History We ALL Love a DARE! PIX of TRULY Extinct Makes?

Corbitt

The Corbitt Company was located in Henderson , NC , in Northeastern North Carolina . Corbitt was located in Vance County which had a population of 32,000 in 1942 and has about the same population today. Not much has changed there.

Mr. Corbitt came to Henderson from Enfield , NC in 1895 as a buyer/seller of tobacco. He foresaw the big companies dominating the tobacco industry, so he decided to build his first buggy in 1899 and continued to build buggies through 1907. During that time there were four buggy manufacturers in Henderson , and Mr. Corbitt was the only survivor. In 1907 he manufactured his first automobile, called a "horseless buggy". In 1912 he built 13 automobiles. He had imported some labor from Detroit to have workers knowledgeable about automobiles. But he was losing money on every automobile.

In 1913 he decided to build trucks instead of automobiles. In 1916 he built his first intra city bus. In 1917 he built his first dump truck. The Corbitt Company always made money, except when they were building automobiles. In WWI Corbitt supplied 4000 trucks to the Army and Navy. In the 1930's Corbitt built 4x4's for the U.S. Army. It was a Corbitt that pulled Howard Hughes' huge airplane, the "Spruce Goose" from its hanger at Long Beach , CA in the 1940's. At the time, it was the largest bulk load ever moved over the highway.

In 1934 when the Auburn Automobile Company folded, Mr. Corbitt bought up all the Auburn sheet metal parts and used Auburn fenders, hoods, and grills on the 11,000 lb./13,000 lb. GVW Corbitts for 2 or 3 Years. They were an extremely handsome truck. None of these are known to have survived. Every major fleet in NC and SC bought the pre- 1940 Corbitt tractor.

During WWII Corbitt built 5500 6- ton 6x6 prime mover trucks for the U.S. Army. White and Brockway built the same model truck for the Army. Corbitt built 5 prototypes of a truck for the Army which looks were modern even today- it was 48" in height with 1/4" armor plate, and a Hercules engine in the rear driving through a transfer case and had a cab design that would fit right into the 1980's. As a new engineer in 1942 Mel was told to design a truck with this transfer case, and Mel asked "What the hell is a transfer case?" Mel said he could not remember a day when Corbitt did not have an Army contract. Corbitt was a small enough company that they could make quick modifications for the Army. The Army demanded an all steel cab, so Corbitt discontinued the wooden frame cab from the 30's and built nothing but all steel cabs from WWII on.

Corbitt made their own frames, buying the rails from Parish, and drilling the frames and fabricating them. The assembly line moved quite slowly, with the first truck pulling the rest up the line by chain.

During WWII Corbitt made 5500 trucks. The biggest production month after the war was 130 trucks.

The complete engineering department consisted of 5 men. Maximum number of employees was about 325.

Every Corbitt went through a dynamometer test and a road test, ready to pull freight without any further preparation.

The State of North Carolina had 550 Corbitt 4x4 trucks still in service in 1954 when Corbitt went out of business. Corbitt had made crane carriers, Model C666, with both I-beam frames and frame rail frames. Corbitt made 25 big cabovers for Turner Transfer, a specialized machinery mover in High Point , NC . They sat 4 to 5 men across the cab, slept 3 and had a bed over the engine under the hood. They were powered with the big English Gardener diesel engine. Corbitt built lots of freight trailers, for most of the fleets in NC, SC, and VA. Longest trailer built was a 30' unit. Mel showed a slide of a prototype bus from the late 1940's, but it was just a dream on paper and was never produced. The most popular color in the 40's were red and black.

Corbitt used many Cummins JB6 120 HP diesels. Corbitt got the first 50 JTS supercharged 150 HP diesels from Cummins and had so many problems it was discontinued. Fleets tried to haul freight with the smaller engine and they just did not hold up against the heavier models.

Mel showed a slide of "Geraldine" a 1951 Corbitt that had run over 2,000,000 miles at the time. The tractor was sold to The Daniels Company by dealer R. E. Daniels. It has been in all continental 48 states. It was still running in 1981 and had over 2,600,000 miles at that time. In 1984 it was sold to another trucker who made it into a dump truck.

