The States was a
cyclecar
A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the car. A key c ...
manufactured by the States Cyclecar Company of
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
in 1915.
The States Motor Car Company manufactured the Greyhound cyclecar built first in
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnat ...
and then in
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropoli ...
from 1913 to 1915. From 1916 the successor States Motor Manufacturing Company built the Greyhound and then the States
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded ...
in Kalamazoo from 1917-1919.
States Cyclecar Company
The States Cyclecar Company was organized in Detroit in July of 1914 with a $150,000 capitalization by major stockholders George W. Meredith, Samuel E. Jones and Victor W. Valade. The States was a
four-cylinder
The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized.
Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categorize ...
, two-passenger side-by-side
roadster body and came fully equipped including a mohair top for $365, .
The States was introduced at the
Detroit Automobile Show in January 1915, and closed later that year.
States Motor Car Company
The States Motor Car Manufacturing Company and the previous States Motor Car Company which had built the Greyhound cyclecar and light cars in the old
Michigan Buggy Company plant in Kalamazoo was combined in 1917 into a new States Motor Car Company, capitalized at $6,000,000. The people involved were John A. Pyl as president, James H. Johnson and B. R. Barber as vice-presidents.
The new States car was a four-cylinder slightly larger than the Greyhound, priced at $895, .
E. J. Cook designed the car. A
six-cylinder
The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balan ...
companion car was added for 1918, but that was the final year for the States. The company was reported to be "permanently out of business” in the January 23rd, 1919 issue of Motor Age.
References
{{Commons category, Greyhound vehicles
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Michigan
Defunct manufacturing companies based in Detroit
Cars introduced in 1915
Cars introduced in 1917
1910s cars
Cyclecars
Vintage vehicles
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1914
Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1915
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1917
Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1919