The Saxon Motor Car Company was located in

Detroit 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 t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, from 1914 to 1922. In 1917, 28,000 cars were made, making it the seventh largest car maker in the United States.

History

Hugh Chalmers of Chalmers Motor Car Company began the company to market a low priced volume car. The first Saxon was a 2-seat runabout with 2-speed transmission and a four-cylinder engine made by Ferro and built in the old Demotcar factory. 7,000 were made in the first year of production. The cost of a Saxon in 1913 was $395, . From 1913 to 1914, electric lighting was an extra option, which became a standard fitting to the car in 1915. Also available in 1915 was the Saxon Six, a five-passenger

tourer 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 ...

, with a 30-35 hp (22-26 kW)

Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' ( ...

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 ...

electric starter A starter (also self-starter, cranking motor, or starter motor) is a device used to rotate (crank) an internal-combustion engine so as to initiate the engine's operation under its own power. Starters can be electric, pneumatic, or hydraulic. T ...

and

headlights A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for ...

, on a 112 in (2845 mm)

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 ...

and 32×3½-inch (81×8.9 cm) wheels, all for $785, . In 1914 a Saxon roadster was driven 135 miles a day for 30 days, for a total of 4,050 miles with an average of 30 mpg. It was among the first cars to christen the new

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...

. Sales skyrocketed. In 1915, Harry W. Ford, formerly with Chalmers, bought out Hugh Chalmers interest and became President of a reorganized Saxon Motor Car Corporation. Early in 1915, Saxon moved production to the former Abbott factory. In its peak year of 1916, 27,800 Saxons were produced. The Saxon Six was followed in 1917 by a Sedan. In December 1917, Harry W. Ford was out and the new president was Benjamin Gotfredson. From 1918 the company got into financial difficulties while expanding, with large quantities of parts and building a larger factory. The 4-cylinder models were dropped from the range and the Sedan went as well in 1919. In 1919 C. A. Pfeffer, another former Chalmers manager, became president of Saxon Motor Car Corporation. The new factory Saxon couldn't pay for was sold to General Motors. In 1920 a new model, the Saxon Duplex, powered by 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 bel ...

, four-cylinder engine joined the six-cylinder model and a sedan body rejoined the range. The six-cylinder cars were no longer listed after 1921 and production had fallen to 2,100 cars. In 1921, Saxon sold of their parts business to settle debts and used the proceeds to move the company to Ypsilanti,

, where the cars were made in the

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

car plant, but this could not save the company and the last cars, probably made in 1922, were sold in 1923.

Gallery

File:1914 Saxon Model A roadster, 4 cylinder, 12 horsepower - Automobile Driving Museum - El Segundo, CA - DSC01850.jpg, 1914 Saxon Model A roadster File:Veiling van Old Timers door Christie, in Automuseum Leidschendam een Saxon 11 P, Bestanddeelnr 928-8960.jpg, 1914 Saxon Model A File:Saxon Runabout arancione.jpg, 1915 Saxon Runabout File:Saxon 12 hp (5870784726).jpg, 1916 Saxon Model 14 Runabout
4-cylinder

engine File:1917 Saxon.jpg, 1917 Saxon Six Touring Car
6-cylinder

engine File:1916 Saxon advert.jpg, 1916 Saxon advertisement File:Saxon six.jpg, 1917 Saxon Six File:Saxon Motor Car 1922.jpg, Share of the Saxon Motor Car Corporation, issued 3. August 1922

In popular culture

Band leader

George Olsen George Edward Olsen Sr. (March 18, 1893 - March 18, 1971) was an American bandleader. Born in Portland, Oregon, Olsen played the drums and attended the University of Michigan, where he was drum major. There he formed his band, George Olsen an ...

drove a Saxon. Olsen mentions this on the first Jack Benny Program, May 2, 1932. Olsen was the bandleader on that show. In the 1937 Hollywood film "Easy Living", Jean Arthur's character, a poor woman mistakenly thought to be rich, is asked to buy a car from the V16 Company of America, and answers that "of course I've never driven one; we had Saxon's... Yes I suppose they are different." It has been misreported that Saxon President Harry Ford left the company due to illness. The fact is that after raising capital for the company, Ford lost his position in a proxy fight. He subsequently joined the war effort as an officer, and died while a military officer during the influenza epidemic.

Notes and references

External links

Internet Archive: Car Questions at Roaring Twenties AntiquesHistory of Saxon Motor Car Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saxon (Automobile) Defunct manufacturing companies based in Michigan Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Michigan Defunct manufacturing companies based in Detroit Ypsilanti, Michigan 1913 establishments in Michigan 1923 disestablishments in Michigan Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1913 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1923 Brass Era vehicles Vintage vehicles 1910s cars 1920s cars Cars introduced in 1913