McFarlan Automobile
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

McFarlan was a
luxury Luxury may refer to: * Luxury goods, an economic good or service for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises *Luxury tax, tax on products not considered essential, such as expensive cars **Luxury tax (sports), surcharge pu ...
American
automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...
manufactured in
Connersville, Indiana Connersville is a city in Fayette County, east central Indiana, United States, east by southeast of Indianapolis. The population was 13,481 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of and the largest and only incorporated town in F ...
, from 1909 to 1928, by the McFarlan Carriage Company and the McFarlan Motor Car Company.


History

McFarlan Carriage Company was founded in 1856 by English-born John B. McFarlan (1822-1909). J. B. McFarlan's grandson, Alfred Harry McFarlan (1881-1937) conceived the idea for the McFarlan motor car and ran the McFarlan Motor Car Company throughout its nineteen years. John B. McFarlan is credited with creating one of the earliest planned industrial parks in the United States. During 1887 he formed the Connersville Industrial Park.to bring manufacturers together from within the industry to have a purpose-build industrial site. This transformed into an automobile manufacturing center which supported more than seven automobile marques.


Carriages to Motor Cars

Harry McFarlan felt it was important to diversify the McFarlan carriage business. From introduction, the McFarlan motor car was a large, mid-to-high price automobile that was produced in small numbers (about 200 units annually) and always with an engine of six-cylinders. The McFarlan was introduced late in 1909. The first cars were road tested on a track that became the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 1913 the McFarlan Motor Car Company superseded the McFarlan Carriage Company. Carriage production ended soon after. A variety of proprietary engines (
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, Buda, Brownell,
Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' ( ...
) were used in the early McFarlans, with a T eetor-Hartley being settled on in 1916. The models were the Big Six and the Little Six offering two different price points to buyers. In 1917 the McFarlan became more-upscale on a 136-inch wheelbase with the 48-hp Teetor-Hartley engine. Having begun as a $2,000 () car in 1909, the McFarlan rose in price, until by 1920 some models reached $6,200, .


Racing and Celebrity

In the first model year of 1910, two of the company's cars were entered in the Indianapolis Labor Day races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where both McFarlans finished in the top five. McFarlans driven by Mel Marquette were also entered in the first two
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 ...
races (1911 and 1912) in which they finished 25th and 19th, respectively. Aiming for the top of the luxury market, one McFarlan Town Car displayed at the 1923 Chicago Auto Show, had the nickel-plating replaced with 24 carat gold, including a gold-plated interior. It reportedly was sold for $25,000, . McFarlans were known as "the most expensive car made in the US" and "the American
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
" during the 1920s, a tribute shared by the ''Cunningham'', a similar-appearing luxury car built in
Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...
, whose history mirrors that of the McFarlan. The McFarlan was a luxury automobile owned by celebrities of the day such as Wallace Reid,
William Desmond Taylor William Desmond Taylor (born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner, 26 April 1872 – 1 February 1922) was an Anglo-Irish-American film director and actor. A popular figure in the growing Hollywood motion picture colony of the 1910s and early 1920s, ...
,
Fatty Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked w ...
,
Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, W ...
,
Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926 ...
and Virginia governor E. Lee Trinkle. Al Capone bought a McFarlan for his wife, Mae, in 1924 and bought a second one in 1926.