In the early 1950's Corbitt built farm tractors in Henderson , very similar to the Cockshutt in design. There were three versions - running on kerosene, gas, or diesel. Most all were imported to Brazil .

In 1952 Mr. Corbitt was over 70 years old and in poor health. He had two sons. The son who he had hoped would carry on had died. The Corbitt family owned 90+% of the company stock. Mr. Corbitt, who was a fine gentleman, discussed the continuation of the company with many employees, and it was agreed to sell the company, as no one was really ready to run the company.

Corbitt always built a heavy duty truck, using 5/16" heat treated chrome manganese frames when others were using 1/4" carbon steel frames. Corbitt just didn't think they could continue to compete with the "big guys".

One of the largest users of Corbitt tractors was R. R. Riss & Son, from Kansas City . Riss bought tractor-trailers completely lettered and road ready. They could send a driver to pick up the new unit and pick up freight on the way home.

The company was sold in 1952 to United Industrial Syndicate, New York City . They specialized in liquidating companies and liquidated the equipment and the buildings.

In 1954 Corbitt built only 40 trucks, a few farm tractors, and some travel drills.

After Corbitt closed, Wallace White continued to service Corbitt trucks already produced, for 7 years in one of the former plant buildings. Wallace even built 5 or 6 Corbitt trucks from the parts he acquired, although he did not have the machinery to make new parts.




I'd love to find one in the image above but I'm pretty sure they are extinct as I haven't been able to find one yet. Any one ever seen a real Corbitt????

 

