Phelps Motor Vehicle Company was a manufacturer of

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 ...

s in

Stoneham, Massachusetts Stoneham ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, nine miles (14.5 km) north of downtown Boston. Its population was 23,244 at the 2020 census. Its proximity to major highways and public transportation offer convenient access to Bos ...

, between 1903 and 1905. In 1906 it was succeeded by the Shamut Motor Company.

History

Background

1901 Phelps Tractor steam-powered tricycle from LJ Phelps New Brunswick NJ advert BW

Lucius J. Phelps was an inventor and an electrical and mechanical engineer who first came to prominence in 1886 for his Induction Telegraph patent that was developed for trains to receive live telegraph messages while moving. In the late 1890's he became interested in steam powered vehicles and in 1901 marketed the Phelps Tractor. The steam tractor was designed to be controlled by horse rains so that a coachman could operate it. As Phelps Motor Company, Phelps then began developing a gasoline engine.

Phelps Motor Car

In 1903 Phelps Motor Company became Phelps Motor Vehicle Company with Elliott C. Lee as president and L. J. Phelps as general manager. The 1903 Phelps was a

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. Th ...

model, equipped with a

tonneau A tonneau ( or ) is an area of a car or truck open at the top. It can be for passengers or cargo. A tonneau cover in current automotive terminology is a hard or soft cover that spans the back of a pickup truck to protect the load or to improve ...

. It could seat 4 passengers and sold for $2,000, . L. J. Phelps designed the vertically mounted

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 non ...

straight-3 engine, situated at the front of the car, producing . A 3-speed

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

was fitted. The car was unusual in that it did not have a parameter

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

but a backbone frame that enclosed the

drive shaft 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 (physics), power and torque and rotation, usually ...

, and this weight savings made for a touring car. In 1904 the engine was enlarged to 20-hp and the price was $2,500, .

Motorsports

Phelps demonstrated his car in several endurance runs and hill climbs including a 1903 record 1 hour and 46 minute climb up

Mount Washington Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934, ...

. He returned in 1904 for the first

Climb to the Clouds The Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race, also known as the Climb to the Clouds, is a timed hillclimb auto race up the Mount Washington Auto Road to the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. It is one of the oldest auto races in the country, ...

and cut his time to 42 minutes, placing second in his class. The Phelps motor car won a double victory in the1903 Eagle Rock, N.J. Hill Climb.

Fate

L. J. Phelps designed a

4-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 but in September 1905 decided to retire to his Forty Oaks Ranch in

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. The company and manufacturing plant were succeeded by the

Shawmut Motor Company The Shawmut Motor Company was organized in Stoneham, Massachusetts in 1905 to succeed the Phelps automobile. The Shawmut was manufactured from 1906 to 1908, when the factory was destroyed by fire. The company was headquartered in Boston. A 1908 ...

headed by E. C. Lee in 1906. Lucius Phelps continued to patent automotive and other devices until his death at the age of 75 in 1925.

Models

File:1903 Phelps 15hp Model Three Touring Car.jpg, 1903 Phelps 15-hp Tonneau Touring car from The Automobile magazine File:1904 Phelps 20hp Model Three Touring Car.jpg, 1904 Phelps 25-hp Touring Car from brochure

References

{{reflist Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States 1900s cars Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1903 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1905 Brass Era vehicles Veteran vehicles Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Massachusetts American automotive engineers American automotive pioneers Cars introduced in 1903