The Classic Era

In 1921, McFarlan introduced an engine of its own design, the Twin-Valve Six (TV Six). The six-cylinder unit was actually an improved Teetor-Hartley engine with four-valves per cylinder, 18 spark plugs, pressure lubrication, triple ignition, displacing 573 cubic-inches and produced 120 horsepower. The ''TV Six'' had a 140-inch wheelbase chassis with McFarlan coachwork that would offer up to a total of 10 different models. In an attempt to lower prices and increase sales, McFarlan introduced a mid-priced Single-Valve Six model powered by a
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
six-cylinder engine. The Single-Valve Six Model occupied a very competitive segment of the industry, and the McFarlan did not fair well, prompting the company to discontinue the model during 1926. By 1925 the McFarlan Motor Car Company offered 2 distinct lines with a total of 26 different models ranging in price from $2,000 to $10,000. On a limited basis, McFarlan built commercial cars; ambulances, hearse, funeral cars and firetrucks usually powered with a
Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' ( ...
engine. McFarlan coachwork for other manufacturers were an important part of the McFarlan Motor Company's business. The custom boat-tail speedster design by McFarlan was adopted for Duesenbergs and Auburns. McFarlan and its neighbor, the Central Manufacturing Company supplied the speedster bodies that appeared on the 1928 ''Auburn''. McFarlan attempted again to capture a share of the growing mid-market with the 1926 introduction of a
straight-eight The straight-eight engine (also referred to as an inline-eight engine; abbreviated I8 or L8) is a piston engine with eight cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. The number of cylinders and perfect primary and secondary en ...
. The ''Line-8'' was on a shorter 131-inch wheelbase and came equipped with a 79 horsepower Lycoming engine. It sold better than the Single-Valve model. The 1927 McFarlan lineup included the Line-8 and the Twin-Valve Six offered in a variety of body styles. The Line-8 prices ranged from $2,650 to $4,600, . The Twin-Valve Six prices were among the most expensive on the market, ranging from $5,400 to $9,000, .


Fate

The 1920's witnessed the failing health of Harry McFarlan, the post-World War I recession, and new products being introduced by other manufacturers. Harry McFarlan's long time associate Burton Barrows took over company operations, and introduced the Line-8 and new styling for Twin-Valve Six, but his health also failed and he passed away in 1928. McFarlan's efforts to move into new market segments had thinned its resources, and when the company did introduce new styling in 1928 (the first since 1921), it was too late. 1928 became the final model year and on August 8, 1928 bankruptcy was declared. One year later on August 1, 1929, the factory was sold to the Auburn Automobile Company. The Auburn Company used the factory for storage space for its unfinished automobiles, and it would later serve as a body shop for the Auburn. In 1967 a book, ''What Was the McFarlan?'' was privately published by authors Keith Marvin and Al Arnheim. It is considered the definitive history of the McFarlan Motor Car Company. The authors were McFarlan enthusiasts and avid automobile historians, and the book identified nineteen extant McFarlans. McFarlans are owned in private collections and automobile museums, including the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is an automotive museum on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, which houses the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. It is intrinsically linked to the Indi ...
, the
Petersen Automotive Museum The Petersen Automotive Museum is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles. One of the world's largest automotive museums, the Petersen Automotive Museum is a nonprofit organization specializi ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, the
National Automobile Museum The National Automobile Museum is a museum in Reno, Nevada. Most of the vehicles displayed are from the collection of William F. Harrah. The museum opened on November 5, 1989. History William F. Harrah collected approximately 1,450 automobiles, ...
in
Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
, Historic Connersville in Connersville, Indiana and the Nethercutt Collection in California.


Gallery

File:1911 McFarlan Six Ad.jpg, alt=, 1911 McFarlan Six Advertisement File:McFarlan Wreck Indianapolis 1912.jpg, alt=, Driver Mel Marquette's wrecked McFarlan racing car at the 1912
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 ...
File:1915 McFarlan - Automobile Trade Journal.jpg, alt=, 1915 McFarlan Six Advertisement File:1917 McFarlan Six 90hp Ad.jpg, alt=, 1917 McFarlan Six - Closed Car Luxury File:1921 McFarlan Jorgensen Ad.jpg, alt=, 1921 McFarlan Six and Jorgensen Vapor Primer Advertisement File:1927 Duesenberg McFarlan "Boat Roadster" (33877794483).jpg, alt=, 1927 Duesenberg Model X Boattail Roadster, with McFarlan coachwork File:2015 Pebble Auburn 8-115 McFarlan speedster.jpg, alt=, 1928 Auburn 8-115 McFarlan speedster, with McFarlan coachwork


See also


1911 Indianapolis 500 race results1912 Indianapolis 500 race resultsMcFarlan automobiles at ConceptCarz1926 McFarlan photos
* Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Indiana Defunct companies based in Indiana Fayette County, Indiana Indianapolis 500 Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers American companies established in 1909 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1909 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1928 1909 establishments in Indiana 1928 disestablishments in Indiana Historic American Engineering Record in Indiana Luxury vehicles Brass Era vehicles Vintage vehicles 1910s cars 1920s cars


References

{{ConnersvilleCars Coachbuilders of the United States Cars introduced in 1910