The Premier Motor Manufacturing Company built the

brass era The Brass Era is an American term for the early period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such things as lights and radiators. It is generally considered to encompass 1896 through 1915 ...

and

vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...

Premier

luxury automobile A luxury car is a car that provides increased levels of comfort, equipment, amenities, quality, performance, and associated status compared to moderately priced cars. The term is subjective and reflects both the qualities of the car and the ...

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 Mari ...

, from 1903 to 1925.

History

The Premier Motor Manufacturing Company was organized in 1903 by George A. Weidely and Harold O. Smith in

. The company began automobile production with an advanced design air-cooled engine designed by Weidely.

Early Models

The 1904 four-cylinder Premier 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 six passengers and sold for $1,400, . 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 no ...

straight-4, situated at the front of the car, produced 40 hp (30 kW). A three-speed sliding transmission was fitted as on '' Système Panhard'' cars from Europe. The pressed steel-framed car weighed 2250 lb (1021 kg) and used semi-elliptic springs. A two-cylinder Premier model sold for $2,500. It had a

2-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...

straight-twin engine A straight-twin engine, also known as an inline-twin, vertical-twin, or parallel-twin, is a two-cylinder piston engine whose cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. Straight-twin engines are primarily used in motorcycles; ot ...

producing 20 hp (15 kW). Carl Fisher, who later founded the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, had ambitions of contesting the

Vanderbilt Cup The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing. History An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held on October 8 on a course set out in Nassau County on Long Island, ...

, and in 1905 George Weidely built an air-cooled prototype Premier race car for him. Unfortunately the car was disqualified for being 60 pounds overweight, but had tested at doing a quarter mile in 10 seconds. During 1906, the Model F and Model L were on the market with prices that ranged from $1,250 to $2,250, . The cars were advertised as summer and winter vehicles that had a "powerful motor, easy but substantial clutch, buoyant springs and luxurious upholstering." For 1907, Premier rationalized to one Model 24 with a 24-hp four-cylinder engine and premium pricing from $2,250 to $3,250. Engines and

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 (front ...

sized increased annually and in 1908 a 55-hp

six-cylinder The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balan ...

Model 45 was introduced on a 124-inch wheelbase priced at $3,750, . Weidely developed a

engine in 1907 and from 1908 all Premiers were water-cooled.

Major Production

From producing 25 cars in 1903 production double annually until 250 cars were produced in 1907. The Premier cars, with their large green oak leaf on the radiator badge (often cited as the first use of an emblem as an automotive trademark), built a reputation as builders of superb touring cars. By 1910, they had completed three Glidden tours with a perfect score and reach 1,000 annual production. By 1913 all Premiers were six-cylinder cars with prices ranging from $2,735 for a roadster to $6,000 for a Deluxe Touring model. In 1914 the company went into receivership and George Weidely and Harold Smith left the company. In the reorganization that followed, Weidely and Smith purchased the Premier engine factory and established Weidely Motors Company for the manufacturing of automobile engines. An Illinois banker named F. W. Woodruff, headed a syndicate that arranged to pay the Premier company's debts and set-up the Premier Motor Car Company. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

demand for the FWD Model B all wheel drive truck was too great for the

Four Wheel Drive Auto Company Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

to meet, so Premier was engaged along with the

Peerless Motor Company The Peerless Motor Car Company was an American automobile manufacturer that produced the Peerless brand of motorcars in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1900 to 1931. One of the "Three Ps" Packard, Peerless, and Pierce-Arrowthe company was known for buil ...

Kissel Motor Car Company The Kissel Motor Car Company was an American automobile and truck manufacturer founded by Louis Kissel and his sons, in Hartford, Wisconsin. The company custom built high-quality automobiles, hearses, Fire engine, fire trucks, taxicabs, and truck ...

and Mitchell Motor Car Company to build the Model B under license. One Model B was assembled by Premier in Indianapolis using parts from all four manufacturers to demonstrate that all parts were truly interchangeable. Premier also built 500 FWDs for the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in 1916. In 1916, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, due to the war in Europe, asked Premier to enter racers for the

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 ...

. Three factory prepared cars were entered, one finished seventh, the second crashed, the third went out with a broken oil line. For 1918 Premier introduced a new car with the tag line "The Aluminum Six with Magnetic Gear Shift". The 65-hp

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

block engine was designed by Weidely Motors and the electric transmission was made by

Cutler-Hammer Eaton Corporation plc is an American-Irish multinational power management company with 2021 sales of $19.63 billion, founded in the United States with global headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and a secondary administrative center in Beachwood ...

. The Model 6C was priced from $2,285 to $3,285, .

Decline

Prices would climb back to the $4,000 range but production slowed and never recovered to their earlier levels. L. S. Skelton, an Oklahoma physician who had made a fortune in oil, paid off the latest Premier indebtedness and reorganized as the Premier Motor Corporation in 1920. Unfortunately, Skelton died in January of 1921. After the 1920-21 Depression, the company emerged from a friendly receivership in 1923, when Frederick L. Barrows of

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 ...

took over and reorganized as Premier Motors, Inc. In 1923 Frederick Barrows of Premier purchased the Monroe automobile company and Monroes became the Premier Model B for 1923. In 1923, Frederick Barrows received a contract for the building of 1,000 Premier

taxicabs A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

, and from 1924 this would be Premiers only product. In October of 1926 Premier Motors, Inc. sold out to the National Cab & Truck Company of Indianapolis, which very quickly went out of business.

File:Premier Air Cooled ad (1905).jpg, 1905 Premier - Air Cooled advertisement File:Premier-auto 1906 ad.jpg, 1906 Premier Victories Advertisement File:Premier Model 24 ad (1907).jpg, 1907 Premier Model 24 advertisement File:Premier Aluminum Six Automobile (1917) (ADVERT 117).jpeg, 1917 Premier Aluminum Six advertisement

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Premier (Automobile) Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Indianapolis Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Indiana Defunct manufacturing companies based in Indiana Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1903 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1926 Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers Luxury vehicles Brass Era vehicles Vintage vehicles 1900s cars 1910s cars 1920s cars Cars introduced in 1904

History

Early Models

Major Production

Decline

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See also

References