"WHEN R.E. OLDS CHASED AFTER STRANGE ELECTRIC GODS"
Written by Donald and Kenneth McDowell
The Olds Motor Vehicle Company was founded August 21, 1897. Chief Executive Officers were Samuel L. Smith, his two sons, Fred L. and Angus, and Ransom E. Olds. While the new factory building was being constructed in Detroit, R.E. plunged into the development of a line of gasoline-powered vehicles to be manufactured by the new firm. After spending considerable money and over a year of time, R.E. was forced to re-think his entire vehicle program. His initial vehicles were found to be too mechanically complicated, not particularly dependable, and so expensive that few, if any, were sold. Unproven vehicles selling at the high end of the price range obviously didn’t have wide appeal for the general buying public in 1898/99.
The Company’s re-evaluated plans called in part for developing a one-cylinder gasoline-powered “runabout” that was to sell in the $1000 price range. This proved to be a slow and difficult task. Even at the $1000 price, sales were few and far between. In time however, this concept developed into the world famous Curved Dash Oldsmobile. By eventually achieving a $650 selling price, this model soared to unprecedented sales success in the months following the March 9, 1901 factory fire.
A second, much less-known undertaking by R.E. at this same time was his decision to make what he called “city” vehicles powered by electricity. Though previously rejected by R.E., he now reasoned that a line of electrics could quickly be put on the market, as they were to be primarily assembled from proven components that Olds planned to purchase from outside manufacturers. The electrics would hopefully reach a segment of the buying public not at all interested in owning a gasoline-powered vehicle. Well over half of the 8000+ vehicles registered in America in 1900 were electric. Consequently, the market for the sales of electric vehicles envisioned by Olds appears to be reasonable in hindsight. Further, any revenues generated from their sales would do much to soothe the cash flow worries of his backers, and hopefully would provide the needed time for him to bring to market his “second generation” of less expensive and simpler to operate gasoline vehicles.
The new electric project was quickly put into
operation, and in a short time, several electrics were assembled,
tested, and offered for sale. Although found to be very
dependable, easy to operate and of high quality construction, the
necessarily high selling price drastically limited their sales
appeal. With a selling price of over $1600 for the least costly
model, the Olds electrics were not “cheap” by any standards of the
day. Still, R.E. saw enough selling potential for them that the
Olds Company placed several large orders for electric parts and
materials. Also, a large area on the second floor of the factory
was outfitted with the equipment needed to assemble a substantial
number of electric vehicles.
Just as significant production of electric vehicles was getting underway, disaster befell the entire automobile operation of the recently renamed Olds Motor Works. On March 9, 1901, the factory was almost totally destroyed by fire. Reportedly, all but one of the existing Old’s vehicles, both gasoline and electrics, were destroyed in the fire. This catastrophe brought an immediate and total end to R.E.’s hopes for marketing a successful line of electric vehicles.
Some post-fire historians have stated that there is no “hard” evidence that any Olds electrics were ever sold. They also point out that several “knowledgeable, first hand” sources have stated that only a handful of electrics at best were ever produced. Thus, they make the case that the electric project was not, and never had been, (even in R.E.’s mind) a sincere and all out attempt to produce and sell an ongoing and significant number of electric vehicles. They quote the fact that (in 1954,) Theo Barthel, Oldsmobile’s official book-keeper in 1901, stated that he recorded a total of only 5 electrics on the official company inventory report for the year of 1900. Also often quoted is Fred Smith’s 1928 published account that proclaimed that R.E. did actually “Chase after strange electric Gods” for a short while, and may have even sold “one or two” of what Smith obviously, and in hindsight, perceived to be a worthless and ill-conceived undertaking.
These historians draw the conclusion that the entire electric project was at best, only a minor footnote in Oldsmobile’s long and storied history and is not important enough to warrant more than a brief mention in passing. Other equally compelling evidence, more recently un-covered or re-discovered, calls for a somewhat different and possibly more accurate conclusion.
