The Partin Manufacturing Company was a

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 ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

automobile manufacturer, headquartered at 29 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois from 1913 to 1917. The Partin-Palmer automobile and Pioneer cyclecar were produced.Clymer, Floyd. ''Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925'' (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.151.

History

G. H. Partin, of the Partin Manufacturing Company, a large automobile sales agency in Chicago, joined in 1913 with the Palmer Motor Car Co. of Henry Palmer, formerly general manager of

Cartercar Cartercar was an American automotive manufacturing company established in 1905 in Jackson, Michigan, and founded by Byron J. Carter. After several relocations in other cities, Cartercar was acquired by General Motors in 1909. History Beginni ...

. Palmer had formed his company from the assets of the Suburban Motor Car Company. They began by manufacturing

cyclecars A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive motorized car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the ca ...

called the Pioneer, a Model 45 named the Partin, and a Model 38 named Partin-Palmer. The Partin model did not last to the end of 1913, and all models were subsequently called Partin-Palmers. The company first moved to Chicago to take over the Staver-Chicago (automobile), Staver-Chicago automobile factory. Partin and Palmer were no longer with the company by 1915 and the new manager, C. C. Darnall moved production to Rochelle, Illinois where the Geo D. Whitcomb Company assembled them. In 1915 the company was reorganized as Commonwealth (automobile company), Commonwealth Motors Corporation and the cars were still called Partin-Palmers into 1917 when a new car called the Commonwealth was introduced and production moved to Joliet, Illinois. A restored Partin-Palmer is displayed at the Flagg Township Museum in Rochelle, Illinois.

File:1913 Partin-Palmer Advertsing - Horseless Age.jpg, 1913 Partin-Palmer two-page advertisement in Horseless Age Magazine File:1913 Partin-Palmer Model-20.jpg, 1914 Partin-Palmer Model 20 advertisement in Horseless Age Magazine File:1914 Partin-Palmer 38 - 1913 MoToR Magazine.jpg, 1913 Partin-Palmer Model 38 advertisement in Motor Magazine File:MHV Pioneer 1914.jpg, 1913-1914 Pioneer Cyclecar - American Mfg. Co. - Horseless Age Magazine

Models

Partin-Palmer 20

In 1914, the Partin-Palmer 20 was a Roadster (automobile), roadster offered with a four-cylinder watercooled, water-cooled engine of 22 hp (16 kW), with Gray and Davis Electrical generator, generator, optional Gray and Davis electric starter, and (still unusual) shaft drive. It had a 56 in (142 cm) tread (wheel track, track) and 96 in (2438 mm) wheelbase, with ¾-elliptic springs and Beam axle, I-beam front axle. The Model 20 came standard with electric lighting and horn, folding top with side curtains and dust boot, speedometer, the (typical for the period) tool kit, jack, and tire patch, all for $495 (). In 1916 a Touring car, touring version was offered with a more powerful engine as the Model 32 priced at $675.

Pioneer Cyclecar

In late 1913 Partin Manufacturing produced a typical cyclecar with an 9-hp Air-cooled engine, air-cooled V-twin engine, V-twin, Friction drive, friction transmission and Belt (mechanical), belt drive. On a 96-inch wheelbase, the seating was advertised as side by side, the passenger sat about a foot to the rear of the driver to allow for sufficient elbow room within the forty-inch-wide body. The Pioneer was listed as made by the American Manufacturing Company rather than Partin Manufacturing Company. The Pioneer was available only for the 1914 season and was priced at $385, .

Partin-Palmer 38

From 1913 a six-passenger Model 38 with a 115 in (2921 mm) wheelbase was also available, for $975 (). For the first year a Partin Model 45 with a more powerful engine was offered.

History

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Models

Partin-Palmer 20

Pioneer Cyclecar

Partin-Palmer 38

References

See also