The Colonial was an American
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 ...
manufactured in 1920 by the Mechanical Development Corporation of
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
.
The car came with a
straight-eight engine; it also featured disc wheels, with an extra pair mounted at the side as spares. The body was a
hardtop
A hardtop is a rigid form of automobile roof, which for modern cars is typically constructed from metal. A hardtop roof can be either fixed (i.e. not removable), detachable for separate storing or retractable within the vehicle itself.
The ...
, calibrated so that the driver could turn it into either a
sedan or 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.
Th ...
simply by rearranging the windows.
Production models were to sell for $1800, but only the prototype was completed.
The Colonial is chiefly remembered today because it was the first American car to feature four-wheel
hydraulic brake
A hydraulic brake is an arrangement of braking mechanism which uses brake fluid, typically containing glycol ethers or diethylene glycol, to transfer pressure from the controlling mechanism to the braking mechanism.
History
During 1904, Frede ...
s.
The Mechanical Development Corporation announced in 1924 that the 1921 prototype would be put into production in a new $2.5 million factory which could build 12,000 cars a year, but these plans never eventualized.
The prototype Colonial still survives.
See also
*
Colonial (1921 automobile)
The Colonial was an American automobile manufactured in Boston by the Colonial Motors Corporation from 1921 until 1922.
Although the company pledged to produce "in excess of 100 cars" during its first year in business no more than a dozen are be ...
*
Colonial (Shaw automobile)
The Shaw renamed the Colonial for 1921, was an American Luxury car, luxury automobile that was manufactured in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois from 1920 until 1921. At the end of 1921 the Colonial was rebranded the Ambassador (automobile company), Amba ...
References
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
Motor vehicle manufacturers based in California
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