Continental Motors Company was an American manufacturer of

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...

s. The company produced engines as a supplier to many independent manufacturers of automobiles, tractors, trucks, and stationary equipment (such as pumps, generators, and industrial machinery drives) from the 1900s through the 1960s. Continental Motors also produced automobiles in 1932–1933 under the name Continental Automobile Company. The Continental Aircraft Engine Company was formed in 1929 to develop and produce its

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are referred to as powered flight. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbin ...

s, and would become the core business of Continental Motors, Inc.

History

In 1905, Continental Motors was founded with the introduction of a four-cylinder,

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

L-head

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

utilizing a single

camshaft A camshaft is a shaft that contains a row of pointed cams in order to convert rotational motion to reciprocating motion. Camshafts are used in piston engines (to operate the intake and exhaust valves), mechanically controlled ignition syst ...

. In August 1929, the Continental Motors Company formed the Continental Aircraft Engine Company as a subsidiary to develop and produce its aircraft engines. 1948 Divco delivery truck at 2015 Shenandoah AACA meet 6of6

1948 Divco delivery truck at 2015 Shenandoah AACA meet 6of6

Continental Motors entered into the production of automobiles rather indirectly. Continental was the producer of automobile engines for numerous independent automobile companies in the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s, including Durant Motors Corporation which used the engines in its Star, Durant, Flint and Rugby model lines. Following the 1931 collapse of Durant, a group having interest in Durant Motors began assembling their own cars, the De Vaux-Hall Motors Company, using the Durant body dies, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Oakland, California, and under the De Vaux brand name. When De Vaux-Hall collapsed in 1932, unable to pay creditors, Continental Motors assumed automobile assembly and marketed the vehicles under the Continental-De Vaux brand name for the balance of the 1932 model year. Continental Motors introduced a completely new line of Continental-branded automobiles for 1933. These cars were not based upon the 1931 De Vaux, a product of the De Vaux-Hall, which had been using body dies left over from the former Durant produced by Durant Motors until 1930. The 1933 Continentals were marketed in three model ranges: The largest and most expensive was the six-cylinder Ace; next was a smaller six-cylinder called the Flyer and also the low-priced four-cylinder Beacon. The 1933 Beacon roadster was the lowest price full-size car offered for sale in the United States in the 1930s, costing only

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 ...

335. None of these met with success in the depression era economy. At this same time, Dominion Motors Ltd. of Canada was building the same Flyer and Beacon cars under arrangement with Continental for sale in the Canadian market, and importing the larger Ace models. Dominion then converted to building Reo brand trucks. The Ace and Flyer models were discontinued at the close of the 1933 model year. Finding that its cars were unprofitable, Continental stopped assembling even Beacon automobiles in 1934. Continental was a major manufacturer of horizontally opposed 'flat four' airplane engines and supplied a similar engine for Sherman tanks during World War II. Apparently the United States government contracts continued during the Korean War. As the jet engine began to replace piston engine powered airplanes, Continental began losing their military contracts. The jet engine technology thus led to an understandable end to Continental's military prosperity. When the Korean War ended, Kaiser Corporation, who used Continental engines in all their vehicles, was able to gain ownership of a Continental engine factory. It was during that time of downsizing Continental's operations that many Continental employees dispersed to find jobs elsewhere in the industry — those engineers finding new jobs at other companies like the newly-formed American Motors, even Chevrolet. Kaiser, working with a Continental-designed engine, introduced the USA's first mass-produced

overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine in which the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustio ...

(OHC) inline six-cylinder engine. It debuted in Kaiser-owned Jeep Corporation vehicles in the mid-1960s. However, Stutz built both single- and dual-overhead cam inline six-cylinder engines in, respectively, the late 1920s and early 1930s (SOHC) and the early 1930s (DOHC). Moreover, these were fitted in Stutz production cars, though their numbers were comparatively small. Particular models of John Deere tractors are currently being supplied by Continental since the ownership transfer to Korea, as stated on the tractor engine identification plates.

