The Sampson and Alden Sampson 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 ...

manufactured by the Alden Sampson Manufacturing Company of

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

in 1904. The Sampson was built again in 1911 by United States Motors, Alden Sampson Division, 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 ...

History

The 1904 Alden Sampson also called the Sampson in some contemporary articles, had 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 ...

16 hp engine with a 4-speed sliding-gear transmission with two

chains A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

to drive the rear wheels. It boasted a

transaxle A transaxle is a single mechanical device which combines the functions of an automobile's transmission, axle, and differential into one integrated assembly. It can be produced in both manual and automatic versions. Engine and drive at the s ...

. It was based on the 1903 Moyea automobile for which the Alden Sampson Manufacturing Company had built the chassis. The Alden Sampson was introduced as a touring car, luxury priced at $3,750, . The chassis only could be purchased for $3,250 for owners to add their own choice of coachwork. Alden Sampson purchased the bankrupt Crest Manufacturing to secure an A.L.A.M. license to manufacture motor cars. In 1905 Alden Sampson decided to build trucks instead of cars. File:1904 Alden Sampson Advertisement in The Automobile.jpg, 1904 Alden Sampson advertisement in The Automobile magazine File:1904 Alden Sampson Model 3A in Automobile Review.jpg, 1904 Alden Sampson from an article in the Automobile Review Sampson trucks became widely known. In 1909 Alden Sampson II died and his widow sold the company for a reported $200,000 () to the

United States Motor Company The United States Motor Company (USMC) was organized by Benjamin Briscoe in 1910 as a selling company, to represent various manufacturers. It had begun life as the International Motor Company in 1908 in an attempt to create a major consolidati ...

in 1911. A new factory was constructed in 1911 in Detroit, Michigan and U S Motors decided to add cars to the Sampson truck production. The 1911 Sampson, called the Sampson 35, had a 4-cylinder 35 hp engine. This model was a four-door, five-seat

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 ...

that was advertised as having 17 coats of paint. It actually had only 3 doors; the fourth was just an outline, and blocked by the gear shift and brake. Aluminum was used for the transaxle and crankcase. The car was sold for $1,250, . The Sampson was manufactured in Detroit on Oakland Blvd, in a brand new city-block-long factory. There are only three survivors known to exist, and maybe a fourth in Australia. Five were registered in 1919 in the Australian state of Queensland. In 1912, the United States Motor Company collapsed into bankruptcy and Sampson production ended. File:1911 Sampson 35 from Alden Sampson catalog.jpg, 1911 Sampson 35 from Alden Sampson catalog File:1912 Sampson 35 from Sampson Catalog.jpg, 1912 Sampson 35 from Alden Sampson catalog

References

External links

Roaring Twenties Car Questions
{{Commons category, Sampson vehicles Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Defunct truck manufacturers of the United States Brass Era vehicles 1900s cars 1910s cars Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Michigan Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Missouri Cars introduced in 1904 Cars introduced in 1911 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1904 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1912 Luxury vehicles