More Corbitt

Known bus builder from 1934-1936 Also built Corbitt Motor Trucks aka Corbitt Automobile Company, Corbitt Buggy Company
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Karl Zahm attributes the famous 1939 Graham Sharknose Towncar to Corbitt. See Car Collector magazine - April 1980 pp56. Actual name of coachbuilder was Corbett - please see Corbett.
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in 1918, U.S. builders produced a staggering 227,000 units for the U.S. and its allies. The Corbitt Company of New Bern NC was a major manufacturer
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CORBITT (US) 1913-1952; 1957-1958
(1) Corbitt Automobile Co., Henderson, N.C. 1913-1916 (2) Corbitt Motor Truck Co., Henderson, N.C.
(3) Corbitt Co., Henderson, N.C. -1952
(4) Corbitt Co., Inc., Henderson, N.C. 1957-1958
Richard Corbitt was a successful North Carolina to­bacco merchant during the 1890s, and after being forced out of business by a large trust he set up the Corbitt Buggy Company in 1899. From 1907 to 1913 passenger cars were made, followed by trucks. The first Corbitt was a conventional truck powered by a 4-cylinder Continental engine, with chain drive and a load capacity of 2,500 lbs. During 1915 Corbitt began to supply school and urban transit buses for service all over North Carolina, and during the 1920s the company established a reputation as 'the South's largest truck builder'. In addition they were exported to 23 foreign countries. Corbitts were of conventional design, with 6-cylinder Continental or Hercules engines and up to 1930 made in sizes of 1 to 5 tons. Later models were larger, and included 6-wheeled tractor/trailer units of up to 15 tons capacity. Some of the smaller Corbitts of the mid-1930s used the same grille, fenders and front body panels as the Auburn passenger car.
From 1933 onwards Corbitt became important sup­pliers of vehicles to the U.S. Army; these included 2¥2ton 6x6 cargo carriers powered by Lycoming Straight-8 engines, 8-ton 6x4 and 6x6 artillery prime movers with Hercules 6 engines, and Lycoming-powered armoured scout cars. In 1940 the U.S. Coastal Artillery asked Corbitt to design and build a 6-ton 6x6 prime mover and cargo carrier. Powered by a 855ci 6-cylinder Hercules engine, the Corbitt 50 SD6 became a familiar workhorse for the U.S. Army and its allies. They survived well into the 1950s in the armies of Austria, Denmark, France,Greece, the Netherlands and Sweden. Some of these veh­icles are still at work as recovery trucks and heavy haul­age prime movers. During the early part of the War Corbitt built 6x4 highway tractors powered by
Continental 6-cylinder engines. An 8x8 prime mover and a rear-engined 2 ½ -ton truck were built experimentally.
The early post-war years saw a boom in road tractor sales, and during 1946 Corbitt sold over 600 trucks. These were mostly large 6x2 and 6x4 tractors powered by Con­tinental gasoline or Cummins diesel engines, and they were used by some of the biggest fleet operators in the United States. In 1952 "Uncle Dick" Corbitt retired and his loss, combined with falling sales of heavy trucks generally, caused the firm to close. In 1957 an attempt to revive the firm was made, building tractor trucks on a made-to-order basis, but this failed. At this time Corbitt was also rebuilding ex-army Mack 6x6 artillery tractors which were sold to various NATO countries including Great Britain.
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Richard J. Corbitt had moved to Henderson, NC, in 1899 and created a very successful buggy manufacturing business. In 1905, he successfully sought additional capital to expand the Corbitt Buggy Company to convert one of his three factory buildings into auto production.
In 1907, the first Corbitt Motor Buggy was produced by the renamed Corbitt Automobile Company — a high-wheeled, chain-driven buggy with an engine. In 1908, Corbitt added fenders to the car, and in 1909 he added acetylene lamps. In 1910, Corbitt advertised nationally a $800 touring car with a two-cyclinder, 18 to 20 horsepower engine on a 90-inch chassis, as well as a two-passenger Model B runabout.
There were about 2,400 automobiles in North Carolina in 1910. At that time, there were 600 generally small automobile manufacturers in the U.S.
By 1912, Corbitt had redesigned the cars that were now 120-inch wheel base with a four-cyclinder, 30 horsepower engine costing $1,750 for the roadster and $2,000 for the touring car (Model 4p). Over these years, Corbitt built and sold more than 100 cars in all probabililty.
By Henry Ford was gearing up his assembly line factory system — in 1914 Ford produced 300,000 cars compared to the rest of the industry which produced 200,000 cars. With lowering prices on the Ford product, the great elimination of auto makers began. For example, Ford established a Charlotte, NC, branch that initially supplied parts to dealers and assembled Ford cars (6,850 autos in 1915 up to 100,000 autos in 1927).
Corbitt recognized the trend and last produced a car in 1914 — with a four-cyclinder, 26-horsepower engine.
In 1915, the Corbitt company was renamed the Corbitt Motor Truck Company which would continue to successfully produce trucks until 1952.
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Corbitt Automobile Co. (1911 - 1914) and Corbitt Motor Truck Co. (1915 - 1952) - Richard J. Corbitt (1876 - 1955) founded the motor vehicle company after building his first car in 1907, according to reports. He had founded another business in 1899. The first truck was built in 1913. Finding an opportunity in truck production, by the 1920s, then firm was known as Corbitt Motor Truck Co. The firm produced 5-ton trucks, adding up to 15-ton trucks in the 1930s. Military and civilian trucks were produced during World War II. Volume production by the company ceased in 1952, when the then 76-year-old Richard Corbitt retired. An attempt was made in 1957 to revive the business with a build-on-order approach, but it was short-lived.

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Henderson, North Carolina is the home of Corbitt trucks. Richard J. Corbitt came to Henderson in late 1890s determined to make his fortune in the tobacco business. The horseless carriage appeared to have a still greater potential and by 1907 the Corbitt factory was converted to the manufacture of automobiles. But mass produced cars from Detroit proved to be tough competition. So in 1910 the factory was converted once more, from cars to trucks. His first trucks were the conventional chain drive and then expanded his offerings until he became known as the largest truck manufacturer in the South.
By 1916 the company had developed an extensive line of trucks ranging from 5-ton capacity down to 1-ton. That same year the company announced that their trucks were not only being purchased in large numbers by the U.S Army, but also being shipped to no less than 23 foreign countries. When World War I came along Corbitt was ready and sold literally hundreds of units to the military. In both WW I and II the Corbitt assembly line, like so many others, was crowed to full capacity.
For many years Corbitt also built school busses (on truck chassis) plus a few long-haul buses not unlike the low-slung Fageols of the 30s. In addition, there was an extensive line of Corbitt-built trailers and even farm tractors.
The real glamour years for Corbitt came in the late 30s, through the 40s and into the early 50s. Their models were very up-to-date, handsomely-equipped and high speed. Cummins diesel power became an option in the 40s. It was in those years that the love affair between truck and drivers reached full bloom.
The end came suddenly in late 1952. Richard Corbitt retired in 1952 and the company fell into decline. There was a tremendous management void. When Mr. Corbitt died, there was no way to replace his knowledge on short notice, nor was there any way to implant his thinking with modern technology to compete in the then fast-changing world. The stockholders opted for voluntary liquidation rather than face forced liquidation or merger later on. An attempt was made to revive the company in 1957 but sadly did not succeed
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1943 Military 6 ton 6x6. These 6 tonners were built by Corbitt, Brockway & White. All are identical. Mine is built by White, but has the Corbitt cab. The only way to tell is by the foot pedals that say White

