The Harvard was a

Brass Era car The Brass Era is an American term for the early period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such things as lights and radiators. It is generally considered to encompass 1896 through 1915 ...

built in

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

and Hudson Falls, New York and later in Hyattsville, Maryland over the course of the period 1915 to 1921. After selling his Herreshoff Motor Company in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, Charles Herreshoff teamed up with Northrup R. Holmes, who had already founded the Herreshoff Light Car Company as a Troy dealership for the previous Herreshoff car. Herreshoff brought with him the

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

for his new light car that he had been working on while still in Detroit. Plans were laid for production in Troy, with an eye on the export market (especially

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

). Herreshoff abruptly departed town for

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, taking his prototype with him. Holmes then approached Theodore Litchfield to be business partners, as Holmes still had the plans for the car in his office safe. Litchfield was a Troy mechanic and the dealer for the Herff-Brooks automobile. Holmes and Litchfield formed a new company, the Pioneer Motor Car Company to manufacture the newly christened Harvard auto. The company name was quickly changed to the Harvard-Pioneer Motor Car Company. The cars featured a small four-

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...

Model engine, and was one of the first and maybe ''the'' first in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

with a covered compartment for concealing the spare tire. Another distinguishing feature of the Harvard was that the headlights were attached to mounts directly bolted to the

radiator Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

shell. In early 1916, Holmes partnered with local auto dealer George N. Nay to use the latter's facilities in neighboring Hudson Falls. Assembly of the Harvard now took place on the top floor of the Adirondack Motor Car Company, of which Nay was the owner. The plant supervisor was one Walter Bulow, previously of Lozier and American Fiat. Walter redesigned the Harvard in 1919, giving it a more rounded radiator shell. In October 1919, the company name was once again changed, this time to the Harvard Motor Car Company. Not long after the name change, a group of businessmen bought the entire operation and transferred it to Hyattsville, Maryland. Several of the Bulow-designed automobiles were built in Maryland, before the company finally succumbed to the depression of the early 1920s.Kimes, p.681.

Notes

References

Kimes, Beverly Rae and Clark Jr, Henry Austin. "Standard Catalog of American Cars: 1805-1942." (Third Edition). Iola, WI: Krause Publications. 1996. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harvard (Automobile) Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Brass Era vehicles Motor vehicle manufacturers based in New York (state) Hyattsville, Maryland American companies established in 1915 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1915 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1921 1915 establishments in New York (state) 1920s disestablishments in Maryland Defunct manufacturing companies based in Maryland Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York (state)