History Ever heard of Anderson Motor Company?

The highway of American automotive progress is littered with the carcasses of failed brands. But it’s difficult to name notable ones that weren’t headquartered in or around the Midwest. There, a history of ship and carriage manufacturing, a bounty of natural resources (water, iron ore, timber, coal), and a propensity for industrial solutions allowed now-defunct brands as diverse as Checker, Kaiser, Nash, Studebaker, and Tucker to thrive, if only briefly.

This didn’t happen much in the agrarian South. There was the Hanson Motor Company from Georgia that operated in the 1910s and ’20s, but it built fewer than 2000 cars over eight years, and despite being headquartered in Atlanta, its cars actually were assembled in Detroit. There was also the Piedmont Motor Car Company of Lynchburg, Virginia, during the same era, but it expended so much of its production capacity building badge-engineered vehicles for (mostly Northern) car companies that it could barely supply its own dealers.



HISTORIC VEHICLE ASSOCIATION
Which leaves one (sort of) shining star that built cars beneath the Mason-Dixon line in the years between the World Wars: the Anderson Motor Company of Rock Hill, South Carolina.

John Gary Anderson, like many early automakers, got his start building horse-drawn buggies, viewing cars as a nefarious and fleeting fad. He eventually saw the writing on the wall for animal-powered transport and decided to make the leap forward. In the mid-1910s, he reorganized his Rock Hill Buggy Company into the Anderson Motor Company and began selling an upscale, six-cylinder touring car. Starting locally, he eventually set up dealerships in the northern U.S. as well as in Central America and the Caribbean. “A little higher in price, but made in Dixie” was the brand’s slogan. We’ve got to wonder how well that played in Cuba.

Anderson the man is credited with a number of automotive innovations. His company was an early adopter of electric windshield wipers, he equipped his cars with a transmission-mounted air compressor for filling flat tires, and he patented the foot-operated headlight-dimmer switch, now a relic that disappeared with the Malaise Era. John Gary Anderson is additionally credited with helping to bring a sense of style to the vehicular realm.



HISTORIC VEHICLE ASSOCIATION
“He was a poet and a sculptor and did many other things,” says Paul Ianuario, a 71-year-old retired automotive engineer and owner of a pristine 1920 Anderson Six convertible. “And he thought cars should be fun. So while cars of that era were black and dark brown and dark gray—very conservative—he made cars that were yellow with a red undercarriage like mine, or cars that were green with yellow undercarriages, or blue cars.”

Following a nearly 25-year search, Ianuario found his car in 1989 as it was being deaccessioned from the collection of a nonagenarian. He’s since gone on to add several dozen other vehicles to his horde, including representatives from more widely known orphan brands such as Packard, Hudson, Chalmers, and Plymouth.

Anderson the company suffered a downturn in the early ’20s, falling victim to the post-WWI recession, industry consolidation, and engine-warping issues with a design contracted from Continental in Chicago. Add some filial mismanagement of the business by Anderson’s sons, and the factory closed in 1926 after winding down for two years. Car manufacturing wouldn’t really return to South Carolina until BMW built its Spartanburg plant in 1994, taking advantage of relaxed local regulations and a non-unionized labor pool. Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and myriad suppliers have since followed suit and set up shop in the state.



HISTORIC VEHICLE ASSOCIATION
Roughly 6300 Anderson cars were made during the company’s run, but because of the lack of service support, cannibalization of parts for other vehicles, and the inhospitality of the South’s damp, warm climate for cars made of wood and aluminum, very few have survived.

“Of the 12 or 13 that are said to exist,” Ianuario says, “one of them was cut off from behind the transmission, one is completely rusted to the point where you can’t salvage anything off of it, one was in World War II and the body has been completely destroyed. If [you’re asking how many are] operational and complete, there are only about seven cars.”

Ianuario’s car joined another Anderson in a display featured at the 2016 Hilton Head Island Concours, a Palmetto State homecoming of sorts for this South Carolina marque. The 1920 Anderson Six then returned to the confines of his garage, a place that sounds like a collector’s dream. “I can best put it this way,” Ianuario says. “My home is 2400 square feet. My garage is 7000 square feet.”

I have met Paul and he was previously employed by BMW and he headed up their museum & tours along with other activity's at the facility. HRP

 

Danny you need one.

 

Ted, I have a good idea of what Paul paid for the one he has, I could by a nice original Deuce 3 window and have some gas money left over. HRP

 

Good read
Really cool it’s local for ya

 

To my knowledge it was the only car manufactured in South Carolina back in the day. HRP

 

You don't mention the Marathon car made in Nashville Tennessee. It was quite a car in its day, they produced up to 10,000 cars a year which was big business in the auto world of 1912.
Connected with the Southern Engine and Boiler Works, they must have had extensive machine shops and foundries as they made almost all their own parts including engines. This was unusual at the time, as most cars were assembled cars, especially the smaller producers.

