Cartercar was an American automotive manufacturing company established in 1905 in

Jackson, Michigan Jackson is a city in Jackson County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 31,309 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along Interstate 94 in Michigan, Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127 in Michigan, U.S ...

, and founded by Byron J. Carter. After several relocations in other cities, Cartercar was acquired by

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

in 1909.

History

Beginning

After leaving the

Jackson Automobile Company The Jackson Automobile Company was an American Brass Era automobile manufacturer located in and named for Jackson, Michigan. The company produced the Jackson from 1903 to 1923, the 1903 Jaxon steam car and the 1904 Orlo. Company History Byron ...

due to a disagreement with his business partners over the choice of transmissions in 1905, Byron J. Carter formed the Motorcar Company in Jackson. The firm relocated to Detroit by the end of the year, due to having financing there. Starting in 1907, the company was named Cartercar Company and was relocated to Pontiac, thereupon merging with the makers of the Pontiac

High wheeler A high wheeler is a car which uses large diameter wheels that are similar to those used by horse-drawn vehicles. These cars were produced until about 1915, predominantly in the United States. Design High wheelers were derived from horse-drawn ...

. The Cartercar was given a warm reception in the press, largely due to the friction drive transmission, which was a sort of forerunner of the CVT of today, as both offered an infinite number of engine speeds. At 4,000 miles, the paper fiber rims that were part of the friction-drive could be replaced for no more than US$5 ($ in dollars ), which was less than half the price that would be expended on grease packing in a regular geared transmission.

Sale to General Motors

Sales more than doubled between the first and second full years of production, from 101 in 1906 to 264 in 1907. The next year sales were up again, now at 325. On October 26, 1909, Cartercar was bought by

in the acquisition spree that William Durant went on after founding GM. In explaining the reason he purchased Cartercar, Durant said:

"They say I shouldn't have bought Cartercar. Well, how was anyone to know that Carter wasn't to be the thing? It had the friction drive and no other car had it. How could I tell what these engineers would say next?"

Durant lost control of GM in 1910, and by the time he had regained control in 1915, the GM board had already decided to discontinue the Cartercar, largely because sales never approached the 1000-2000 annually that Durant had predicted. The GM board decided to use the factory instead to produce the

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

Powertrain

The company began with a

flat-twin A flat-twin engine is a two-cylinder internal combustion engine with the cylinders on opposite sides of the crankshaft. The most common type of flat-twin engine is the boxer-twin engine, where both pistons move inwards and outwards at the same ti ...

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

; this was used alongside vertical fours in the 1909 range of cars. By 1910, four-cylinder engines were the sole motor available. Two models, both pair-cast fours, appeared in 1912; the Model R was 4160 cc, while the Model S was 5437 cc. Each had a single chain drive. Even though there were other friction-drive cars on the market at the time, such as Lambert,

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

, and Petrel, none of them lasted as long or were as famous as the Cartercar.

Death of Byron Carter

Tragedy struck when Byron Carter died in 1908 as a result of trying to start a stalled car; the crank kicked back and hit him in the jaw, causing

gangrene Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...

which ultimately proved fatal. Carter was a personal friend of

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

founder

Henry Leland Henry Martyn Leland (February 16, 1843 – March 26, 1932) was an American machinist, inventor, engineer, and automotive entrepreneur. He founded the two premier American luxury automotive marques, Cadillac and Lincoln. Early years Henry M. Le ...

, and his unfortunate death prompted Leland to urge

Charles Kettering Charles Franklin Kettering (August 29, 1876 – November 25, 1958) sometimes known as Charles Fredrick Kettering was an American inventor, engineer, businessman, and the holder of 186 patents. For the list of patents issued to Kettering, see, Le ...

's development of the Self-Starter (introduced in 1912), the first successful motor vehicle electric starting system, thus eliminating the dangerous crank. An ad for the 1912 Cartercar states that it includes a self-starter.

Because its friction-drive transmission allowed selection of any ratio rather than having fixed gear positions, the Cartercar was advertised as "The Car of a Thousand Speeds." Another ad touted "It's Hard to Improve a Cartercar."

Gallery

File:Carter Car Motorcar Company Final Assembling Department.png, Interiof of the final assembling dept. File:1909 Cartercar Model H Touring.jpg, 1909 Cartercar Model H Touring File:Stahls Automotive Collection December 2021 018 (1910 Cartercar).jpg, 1910 Cartercar File:Cartercar 1912.JPG, 1912 Cartercar File:1912 Cartercar Model R Number 6678.jpg, 1912 Cartercar Model R (#6678). One of three known to exist Cartercar 1912 ad.jpg, 1912 ad

Notes

References

External links

Cartercarg.org
Cartercar enthusiasts' website

at ''RitzSite'' {{JacksonCars 1905 establishments in Michigan Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1905 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1915 Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Michigan Cars powered by boxer engines Defunct companies based in Michigan Pontiac, Michigan 1915 disestablishments in Michigan