The Overland Automobile Company was an 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 regarded ...

manufacturer in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnat ...

. It was the founding company of

Willys-Overland Willys (pronounced , "Willis" ) was a brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II era and later military jeeps (MBs) ...

and one of the earliest mass producers of automobiles.

History

The Overland Automobile department was founded in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

by Claude E. Cox, when Charles Minshall of Standard Wheel Company decided to expand into automobile manufacturing. Standard Wheel were major suppliers of wheels to the carriage industry. Cox, a recent graduate of

Rose Polytechnic Institute A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

, developed a gasoline runabout in 1903. Cox's runabout was an advanced design with a

water-cooled Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and n ...

5- hp vertical

single-cylinder A single-cylinder engine, sometimes called a thumper, is a piston engine with one cylinder. This engine is often used for motorcycles, motor scooters, go-karts, all-terrain vehicles, radio-controlled vehicles, portable tools and garden machinery ( ...

engine mounted up front under a hood, rather than under the seat which was common practice. It featured a jump-spark ignition and a two-speed planetary transmission operated by a foot pedal. Priced at $595 (), 11 were built in 1903 doubling to 23 in 1904 when a

two-cylinder 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 categoriz ...

engine was introduced. Claude Cox continued development adding a 16-hp

four-cylinder 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 ...

engine, shaft-drive instead of chain and a

steering wheel A steering wheel (also called a driving wheel (UK), a hand wheel, or simply wheel) is a type of steering control in vehicles. Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, buses, light an ...

instead of a tiller, by 1905. In 1905, Standard Wheel moved Overland production to

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mar ...

, but decided to leave automobile production and sold Overland to Claude Cox for $8,000, . David M. Parry became a 51% investor and formed the Overland Auto Company. Overland production was now in an extension of Parry's buggy factory. Now producing two models, production was only 37 cars in 1905 because of the moves and in 1906 production increased to 47, all sold to

John North Willys John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, a car dealer in

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 censu ...

. The 1907 Panic caused David Parry to go bankrupt, including the loss of his house. By 1910 he had recovered enough to start the Parry Auto Company. J. N. Willys arrived in Indianapolis to protect his investment and ended up taking over Overland Auto Company. In 1908, control of Overland was purchased by J. N. Willys and he managed to increase production that year to 467 Overlands. Overlands were rationalized to one design of a 24hp four-cylinder car on two different wheelbases selling for $1,295, . In 1909 the production soared to 4,907 Overlands and Claude Cox left for Inter-State and later to form his own laboratory business (now Testek, Inc.) 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 t ...

. In 1909, the Pope-Toledo factory was purchased and Overland moved to Toledo. Production continued to grow and Overland remained a top three U. S. automobile manufacturer through 1919. In 1912, it was renamed Willys-Overland Company. Overland models expanded in the mid-price automobile market until 1917 when a new $500 () Overland to challenge the Model T Ford was announced. A disastrous strike delayed introduction until 1919 when it was priced at $845 () with electric lights and a self-starter. Willys revised this car to the Blue Bird and Red Bird models which helped Willys-Overland return to strength following a Receivership. Willys-Overland continued to use the Overland marque until 1926 when it became the Overland Whippet and then Willys Whippet.

Models

Media

File:Overland Automobile Model 83.JPG, Model 83, produced between 1915 and 1916. File:Emblem Overland.JPG, Logo on 1910 radiator File:Tom McKelvey - Overland - San Francisco 1915.jpg, Tom McKelvey in his Overland race car before the

1915 American Grand Prize The 1915 American Grand Prize was the first race of the 1915 Grand Prix season and was held February 27, 1915, at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition, sometimes mistakenly referred to as the San Francisco World's Fair. Unlike the previous ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

File:D.J. Harkness at the wheel of an Overland Sports car, 1920 - 1929.jpg, D.J. Harkness at the wheel of an Overland Sports car, 1920 - 1929 File:Overland model 59T.JPG, Model 59T, 1912. File:Overland automobile 1909 ad.jpg, 1909 Overland Automobile Advertisement File:Overland-auto 1910-1127.jpg, Ad. from Indianapolis Star, Nov. 27, 1910 One of the more unusual uses of an Overland was in 1911 when Milton Reeves used a 1910 model to create his 8-wheel Octo-Auto, his eight-wheel car. The last vestige of the Overland automobile empire remains in the form of bricks spelling out "Overland" in the smoke stack at the Toledo factory that once formed the core of Willys automotive empire. But the name would come back when

DaimlerChrysler The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...

(Now

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) was an Italian-American multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles, commercial vehicles, auto parts and production systems. The Italian holding company Exor was the largest ...

) introduced the Overland name for a trim package on the 2002–present (except 2005 model year)

Jeep Grand Cherokee The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a range of mid-size SUVs produced by the American manufacturer Jeep. At its introduction, while most SUVs were still manufactured with body-on-frame construction, the Grand Cherokee has used a unibody chassis from the ...

. The badging is a recreation of the Overland nameplate from the early twentieth century.

References

External links

History of Overland from Willys-Overland-Knight Registry

* ttps://www.conceptcarz.com/view/model/443/overland.aspx Overland Automobiles at ConceptCarz
Overland at Manitoba Auto Museum
*
Hemmings Feature Article - Claude E. Cox
{{IndianapolisCars Chrysler American Motors Jeep Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Indiana Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Ohio Defunct companies based in Indiana Veteran vehicles Brass Era vehicles Vintage vehicles 1900s cars 1910s cars 1920s cars