Frontenac Motor Corporation was a joint venture of Louis Chevrolet, Indy 500 winner Joseph Boyer Jr., Indianapolis car dealer William Small, and Zenith Carburetor president Victor Heftler. Per articles of Incorporation on file in the Michigan State Archives, it was founded in Detroit in December 1915. The company focused on building high-performance automobiles that would be used in major AAA events, including the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

. Gaston Chevrolet won the

1920 Indianapolis 500 The 8th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1920. Ralph DePalma held a two lap lead when the car stalled on lap 187. His riding mechanic Pete DePaolo ran to the pits to get a ca ...

in a Frontenac, but died a few months later in a late-season race in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

in November 1920; he had already accumulated enough points to posthumously win the championship. In 1921, Frontenac won the Indy 500 again, this time at the hands of

Tommy Milton Thomas Milton (November 14, 1893 – July 10, 1962) was an American race car driver best known as the first two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. He was notable for having only one functional eye, a disability that would have disqualified him ...

, and the company entered into a deal with

Stutz Motor Company The Stutz Motor Car Company, was an American producer of high-end sports and luxury cars based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Production began in 1911 and ended in 1935. Stutz was known as a producer of fast cars including America's first spo ...

to build passenger cars. However, the deal quickly went wrong, and Frontenac Motors filed bankruptcy protection in 1923.

Other uses

There is a private organization of collectors of early automobiles calling itself the Frontenac Motor Corporation that appears to have no connection to the 1915 company.

References

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External links

Chevrolet Builds Fords
retrieved Jan 31, 2012
New York Times on the 1920 crash in which Gaston Chevrolet was killedLibrary
retrieved Jan 31, 2012
1921 Indianapolis 500 statistics
retrieved Jan 31, 2012
Frontenac Racing History
at ChevroletBrothers.com Frontenac Motor Company Advertisement

Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1921 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1914 1914 establishments in Indiana 1921 disestablishments in Indiana Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Indiana