Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Salopian]

Yes I'm always in awe at the speed of getting into production of a new make such a Chrysler in the mid 20's and the amazing numbers of cars built by the new factory almost immediately thereafter - the figures are impressive. I seem to recall the initial manufacture in the States without hand fettling was of firearms in the 19C giving interchangeable spare parts.

From memory so feel free anyone to correct while the max Morris production at peak was around 1000 but averaged less firms such as Sunbeam never exceeded around 50 and Alvis around 20 in each case per week. In all there were only just over 3000 W O Bentleys built prior to the RR takeover. Anybody visiting a VSCC event today does not get anything like a real picture of the mixture of cars seen on the road in period.

Quite an enjoyable thread and I fully agree with V8nutter motoring as early as this was for everyman in the USA but very much a middle class and above activity in the UK.
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Jonathan Butler
Alvis SD 12/50 1928 MG TD 1950

[V8 Nutter]

Salopian is right about the fire arms industry. Eli Whitney inventor of the "Cotton Gin" also built machines for producing fire arms parts. These machines were so successful in 1814 the U.S. government passed a law that fire arms had to have interchangeable parts.

Before Henry Leland went into the motor industry, he had worked at the Springfield Arsenal and at Browne & Sharp, the company that invented the micrometer and the Universal Grinder. Charles Norton worked with Leland, it was Norton who perfected the modern grinding wheel, he later went on to design the first crank grinders.

Legend has it in the late thirties an executive from Vauxhall visited Pontiac (both owned by G.M.) He was very pleased when he heard Pontiac was only producing a few more units than Vauxhall, until he realised Pontiac was talking about weekly production and he was talking about yearly production.

[Keith D]

Regarding Salopian's comment about how quickly Chrysler started his company.
Walter Chrysler got the new car bearing his name going quickly in 1924 because he already owned the Maxwell factory after saving this company from liquidation, and the Chrysler 50 (4 cylinder) was actually a re-badged Maxwell. The first 'true' Chrysler was the Chrysler six of 1924 which was a very modern vehicle for it's day and became incredibly successful within a couple of years.
Keith

[V8 Nutter]

Chrysler was a very clever man. His first job was sweeping up in the railway workshops. He became a freelance engineer traveling round America repairing locomotives. He moved into the motor industry, he had a couple of managerial jobs with G.M. The bankers contracted him to save Willys Overland. They paid him a million dollars a year after tax. As Keith says he then saved Maxwell, he used the money he had made from Willys Overland to buy Maxwell