The Piggins 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

luxury automobile A luxury car is a passenger automobile providing superior comfort levels, features, and equipment. More expensive materials and surface finishes are used, and buyers expect a correspondingly high build quality. The term is relative and unavo ...

manufactured in 1908 and 1909 in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...

by the Piggins Brothers.

History

Charles R. Piggins and his brother Frederick H. Piggins were machinists who built an experimental steam car in 1883, an electric car in 1897 and their first gasoline car in 1902. From 1902, the Piggins Brothers machine shop at 1113 Sixth Street was producing gasoline automobile engines, in addition to two-stroke marine engines. The Piggins brothers claimed they had designed a gasoline motor that was smokeless and so noiseless that it could not be heard at a distance of six feet. In 1908 they entered automobile production with the biggest and most expensive car yet produced in Racine. The Piggins was a T-head

six-cylinder A straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balanc ...

offered in two models for 1909, a 50- hp and a 36-hp. The 50-hp model was on a 135-inch

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

and fitted with a 7-passenger

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. The ...

body priced at $4,700, . The 36-hp touring car on a 117-inch wheelbase was priced at $3,500, . A few more cars may have been built into 1910, but total automobile production is not recorded. Early in 1912 the Piggins Motor Truck Company was formed and a truck called "The Practical Piggins” was produced until 1916. Piggins was merged into Reliance Motor Truck Co., which was continued in manufacture in Racine and

Appleton Appleton may refer to: People and fictional characters * Appleton (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters * Appleton family, an American political, religious and mercantile family * Appleton P. Clark Jr. (1865–1955), Am ...

into the 1920's.

External links

History of Piggins Brothers Engine Works

References

{{reflist Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Wisconsin Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers Luxury vehicles Brass Era vehicles 1900s cars Cars introduced in 1908 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1908 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1912