The Partin Manufacturing Company was a brass era

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

automobile manufacturer, headquartered at 29 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois from 1913 to 1917. The Partin-Palmer automobile and Pioneer cyclecar were produced.Clymer, Floyd. ''Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925'' (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.151.

History

G. H. Partin, of the Partin Manufacturing Company, a large automobile sales agency in Chicago, joined in 1913 with the Palmer Motor Car Co. of Henry Palmer, formerly general manager of Cartercar. Palmer had formed his company from the assets of the Suburban Motor Car Company. They began by manufacturing

cyclecars A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the car. A key ch ...

called the Pioneer, a Model 45 named the Partin, and a Model 38 named Partin-Palmer. The Partin model did not last to the end of 1913, and all models were subsequently called Partin-Palmers. The company first moved to Chicago to take over the Staver-Chicago automobile factory. Partin and Palmer were no longer with the company by 1915 and the new manager, C. C. Darnall moved production to

Rochelle, Illinois Rochelle is a city in Ogle County, Illinois. The population was 9,446 at the 2020 census. Rochelle is approximately west of Chicago and south of Rockford. History Originally named Hickory Grove, the town sits at the intersection of two ra ...

where the

Geo D. Whitcomb Company The Geo D. Whitcomb Company was founded by George Dexter Whitcomb (1834–1914), of Chicago, Illinois, who started a modest machine shop in 1878, and began the manufacture of coal mining machinery, laying the foundation for the concern that beca ...

assembled them. In 1915 the company was reorganized as Commonwealth Motors Corporation and the cars were still called Partin-Palmers into 1917 when a new car called the Commonwealth was introduced and production moved to

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 census, the city was the third-largest in Illinois, with a population of 150,362. His ...

. A restored Partin-Palmer is displayed at the

Flagg Township Museum Flagg may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Flagg, Derbyshire, a village in the English Peak District. United States * Flagg, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Flagg Township, Ogle County, Illinois * Flagg, Oregon, an unincorporated communit ...

in Rochelle, Illinois.

File:1913 Partin-Palmer Advertsing - Horseless Age.jpg, 1913 Partin-Palmer two-page advertisement in Horseless Age Magazine File:1913 Partin-Palmer Model-20.jpg, 1914 Partin-Palmer Model 20 advertisement in Horseless Age Magazine File:1914 Partin-Palmer 38 - 1913 MoToR Magazine.jpg, 1913 Partin-Palmer Model 38 advertisement in Motor Magazine File:MHV Pioneer 1914.jpg, 1913-1914 Pioneer Cyclecar - American Mfg. Co. - Horseless Age Magazine

Models

Partin-Palmer 20

In 1914, the Partin-Palmer 20 was a roadster offered with a four-cylinder

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 ...

engine of 22 hp (16 kW), with Gray and Davis generator, optional Gray and Davis electric starter, and (still unusual)

shaft drive A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connec ...

. It had a 56 in (142 cm) tread (

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

) and 96 in (2438 mm)

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 (fron ...

, with ¾-

elliptic spring A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a ''laminated'' or ''carriage spring'', and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring, elliptical spring, or cart spring, it ...

s and

I-beam An I-beam, also known as H-beam (for universal column, UC), w-beam (for "wide flange"), universal beam (UB), rolled steel joist (RSJ), or double-T (especially in Polish, Bulgarian, Spanish, Italian and German), is a beam with an or -shap ...

front axle. The Model 20 came standard with electric lighting and horn, folding top with side curtains and dust boot, speedometer, the (typical for the period) tool kit, jack, and tire patch, all for $495 (). In 1916 a touring version was offered with a more powerful engine as the Model 32 priced at $675.

Pioneer Cyclecar

In late 1913 Partin Manufacturing produced a typical cyclecar with an 9-hp

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

V-twin A V-twin engine, also called a V2 engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Although widely associated with motorcycles (installed either transversely or longi ...

, friction transmission and

belt drive A belt is a loop of flexible material used to link two or more rotating shafts mechanically, most often parallel. Belts may be used as a source of motion, to transmit power efficiently or to track relative movement. Belts are looped over pulle ...

. On a 96-inch wheelbase, the seating was advertised as side by side, the passenger sat about a foot to the rear of the driver to allow for sufficient elbow room within the forty-inch-wide body. The Pioneer was listed as made by the American Manufacturing Company rather than Partin Manufacturing Company. The Pioneer was available only for the 1914 season and was priced at $385, .

Partin-Palmer 38

From 1913 a six-passenger Model 38 with a 115 in (2921 mm) wheelbase was also available, for $975 (). For the first year a Partin Model 45 with a more powerful engine was offered.

History

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Models

Partin-Palmer 20

Pioneer Cyclecar

Partin-Palmer 38

References

See also