 

I'd love to find one in the image above but I'm pretty sure they are extinct as I haven't been able to find one yet. Any one ever seen a real Corbitt????

1949 Corbitt T22 truck video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XU4cZ4Jz00

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Cole Series 30 Model L (1911)</CENTER>

 

When I had the opportunity to see this car and examine it in the flesh, it was all Cord from the firewall back.

[FONT=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]1940 Graham Hollywood Convertible[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] West Peterson and Ken Dunsire
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For Graham, in 1940, the road to Hollywood was paved with good intentions. It began with the demise of Errett Loban Cord's automotive empire, Auburn Automobile Co. In August of 1938, one year after Cord shut the doors of his Auburn, Ind., plant, entrepreneur Norman deVaux met with Victor Emmanuel, receiver for Auburn Automobile, and purchased the tools and dies for the acclaimed 1936-37 Cord, intending to start a new car company.

It was deVaux's idea to install a conventional rear-drive axle, transmission and a smaller power plant, as opposed to the expensive and/or troublesome front-wheel drive system, pre-selector transmission and Lycoming V-8 power plant that were installed in the Cord. Of course, such an endeavor required a large amount of capital. Failing to find interest in starting a new company, he met with Graham-Paige President Joseph Graham (the oldest of three Graham brothers). Graham had just introduced a beautiful new Spirit of Motion "sharknosed" car and, being rather financially strapped himself, couldn't consider another project. He did, however, steer deVaux to Hupmobile, where deVaux met with Vice President W.A. MacDonald and discussed the opportunity to capitalize on the good looks of the Cord combined with the reliability of Hupp underpinnings. MacDonald agreed, put deVaux on the payroll with a two-year contract as general manager, and told him to go forward with the idea.

Hupp's 1939 models were introduced in October 1938, and a prototype of deVaux's Cord-based sedan was unveiled as well. It was built on a 115-inch wheelbase (10 inches shorter than the Cord), powered with Hupp's 101hp L-head Junior Six engine and was promised in three different body styles – four-door sedan, five-passenger convertible, and a two-passenger convertible. Its design, however, with the grille extending back to the cowl, was too much like the original Cord. Hupp engineer Waldo Gernandt worked with Briggs stylist John Tjaarda to design something new and distinctive, with the overall design impressing the American Federation of Art, which gave it an award in 1939 for being "…cleanly and unfalteringly designed."

Because the Cord body dies were not well-suited for mass production, Hupp had a hard time getting the car into production. With more than 6,000 orders by the summer of 1939, there were still only 35 hand-built cars assembled. The top alone was an amalgamation of seven stampings, and the amount of work involved in welding and finishing was making the car's $900 targeted price unobtainable.

Meanwhile, back at Graham's Willow Run headquarters, it was clear that the company's financial problems weren't going to be solved by the Spirit of Motion cars, even though the car's radical design was considered quite beautiful. Many say that the award-winning (four first-place or grand prize concours awards and accolades from MoTor magazine) and highly regarded car, nicknamed Sharknose sometime in the 1950s, was rejected by the public as being too radical or just plain ugly. However, the rejection probably had more to do with the recession, Graham's lack of a strong dealer network and the fact that the six-cylinder car (the most powerful on the market) cost more than some eights. Graham may also have been perceived as just another collapsing independent, giving people a reason to stay away in droves and not wanting to buy something that might become an orphan.

