Premier Model F Rear Entrance Tonneau
|
Car producer : |
Premier |
|---|---|
|
Model: |
Model F Rear Entrance Tonneau |
|
Year: |
1904-1906 |
|
Type: |
Tonneau |
The Premier Motor Manufacturing Company was organized in 1903 by George A. Weidely and Harold O. Smith in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company built automobiles with air-cooled engines.
Indianapolis, Indiana has always been the heart of American motorsports. Known today for the 500, Indianapolis was home to some of the greatest sporting car manufacturers in America, such as the Stutz and Premier. Like Stutz, Premier used racing to help develop its road cars. Best known for having a sensational air-cooled machine produced for the Vanderbilt Cup Race, the Premier was barred from competition for being 60 pounds' overweight. However, they still ran three entries in the 1916 Indianapolis 500, achieving excellent results with their road going cars. Premier also received a perfect score in three consecutive Glidden Reliability tours.
Premier was a technically advanced car from the outset. In an era of single-cylinder planetary-transmission cars, the first Premier model in 1903 featured an over-head valve four-cylinder engine and a sliding gear transmission, initially favoring air-cooling for its designs.
Contemporary advertisements described the Model F's four-cylinder air-cooled motor as being of 16hp, offering a speed range of 5-40 mph and they promoted the fact that on its 10-gallon tank capacity it could cover one hundred and eighty-two miles.
The 1904 Four-Cylinder Premier was a touring car model. Equipped with a tonneau, it could seat six passengers and sold for US$ 5,000. The vertically mounted water-cooled straight-4, situated at the front of the car, produced 40 hp (30 kW). A three-speed sliding transmission was fitted as on Système Panhard cars from Europe. The pressed steel-framed car weighed 2250 lb (1021 kg) and used semi-elliptic springs. A Double-Cylinder Premier model sold for US$ 2,500. It had a 2-stroke straight-2 engine producing 20 hp (15 kW).
During 1906, the Model "F" and Model "L" were on the market with prices that ranged from $1,250 to $2,250. The cars were advertised as summer and winter vehicles that had a "powerful motor, easy but substantial clutch, buoyant springs and luxurious upholstering."
