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 191 ...

Reliance automobile was manufactured by the Reliance Automobile Manufacturing Company in

Detroit, Michigan 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 ...

from 1904 to 1907.

History

The Reliance was a two-cylinder, 3.2 liter

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 ...

engine car with selective

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 *** ...

and shaft-drive. It was designed by E. O. Abbott and W. K. Ackerman, both formerly with

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

.The body style was a side-entrance

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 ...

and the company wanted to advertise they were the first in the United States to introduce it, and pre-dated production to 1903 instead of 1904.

Peerless Peerless may refer to: Companies and organizations * Peerless Motor Company, an American automobile manufacturer. * Peerless Brewing Company, in Birkenhead, UK * Peerless Group, an insurance and financial services company in India * Peerless R ...

and

Orlo The Jackson Automobile Company was an American Brass Era automobile manufacturer located in and named for Jackson, Michigan. The company produced the Jackson from 1903 to 1923, the 1903 Jaxon steam car and the 1904 Orlo. Company History Byro ...

both introduced a side-entrance body in 1904. The Reliance had a King of Belgium tonneau body style for 1905 and was priced at $1,250, . The company was under-capitalized and was reorganized in 1904 as Reliance Motor Car Company, with Fred O. Paige taking charge shortly after. A commercial

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

was added in 1906 and from February 1907 only trucks were manufactured. Reliance sold the passenger car production and it would later become the Cresent automobile. Reliance was purchased in 1909 by

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

and the Reliance truck evolved into the first GMC truck. Fred Paige departed to build his

Paige automobile Paige was a Detroit, United States-based automobile company, selling luxury cars between 1908 and 1927. History Paige first began producing automobiles in 1908. The company's first car was a two-seat model powered by a 2.2-liter three-cylinder, ...

File:1904 Reliance ad Horseless Age.jpg, 1904 Reliance Model Two Touring car advertisement in the Horseless Age magazine File:1906 Reliance ad Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal.jpg, 1906 Reliance automobile and truck advertisement in the Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal

References

{{Reflist Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Michigan Defunct manufacturing companies based in Detroit Defunct truck manufacturers of the United States Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1904 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1909 Veteran vehicles Brass Era vehicles 1900s cars Cars introduced in 1904

History

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References