The All-Steel Motor Car Co. of

Macon, Missouri Macon is a city in and the county seat of Macon County, Missouri, United States. The population was 5,457 at the 2020 census. History Macon was platted in 1856. Like the county, Macon was named for Nathaniel Macon. A post office called "Macon C ...

, United States, was formed in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

in 1915 to manufacture an automobile called the ''All-Steel'' or ''Alstel''. All-Steel moved to Macon for production in a new factory. The automobile to be built was called the ''Macon''.

History

The ''All-Steel'' or ''Macon'', designed by Charles L. Smith, had a conventional 4-cylinder engine made by Sterling. It had a unique narrow platform backbone frame that enclosed the

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect o ...

and

gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...

. The body, electrically welded, was attached to the frame and rear

axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotation, rotating wheel and axle, wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In ...

at only three points so that the body could be easily removed. It was planned to be offered at $350 to $400. The company was reorganized as the Macon Motor Car Company in January 1917. In May 1917 the factory burned to the ground before production could start. Only prototypes had been built before the company declared bankruptcy.

References

{{StLouisCars Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Defunct manufacturing companies based in Missouri Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1915 1915 establishments in Missouri Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1916 1916 disestablishments in Missouri Brass Era vehicles 1910s cars Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Missouri Companies based in St. Louis Macon, Missouri