The Atlas car was built in Springfield,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

from 1907-1911 (and became the Atlas-Knight for 1912–1913). After Harry Knox left the company that had been building Knox cars in Springfield, he established the Knox Motor Truck Company in 1905 to produce Atlas commercial vehicles. His former partners at his previous firm took him to court over the name. After he was forbidden from using the Knox name, he formed the Atlas Motor Car Company in late 1907.

History

Harry Knox had proposed to the people producing the Sunset Automobile Company in San Francisco, California that he produce the car under license. At first they refused, but changed their mind after the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity s ...

. The factory location was listed at 1336 Mission Street and manufactured cars by sourcing different components from various companies and selling a steam powered runabout for USD$900 ($ in dollars ). By 1904 the main office moved to 1814 Market Street and the company switched to gasoline powered products using a twin-cylinder,

two stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...

engine installed in the front driving the rear wheels, and offered a runabout on a 84" wheelbase until 1905. When the factory was destroyed during the earthquake, Knox' offer to build a car with the help of Bert Knapp of the Knapp Manufacturing Company and combined with Sunset Automobile to form Victory Motor Car Company and relocated to 896 South First Street in San Jose and was open for business August 1906. Three body styles were offered and the company was producing eight cars a month. Due to internal legal matters involving theft from a customers car being repaired at the facility, and a lawsuit, the company was sold in 1912 and ended operations. The Atlas of Springfield was thus based on the Sunset, even using the same

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...

engine. This same 2-cylinder 22 hp engine was used in the Atlas delivery vans and taxicab, starting in 1908. Harry Knox refined the engine and developed a 3-cylinder 34 hp version of it. Later, a 60 hp 4-cylinder version was offered. The firm entered an Atlas in the 1909

Vanderbilt Cup The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing. History An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held on October 8 on a course set out in Nassau County on Long Island, ...

, being the first two-stroke car to enter a major long-distance road race. This fact was promoted in subsequent promotional materials. Not long after, the two-stroke engine fell out of favor in the marketplace, and Knox added a Knight sleeve-valved engine in 1912. These cars were called Atlas-Knights, and were bigger, five- or seven-passenger touring cars that cost approximately $3500 ($ in dollars ). The company was bankrupt by early 1913, supposedly due to problems acquiring engines. Harry Knox then moved to Indianapolis to assist the Lyons brothers in producing the

Lyons-Knight The Lyons-Knight was an American automobile manufactured from 1913 until 1915 in Indianapolis, Indiana. History Three brothers, James W., William P. and George W. Lyons purchased the Atlas Engine Works and reorganized as the Lyons-Atlas Company ...

Notes

References

* G.N. Georgano, Nick (Ed.). ''The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile''. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2000. {{ISBN, 1-57958-293-1

External links

1910 Atlas (Springfield-built) 60 HP Model H 7-pass. Touring Car at conceptcarz
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Massachusetts Cars powered by Knight engines