Engines

Types

Continental built many engines for the US military, some by license, and many of unusual type. Inline: several conventional gasoline I6s were built for trucks, the COA331 (licensed from REO), 6602, 22R, and AO895 (also used in some armored vehicles). Later the M-A-N licensed multifuel LDS427, LD465 and turbocharged LDT465 were developed, also for use in trucks. Radial: in the late 1930s 7 and 9 cylinder air cooled radial aircraft engines were adapted for use in armored vehicles. The W670 and R975 were considered very reliable by the British in North Africa, but were not developed further. Opposed: just after WWII an air cooled O6 was developed for armored vehicles. All were supercharged, AOS895-3 models had carburetors, -5 models had fuel injection with no increase in power, but greater fuel mileage. V type: in the early 1950s an air cooled V12 engine was introduced for armored vehicles. Later the AVSI-1790 was developed into the AVDS-1790 diesel version, which was often retro-fitted to earlier vehicles.

Use

Automobiles

The following automobile companies used Continental engines: * Abbott-Detroit * Ace * Anderson * Apperson * Auburn *

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(Y112 4 cyl. first

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

) *

Barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

* Bay State Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 26 * Beggs * Benham * Bendix *

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

* Blackhawk * Bour-Davis * Bush * Cardway Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 37 *

Case Case or CASE may refer to: Instances * Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design * Special case, an instance that differs in a certain way from others of the type Containers * Case (goods), a package of relate ...

* Checker (pre-1965) * Colby * Columbia *

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

* Continental (see above) * Corbitt * Crawford * Dagmar * Darling Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 56 * Davis * Detroiter Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 160 * De Vaux * Diana *

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

DuPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...

* Durant Motors, including: ** Durant **

Eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 69 **

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

Star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

Economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

* Elcar *

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

* Enger * Erskine * Ferris Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 78 *

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

* Graham-Paige ** Graham * Hanson * Hansa *

Hertz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or Cycle per second, cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in ter ...

Hollier The Hollier, also known as the Vincent-Hollier, was an automobile built in Chelsea and Jackson, Michigan by Charles Lewis, president of the Lewis Spring and Axle Company from 1915 to 1921. The Hollier was available originally with a V-8 engine o ...

Howard Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for ...

Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 100 * Howmet TX (turbine race car) * Huffman * Imperial * Jaeger * Jewett * Jones Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 107 *

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

* Kaiser-Frazer, including ** Allstate ** Frazer **

Henry J The Henry J is an American automobile built by the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation and named after its chairman, Henry J. Kaiser. Mass production, Production of six-cylinder models began in their Willow Run factory in Michigan in July 1950, and four- ...

Kaiser Kaiser ( ; ) is the title historically used by German and Austrian emperors. In German, the title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (). In English, the word ''kaiser'' is mainly applied to the emperors ...

Willys Willys (pronounced , "Willis") was a brand, brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John Willys, John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II–era Willys MB, ...

(after 1953) * Keller *

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

* Kenworthy * Kleiber Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 112 * Kline Kar * Lambert * Leach Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 116 * Lexington ** Howard *

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

* Littlemac * Locomobile * Luverne * Marendaz * Marion-Handley * Merit Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 131 *

Meteor A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a ...

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, Wes ...

Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, pp. 136-137 *

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

* Morris Cowley * Morris (manf'd under licence) * National * Noma Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 143 * Norwalk * O'Connor * Ogren Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 144 * Overland * Owen Magnetic * Paige * Pan-American Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 151 * Paterson *

Pathfinder Pathfinder, Path Finder or Pathfinders may refer to: Aerospace * ''Mars Pathfinder'', a NASA Mars Lander * NASA Pathfinder, a high-altitude, solar-powered uncrewed aircraft * Space Shuttle ''Pathfinder'', a Space Shuttle test simulator Arts and ...