The following brief account of events in the Olds electric vehicle story are presented in as accurate a chronological order as can be yet determined, and will serve to shed new light on the Olds electric vehicles themselves. It will also expand their significance in the overall history of Oldsmobile vehicle production.
· A pre-1901 Olds sales catalogue shows many fanciful artist-drawn renditions of a number of never existing and obviously never built vehicles. Of the many fanciful artist sketches that are included in this catalogue, only two drawings do closely resemble actual vehicles under development by R.E. They are a four passenger electric “Cabriolet” and a small gasoline powered “Runabout” that is shown having a straight dash front-end configuration. There are no prices or descriptive texts covering either of these vehicles included in this early catalogue. If the Olds Motor Works had any other saleable gasoline powered vehicles ready to market, wouldn’t they logically have been pictured in this catalogue?
· A second pre-1901 sales catalogue (published shortly after the “fanciful” catalogue mentioned above) features R.E. Olds on the cover. He is shown at the tiller of an electric “Stanhope.” Also included inside the catalogue are pictures and text covering two electric vehicles. Further, quite possibly for the first time, several pictures of prototype “Curved Dash” gasoline vehicles are shown as well.
· A pre-1901 one page Olds price sheet that lists the two-passenger “Stanhope” model at $1650 and the five-passenger “Phaeton” model electric at $1750. A number of gasoline-powered Olds vehicles are also listed at prices ranging from a low of $1000 for a one-cylinder “runabout” to $2,750 for a four passenger “Brougham.” Obviously the new lower priced gasoline powered vehicles as envisioned by R.E. aren’t “up and running” or being offered to the public as of yet.
· A 1900 dated trade journal article states that Olds Motor Works has placed a “large” order for batteries with the Sipe and Sigler firm of Cleveland, Ohio.
· In 1900, the company at both the Chicago and Cleveland Auto Shows displays a “Stanhope” electric. R.E. himself takes the vehicle to the Chicago show. The vehicle is given very good reviews by the automotive reporters covering the two shows. Doesn’t it stand to reason that Olds would have shown their proposed new line of gasoline vehicles at these shows as well if they were ready for production?
· The fairly recent discovery and identification of a number of actual pre-1901 Olds factory photographs that show a number of electric vehicles (certainly more than five) being tested and driven on the Detroit River island of Belle Isle. A close study of these photographs identifies at least 7, and perhaps more, electric vehicles existing in 1900.
· A newspaper account appearing one day after the factory fire quotes Olds Automobile Department Superintendent Willis Grant Murray as saying that over 20 electrics, either completed or in varying stages of assembly were destroyed in the fire. He further states that a large amount of electric parts and materials stored at the factory were also destroyed. One other interesting statement of Murray is that one Olds electric vehicle survived the fire because it was being used by an Olds official and therefore was not at the factory site.
· There exists a photograph of a four-passenger Olds electric “Phaeton” being driven in a Detroit parade in July of 1901. R.E. Olds is at the tiller and Fred Smith is his fellow passenger. This is some four months after the fire.
In the 1960s an electric vehicle is recovered from a barn in Lansing, Michigan. It is subsequently identified as an Olds electric “Phaeton.” A study of this newly found and apparently sole-surviving Olds electric reveals much about the fine engineering and high quality workmanship that R.E. lavished on his line of electric vehicles. To begin with, R.E. bought the high styled and beautifully executed bodies for his electrics from one of the leading body firms in Detroit, the Sievers and Erdman Coach Builders Company. The bodies were appointed with patent leather mudguards and dashboards; nickel trim on all exposed hardware and top quality goatskin leather upholstery. The highly lacquered black wooden bodies featured both gold hand striping and beautifully contrasting purple cloth trim bands along all exposed seat edging.