Evidently Graham didn't see that as the problem and gave deVaux a call to help Hupp build the Skylark in exchange for the rights to build a sister car with Graham's name and a slightly different front-end design. Graham also intended to smooth out production problems by developing a single-stamp, one-piece top that would also reduce its cost. Hupp agreed, and Graham would soon be building the Hupp Skylark (with Hupp-supplied engines and trim) and the Graham Hollywood side by side. Each company, as expected, was to be responsible for its own sales, marketing, engineering and administration, and both companies would offer the cars for roughly $1,100.

The problems associated with moving tooling from the Hupp plant and getting it installed at the Graham factory pushed Graham's regular car production to April 1940, and the Hollywood/Skylark didn't start until May. In addition, development costs for producing dies for the one-piece top were too expensive to pursue. Adding to the complicated mess happening at the Graham plant, managers arranged for the conventional body-on-frame-constructed sharknosed cars to be built on the same line as the integral body/frame-constructed Hollywood/Skylark.






Once production got underway, the virtually hand-built Skylark/Hollywood bodies moved the lines along at a snail's pace. While Hupp was in dire financial straits, Graham-Paige was literally on its way to the emergency room as well (Joe Graham poured hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money into the company to keep it alive). Due to poor sales and through no fault of its own, the Sharknose was called a dismal failure, and the company killed it after the 1940 production.

The Hollywood and Skylark were built on the same assembly line for three months. During the last week of July when 1940 production stopped, only 291 Hupps had gone down the assembly line. A few more were built for the 1941 model year for a total of 354 (including the hand-built cars of 1939). Hupmobile filed for bankruptcy in October, while Graham continued building its Hollywood through September with its 1941 models. But, like Hupp, Graham called it quits for automobile production, instead focusing its efforts on defense contracts and the opportunity to make a profit for the first time since 1933.

Just 1,860 Hollywoods were built during that five-month production run. It had been predicted – hoped – that production figures for the Graham Hollywood would reach 40,000 units, with half as many Skylarks to be built. The total number of "mass-produced" Skylark/Hollywoods built – 2,214 – didn't even equal the number of hand-made 810/812 Cords, which was fewer than 3,000 albeit during a two-year time span compared to Graham's frustrating five months.

During planning stages of producing a car, full-size prototypes are built, and both Hupp and Graham did just that with their convertible ideas. Luckily, both cars survive. The 1939 Hupp Skylark convertible was recently restored and is owned by Thomas Hincz, Kenosha, Wis. Our feature car, the 1940 Graham Hollywood convertible, has also been restored. Its first owner was Joe Graham's son, Charles, a recent college graduate working at Graham-Paige when the car was built. When the plant closed down in 1940, he bought it for $750. His father used the car during the war when Charles was sent overseas with the U.S. Army. However, upon his return after three years, "it was all fixed up and looked like new again." Charles moved to Florida and the car followed him there.

In 1955, after losing a place to store the car, Charles gave the Hollywood convertible to a former Graham-Paige mechanic. Although Charles had requested first right of refusal should the mechanic ever decide to part with it, the mechanic never followed through and Charles lost touch with the car after it was sold in 1968. This was probably just as well, as the Hollywood was a real mess by that time, according to Dave Parr of Terre Haute, Ind. Parr purchased the car sight unseen and said that in addition to the rust, it had been in a front-end collision and was now missing its top irons. Disappointed, he immediately sold the car to Clyde Rollins, who had it restored.

Current owner, Ken Dunsire of Fort Wayne, Ind., had the car in his crosshairs when it first became available in 1968. His interest in Graham automobiles started during WWII. His grandparents owned a 1936 Graham Supercharged sedan. The Graham became the Dunsire family car – in addition to a 1935 Graham that his father purchased after the war. Ken purchased a 1939 Graham Supercharger sedan in 1951 but longed for a Hollywood.

In 1983, Dunsire's dream to own such a car was realized when he purchased the Hollywood Supercharged at that year's Harrah's auction. It needed a total restoration, so he purchased a second Hollywood that year, one that could be driven, from collector/historian Karl Zahm. Several other Grahams were purchased during the next few years, and he's also built up a serious collection of Graham memorabilia.