* Peerless *

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

* Ralf-Stetysz * Reiland Bree * Reo ** Wolverine * ReVere Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, pp. 169-170 * Roamer * Rock Falls Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 173 * Romer * Ruxton *

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

* Sayers Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 178 * Scripps-Booth * Severin Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 180 * S&M Georgano, G. N., ''Encyclopedia of American Automobiles'', 1971, p. 177 * Stanwood * Stephens * Thorne * Velie * Vogue * Walker * Washington *

Wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

* Westcott * Windsor * Woods *

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

Motorcycles

* Indian (pre 1953 models)

Trucks and buses

AM General AM General is an American heavy vehicle and contract manufacturer, contract automotive manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. It is best known for the civilian Hummer H1, Hummer and the military Humvee that are assembled in Mishawaka, Indiana. ...

(medium and heavy trucks for military use) * Bessemer * Biederman * Brockway *

Commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

* Corbitt * Denby * Divco * Federal * GMC *

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 ...

* McKeen bus for

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

(only 2) *

Menominee The Menominee ( ; meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized tribe of Na ...

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

* Moreland * NETCO * Reo *

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

* Sterling * Wachusett

Tractors

Some models used Continental engines for only part of their production lifespan; others used them exclusively. * Allis-Chalmers Model G * Allis-Chalmers Model U * ATC TerraTrac *

Model VC * Ferguson TE-20 * Ferguson TO-20 * Ferguson TO-30 * Ferguson TO-35 * International 350 and Farmall 350 diesels *

Massey-Harris Massey Ferguson is an agricultural machinery manufacturer, established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson-Brown Company, Ferguson Company of Ireland. It was based in Coventry then moved t ...

44-6 and 101Sr * Massey-Harris Pony * Massey-Harris 33 and 333 diesels * Massey-Harris 50 / Ferguson F-40 * Massey-Harris 81 * Oliver Super 44 * Some Silver King tractors *Massey Ferguson 135

Other Vehicles

(Vehicles often change engines during production and/or service life) * Trucks ** BRC ½ ton (227 kg) 4x4 ** M35 series 2 ½ ton (2268 kg) 6x6 ** M54 series 5 ton (4536 kg) 6x6 ** G116 10 ton (9272 kg) 6x6 ** M249 and 250 tractors 4x4
(for “Atomic Cannon”) * Gun motor carriages and tractors ** M5 13 ton (11793 kg) tractor ** M7 105 mm howitzer ** M8 16 ton (14515 kg) tractor ** M12 155 mm gun ** M18 76 mm AT gun ** M40 155 mm gun ** M42 40 mm (x2) AA gun ** M43 howitzer ** M44 155 mm howitzer ** M52 105 mm howitzer ** M53 155 mm gun ** M55 howitzer * Landing vehicles and carriers **

LVT LVT may refer to: * Land value tax, a levy on the value of land * Landing Vehicle Tracked The Amphibious Vehicle, Tracked (LVT or AMTRAC) is an amphibious warfare vehicle and Amphibious vehicle, amphibious landing craft, introduced by the ...

(A)(1), (2), and (A)(2) ** LVT (4), (A)(4), and (A)(5) ** LVPT 5 ** M75 Armored personnel carrier ** M76 1 ½ ton (1361 kg) carrier * Tanks ** M3 light (37 mm gun) ** M3 medium (75 mm gun) ** M4 medium (75 mm/76 mm gun) ** M41 light (76 mm gun) ** M47 medium (90 mm gun) ** M48 medium (90 mm/105 mm gun) ** M60 medium (105 mm gun) ** M103 heavy (120 mm gun) * Armored recovery vehicles
(tank chassis / winch capacity) ** M31(M3 / ) ** M32 (M4 / ) ** M51 (M103 / ) ** M88 (M48 / )

References

Engines

;Citations ;Sources * * * *{{cite book , editor1-first= G. N., editor1-last= Georgano, editor1-link = G.N. Georgano, title= Encyclopedia of American Automobiles, isbn = 0-525-097929, year= 1971, publisher= E. P. Dutton, location= New York, NY USA, ref=EAA_Georgano

External links

"Flying With Forty Horses" by Chet Peek - Book covering the story of the Continental A-40, the engine which revived the struggling aviation industry during the Great Depression
*Hemmings Classic Ca

Motor vehicle engine manufacturers Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Engine manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies established in 1905 American companies established in 1905