Acme (automobile)

Acme Motor Car Company

Industry	Automobile
Genre	Touring cars
Fate	Sold to SGV (1911)
Founded	1892
Defunct	1915
Headquarters	Reading, Pennsylvania
Key people	James C. Reber (founder) Herbert M.Sternbergh Robert E.Graham Fred Van Tine
Products	automobiles bicycles
Parent	Reber Manufacturing Co

The Acme (born 1892) was a model of chain-driven touring car made by the Reber Manufacturing Co in Reading, Pennsylvania, from 1903 to 1911.

History

The company was founded in 1892 by James C. Reber to produce bicycles. The Acme was preceded by the Reber, which was manufactured in 1902–03 and was powered by a vertical-twin engine. The first Acme automobiles also had twin-cylinder engines but were soon followed by four-cylinder models and in 1909 by a six-cylinder. The 1909 9653 cc Vanderbilt Six featured overdrive fourth gear.

In 1906, the company was advertising a 5-passenger tonneau in a national trade magazine. Model XIV was a 4-cylinder with a 30 to 35-horsepower motor and was priced at US$2,750 with maximum speed of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). Model XV, at US$3,500, was a 7-passenger Touring Car. It had a 4-cylinder motor with 45 to 50-horsepower. Maximum speed was 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). All Acme automobiles came with a year's "absolute binding guarantee."

The firm went into receivership in 1906, and its last cars were made in 1911. The factory was sold to SGV (Herbert M.Sternbergh, Robert E.Graham, and Fred Van Tine), which continued making some of the range until 1915.^{[citation needed]} Then the line was sold to Phianna, which moved production to Newark, New Jersey.

Advertisements

Acme Motor Car Company - 1906.

Further reading

• G. Marshall Naul, "Acme", in G.N. Georgano, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars 1885-1968 (New York: E.P. Dutton and Co., 1974), pp. 27.
• David Burgess Wise, The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles.

External links

• Photos of the Acme motorcar.