The Staver and Staver-Chicago was an American
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 ...
manufactured at 76th and Wallace Streets in
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, by the Staver Carriage Company from 1906 until 1914.
History
Staver Carriage Company was organized after the 1896 bankruptcy of the Staver-Abbott Carriage Company, by Henry C. Staver in 1899. In 1905 Staver began an expansion of their
carriage
A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...
factory and also began developing a
high-wheel automobile that would be introduced in late 1906. Henry C. Staver died in 1907 and his son Harry B. Staver became president of Staver Carriage Company.
The company's initial Staver automobile was an 18/20-
hp high wheeler, with a
stanhope body. Larger, more powerful and more expensive at $1,000 () than most high-wheelers, it was fully equipped with top, side curtains, storm front, lights and toolbox. As Models C and D, it debuted at the 1907
Chicago Auto Show
The Chicago Auto Show is held annually in February at Chicago's McCormick Place
convention center. It is the largest auto show in North America.
Event History
Samuel Miles, formerly a promoter of bicycle shows, produced the first "official" ...
and approximately 200 were sold into 1908.
Production was turned over to conventional automobiles with a two-cylinder 20-hp
roadster in 1909 and
four-cylinder
The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized.
Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categoriz ...
models beginning in 1910.
Staver purchased 500 American & British Manufacturing Company four-cylinder engines designed by
Charles F. Herreshoff. Poor manufacturing resulted in a lawsuit that lasted until 1914. Teetor engines from the Light Inspection Car Company designed for Staver, were used from 1910. In 1912, Dan C. Teetor became chief designer for Staver until 1914.
With the introduction of the 4-cylinder automobiles, Staver's were advertised as Staver-Chicago models. Staver became very active in
motorsports
Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and powered aircraft
An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the po ...
and reliability runs and participated in the
Elgin
Elgin may refer to:
Places Canada
* Elgin County, Ontario
* Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Ontario
* Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario
* Elgin, Manit ...
National Road Races,
Algonquin
Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to:
Languages and peoples
*Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia
**Algonquin la ...
Hill Climb, Chicago's 1,400 mile Reliability Run, many
board races and culminating in the Around Lake Michigan runs in 1911 and 1912.
Gus Monckmeier, Chester Cheney, Emery Knudsen, Harry L. Curran and Ralph Ireland were all drivers for Staver. Ralph Ireland died in a practice run when his Staver-Chicago burst a tire at Elgin. Munckmeier had a perfect score for Staver in the 1911 Around Lake Michigan trial, but was later suspended along with Staver from
AAA
AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Gaming
* AAA (video game industry) - a category of high budget video games
*'' TripleA'', an open source wargame
Mu ...
events for a year, when it was found the winning Staver-Chicago car was not stock.
For 1912 Staver-Chicago was dropped and all cars were again advertised as Staver. Staver's were mid-priced in the $1,650 to $2,250 (between $ and $ in ) range with
limousines
A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...
priced up to $3,500 ().
1914 Models were introduced early in March 1913 and included the new
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 ...
Staver of 70-hp, priced as a
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 ...
at $2,750, .
Production for cars ended in June 1914, and carriages later in the year.
Staver Carriage Company continued as a property company for a few years, leasing the Staver factory to
Partin Manufacturing Company and other automobile manufacturers.
The factory and automobile equipment transferred to
Studebaker
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Man ...
in 1917 in a property swap.
Models
File:1906 Staver 18-20hp Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal article.jpg, 1906 Staver 18/20-hp Model D
File:1911Staver-Chicago.jpg, 1911 Staver-Chicago 30-hp Model T
File:1913 Staver article in Automobile Topics.jpg, 1913 Staver 35-hp Inglewood Touring Car
File:1914 Staver Model 65 - Official Handbook of Automobiles.jpg, 1914 Staver 70-hp Model 65 Touring car
Production
Production figures total 7,092 vehicles.
About five Staver vehicles still exist.
Advertisements
File:1910 Staver-Chicago advertisement in Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal.jpg, 1910 Staver-Chicago advertisement in Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal
File:1911 Staver-Chicago advertisement with Harry B. Staver in the Motor World.jpg, 1911 Staver-Chicago advertisement with Harry B. Staver in Motor World
File:1912 Staver advertisement in Motor Field.jpg, 1912 Staver advertisement in Motor Field
References
External links
1909 Staver Model ER RM SouthbysDPL Digital Collection - Staver Carriage CompanyHemmings article - The Staver Carriage Company{{Commons category, Staver vehicles
1900s cars
1910s cars
Brass Era vehicles
Highwheeler
Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Illinois
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
History of Chicago
Defunct companies based in Chicago
Defunct companies based in Illinois
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1906
Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1914
1899 establishments in Illinois
1914 disestablishments in Illinois
Cars introduced in 1906
Cars discontinued in 1914