Altham was an

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

manufactured from 1898 to 1899, in Fall River,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was designed by George J. Altham, and manufactured by Altham International Motor Car Company, which was based in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, United States.

History

In 1896, a designer George J. Altham from Fall River,

, after years of work, had made a

petrol engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American and Canadian English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends ...

. In August 1897, he installed it in a vehicle for testing purposes. In 1898, Altham International Motor Car Company was established, with its headquarters in

. By October 1898, the working prototype was sufficiently developed, and the commercial production of the Altham car had begun. The manufacturing factory was located in Fall River, Massachusetts, United States. The production ended in 1899, with only a few vehicles being built overall.Beverly Rae Kimes, Henry Austin Clark Jr.: ''Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942''. vol. 3. Iola: Krause Publications, 1996, p. 30. ISBN 0-87341-428-4.Marián Suman-Hreblay: ''Automobile Manufacturers Worldwide Registry''. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, 2015. p. 16. ISBN 9-781476611402.

Specifications

The Altham car had an

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. Air-cooled designs are far simpler than their liquid-cooled ...

two-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 categoriz ...

, with 6

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...

(4.4 kW), and 1000

revolutions per minute Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 de ...

. The vehicle had two seats.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altham (Car) 1890s cars Cars introduced in 1898 Defunct manufacturing companies based in Massachusetts Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Fall River, Massachusetts Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Massachusetts Veteran vehicles 1898 establishments in Massachusetts 1899 disestablishments in Massachusetts Cars discontinued in 1899