Promises, Promises
As I discuss in my book, Classic Speedsters, the early 20th century economy was full of promise but also, was anything but smooth. Between 1900 and 1920, there were scares, slowdowns, boomtimes, and busts. Despite this, car companies all over the United States kept sprouting up like weeds on a springtime lawn. Indiana looked to become a leader in the growing American automotive industry, with over 61 auto firms operating there in 1911, and the American Motor Car Company of Indianapolis was part of that phenomenon.
Despite its initial blush of promise, American Motor Car existed for only a short time—from 1906 to 1914. However, during its tenure, American created some truly innovative automobiles with unique technological solutions and distinctly iconic design. To this day these cars fetch astronomic prices when owners decide to sell; simply put, they are worth it.
American’s story can be told in three phases corresponding with the chief engineers who headed the design and development of American Motor Car models.
Harry C. Stutz: 1905-1906
Harry C. Stutz as a young man in 1897. image courtesy Stutz Club
We’ve already encountered Harry C. Stutz in a series of posts written about his brainchild, the Stutz (posts 70-72). Between his birth in 1876 in Ansonia, Ohio and 1905, Stutz—an engineering prodigy—had worked for seven companies and built two complete cars of his own manufacture.
Harry C. Stutz on “Old Hickory” in 1898. image courtesy Stutz Club
Restless and ambitious, Stutz moved to Indiana in 1903. In 1905 he found employment at the American Motor Car Company, which had been funded by two enterprising lumber barons, V.A. Longaker and D. S. Menasco, who had decided to branch out into the emerging world of automobiles.
American Motor Car in 1910. American Motor Car sales brochure courtesy HCFI. org
Stutz served as chief engineer of their initial design, a body-over-frame Tourer in the King of Belgium style. Its 111-inch wheelbase featured luxurious stadium seating for four and was powered by a four-cylinder, 327 cubic inch Continental-style engine rated at 35-40 A.L.A.M. horsepower. This tall and lumbering design, which used half elliptic springing for its suspension (no shocks), was an assembled car using outsourced components that became the inspiration for future American Motor Car touring styles.
1906 American Tourer. brochure image courtesy StanleyRegister.net
1906 American Motor Car ad. image courtesy StanleyRegister.net
Americans were made for rich and discriminating clientele, folks whose tastes often demanded conservative styling. The American tourer embodied this—very conventional.
Stutz, ever the restless soul, moved on in 1906 to work as chief engineer for Marion. Coincidentally, Marion’s chief engineer, Fred I. Tone, left to work at American.
Fred I. Tone: 1906-1911
Fred Tone took over from Stutz and continued the American Tourer model line. However, Tone was no slouch when it came to ideas. American chassis had been manufactured by A.O. Smith, and watching inverted stacks being offloaded from their railcar gave Tone the idea of inverting the frame and suspension in order to lower the vehicle’s center of mass/gravity. Thus came about the birth of the underslung suspension system and the American Motor Car sport models.
Underslung Frame from overhead. image courtesy StanleyRegister.net
The Roadster
Tone continued to produce the conventionally sprung Tourer for 1907 while also introducing the American Roadster in late 1906 employing a revolutionary underslung chassis. The Roadster chassis soon caused an uproar in car engineering circles.
1907 American Roadster ad. image courtesy StanleyRegister.net
American would no doubt spend some time explaining its chassis, which resulted from sound engineering principles, as seen in a diagram that follows shortly. In their words:
In traveling around a corner at a high rate of speed in the ordinary car, the driver’s sensation is as though the car is about to turn over. This is true because the center of gravity is so high in relation to the point of support….
American went on to state:
We have overcome the causes as outlined above. The springs are so nearly in line with the center of mass… that, instead of being deflected vertically, the load is applied to the side of the springs. It is impossible to bend a spring sideways….
More on this in a moment. Suffice it to say that the engineering world was caught by surprise on this one. And just to hedge their bet, Tone kept the traditionally sprung body-on-frame Tourist model for 1907 as is.
The Horseless Age, which had covered the Automobile Club of America’s show in New York on December 1, 1906, wrote:
… the American Roadster… (is) a runabout possessing probably more radical novelties in general arrangement and design than any of the (other) cars in the Show…. This car is really a semi-racing model with very low seats and a long, low body with rakishly curved mudguards.
The term “semi-racer” is synonymous with “street speedster” as opposed to a purpose-built “track speedster.” One could strip off the fenders and whatnot from a semi-racer and go racing, which is what Fred Tone intended. More on that later….
Appearance-wise, with its lowered chassis and oversized 36-inch wheels, The American Roadster predated by at least 115 years the current practice employed by modern hotrod designers who use oversized wheels for “bling” effect and “slam” their chassis (lower them) so that they ride mere inches off the ground. The American Roadster? Been there; done that!
As aforementioned, the underslung chassis possessed a much lower center of gravity by placing the engine and passengers within the car frame rather than on top of it. To justify this design, American Motor Car released their “Advantages” brochure that illustrated the math behind the chassis.
American touted their lower center of gravity (c.g.) as a safety feature, a concern not lost on those who had ridden in large, lumbering, and top-heavy limousines and touring cars that were typical fare for this era. As roads got better, average speeds would climb, and a lower c.g. would become an important concern.
American Roadster tilt angle. brochure image courtesy HCFI.org library
Competitor cars max tilt with a higher c.g. brochure image courtesy HCFI.org library
Probably to compensate for the lowered chassis, American Roadsters maintained a safe ground clearance by featuring 36-inch wheels, later upping them to 40’s. They also maintained that a larger-diameter tire produced a larger footprint (for traction) and lasted longer (less tread wear). Roadsters had between 10 and 12 inches of ground clearance, depending on the wheels used.
The 393 cubic inch engine (rated at 50 horsepower) and powertrain were housed in a subframe that allowed a horizontal driveshaft to connect to the patented full-floating differential, a subtle but important solution that made power delivery more direct and efficient (fewer couplings). This, of course, would eventually evolve into the transmission hump in the firewall and passenger compartment, but it was a small price to pay for a lower and safer-handling vehicle. For this car, not a problem.
Stylistically speaking, American Underslungs, as they came to be known, looked all the money no matter what sport model they were; in the next episode, we will introduce three more!
1910 American Roadster. brochure image courtesy HCFI.org library
As a further development, the Roadster Special was offered as a lightened version of the Roadster for those who wanted to go racing. As the catalog stated,
We leave it optional whether (to keep it in stock form) … or prepare the car with extra pumps, engine exhaust through the hood, etc. for racing purposes.
With the road accessories stripped off his semi-racer, Tone would compete as a privateer in several road race events to bring attention to the American as a contender.
Fred Tone preparing to go racing. image courtesy StanleyRegistry.net
American sport models were racy, and some did quite well in competition events, but at the same time, they were relatively underpowered, especially when compared to their European counterparts.
What American Motor Car needed was a speedster in its lineup.
In part 2 of this series, we’ll look at three new sport models that came from the factories at American Motor Car. And one of them was a speedster.
Stay tuned!
*************************************Classic Speedsters book news**************************
My book, Classic Speedsters, will soon be sold at Autobooks-Aerobooks , a famous bookstore for auto and aero enthusiasts in Burbank, California. If you happen to de-plane from Los Angeles Airport, why—you are only 20 minutes away from a really cool bookstore! Go check the place out, and if you haven’t yet purchased my book, there’s a copy of it on the shelves waiting for you!