In the mid-1970s the Hollywood convertible was again offered with a price in the mid-$20,000 range, which was more than he was willing to pay. It was offered two or three more times in the 1980s at ever-increasing prices by the same owner. Gary Casterline bought the car in 1989, and with the help of his father, restored it. Casterline offered it to Dunsire in 1997 and again in 2002 at prices still deemed to be too much. However, considering the hours and expense Casterline put into his restoration, it was understandable. Dunsire realized that after 35 years, if he was ever going to own the car, he'd better act. And act he did. Upon taking delivery, he immediately had the car completely dismantled in Canada by Graham expert Doug Greer to correct problems with the body and to make some mechanical repairs. Twenty-one months later, it won a First Junior at the AACA Fall Meet in Jeffersonville, Ind., which is where we got the photos.

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And here are photos of Tom Hincz's breathtaking 1939 Hupp Skylark Corsair convertible, the only one ever built.

The car has a really interesting history - after Hupp left the automotive manufacturing business, the car was given to one of the models that appeared with the Skylarks in publicity photographs during the 1939-1940 period. This woman and her family relocated to New Hampshire, where the car resided for many years, and even made a cameo appearance in the motion picture "Peyton Place" c. 1955.

While still operable, the car had fallen into a bit of disrepair, when it was spotted by a collector from the Boston area. This person purchased the car, and after holding it for a couple of years, sold it to a Connecticut Skylark/Hollywood fancier named Norm Weid.

Norm kept the car in dry storage for about 20 years, intending to restore it. However, health issues forced him to sell the car to Tom Hincz in 1999. Tom undertook a complete restoration of the car, resulting in the absolutely gorgeous vehicle in the pictures.

PS: Note the license plate!!

 

Thanks HJ, I want the one with the Auburn front. One of the best shows I ever attended was the Antique Truck Nationals when they were here in 1999.

 

NICE one, SunRoof! You are So right, GORGEOUS is the ONLY word that covers it! And YEAH! Gotta LOVE the "One OF One" license plate!!! NOT extinct, but sure CLOSE!!!


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I really respect Hupmobile. One of the very LAST independents to hold out through the depression (and hanging by a thread!), they insisted on building these final cars with Hupp engines, rather than taking the easier course & using Graham's built-up Continentals. And, MANY auto fanciers actually PREFER the Graham/Hupp re-do to the '36/'37 Cords!!! There were far fewer of them, too!!!

 

we have a 1928 oakland tudor sedan that i've never ran across another one,but i'm sure someone has one.

 

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]George;

Oakland is not an extinct make as many survive but here is some history and a website you can refer to.

http://www.oaklandpontiacworldwide.com/documents/opwoaklandpontiachistory.htm

In late August of 1907 a small group of businessmen lead by Edward Murphy, founder of the Pontiac Buggy Company, met to formulate an agreement to form a new motor car company carrying the Oakland marque. Murphy would serve as president/general manager, with Alanson Brush as vice president/chief engineer and Martin Pulcher, secretary/treasurer. The plant would be a substantial complex located on Oakland Avenue in Pontiac Michigan. The Oakland Motor Car Company officially began production in 1908 with the first car, a Model A, rolling off the assembly line in April of that year. Five models were offered the first year with prices ranging from $1,300 for the Model A runabout to $2,150 for the Model E four passenger landaulet. First year production was approximately 278 cars.