The mechanical features of the vehicle included: instruments by Weston; motor by the Eddy Company of Windsor, Ct.; hard-rubber tires by Goodyear Tire Company; top grade Sarvin wheels and hubs; and an Olds designed and built controller unit for changing speeds. Showing nice attention to small details, the control arm and the tiller were furnished with sterling silver accented ebony handles. In short, a high quality, beautifully made vehicle that puts to rest the contention that the line of Olds electrics was only developed as a stopgap and cut rate proposition. That it did not survive and succeed sales wise was a shame. It died principally because of the fire, not because of any inherent weakness design wise in it’s make-up. But for the fire, it seems likely that it could have successfully found it’s own segment of the market and thus co-existed with Olds Curved Dash gasoline vehicles.
Obviously, the entire history of the Olds electric vehicle project is far from complete at this time. All readers of this article are invited to offer feedback covering new or corrected information concerning the Olds electric history presented in this article.
While history shows the demise of practically all electric vehicle companies was only a few short years down the road, the Olds electric could almost certainly have had more than a couple of good years of success at the turn of the century. The sudden and almost overwhelming success of the Curved Dash Oldsmobile immediately after the fire left Olds with no room to even consider re-introducing the electric or any other model. Thus, this fine car, like thousands of other American vehicles, disappeared into almost total obscurity. It is gone but should not be forgotten.
POST SCRIPT: Sadly, Oldsmobile is now gone, too. But, it shall never be forgotten!
Written by Donald and Kenneth McDowell
The Olds Motor Vehicle Company was founded August 21, 1897. Chief Executive Officers were Samuel L. Smith, his two sons, Fred L. and Angus, and Ransom E. Olds. While the new factory building was being constructed in Detroit, R.E. plunged into the development of a line of gasoline-powered vehicles to be manufactured by the new firm. After spending considerable money and over a year of time, R.E. was forced to re-think his entire vehicle program. His initial vehicles were found to be too mechanically complicated, not particularly dependable, and so expensive that few, if any, were sold. Unproven vehicles selling at the high end of the price range obviously didn’t have wide appeal for the general buying public in 1898/99.
The Company’s re-evaluated plans called in part for developing a one-cylinder gasoline-powered “runabout” that was to sell in the $1000 price range. This proved to be a slow and difficult task. Even at the $1000 price, sales were few and far between. In time however, this concept developed into the world famous Curved Dash Oldsmobile. By eventually achieving a $650 selling price, this model soared to unprecedented sales success in the months following the March 9, 1901 factory fire.
A second, much less-known undertaking by R.E. at this same time was his decision to make what he called “city” vehicles powered by electricity. Though previously rejected by R.E., he now reasoned that a line of electrics could quickly be put on the market, as they were to be primarily assembled from proven components that Olds planned to purchase from outside manufacturers. The electrics would hopefully reach a segment of the buying public not at all interested in owning a gasoline-powered vehicle. Well over half of the 8000+ vehicles registered in America in 1900 were electric. Consequently, the market for the sales of electric vehicles envisioned by Olds appears to be reasonable in hindsight. Further, any revenues generated from their sales would do much to soothe the cash flow worries of his backers, and hopefully would provide the needed time for him to bring to market his “second generation” of less expensive and simpler to operate gasoline vehicles.
The new electric project was quickly put into
operation, and in a short time, several electrics were assembled,
tested, and offered for sale. Although found to be very
dependable, easy to operate and of high quality construction, the
necessarily high selling price drastically limited their sales
appeal. With a selling price of over $1600 for the least costly
model, the Olds electrics were not “cheap” by any standards of the
day. Still, R.E. saw enough selling potential for them that the
Olds Company placed several large orders for electric parts and
materials. Also, a large area on the second floor of the factory
was outfitted with the equipment needed to assemble a substantial
number of electric vehicles.Just as significant production of electric vehicles was getting underway, disaster befell the entire automobile operation of the recently renamed Olds Motor Works. On March 9, 1901, the factory was almost totally destroyed by fire. Reportedly, all but one of the existing Old’s vehicles, both gasoline and electrics, were destroyed in the fire. This catastrophe brought an immediate and total end to R.E.’s hopes for marketing a successful line of electric vehicles.
