, argues forsocialism to the father of a college friend, who staunchly defends thecapitalist ideal.
In the spring and summer of 1946, a seven-passenger 1911 Locomobile touring car was driven from Boston to Los Angeles and back as a promotional tour for the Columbia Pictures filmGallant Journey. While not appearing in the movie, the Locomobile attracted much attention for the picture on the tour.
In Thomas Savage's 1967 novelThe Power of the Dog, set in the 1920s, the Locomobile is esteemed by protagonist Peter Gordon as a peer to thePierce-Arrow: "... Those were the vehicles of the high and mighty, and he knew that only the Locomobile (fancied by old GeneralPershing, among others) rivaled the Pierce."
Clive Cussler's 2007 novel,The Chase, as well as his 2010 novelThe Spy, featured a 1906 Locomobile.
InDashiell Hammett's 1925 mystery story "Scorched Face", the rich girls for whomthe Continental Op is looking, were driving a Locomobile "with a special cabriolet body" when they disappeared.
Papa LaBas fromIshmael Reed's 1972 novelMumbo Jumbo drives a Locomobile.
The Locomobile is central to the 2015 historical novel by Lisa Begin-Kruysman titledAround the World in 1909: Harriet White Fisher and Her Locomobile. The novel is based onHarriet White Fisher's circumnavigation of the globe; the Locomobile is driven, hauled, pushed, and floated in places where no man, let alone woman, had yet explored, certainly not on wheels.
Samuel Todd Davis and Andrew L. Riker made a decision that changed the declining fortunes of the Locomobile Company in January of 1902 when Riker was tasked to develop the company's first gasoline powered car.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Media related toLocomobile Company of America at Wikimedia Commons
1921–1932 Historic vehicles | ||
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