Locomobile Model 48 Sportif by Bridgeport Body
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Automobilhersteller : |
Locomobile |
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Modell: |
Model 48 Sportif by Bridgeport Body |
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Jahr: |
1923-1929 |
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Art: |
Tourer |
Locomobile began by producing steam cars. The steam Locomobiles were unreliable, finicky to operate, prone to Kerosene fires, had small water tanks (getting only 20 mi {32 km} per tank), and took time to raise steam; Rudyard Kipling described one example as a "nickel-plated fraud". Initially, they were offered with a single body style only, an inexpensive Runabout at US$600 Nevertheless, they were a curiosity and middle-class Americans clamoured for the latest technology. Salesmen, doctors and people needing quick mobility found them useful. More than four thousand were built between 1899 and 1902 alone. In 1901, Locomobile offered seven body styles at prices between US$600 and US$1,400. Most Locomobiles had simple twin-cylinder engines (3x4", 76.2x102mm; 57ci, 927cc) and a wire wrapped 500 psi flash boiler burning naphtha. Typical of the product was the 1904 Runabout, which seated two passengers and sold for US$750 The two-cylinder steam engine was situated amidships of the wood-framed car. By now, the car had improved boilers and a new water pump, manufactured by the Overman Wheel Company in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts. This company itself built a steamer, the Victor Steamer.
During the Boer War, Locomobile did establish a new mark of sorts, becoming the first ever automobile to be used in war; it was a generator and searchlight tractor and catering vehicle, with the useful ability (in British eyes, at least) of being able to brew a cup of tea by tapping the boiler.
This was, unfortunately, not a sure way to guarantee commercial success, even in Britain, and Locomobile started experimenting with gasoline internal combustion engines in 1902, starting with a four-cylinder steel-chassis model designed by Andrew L. Riker. This encouraged the firm to drop steam vehicles the following year, selling the Stanley brothers back their rights for US$20,000.
The most important model for the marque became the impressive Model 48. Introduced in 1919, it had a very conservative, perhaps dated, concept. It had a conventional but huge chassis with a wheelbase of 142 in. Its engine was a straight-six with side valves; cylinders were still cast in pairs and it featured a non-removable cylinder head. Displacement was 525 c.i., giving it a 48.6 H.P. tax rating by North American Chamber of Commerce (N.A.C.C.).
In 1922 Locomobile was acquired by Durant Motors, which not only continued using the Locomobile brand name for their top-of-the-line autos until 1929, but still produced the Model 48 until the demise in 1929. Until the mid-twenties, this car was Locomobile's only offering. In 1925, the marque brought out their first new model, the 8-66 Junior Eight, with a more contemporary straight-eight-cylinder engine - and, more importantly, a lower price of $1,785.
1926 saw the introduction of the even smaller Junior Six, but this car stayed only for one model year. The larger model 90 that appeared in the same year was produced until 1929.
With the 8-70, Locomobile added one more eight-cylinder car. In the following year, the Junior Eight 8-66 was phased out.
For 1929, a new 8-86 and 8-88 came out, but it was too late to save the company. Locomobile died when its parent company, Durant Motors, failed. Production of the volume cars Durant and Rugby lasted until 1933, but that did not save Locomobile.
