The Apperson was a brand of American

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 1901 to 1926 in Kokomo,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

Company history

The company was founded by the brothers

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...

and Elmer Apperson shortly after they left Haynes-Apperson; for a time they continued to use a

FR layout A front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout (FR), also called Système Panhard is a powertrain layout with an engine in front and rear-wheel-drive, connected via a drive shaft. This arrangement, with the engine straddling the front axle, was the tra ...

-mounted flat-twin engine, following it with a horizontal four.

Apperson cars

In 1904, Apperson offered vertical fours in two models. The 1904 ''Apperson Touring Car'' was a

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. The ...

model. Equipped with a

tonneau A tonneau ( or ) is an area of a car, truck, or boat open at the top. It can be for passengers or cargo. When applied to trucks it refers to their ''bed'' (American English) or ''tray'' (British English). Origin of term A tonneau was orig ...

, it could seat 6 passengers and sold for

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6000. The vertical-mounted

straight-4 A straight-four engine (also referred to as an inline-four engine) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout ( ...

, situated at the front of the car, produced 40 hp (29.8 kW). A 4-speed transmission was fitted. The steel-framed car weighed 2800 lb (1270 kg). The wheel base was 96 inches. The Apperson offered electric lights, a novelty for the time, and used a modern cellular radiator. The 25 hp (18.6 kW) version weighed 1800 lb (816 kg) and sold for

3500. In 1906 the company cataloged a 95 hp (71 kW) four at $10,500. The next year the first of the famed Jackrabbit speedsters rolled off the line; this was a 60 hp (45 kW) that sold for $5000. For a time, the entire range was known as the "Jack Rabbit" - in 1913 a 32.4 hp (24 kW) four and a 33.7 hp (25 kW) six were listed, and a 33.8 hp (25 kW) 90-degree V-8 of 5.5 L (5502 cc/335 in³) followed in 1914.

Roadplane models introduced

In 1916 the company announced production of the "Roadplane" six and eights. The term "Roadplane" did not refer to a specific model but was a marketing concept devised by Elmer Apperson that was applied to the "Chummy Roadster" and the "Touring" car. Elmer took the unusual step of patenting the "Chummy Roadster" design (se
"U.S. Patent 48359"
. The "Silver-Apperson", designed by Conover T. Silver, was launched in 1917; the model was known as the "Anniversary" after 1919. A sedan proprietary with six cylinders of 3.2 L (3243 cc/197 in³) appeared in 1923, and a Lycoming eight-cylinder was offered beginning in 1924.

Final production

By 1924, Apperson and

Haynes Haynes may refer to: People *Haynes (surname) Places Australia * Haynes, Western Australia Canada * Haynes, Alberta United Kingdom *Haynes, Bedfordshire **Haynes Church End United States *Haynes, Arkansas *Haynes, North Dakota *Hayne ...

were both losing sales; a rumored remarriage came to naught, and Apperson folded for good despite the introduction of four-wheel brakes on the 1926 models.

Apperson production models

For specifications on various Apperson models: * Apperson Model A * Apperson Model B * Apperson Model C * Apperson Model D * Apperson Model Special * Apperson Six Sport Sedan * Apperson Model M * Apperson Model O * Apperson Model 4-30 * Apperson Model Jack Rabbit 4-30

References

* ''Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly'' (January, 1904) * Madden, W.C. (2003) ''Haynes-Apperson and America's first practical automobile : a history'', Jefferson, N.C. ; London : McFarland & Co., {{Authority control Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Indiana Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Kokomo, Indiana 1900s cars 1910s cars 1920s cars Brass Era vehicles Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1902 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1926 1902 establishments in Indiana 1926 disestablishments in Indiana Defunct companies based in Indiana