Fisher Automobile Company, was an automobile dealership in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

. It carried multiple models of

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it pro ...

s, Reos, Packards,

Stoddard-Dayton Stoddard-Dayton was a high quality car manufactured by Dayton Motor Car Company in Dayton, Ohio, US, between 1905 and 1913. John W. Stoddard and his son Charles G. Stoddard were the principals in the company. History In 1904, John Stodda ...

s, Stutz and others. In 1891, Carl Graham Fisher (1874–1939) opened a bicycle shop with his two brothers. Regarded as a promotional genius, Fisher was also involved in bicycle racing and stunts. Around 1900, the national bicycle craze turned to a newer invention: the

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 ...

. In partnership with his friend

Barney Oldfield Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield (January 29, 1878 – October 4, 1946) was an American pioneer automobile racer; his "name was synonymous with speed in the first two decades of the 20th century". After success in bicycle racing, he began auto ...

, Fisher converted the bicycle shop to handle automobiles, telling his fellow racer, "I don't see why the automobile can't be made to do everything the bicycle has done."

Background

Fisher promoted the automobile dealership as he had his bicycle shop with carefully planned stunts. He flew an automobile over Indianapolis supported by a hot air balloon, and pushed another off the roof of his four-story building in downtown Indianapolis. Fisher made millions with the sale and manufacture of an early form of

headlight 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 ...

s, became involved with

automobile racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organi ...

and was a principal in the building of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the

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 ...

and

Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network of ...

, two of the earliest paved roads across the United States. Fisher Automobile Company was sold to Gibson Automobile Company in 1911.{{cite web , url=http://www.firstsuperspeedway.com/photo-gallery/fisher-automobile-company-1909 , title=Fisher Automobile Company - 1909 , publisher=Mark Dill Enterprises, Inc. , accessdate=January 26, 2018 Fisher re-incorporated a new Fisher Automobile Company in 1913, but little is known of its fate.

References

External links

Bumper StickersAutomotive Advice
History of Indiana Auto dealerships of the United States Retail companies established in 1891 Defunct companies based in Indianapolis 1891 establishments in Indiana Retail companies disestablished in 1911 1911 disestablishments in Indiana