1920 Owen Magnetic Touring Car ad, from '' House Beautiful'' magazine The Owen Magnetic was a pioneering American brand of

hybrid electric A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a type of hybrid vehicle that combines a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) system with an electric propulsion system (hybrid vehicle drivetrain). The presence of the electric powertrain is intended ...

luxury automobile manufactured between 1915 and 1922. Car models of the brand were notable for their use of an electromagnetic transmission and were early examples of an electric series hybrid drivetrain. The manufacture of the car was sponsored by R.M. Owen & Company of

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The car was built in New York City in 1915, in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The s ...

, between 1916 and 1919 and finally in

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the sec ...

, in 1920 and 1921.

History

left, 1916 Owen Magnetic at Crawford Museum The first Owen Magnetic was introduced at the 1915 New York

auto show An auto show, also known as a motor show or car show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is attended by automotive industry representatives, dealers, auto journalists a ...

when

Justus B. Entz Justus Bulkley Entz (June 16, 1867, New York City – June 8, 1947, New Rochelle, New York) was an American electrical engineer and inventor. He invented the electromagnetic transmission, introduced in the Owen Magnetic of 1915, and was a pione ...

's electric transmission was fitted to the Owen automobile: "R.M. Owen have leased the large new three story fireproof building at the corner of Fifth avenue and One Hundred and Forty-second street, New York, where they will build the new Owen Magnetic motor cars." The former Owen plant still exists and is presently a self-storage facility. Raymond M. Owen and his brother Ralph R. Owen had been working on the Entz transmission adapting it for a car since 1912. Justus Entz's drive train patent was . The Entz transmission had no physical connection between the gasoline engine and the driveshaft. Walter C. Baker, of Cleveland, Ohio, owned the patents on the Entz transmission, thus each of the 250 Owen Magnetic automobiles produced in New York was built under license. Some sources wrongly state that the Woods Dual Power car manufactured by the Woods Motor Vehicle Company in Chicago also used the Entz transmission. The Woods Dual Power had a drive-train based on Roland Fend's , using a clutch between the gas engine and the electric motor. The car became as famous as the company's clientele, which included

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyrical tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles (74) ...

and John McCormack. Owen Magnetics were advertised as ''"The Car of a Thousand Speeds"''. In December 1915, the company was moved to Cleveland when the R. M. Owen Company joined Walter Baker (of

Baker Motor Vehicle Baker Motor Vehicle Company was an American manufacturer of Brass Era electric automobiles in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1899 to 1914. History The first Baker vehicle was a two seater with a selling price of US$850. One was sold to Thomas Edi ...

) and the Rauch and Lang company. The Baker Electric Car company would produce the car, and Rauch and Lang would build the coachwork. Because of the combined resources, the Owen Magnetic increased its range of offerings for 1916 model year adding a Holbrook bodied sports tourer for $6,000, . Production continued through 1918, with prices ranging from $3,000 to $5,000 (), when Baker shifted its focus to war goods manufacturing. J. L. Crown secured the rights to the Entz transmission and with Raymond Owen the company reorganized as the Owen Magnetic Motor Car Corporation based in Wilkes-Barre. The newly equipped factory was situated in the old Matheson works at

Forty Fort, Pennsylvania Forty Fort is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,233 at the 2020 census. Its neighbors are Wyoming (to the north), Plains Township (to the east), Kingston (to the south), and Swoyersville (to the wes ...

. The ''Wilkes-Barre Times'' announced the resumption of production for January 1, 1920, with the aim of producing 750 cars that year.

Crown Magnetic

J. L. Crown who now owned the Entz rights, placed an order for 500 vehicles to be sold by Le Grice Elers, Ltd of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Crown Limited of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

was formed and the cars were named Crown Magnetic. However, by August 1920, before the order could be fulfilled, Owen Magnetic was in receivership. The Crown Magnetic was displayed at the London Motor Show in 1920, with about 20 imported before production ceased..''The Times of India'', September 29, 1920, Page A11. The Crown version of the Magnetic omitted the emergency low gear fitted on the Owen Magnetics. This turned out to be a mistake, as on a long steep hill, the force of gravity on this heavy car could defeat the transmission and could bring the car to a standstill.

Design

The car was powered by a six-cylinder engine, but power was transmitted to the wheels based upon the same electromagnetic principle that propelled the Battleship U.S.S. New Mexico. Automobile author Henry B. Lent described the drive mechanism thus:

References

External links

{{commonscat
Jay Leno's Garage
(video) The focus of the segment is the

Chevrolet Volt The Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in hybrid manufactured by General Motors, also marketed in rebadged variants as the Holden Volt in Australia and New Zealand and the Buick Velite 5 in China, and with a different fascia as the Vauxhall Ampera in ...

but a 1916 Owen Magnetic is shown and the similarity of the propulsion system is noted.
Jay Leno's Garage - Owen Magnetic
(video) This segment of Jay Leno's Garage is focused on the actual 1916 Owen Magnetic.
Owen Magnetic at ConceptCarz

Hemmings Feature Article - Owens Magnetic

Hemmings Feature Article - Owens Magnetic Transmission

Henry Ford Museum - 1916 Owens Magnetic Touring Car

Louwman Museum - 1916 Owen Magnetic
Brass Era vehicles Defunct companies based in Ohio Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Electric vehicles introduced in the 20th century Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Ohio Hybrid electric cars 1910s cars 1920s cars Luxury vehicles Vintage vehicles Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Pennsylvania Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1915 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1921 Cars introduced in 1915

History

Crown Magnetic

Design

See also

References

External links