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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Big changes for the Oakland Motor Car Company came in 1909. Not least of which involved the newly formed General Motors Company, headed by William C. Durant. Oakland’s success and rapid growth brought to bare financial pressures for the company. Durant saw this as an opportunity to bring Oakland into the General Motors family of companies. By January 1909 General Motors had acquired about 50% of the Pontiac based company’s shares and a merger with G.M.C. was imminent. In April 1909, just short of the one year anniversary, The Oakland Motor Car Company officially became a holding of General Motors. Sales dramatically increased to 1,035 cars. This success established Oakland as a viable competitor in the rapidly growing automobile market. Unfortunately, Edward Murphy, whose marketing and managerial skills made the company a reality, died suddenly. The company’s stability and growth would continue for twenty three years with a peak production of 60,121 cars in 1928.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In the mid twenty’s many manufacture’s expanded their marketing appeal by introducing new car lines. These companion cars, as they became known, met with mixed emotions from the buying public. Buick had the Marquette, Oldsmobile the Viking, while Cadillac offered the LaSalle. Oakland was not to be left out of the competitive melee and in 1926 introduced its own companion car called the Pontiac. Introduction of Pontiac was enthusiastically accepted with 49,875 cars being registered in the first year of production. While the car was smaller in size its price was too. With a price range beginning at $825, two hundred less than a comparable Oakland, the marketing strategy was a complete success. In fact Pontiac sales exceeded those of its parent company marque. Thus the first step in Oakland’s demise had been taken.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sales of Pontiacs continued to climb as the durability of its engine proved to be what the public wanted at an affordable price. The more expensive Oakland fell into a market niche that was only compounded by the early on set of the depression. Even the marketing slogans, “Sturdy as an Oak” or “The All American Oakland” could not revive plummeting sales. As the Depression deepened in 1931 General Motors was forced to make some tough decisions in order for the company to survive. With Pontiac sales continuing to be stronger than that of its parent, Oakland, the decision was clear. Oakland would cease production at the end of 1931. The company maintained the Marque's name until April 1,1932 when the division was officially renamed Pontiac Motor Car Company. Thus Pontiac became the only G.M.C. companion car to not only survive but flourish and become a leader in modern automobile manufacturing.
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Early 1932, Pontiacs V8's were Oakland engines. But Pontiac maintained its strong customer loyalty by producing its own strong six and powerful straight eight engines through 1954. Introduction of the Hydra-Matic transmission, power steering, air conditioning and other refinements secured the publics confidence in Pontiacs role as a automotive sales leader. With the 1955 model year came the re-introduction of V8 power. Success of the new engine was in part due to Pontiac engineer, Clayton Leach, who in his spare time, developed the ball and stud rocker arm assembly in his basement. This valve train design was soon adapted for the new pontiac V8. The reliable engine linked to a four-barrel carburetor and Hydra-Matic proved to be a desirerable combination that was appealing to the public.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Pontiacs Golden Anniversary year saw a newly designed car representative of the "chrome era". With its wide body, powerful engine, multiple paint combinations and luxury options, the 50th anniversary car would win the hearts of drivers for years to come. The Golden Years of Pontiac would come to a close in 1958 with trade mark chrome and glitz and Pontiac sales would maintain its position as one of the top ten automotive manufactures.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Creative Oakland and Pontiac engineers gave the automobile industry many innovative ideas. Unfortunately, Oakland will be remembered as the only marque not to survive the companion era. After more than 80 years, Pontiacs loyalty can be seen daily around the corner and down the road. The success of Pontiac leaves us with a unique footnote in automotive history. Of the several marques' produced, Oakland is the only company to introduce a companion car so popular it lead to its own demise. [/FONT]​

 

thanks sunroof...i'd read some of that before and have seen some oaklands,but just never another tudor exactly like this one...even though i'm sure they are out there.....interesting read,thanks.

 

Do you have a picture of your car that you could post???? Here's a picture of a '27 Oakland 2 Door Sedan

 

well thats pretty darn close...were's that one?

 

Friend of mine has a '28 like this, only 4D & dark
green. What amazed me about it is the gague of
the steel they were still using then! Solid as a rock!

Funny that not only Oakland but its ostensible
REPLACEMENT, Pontiac, are now BOTH history!!!

 

QUOTE: "Unfortunately, Oakland will be remembered as the only marque not to survive the companion era."

Hmmm. If we're talking same era & GM "companion" cars, I think Oldsmobile's companion VIKING, Buick's companion MARQUETTE have been overlooked. Cadillac's LASALLE wasn't axed until the '40s dawned, but that went too, nonetheless.

