We are the Champions
Champion Racing Body Company of Chicago, Illinois, was another Midwestern speedster body manufacturer that offered bodies for the Model T. Popping out of the page in the April 1st edition of The Horseless Age, Champion’s 1916 speedster body looked every bit of a track racer in its pictured livery.
1916 Champion track racer ad
A little more detail and discussion followed in a pen-and-ink illustration that appeared in the Ford Supplement section of the 1916 Auto Trade Directory.
1916 Champion illustration from Ford Supplement of the Auto Trade Directory. Note the parts manufacturers mentioned at the bottom of the page.
Ad and promotional material date Champion’s tenure being from approximately 1916-1922, but they may have started earlier and lasted later. For many such speedster companies, this period comprised the golden years.
Champion advertised itself as “… pioneers in the building of racing bodies.”
They go on to state “ The Champion was the first Racing Body (sic) ever built for Ford Cars. We have therefore the benefit of first hand experience…”
In addition to making metal bodies, Champion also manufactured chassis lowering parts and offered attractive choices in radiators, as seen below.
Champion Radiators
The 1920 brochure listed seven bodies (A, B, C, D, E, F, and G) that were derived from Champion’s breakthrough body of 1916, or created from sales experience, or ascertained from observing what others were building and successfully selling. After all, several of the Champion bodies WERE conventional and MAY have copied what other manufacturers were making. What Champion DID do to in order to stand out was to pair up bodies and offer switched-out components – hoods and radiators – to achieve different looks for their car bodies.
Thus, Models A and C looked similar in the passenger cowl and rear third sections, but each model had different front end treatments to accommodate different radiator options. The same choices were available with Models B and D.
1920 Champion Models A & C. Note the differences in the front third.
1920 Champion Models B & D. Different radiators made for different front-end looks.
By far the most distinctive Champion bodies were used on the Models E for 1919 and Model F for 1920.
1919 Champion Model E. The tall front cowl was a style features of late-teens to mid-twenties cars, especially speedsters, hinting at big power underneath.
Presenting a tall engine cowl with a body that dropped off behind it, the Models E and F were sibings whose bodies distantly resembled the 1911 Fiat S76 “Beast of Turin” and implied that a big engine lurked under that hood. One could choose between the two models by what radiator was desired, the rounded-top Fiat-style, or the chine-edged Roamer style. Either one was sharp-looking!
1910 Fiat Tipo S 76 set the bar for outsized engines. As formidable as it appeared, its handling was ungainly on a very good day… but it looked awesome!
1921 Champion Model E
1920 Champion Model F
The early 1920s were recessionary times, and Champion slashed 1920 prices to drum up business for their existing models.
1921 Champion Bodies sale ad; trying to drum up business during a depression!
1921 Champion Torpedo. Distinctive!
In 1921 two new models were introduced, one being a sleek torpedo body that also appeared in the Empire Motor Supply catalog as the “Partridge.” The other was a more conventional sport body introduced in 1922 called the “Broadway.”
1922 Champion Model K-37 Broadway body
After that, no more ads appearing in magazines implied that Champion may have hung up its laurels…
The Central Issue
Central Auto Supply Company of Louisville, Kentucky operated in the nineteen-teens and twenties, offering fabric-based parts such as cushions, tire covers, auto tops and side curtains. They also supplied metal parts for aftermarket bodies as well as the bodies themselves. Although the 1922 ad implies that a third party bought the stock of bodies and is reselling them, this was the same address as the company sales office at 629 East Main Street. Perhaps a marketing ploy? This ad ran, after all, during the postwar depression!
1922 ad for Central Auto/Roose Speedster bodies
Like many of the producers of this era, one could purchase the body from more than one source. Thus, a customer could buy it from an agency or from the factory itself, which in this case would be Roose Manufacturing on 827-833 West Main.
1920 Roose Mfg. Co.
And, of course, one could also order from a supply house in Chicago. But we’ll get to that later.
1916 Central Auto Supply catalog
The Central Auto Supply models differed from each other in what looks to be an attempt to cover all of the styling bases:
1. the Daytona, a track-looking speedster
2. the Torpedo, a street-looking speedster
3. the Sport Roadster, a sport-bodied speedster
4. the Excelo, a convertible coupe.
All would bolt onto the Ford Model T or Chevrolet 490 chassis.
The catalog contained archaic spelling and interesting copy in their circulars, as witnessed below.
1916 Daytona and Torpedo Speedster Models, a card insert in the catalog.
Another pull-out card, possibly from a later catalog. The Excello convertible coupe appealed to an audience looking for a more conventional sportiness.
One undated promotional sales letter to potential suppliers written by W. R. Roose points to veteran-like experience in salesmanship and negotiating the deal: “We have … designed a satisfactory body that we can furnish to our customers at a very interesting price.
“Immediately after the war we found… exceptionally high freight rates prevailing… This we have eliminated by furnishing our bodies in … knocked-down form…purchasers are enabled to save from 50% to 75% in freight charges…”
Roose points out how they have saved their customers money: “You will note that considering … the saving in freight charges, you can obtain one of our Classy Speedster Bodies at a saving of around $75, than by purchasing it elsewhere.”
To close the offer, W.R. Roose emphasizes that “Central Knocked-Down Bodies are furnished absolutely complete with a set of simple blueprints and working instructions so that the novice can easily assemble one in several hours time – in fact, the work is pleasant.” Most any speedster hobbyist would agree with that latter statement!
Another sales letter by Roose targeting aftermarket dealers pointed out that “Speed-King Speedster Bodies for Fords are conceded to be the best, most substantial and classiest in the world for the money.
“We have one dealer who sold sixteen bodies within ten days after the first one appeared on the street and this was in a town with a population of but 3,000.
“You don’t have to sell but one of these bodies in your town. It will sell the rest.” And: “Every young fellow and many older men want these bodies!”
Central Auto Supply/Roose also sold parts and accessories through its catalogs to auto supply houses. As W.R. Roose wrote: “R-E Linoleum running boards for Fords are the biggest selling Ford accessory ever placed on the market.
“All R-E Products can be procured through most of the larger jobbers. However, if your jobber cannot supply you with genuine R-E goods, we shall be glad to fill your order directly.”
Ordering from Kentucky was not the only source for these speedster bodies, and it was wise to offer it through as many outlets as possible. One example of this can be seen in the “Meteor” body offered by Central States Supply in Chicago. The Meteor is either a rebranded Central Auto product, or a blatant copy, as it’s almost a dead-ringer for Central Auto’s Speed-King Sport Roadster.
1922 Central States Supply catalog. Note the resemblance to the Roose-made Speed-King!
Ah, such is the way of free enterprise!
The next set of posts will consider another batch of reader-suggested designs for speedsters from 1915-19 as seen in one automotive journal.
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