The Yale was a

Brass Era car 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 radiators. It is generally considered to encompass 1896 through 19 ...

manufactured in

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township, ...

from 1916 to 1918, not to be confused with the

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

from

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

. The man behind this Yale was

Louis J. Lampke Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...

, who previously had been with Palmer-Singer and

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

. He then created a car he had designed himself, this was the MPM of

Mount Pleasant, Michigan Mount Pleasant is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is the county seat of Isabella County, which is part of Central Michigan. The population of Mount Pleasant was 21,688 as of the 2020 census. The city is surrounded by Union Char ...

. In early 1915, Lampke travelled to Saginaw in order to acquire funding to transfer his company there. Apparently, the people of Saginaw were not interested in the MPM, but were interested in Lampke himself. He therefore stayed in town and created the Saginaw Motor Company in June 1916. Various local businessmen were in the executive positions, while Lampke was in charge of product development. The plan was to call the

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 ...

the

Saginaw Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of ...

, but the Lehr Motor Company across town had already beaten them to the name. The Saginaw Motor people thus got together and settled on the Yale name.

Vehicle specifications

The Yale would be V8-powered only, in contrast to the four- and eight-

cylinder A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

s of the MPM. The Yale was also larger and more luxurious than the MPM, with prices starting at

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1350. The former

Argo Electric The Argo Electric Vehicle Company was an American electric automobile manufacturer that operated in Saginaw, Michigan, from 1912 to 1916. The Argo Electric used a 60 volt system with Westinghouse Electric (1886), Westinghouse motors. They claim ...

factory at Jefferson and Atwater in town was secured and production of seven-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 ...

s commenced in July 1916. This was the only

body style Governments and private organizations have developed car classification schemes that are used for various purposes including regulation, description, and categorization of cars. The International Standard ISO 3833-1977 ''Road vehicles – Type ...

offered the first year. With the coming of the new year, two new body styles were added, namely a roadster and a speedster with a

rumble seat A rumble seat (American English), dicky (dickie/dickey) seat (British English), also called a mother-in-law seat, is an upholstered exterior front-facing seat which is folded into the rear of a coach, carriage, or early motorcar. Depending on it ...

. All three models rode on the same 126 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 cost US$1550.

Production

The company announced its intentions to produce closed cars, but it is unlikely that any were made. In January 1918, the price had increased yet again, this time to US$1885, but by now the end was near. Production ceased in March of the same year, and

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

acquired the right to the parts and to service the cars. In April, the factory was purchased by the makers of

Jumbo trucks Jumbo (December 25, 1860 – September 15, 1885), also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and then tr ...

References

External links

Contemporary photo of 1916 tourerContemporary photo of 1917 speedster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yale (1916 Automobile) Brass Era vehicles Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Michigan Defunct manufacturing companies based in Michigan