Stevens-Duryea
 | |
| Industry | Automotive |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1901 |
| Founder | J. Frank Duryea |
| Defunct | 1927 |
| Headquarters | Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, United States |
| Products | Automobiles |
Stevens-Duryea was an American manufacturer of automobiles in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, between 1901 and 1915 and from 1919 to 1927.
The company was founded after a falling-out between J. Frank Duryea and his brother Charles in 1898 over the affairs of the Duryea Motor Wagon Company. In 1900 Frank went on to form Hampden Automobile and Launch Company (Springfield), where he developed a new automobile and looked for a manufacturer to produce it. J. Stevens Arms and Tool Company, who were about to enter the developing car business, entered into a partnership with Frank and took over the factory of steam car and bicycle maker Overman (car company) (sharing the premises for several months).[1]
History
Stevens-Duryea's first product was a two-cylinder, 5 hp Runabout that sold for $1,200 in 1901 (equivalent to $43,900 in 2023). No production numbers are known for 1901 but the firm produced 61 cars in 1902 and 483 in 1903. (A 1903 example can be seen at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan.) By 1904 the runabout, a tube chassis 6 hp (4.5 kW) flat twin buggy runabout victoria, was called the Model L. It had a flat-mounted water-cooled straight-twin engine, situated amidships of the car, four speed gearbox (three forward, one reverse), wire wheels, full-elliptic springs, and tiller steering. Weighing 1300 lb (590 kg), it sold at US$1300. This would be imported to Britain by Joseph Baker, but would not succeed there; in the U.S., it would survive several years. It was joined in 1905 by the US$2500 Model R, an aluminum-bodied, five-seat, 20 hp four with three-speed gearbox and live axle.[2]
The model line grew in 1906, adding a US$2400 runabout and a US$3300 limousine. There was also the new Big Six, with a huge 9.6 liter six-cylinder motor, seven-seater tulipwood body, weighing 2900lbs. (1315 kg), at US$5000.[3]
In 1907, The company dropped both the L and R, and Stevens-Duryea focused on sixes. The company still put four-cylinder engines in its 1908 Model X and 1909 Model XXX. After 1909, it made only six-cylinder engines.[4] The shortage of skilled labor hampered the company; The company sold only some fifty units in 1904, and maximum production did not exceed 100 a year.[3]
By 1911, a Model Y (40 hp, six-cylinder) vehicle was being sold and forms the basis of Machinery's Reference Guide No. 60 Construction and Manufacture of Automobiles[5] describing what is already almost conceptually indistinguishable from vehicles produced in the early 21st century. A remark in the publication emphasizes how the company reached this configuration in the preceding six years.
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The 1915 Model D was the company's last new design, an 80 hp (60 kW) 472ci (7740cc) six. It was this year Frank Duryea sold out; production stopped in 1915 because of financial problems and the plant was sold to New England Westinghouse Company.[6] Several former employees bought the name and goodwill and in 1919 restarted production of the D as the Model E, at a stratospheric US$9500 (equivalent to $286,000 in 2023; this was at a time when a physician might earn US$3000 a year).[7]
A nicely preserved example of a 1914 Stevens-Duryea is on display at the Winery at the Biltmore Estate. George Vanderbilt had purchased a 1913 model but traded it in for 1914 since the latter had electric rather than oil-burning headlamps.
Company sold
The company's prospects did not improve, and it was purchased by Ray Owen (of Owen Magnetic) in 1923 to produce gas and electric cars under the Rauch and Lang brand, in a factory next to the Stevens-Duryea factory.[6] A new model Stevens-Duryea was announced, the Model G, but this was basically the same as the Model E.[6] After only 28 cars were sold in 1924, manufacture of the Model G continued on an orders received basis until 1927.[6]
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See also
- Alesbury, an Irish automobile powered by a Stevens-Duryea engine
Notes
- ^ Wise, David Burgess. "Stevens-Duryea: A Very Limited Company," in Ward, Ian, executive editor. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis Publishing), Volume 19, p.2188.
- ^ Wise, p.2189
- ^ a b Wise, p.2189.
- ^ Classic Car Database, Specifications, Dealers, Parts, and Services for Antique, Classic, Vintage and Muscle Cars
- ^ Flanders, Ralph E. (1912). Construction and Manufacture of Automobiles (2 ed.). New York: The Industrial Press. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ a b c d Kimes, Beverly Rae (1996). The Standard Catalog of American Cars: 1805–1942. Iola, IA: Krause Publications. p. 1612. ISBN 0873414284.
- ^ Spajic, Igor. "Vintage Cars of 'The Great Gatsby' – Stevens-Duryea Model E". www.vintagecarheritage.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
References
- Wise, David Burgess. "Stevens-Duryea: A Very Limited Company", in Ward, Ian, executive editor. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis Publishing), Volume 19, p. 2188-9.
- Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly (January, 1904)
External links
- Duryea
- Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
- Manufacturing companies based in Massachusetts
- Companies based in Hampden County, Massachusetts
- Chicopee, Massachusetts
- Cars introduced in 1901
- Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers
- American companies established in 1901
- Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1901
- Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1927
- 1901 establishments in Massachusetts
- 1927 disestablishments in Massachusetts
- Defunct companies based in Massachusetts
- Stevens Arms
- 1900s cars
- 1910s cars
- 1920s cars
- Veteran vehicles
- Brass Era vehicles
- Vintage vehicles