Phianna was an American

luxury automobile A luxury car is a car that provides increased levels of comfort, equipment, amenities, quality, performance, and associated status compared to moderately priced cars. The term is subjective and reflects both the qualities of the car and the b ...

manufactured from 1916 to 1922, first in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

and then

Long Island City, New York Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

History

Phianna Motors Company

The Phianna Motors Company was created in 1916 by R. J. Metzler. Metzler had acquired the SGV's equipment and production line in May 1915 prior to the company being wound up. SGV had fallen deeply into debt. Metzler partnered with industrialists John A. Bell and T. M. Pepperday, who moved production from

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

. The name Phianna originated from one of the companies twin daughters, Phyllis and Anna. Phianna made one car based on the SGV, before changing to it own models. The 1916 Phianna was a $3,600

town car The Lincoln Town Car is a model line of full-size luxury sedans that was marketed by the Lincoln division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. Deriving its name from a limousine body style, Lincoln marketed the Town Car from 1981 to ...

. The bodies were custom-built and

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpa ...

were available for

coachwork A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...

. By 1917 Phianna's ranged in price from $5,000 to $6,000, .

M. H. Carpenter Company

With the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

entry into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, in 1918 the Phianna factory was used to make tools and dies for the

Wright-Martin Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation was a short-lived aircraft manufacturing business venture between the Wright Company (after Orville Wright sold the Wright Company and divested himself from it) and Glenn L. Martin. History Company official ...

Aircraft Company. The Phianna company put its assets up for sale and Miles Harold Carpenter, an automobile enthusiast who had purchased a Phianna, with assistance from a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

rancher, Carl M Worsham, acquired the assets. A new plant was set up at the end of 59th Street,

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to th ...

. Miles Carpenter was an automotive designer who had worked for

Pierce Arrow The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company was an American motor vehicle manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, which was active from 1901 to 1938. Although best known for its expensive luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manufactured commercial truck ...

and

Chalmers Chalmers may refer to: ;People * Chalmers (surname), people with the surname ''Chalmers'' * Chalmers Tschappat, American football player ;Places * Chalmers, Indiana, a US town * Port Chalmers, Dunedin, New Zealand * Port Chalmers (New Zealand el ...

among others in a varied career. The Phianna was hand-built including it's four-cylinder engine of polished aluminum and a wooden cooling fan designed by Fred Charavey. An update version on a 125-inch wheelbase and a new radiator design changing from the

Brewster Brewster may refer to: People * Brewster (surname) *Brewster Kahle (born 1960), American computer technologist *Brewster H. Shaw (born 1945), American astronaut Places * Brewster Park (Enniskillen), Northern Ireland *Brewster (crater), The Moon ...

style oval to a more popular

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated ...

style was ready for the 1919 auto shows. The Phianna was a prestige car, prices ranging from $6,000 for a standard brougham, to $9,500 () for a special touring car, to $11,500 for a limousine. Innovative

safety glass Safety glass is glass with additional safety features that make it less likely to break, or less likely to pose a threat when broken. Common designs include toughened glass (also known as tempered glass), laminated glass, and wire mesh glass ( ...

was introduced in 1919 as were

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s and

stop light Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic. Traffic lights ...

s. Carpenter changed the company's motto from ''The Foreign Car Made in America'' to ''America's Representative Among the World's Finest Cars''. The company also introduced an innovative six-cylinder engine in 1919 that saw limited production. Phianna could list owners such as the King of Spain, the

President of Brazil The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head o ...

and

Bainbridge Colby Bainbridge Colby (December 22, 1869 – April 11, 1950) was an American politician and attorney who was a co-founder of the United States Progressive Party and Woodrow Wilson's last Secretary of State. Colby was a Republican until he helped co-f ...

, Secretary of State. Miles Carpenter built Phiannas for

Glenn Curtiss Glenn Hammond Curtiss (May 21, 1878 – July 23, 1930) was an American aviation and motorcycling pioneer, and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles. As early ...

using the OX-5 engine with a view to setting up a Curtiss car company. With the depression of 1921 Carpenter, on advice from

Mortimer L. Schiff Mortimer Loeb Schiff (June 5, 1877 – June 4, 1931), sometimes Mortimer Leo Schiff, was an American banker and notable early Boy Scouts of America (BSA) leader. His son, John Mortimer Schiff, was also involved with the BSA. He was also the fath ...

, decided to stop production and close down the business. The final car was made in 1922 for John F Norman.

Gallery

File:1919 Phianna automobile in Motor Life magazine Ny Show.jpg, 1919 Phianna Town Car - New York Auto Show display - Motor Life magazine File:1920 Phianna Coupe Roadster.jpg, 1920 Phianna Coupe from brochure illustrated by Ray Wilcox File:1920 Phianna Town Car.jpg, 1920 Phianna Town Car from brochure illustrated by Ray Wilcox

References

{{Commons category, Phianna vehicles 1916 establishments in New Jersey Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1922 Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers Luxury vehicles Vintage vehicles 1910s cars 1920s cars Motor vehicle manufacturers based in New York (state) Coachbuilders of the United States Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1916 Cars introduced in 1916