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The Lozier Motor Company was a brass era producer of luxury automobiles in the
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. The company produced automobiles from 1900 to 1918, in
Plattsburgh, New York Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surroundin ...
and from 1910, at
Detroit, Michigan 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 ...
.


History

Lozier Motor Company was founded by Henry Abram Lozier, an
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
-born sewing machine and bicycle manufacturer. After selling his bicycle business, Lozier moved to Plattsburgh to manufacture boat engines. In 1900, he entered the automobile business. At his death in 1903, his son Harry took over the company. Loziers were luxury cars and for a time were the most expensive cars produced in the United States. The 1910 model line featured cars priced between $4,600 and $7,750, (). The company was moved to Detroit in 1910. In 1911, a Lozier was entered into the first running of the
Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
. The car, in the hands of
Ralph Mulford Ralph Kirkman Mulford (December 28, 1884 – October 23, 1973) was an American racecar driver who participated in the 1911 Indianapolis 500. In 1911 he won the Vanderbilt Cup in Savannah, Georgia. Biography He was born on December 28, 1884, ...
, finished second in a controversial scoring decision and many observers felt Mulford's Lozier had actually won the race. On March 19 the same year, Lozier ads claimed, a stock 49 hp (37 kW) model piloted by Teddy Tetzlaff set a world record for 100 mi (160 km) at 1:14:29.Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925. New York: Bonanza Books, 1950 The company developed its braking system using pressurized water to cool hollowed brake drums. This led to claims that Lozier's brakes were "impossible to burn out". The company faced new pressures as more manufacturers entered the luxury market. Frederick C. Chandler, Lozier's top designer, left the company in 1913 and formed the Chandler Motor Company which produced cars similar to the Lozier but at a substantially lower sales price. Chandler took several top company executives with him producing a brain drain from which the company never recovered. At the 1913
Los Angeles Motordrome The Los Angeles Motordrome was a circular board track racing, wood board Motorsport, race track. It was located in Playa del Rey, California, and opened in 1910. In addition to automobile racing, it was used for motorcycle competition and av ...
, the company introduced the 88 hp (66 kW) Big Six, with electric headlights, with
tourer 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 ...
s and roadsters at US$5,000,
limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a pr ...
s and
landaulette A landaulet, also known as a landaulette, is a car body style where the rear passengers are covered by a convertible top. Often the driver is separated from the rear passengers by a division, as with a limousine. During the first half of the 2 ...
s at US$6,500. It was joined by the 52 hp (40 kW) Light Six Metropolitan, with electric starter and lights; the tourer and runabout were US$3,250,
coupe A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...
US$3,850, and limousine US$4,450. Because of Lozier's limited
market niche A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focused. The market niche defines the product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that it ...
, the company only produced a few thousand cars during its lifespan. Production peaked in the 1912 model year at 600 cars. Lozier tried to expand into the mid-priced car market and in 1914 offered a four-cylinder car priced at US$2,000. The new four was not a sales success and company finances continued to falter. After a failed attempt to merge with
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
, the company declared
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...
in 1915. Attempted re-organizations and production continued sporadically up to 1918.


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See also

*
List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers This is a list of defunct automobile manufacturers of the United States. They were discontinued for various reasons, such as bankruptcy of the parent company, mergers, or being phased out. A * A Automobile Company (1910–1913) 'Blue & Gold' ...
*
List of automobile manufacturers This is a list of notable automobile manufacturers with articles on Wikipedia by country. It includes companies that are in business as well as defunct manufacturers. Only companies that have articles here are included. A Algeria * SNVI ...


References


External links

{{commons category, Lozier vehicles
The Lozier at conceptcarz
3.,4., 9. picture: Teddy Tetzlaff in a Lozier. Brass Era vehicles 1900s cars 1910s cars Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Michigan Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1915 History of Michigan Companies based in Detroit Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1900 Defunct companies based in Michigan 1900 establishments in New York (state) 1915 disestablishments in Michigan Luxury vehicles Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers Motor vehicle manufacturers based in New York (state) Cars introduced in 1900