Rider-Lewis 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 ...
automobile
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
built first in
Muncie and then
Anderson, Indiana
Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. The population was 54,788 at the 2020 census. It is named after Chief William Anderson. The city is the headquarters of the Church of God and its Anderson ...
from 1908 to 1911.
History
Ralph Lewis of Boston, designed an
overhead valve
An overhead valve engine, abbreviated (OHV) and sometimes called a pushrod engine, is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with flathead (or "sidevalve") engines, where the v ...
,
overhead cam
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 combusti ...
six-cylinder engine of 40/45-
hp. George D. Rider financed manufacturing and the Rider-Lewis Motor Car Company was established. Rider-Lewis introduced the automobile at the Indianapolis Motor Show in March 1908 priced at $2,500 (). Production began in Muncie in a converted factory, though in 1909 the company moved to a newly built factory in Anderson, Indiana.
For 1910 the "Excellent Six" was joined by a four-cylinder Model Four automobile selling for $1,050, . In September 1910 the company was in receivership, though production continued. In October the Rider-Lewis property in Anderson was attached by court order when creditors thought Rider-Lewis was preparing to move out of state. A few more Model Fours were built into early 1911, but by March the Rider-Lewis plant was sold to
Nyberg Motor Works.
References
External links
Rider-Lewis, Nyberg Factory - Historic Structures*
* [https://www.heraldbulletin.com/community/several-auto-factories-in-the-city-before-the-remy-brothers/article_0669a55d-964f-57c3-a2da-1f54c855bc88.html Herald-Bulletin Article - Several Auto Factories by David Humphrey, 2013]
{{Commons category, Rider-Lewis vehicles
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Indiana
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1908
Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1911
Brass Era vehicles
1900s cars
1910s cars
Cars introduced in 1908