Rider-Lewis was a
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 ...
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarde ...
built first in
Muncie
Muncie ( ) is an incorporated city and the seat of Delaware County, Indiana. Previously known as Buckongahelas Town, named after the legendary Delaware Chief.http://www.delawarecountyhistory.org/history/docs/lenape-villages.pdf It is located in ...
and then
Anderson, Indiana
Anderson, named after Chief William Anderson, is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses Madison County. Anderson ...
from 1908 to 1911.
History
Ralph Lewis of Boston, designed an
overhead valve
An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located b ...
,
overhead cam
An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...
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 ...
engine of 40/45-
hp. George D. Rider financed manufacturing and the Rider-Lewis Motor Car Company was established. Rider-Lewis introduced the automobile at the Indianapolis Motor Show in March 1908 priced at $2,500 (). Production began in Muncie in a converted factory, though in 1909 the company moved to a newly built factory in Anderson, Indiana.
For 1910 the "Excellent Six" was joined by a four-cylinder Model Four automobile selling for $1,050, . In September 1910 the company was in receivership, though production continued. In October the Rider-Lewis property in Anderson was attached by court order when creditors thought Rider-Lewis was preparing to move out of state. A few more Model Fours were built into early 1911, but by March the Rider-Lewis plant was sold to
Nyberg Motor Works.
References
External links
Rider-Lewis, Nyberg Factory - Historic Structures*
* [https://www.heraldbulletin.com/community/several-auto-factories-in-the-city-before-the-remy-brothers/article_0669a55d-964f-57c3-a2da-1f54c855bc88.html Herald-Bulletin Article - Several Auto Factories by David Humphrey, 2013]
{{Commons category, Rider-Lewis vehicles
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Indiana
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1908
Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1911
Brass Era vehicles
1900s cars
1910s cars
Cars introduced in 1908