Some post-fire historians have stated that there is no “hard” evidence that any Olds electrics were ever sold. They also point out that several “knowledgeable, first hand” sources have stated that only a handful of electrics at best were ever produced. Thus, they make the case that the electric project was not, and never had been, (even in R.E.’s mind) a sincere and all out attempt to produce and sell an ongoing and significant number of electric vehicles. They quote the fact that (in 1954,) Theo Barthel, Oldsmobile’s official book-keeper in 1901, stated that he recorded a total of only 5 electrics on the official company inventory report for the year of 1900. Also often quoted is Fred Smith’s 1928 published account that proclaimed that R.E. did actually “Chase after strange electric Gods” for a short while, and may have even sold “one or two” of what Smith obviously, and in hindsight, perceived to be a worthless and ill-conceived undertaking.
These historians draw the conclusion that the entire electric project was at best, only a minor footnote in Oldsmobile’s long and storied history and is not important enough to warrant more than a brief mention in passing. Other equally compelling evidence, more recently un-covered or re-discovered, calls for a somewhat different and possibly more accurate conclusion.
The following brief account of events in the Olds electric vehicle story are presented in as accurate a chronological order as can be yet determined, and will serve to shed new light on the Olds electric vehicles themselves. It will also expand their significance in the overall history of Oldsmobile vehicle production.
· A pre-1901 Olds sales catalogue shows many fanciful artist-drawn renditions of a number of never existing and obviously never built vehicles. Of the many fanciful artist sketches that are included in this catalogue, only two drawings do closely resemble actual vehicles under development by R.E. They are a four passenger electric “Cabriolet” and a small gasoline powered “Runabout” that is shown having a straight dash front-end configuration. There are no prices or descriptive texts covering either of these vehicles included in this early catalogue. If the Olds Motor Works had any other saleable gasoline powered vehicles ready to market, wouldn’t they logically have been pictured in this catalogue?
· A second pre-1901 sales catalogue (published shortly after the “fanciful” catalogue mentioned above) features R.E. Olds on the cover. He is shown at the tiller of an electric “Stanhope.” Also included inside the catalogue are pictures and text covering two electric vehicles. Further, quite possibly for the first time, several pictures of prototype “Curved Dash” gasoline vehicles are shown as well.
· A pre-1901 one page Olds price sheet that lists the two-passenger “Stanhope” model at $1650 and the five-passenger “Phaeton” model electric at $1750. A number of gasoline-powered Olds vehicles are also listed at prices ranging from a low of $1000 for a one-cylinder “runabout” to $2,750 for a four passenger “Brougham.” Obviously the new lower priced gasoline powered vehicles as envisioned by R.E. aren’t “up and running” or being offered to the public as of yet.
· A 1900 dated trade journal article states that Olds Motor Works has placed a “large” order for batteries with the Sipe and Sigler firm of Cleveland, Ohio.
· In 1900, the company at both the Chicago and Cleveland Auto Shows displays a “Stanhope” electric. R.E. himself takes the vehicle to the Chicago show. The vehicle is given very good reviews by the automotive reporters covering the two shows. Doesn’t it stand to reason that Olds would have shown their proposed new line of gasoline vehicles at these shows as well if they were ready for production?
· The fairly recent discovery and identification of a number of actual pre-1901 Olds factory photographs that show a number of electric vehicles (certainly more than five) being tested and driven on the Detroit River island of Belle Isle. A close study of these photographs identifies at least 7, and perhaps more, electric vehicles existing in 1900.
· A newspaper account appearing one day after the factory fire quotes Olds Automobile Department Superintendent Willis Grant Murray as saying that over 20 electrics, either completed or in varying stages of assembly were destroyed in the fire. He further states that a large amount of electric parts and materials stored at the factory were also destroyed. One other interesting statement of Murray is that one Olds electric vehicle survived the fire because it was being used by an Olds official and therefore was not at the factory site.