 

I found that picture here.

http://www.ohtm.org/Auction/06_aucPostSale.html

It was part of the post sale of the New England Auto Auction in 2006 so no idea where it is now. Sold for $7000

 

i dont know how rare but my great grandpa had a 1909 case truck it looked like a c cab and had sliding doors. when i was in basic training they had his estate auction and never got a chance to bid on it probably went to a scraper

 

here's the 28 oakland

 

1965 snyder 3 were built only one known to exist on craigs list for $800

 

56Butler, that's a damn shame! We just this week discussed CASE cars & trucks. C-cab, sliding doors, probably chain drive in 1909. Holy. That must have chaffed ya to have to miss out on getting and holidng onto the CASE. I'll bet there's a HAMB thread, if you search, on the early heavy chain-drives. I used to work with a guy who restored a 1918 White.

 

8thgradegenius, thanks for bringing this HAMB-friendly car to the table! Only 3 made? Only one known? THREAD-friendly, too!!!

LOL. I'll bet Swi, NedLudd, HJ or SunRoof will jump right ON this one!!!

 

Fox Air-cooled Car - Five-Passenger Touring Model. From a set of 5 instructional books I have from the American Technical Society, Chicago, Automobile Engineering, copyright 1925. It's the only picture of the car in the book.
I've done some searching on the web and can't find any info on this car or the company.

 

Great info on the Fox Air-cooled Car and A.H. Fox Co.

http://books.google.com/books?id=cb...resnum=1&ved=0CAkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false

A. H. Fox: The Finest Gun in the World - Google Books Result
by Michael McIntosh - 1999 - Biography & Autobiography - 408 pages
For at least a year, perhaps longer, the company sent out packets comprising a photo of the Fox air-cooled car, a printed post card for requesting further ...
<CITE>books.google.com/books?isbn=092435724X...</CITE>

 

no problem, I know its nowhere as cool as your or as Hamb friendly as the cars in your profile ('55 DeSoto Fireflite 38 plymouth 69 chrysler newyorker 84 fiero)
cars but truly an extinct make.

 

Thanks! I brushed right by that book in my search thinking it was about guns.

 

To me it hints of some corvair peices, cowl and exhauste exits. Perhaps this is the Snyder it is named after.

There used to be a Corvair shop in Ft. Wayne IN in the '60s and '70s. They guy's name was Snyder and he bought a lot of parts from us in the Chevy dealer where I worked in parts. He built that hot Corvair engine used in that dune buggy in the Steve Mc Queen movie. Back then he was building and shipping hot Corvair engines all over the country. It seems like he used to claim arond 300 horse carbed and 400 turboed. Sadly he passed away some time ago.

 

8thGradeGenius wrote: "no problem, I know its nowhere as cool as your or as Hamb friendly as the cars in your profile ('55 DeSoto Fireflite 38 plymouth 69 chrysler Newyorker 84 fiero) cars but truly an extinct make."

THANKS for the kind words, man! The Fiero was the least HAMB-friendly and had to GO this last spring. The New Yorker is about a 95-point car, but I WISH I could say the same for the DeSoto & the '38 Plymouth! I could use more MONEY, for sure. But a ton of HAMBers would live in their garages, too, if they just had more dough for PARTS!!! -- Jimi

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Thanks HJManiac! Sounds as if you not only NAILED the Snyder, but you even had PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE of its inception!

On the face of it, sure SOUNDS like a near-EXTINCT make right off (3 made, one known). Pedigree? I guess this falls somewhere between a pure ground-up custom and an "assembled" car? (About like an Edwards America.) How would YOU class it?

 

Damn, these V-8 Coles must surely have been THE "factory hotrods"
of their day! I can't imagine a Stutz, Stanley or Mercer having any better
a power/weight ratio. Wonder what the HANDLING was like. And, HOW
would the Cole V-8 performance compare with Charles B. King's V-8 (also
"forgotten" in modern times, while Caddy gets all the credit).




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Wikipedia says, "The Cole was an "assembled car"; that means that all important components like engine, clutch, transmission, axles etc. were bought from outside sources. Manufacturers of such cars had a slightly lesser reputation as those who built all parts by themselves." Wiki goes on to say that Cole's V-8 of 1915 was built by Northway, the then-GM-division that had built the first Caddy V-8.

Wiki's piece doesn't mention King's V-8 that came onto the market weeks after Caddy's. But it does note that the powerful Cunningham V-8 and the Stearns-Knight sleeve-valve V-8 both debuted in 1916.

Interesting! All this V-8 action DURING WWI.