The Alter Motor Car Company, of
Plymouth, Michigan
Plymouth is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, United States. The population was 9,370 at the 2020 census. The city of Plymouth is surrounded by Plymouth Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Plymouth is a western suburb of Metro ...
, produced over 1,000
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...
s between 1914 and 1916.
The company was organized on January 26, 1914, by Guy Hamilton, F.M. Woodward, and other local residents. Construction of the factory started in the spring of 1914. Soon after, they started production of the Alter designed by Clarence Alter of
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Manitowoc () is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2020 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,626, with ove ...
. The car was made from component parts shipped to Plymouth by rail and then assembled at the Farmer Street factory.
At its peak, the factory employed 100 people, and produced 25 vehicles a day. January 1917, the company went into receivership, and closed. The factory building still stands on Farmer Street near downtown Plymouth, across from the Cultural Center. In 2000 it was restored and, as of October 2007, is home to the C.D. Sparling Co., a small manufacturing company.
The 1914 model was a five-passenger
touring car
Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof).
"Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s.
Th ...
. A
roadster was later introduced. The 1916 Alter model was described as "the classy look and finish of the higher priced cars", by the Plymouth Mail (local newspaper) on March 3, 1916. The 1916 model had a 27
horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...
4-cylinder
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...
, fuel tank under the cowl, with a wheelbase of . The 1916 Alter sold for $685.
Rarity
Only one Alter model is still known to exist, car No. 75, a 1915 model Alter. In 1959, Mr. & Mrs Dale Blair from
Upper Sandusky, Ohio
Upper Sandusky is a city and the county seat of Wyandot County, Ohio, Wyandot County, Ohio, United States, along the upper Sandusky River, which flows north to Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie. The city is approximately 59 mi (96 km) south of ...
, drove to Plymouth to see the factory where the vehicle was built. He later displayed the vehicle in the Old Car Festival at
Greenfield Village
The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, and as the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, United States. The museum collection conta ...
in
Dearborn, Michigan
Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States pe ...
. Clarence Moore, a charter member of the Plymouth Historical Society eventually bought the car. It is now on display at the Plymouth Historical Museum.
See also
*
Brass Era car
External information & Pictures
AlterMotorCar.com
Books
* Hudson, Sam (1975) "The story of Plymouth Michigan - A Midwest Microcosm"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alter (Automobile)
Brass Era vehicles
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Michigan
Companies based in Wayne County, Michigan
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1914
Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1917
1914 establishments in Michigan
1917 disestablishments in Michigan
Defunct manufacturing companies based in Michigan