The Chatham Motor Car Company was a Canadian

brass era The Brass Era is an American term for the early period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such features as lights and radiator (engine cooling), radiators. It is generally considered to ...

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 ...

manufacturer, based in Chatham, Ontario, from 1906 to 1909.

History

The company was created in 1906. Investors included Joseph T. O'Keefe and Thomas A. Drew (partners in the O'Keefe and Drew pork retailers), T.K. Holmes (who became company president). W.J. Taylor (vice president), D. N. McMullen, Thomas Dillon (secretary-treasurer), J.F. Dillon (general manager). They established a factory in a two-story building on Adelaide Street, about halfway between McGregor Creek and King Street, previously used by Hyslop and Ronald to build

fire engine A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...

s. The plant had 40 employees. The company built only one model, the Chatham, right-hand drive five-passenger

tourer 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 ...

with a (later )

watercooled Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and non ...

four cylinder engine. The Chatham was priced at C$2500, when the

Colt Runabout The Colt Runabout was an American Brass-era automobile built in Yonkers, New York, in 1907Clymer, p.63. by William Mason Turner. It was a two-seater, with a long hood and short tail (where a pair of spare tires were mounted), characteristic of t ...

was priced at

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1500, the FAL US$1750, the Enger 40 and (in 1905) the

Ford Model F The Ford Model F is an automobile produced by Ford. It was a development of the Model A and Model C, but was larger, more modern, and more luxurious. Production started in 1905 and ended in 1906 after about 1,000 were made. It was built at the ...

were US$2000, while the high-volume

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile (formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors) was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produc ...

Runabout was US$650 and (in 1907) the $700 for the

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Model S was US$700. Chatham did not build its own bodies, instead, they were

subcontract A subcontractor is a person or business which undertakes to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract, and a subcontract is a contract which assigns part of an existing contract to a subcontractor. A general contractor, prime ...

ed to William Gray & Sons, a local

carriage A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...

builder. The car earned the loyalty of its buyers, but the company suffered financial difficulties, and in 1907, it was sued by a Detroit creditor and ultimately liquidated. Chatham dentist G. W. Cornell bought the company's assets and resumed production. In 1908, a new Chatham appeared, the Chatham 30, with a new engine and "tulip-style" body. The new car was entered in endurance trials and scored some successes. One example was driven from

Arcola, Saskatchewan Arcola is a town in south-east Saskatchewan, Canada, approximately north and east of Estevan. Saskatchewan Highway 13, Highway 13, Saskatchewan Highway 604, Highway 604, and Arcola Airport provide access to the community. Arcola served as the ...

to Chatham by J.B. Stauffer. The company sold only 35 cars, mainly to Chatham's wealthiest residents, before shutting down in 1909. The factory was purchased by Detroit's Anhut Motor Car Company in 1910, which continued to manufacture

badge engineered In the automotive industry, rebadging (also known as badge engineering, an intentionally ironic misnomer in that little or no actual engineering takes place) is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. T ...

Chathams under its own brand. The factory building still stood in the 1960s.Rhodes, John. "Car company made 35 units", written 17 June 2008, at
''Chatham This Week'' online
(retrieved 13 June 2017)

History

Notes

See also