The Dorris Motor Car Company was founded by George Preston Dorris in 1906. Born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, Dorris had built an experimental

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic c ...

car circa 1896–1897 in his family's bicycle shop. He relocated to St. Louis, Missouri, where he joined with John L. French to found the ''

St. Louis Motor Company St. Louis Motor Carriage Company was a manufacturer of automobiles at 1211–13 North Vandeventer Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri, founded by George Preston Dorris (later credited with developing and patenting the float-carburetor) and John L. Fre ...

''. Dorris served as chief

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

. When French relocated to

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area in Ce ...

, in 1905, Dorris quit the firm and founded the ''Dorris Motor Car Company'' soon after. With his departure, French and the ''

St. Louis Motor Carriage Company St. Louis Motor Carriage Company was a manufacturer of automobiles at 1211–13 North Vandeventer Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri, founded by George Preston Dorris (later credited with developing and patenting the float-carburetor) and John L. Fre ...

'' quickly foundered.

History

Dorris is credited with developing and patenting the float carburetor, an innovation that was used for decades. For much of the Dorris production life the slogan was "Built up to a standard, not down to a price."

Production vehicle

The company took over the original ''St. Louis Motor Company'' plant and began production there. The first vehicle had a four-cylinder engine with wheel-base, which took the ''New York Automobile Show'' by storm in January 1906. Over time, Dorris' cars became more powerful, graduating from a four to six-cylinder engine, and increasing nearly in the wheelbase. The engines were of the

OHV 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 be ...

design, unusual at the time.Automobile Engineering, American Technical Society, Chicago, Vol. 1 p. 28, 1919 edition The price tag of these cars was nearly $7,000. Hall Brothers with 1909 Dorris

In 1909, Guy Herring Hall Sr. and his brother, George Hall, drove a Dorris across Missouri, setting a record time of 33 hours. Prior to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

truck production began. In 1917, the capital stock expanded by $700,000 to $1,000,000, enabling expansion of the company. Company president, H.B. Krenning stepped aside "because of needed rest" and W.R. Colcord assumed his duties.

Astra acquisition

In 1920, Dorris acquired the

Astra (1920 automobile) The Astra was an American automobile manufactured in 1920. The car was built by a subsidiary concern of Dorris Motors Corporation, and was shown that year in its native St. Louis, Missouri. It featured a wheelbase, a Le Roi (company), Le Roi fou ...

, a competing

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

auto manufacturer, and re-organized as ''Dorris Motors Corporation''. In 1923 rumors abounded that the Dorris, ''

Haynes Haynes may refer to: People *Haynes (surname) Places In Australia: * Haynes, Western Australia In Canada: * Haynes, Alberta In the United Kingdom: *Haynes, Bedfordshire **Haynes Church End In the United States: *Haynes, Arkansas *Haynes, North D ...

'' and '' Winton'' companies would merge, but this merger did not come to fruition.

Company failure

1923 signalled the last full year of production for Dorris Motors. Production fell to a standstill, although the 'practically hand-built' Dorris cars were built to special order until 1926 when the company went bankrupt.

External links

Dorris - St. Louis Missouri (1906-1926)

References