· There exists a photograph of a four-passenger Olds electric “Phaeton” being driven in a Detroit parade in July of 1901. R.E. Olds is at the tiller and Fred Smith is his fellow passenger. This is some four months after the fire.
In the 1960s an electric vehicle is recovered from a barn in Lansing, Michigan. It is subsequently identified as an Olds electric “Phaeton.” A study of this newly found and apparently sole-surviving Olds electric reveals much about the fine engineering and high quality workmanship that R.E. lavished on his line of electric vehicles. To begin with, R.E. bought the high styled and beautifully executed bodies for his electrics from one of the leading body firms in Detroit, the Sievers and Erdman Coach Builders Company. The bodies were appointed with patent leather mudguards and dashboards; nickel trim on all exposed hardware and top quality goatskin leather upholstery. The highly lacquered black wooden bodies featured both gold hand striping and beautifully contrasting purple cloth trim bands along all exposed seat edging.
The mechanical features of the vehicle included: instruments by Weston; motor by the Eddy Company of Windsor, Ct.; hard-rubber tires by Goodyear Tire Company; top grade Sarvin wheels and hubs; and an Olds designed and built controller unit for changing speeds. Showing nice attention to small details, the control arm and the tiller were furnished with sterling silver accented ebony handles. In short, a high quality, beautifully made vehicle that puts to rest the contention that the line of Olds electrics was only developed as a stopgap and cut rate proposition. That it did not survive and succeed sales wise was a shame. It died principally because of the fire, not because of any inherent weakness design wise in it’s make-up. But for the fire, it seems likely that it could have successfully found it’s own segment of the market and thus co-existed with Olds Curved Dash gasoline vehicles.
Obviously, the entire history of the Olds electric vehicle project is far from complete at this time. All readers of this article are invited to offer feedback covering new or corrected information concerning the Olds electric history presented in this article.
While history shows the demise of practically all electric vehicle companies was only a few short years down the road, the Olds electric could almost certainly have had more than a couple of good years of success at the turn of the century. The sudden and almost overwhelming success of the Curved Dash Oldsmobile immediately after the fire left Olds with no room to even consider re-introducing the electric or any other model. Thus, this fine car, like thousands of other American vehicles, disappeared into almost total obscurity. It is gone but should not be forgotten.
POST SCRIPT: Sadly, Oldsmobile is now gone, too. But, it shall never be forgotten!
REO MOWERS, That's right, "mowers, not motors!
REO LAWN MOWERS
This
is an advertising pamphlet for REO Mowers. The name REO
represents the initials of Ransom Eli Olds, who was involved in many
enterprises in and around Lansing, Michigan. He founded the Olds
Motor Works and Reo Motors, and was part owner in a number of other
companies which were involved in trucks, automobiles, and engines.
These companies include Olds Gas Power Company, Original Gas Engine
Company, and Ideal Motor Company, which built stationary engines.
Ransom Olds died in 1950, at the age of 86, but was no longer connected
with any of these companies.Reo Motors became well-known for its trucks, and supplied many trucks and engines for the US military during World War II. Following the post-war boom, truck sales slowed down drastically in early 1949, but three years earlier the company had started building gas engine-powered lawn mowers. This lawn mower division helped the company survive during this time.
Joseph S. Sherer, Jr. was president of Reo Motors at the time the lawn mower line was started. Mr. Sherer was a graduate of MIT and was formerly Vice-president and General Manager of Ideal Lawn Mower Company of Lansing. He brought several engineering and sales people with him from Ideal.
