The Matheson was a luxury American

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 ...

manufactured from 1903 to 1912, first in

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, then

Holyoke, Massachusetts Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfield ...

and from 1906 in a purpose-built factory in

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Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in th ...

. Matheson Motor Car Company president was Charles W. Matheson with Frank F. Matheson serving as Secretary.

History

Charles W. Matheson and Frank W. Matheson of Grand Rapids, Michigan were mechanically interested in building engines and transmissions. They formed Matheson Motor Car Company in 1903. Matheson purchased the Holyoke Motor Works, and secured the services of the engineer and designer Charles G. Greuter. The brothers interests were in the overhead valve engine Greuter had designed, and Greuter became chief engineer of Matheson until 1908.

Grand Rapids and Holyoke

The first production of the Matheson Motor Car Company was shipped from Grand Rapids in July, 1903. Matheson built sixty automobiles in the first year, assembled in Grand Rapids from parts supplied from the Holyoke factory. In early 1904, Matheson moved the entire operation to Holyoke, Massachusetts. The 1903-1904 Matheson's were seven-passenger

touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not mo ...

which had a 96-inch

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

and were powered by a

four-cylinder engine The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized. Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categorize ...

offering 24

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 the ...

. At $5,000, (), the Matheson was a high-grade, well built car, selling at the top of the American

luxury car A luxury car is a car that provides increased levels of comfort, equipment, amenities, quality, performance, and associated status compared to moderately priced cars. The term is subjective and reflects both the qualities of the car and the ...

market. Charles Grueter's, technically advanced engine was designed with the

overhead valves An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located bel ...

exposed under the hood. In 1904 Matheson added a Big Four model of 48-hp, and the touring car was joined by a

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 prof ...

body on a 106-inch wheelbase. The Limousine was priced at $6,000.

Wilkes-Barre and Forty Fort

The Board of Trade invited Matheson Motor Company to

. In March,1906 a new Matheson factory was opened in

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, and the company's offices were moved to the top floor of the new Second National Bank building in downtown Wilkes-Barre. Some 35 skilled employees transferred from the old works in Holyoke, Massachusetts. In September 1906, a Matheson touring car set a world record for the mile in 50 seconds at

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. Matheson conducted an active racing program which included drivers such as

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Ralph DePalma Raffaele "Ralph" De Palma (December 19, 1882 – March 31, 1956) was an Italian-American racecar driving champion who won the 1915 Indianapolis 500. His entry at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame estimates that he won about 2,0 ...

, Frank Lescault and Ralph Mongini. In 1908, Mr. Greuter left the company and French engineer L.D. Kenan was hired as his replacement. Kenan designed a new 50-hp

six-cylinder The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balan ...

engine for Matheson. In 1908 the Matheson had a 128-inch wheelbase and was powered by a 50 horsepower four-cylinder engine. Body styles included a 7-passenger tourer, a runabout,

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and limousine. Prices ranged from a low of $5,500 to $6,500. In 1909, a six-cylinder engine was offered on a shorter 125.5-inch wheelbase, and produced 50 horsepower, the same as the four-cylinder engine. It was the lowest priced car in the lineup, selling for $3,000, . A.M. Dean became chief engineer and improved the six-cylinder design now called the Silent Six engine. The 1911 Silent Six of 50-hp became the only car offered for 1912. By 1909, nearly 400 workers were employed by the Matheson Company. Financial trouble caused Matheson to enter their first receivership in July 1910. They were rescued in November with a reorganization as the Matheson Automobile Company.

Legacy and Fate

A second receivership occurred in December 1912. The sale of the bankrupt company assets occurred on April 21, 1913. It was reported that 100 Sixes and 800 Fours had been produced all-together. Heavily discounted cars were being sold off by the receiver. A

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

concern purchased the factory and tooling to handle production of munitions in support of the war effort. Frank Matheson remained with the company until 1914. In 1919, Frank Matheson and the munitions company joined Owen Magnetic Motor Car Company who would occupy the former Matheson works. In 1920 they resumed production of the ''Owen Magnetic'' car.''Wilkes-Barre Times'', August 16, 1919, Page 1. The brothers would continue to be influential members of the automotive community. In the early 1920s, Frank purchased his old plant back and used it for distribution of Oakland, Dodge and GMC trucks. Charles had become vice-president of sales for

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and worked for

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when the

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was introduced. He later worked in sales for DeSoto, and then general sales manager for

Graham-Paige Graham-Paige was an American automobile manufacturer founded by brothers Joseph B. Graham (1882-1970), Robert C. Graham (1885-1967), and Ray A. Graham (1887-1932) in 1927. Automobile production ceased in 1940, and its automotive assets were acq ...

Gallery

File:Matheson Cycle & Automobile Trade Journal 1905.jpg, alt=, 1905 Matheson Automobile Advertisement File:Matheson Cycle & Automobile Trade Journal 1909.jpg, alt=, 1909 Matheson 50 hp ''Six'' and ''Big Four'' Advertisement File:Matheson Cycle & Automobile Trade Journal 1910.jpg, alt=, 1910 Matheson 50-hp Six-Cylinder Advertisement File:1912 Matheson Automobile ad.jpg, alt=, 1912 Matheson ''Silent Six'' Advertisement

References