 

Rusty, if you ever get to Nashville, The American Pickers store is located in a part of one of the old Marathon automobile buildings. That building, if I remember correctly, takes up the whole block along with many others that were part of the Marathon Co. and located in the same general area. It's not hard to believe that they could produce most, if not all of their own parts judging by the size of the facility.

 

Let's cut it up and build a hot rod!!! (Just kidding... I think)

 

It would make a unique hot rod. HRP

 

Here's the Wiki article-might be worth checking out the book cited: J. Edward Lee is the author, note the typo in the Wiki title and it's $13.31 in paperback on Amazon Prime.
Anderson (automobile)
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Anderson Ultra Sport
The Anderson was a United States automobile; considered the most successful automobile ever built in the Southern United States, it was manufactured by a carriage works from 1916 to 1925 in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Started by John Gary Anderson, the company sold cars through a national dealer network. The company used Continental 7R flat sixengines in its vehicles, which were noted for their attractive body styles and color combinations. Andersons were the first cars to be built with headlight foot dimmers and powered convertible tops.[1] Production reached nearly 2,000 units in 1923 and in all 7,000 vehicles were produced during the life of the company.

There are a number of reasons why the Anderson Automobile Co. faltered. According to Edward Lee, who wrote the 2007 book Gary Anderson anJohn d His Maverick Motor Company: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Rock Hill Rival, the vehicle suffered from a defective engine.[2] Anderson bought most of the components from other manufacturers. During the later years of production, Anderson used a Continental engine with an aluminum head and it warped at high temperatures.[3]

Price was also an issue, Lee believes. Model T Fords were selling for as little as $290 in the 1920s, making the cars affordable to the majority of Americans. Andersons cost about $1,650 for a five-passenger touring car and $2,550 for a sedan. Anderson's slogan was a prophetic "A little Higher in Price but made in Dixie."[4]

In addition, by the early 1920s, the economy of South Carolina and other Southern states was already in the tank, well ahead of the Great Depression, because of plummeting cotton prices following World War I.[5]

Today, there are just 13 remaining examples of Anderson vehicles in existence.[6] Of those Anderson cars known to exist, four are owned by the Anderson family, one is at the S.C. State Museum in Columbia and one is in the possession of the Museum of York County, where Rock Hill is located.[7]

 

The Climber automobile was built in Little Rock, Arkansas from 1919-1924. They were big, expensive ($2,500) cars (and trucks) designed to handle Arkansas' unimproved, and mountainous roads. One was started, and kept running for over 20,000 miles around the state before the engine was shut off, to prove its reliablity and ability to handle any kind of terrain. The Climber Motor Company built 200 cars (both fours and sixes) as well as 75-100 trucks. Two Climbers are known to exist, both owned by The Museum of Automobiles on Petit Jean Mountain in Arkansas.

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That's interesting, was Climber that the only car manufacture in Arkansas? HRP

 

kentucky?

 

I bought this one at Iola sometime in the 1980's . Same last name. Gary

 

OOPS, guess I had a senior moment, I had just posted on another thread and the guy was in Kentucky. HRP

 

If you ever decide to let it go I'm interested. HRP

 

Yes, Danny, it was. A friend of mine owned one of them and when he passed away he left his entire automobile collection to the Museum of Automobiles.

 

Just add a '32 Grill Shell.

 

There are something like 2000 makes of automobiles that went bust. I have a poster with the names somewhere.

 

I don't know the numbers but there are a lot of them. HRP

Click link below to see.
List of Automobiles that have gone bust.

 

Climbers are beautiful cars, but man, they are HUGE. I think you could put a Model A in the back seat with room for groceries. LOL
One of the promotional events back when was for the Climber to reportedly drive up the State Capitol steps after driving it all over the state and the governor at the time shut it off. I tried to talk our events coordinator into replicating that with museum staff when I worked there. He heard "car" and "climbing the capitol steps" and went spastic on me. LOL

 

Would make a nice Hi-Boy.

 

Bob, he was probably still thinking about all the damage done to the State Capitol when Stone Cold was filmed there in 1991!

 

and just in case you buy one, here are a couple wiring diagrams.

 

Wow, as obscure as the car was it's amazing you found information on wiring diagrams.HRP

 

OK,I'll play ! My Dad's mother was a Moyer,so our auto love came that way.