Reo started the Lawn Mower Division in 1946 with a 17-inch push-type mower, and a 21-inch engine-powered reel-type mower. At this time Reo was using Clinton and Briggs & Stratton engines, but engineer Francis Korff was busy developing Reo's own engine in their engineering lab. That engine was introduced in 1949, and became a great success. It was a well-built cast iron engine, with its cylinder head slanted at 45 degrees. It ran backwards, viz., the flywheel rotated counter-clockwise, which was opposite from most other small engines. Interestingly, the power was taken from the camshaft, resulting in the drive pulley turning in the same direction as other engines, at half of the crankshaft speed. The intake and exhaust valves were both operated by a single cam lobe on the camshaft. A variation of the basic engine with a 6:1 gear reduction was used on their deluxe lawn mower, the Trimalawn, and was also used on a snow blower several years later.
Reo also made an item called the Trollabout, which was made for installation in a rowboat. The standard Reo mower engine was mounted on a slightly tilted platform inside the boat, and a power shaft went through the bottom of the boat to drive an aluminum prop - the common man's inboard-outboard The introduction of the Trollabout did not go well. One of the company officials who was trying to promote it had called newspapers and radio stations to demonstrate it. Someone had apparently done a poor job of installing the Trollabout, and had not caulked properly around the hole where the prop shaft went through the bottom of the boat. Right in front of everybody, the boat sank That might just explain why the product was never very popular.
During the post-war era the power mower was in great demand. By 1950, REO had become the largest manufacturer of power mowers in the world, with sales that year of almost 10 million dollars. Mower number 500,000 was produced in 1951; daily production at that time was about 1,000 units a day.
However, REO made an error during this time which would drastically hurt their sales within the next few years. The mower industry was rapidly changing to the rotary-blade mower, which was much cheaper to produce (and easier to operate) than the reel-type unit which REO continued to manufacture.
Finally, in 1953, REO did make an attempt to market a rotary mower, but their design was a disaster, to say the least. Rather than building an engine for their Flying Cloud rotary with a vertical crankshaft, REO engineers added a separate vertical shaft alongside the engine, driven off the camshaft with a set of bevel gears. This shaft was connected directly to the blade on some models, while another model called Flying Cloud used a V-belt from this shaft to another jack shaft that drove the blade. There were a number of problems with this design, outlined in service bulletins for the Flying Cloud. The worst problem was with a thrust washer that was mounted on that vertical shaft in the engine. In some engines this washer would start rotating with the shaft, and chew up the gear housing. This resulted in ground-up metal entering the crankcase, and before the customer knew it his engine was shot. Correction of the design was simple - a tab was added to the washer to keep it from rotating. Correcting all the problems for their customers was much more costly, however. According to Don Houghtaling, REO Service Manager, this little washer cost them over 5000 replacement engines.
In September, 1954, REO sold their lawn mower division to Motor Wheel Corporation of Lansing, a major manufacturer of automotive and agricultural wheels. Motor Wheel continued the REO line alongside their Duo-Therm Division, which manufactured home space heaters. In 1955 the REO engine was finally released in a true vertical shaft version. The engine was laid on its side, the flywheel, coil and points were moved to the opposite end of the crankshaft. The flywheel now rotated clockwise, like most other engines. This vertical shaft version was used for three years. By this time Power Products Company had convinced Motor Wheel that they could buy their Tecumseh engines for less cost than building their own engine. Beginning in 1958 Motor Wheel bought all their vertical shaft engines from Tecumseh/Power Products. The Tecumseh name did not appear on the engines; they were labeled as the REO Raider Engine . The REO slant-head engines were still used in 1958. on the deluxe reel-type mower and snow blower. Then, these were also converted to Tecumseh engines. Thus ended the 10 year history of the unique REO slant-head engine that ran backwards .
In September, 1963 Motor Wheel Corporation sold their entire REO line to Wheel Horse Products in South Bend, Indiana. Wheel Horse continued the REO line for several years, selling a riding lawn mower, snow blower, and some rotary mowers with the REO name. Ultimately, Wheel Horse dropped the REO name from its product line.
