"Is this a car dad?"
"Yes son, it's a 1905 Maxwell Model H 16hp touring."
"Huh?"
The first popular, quantity-produced car to use shaft drive instead of chains, this Chrysler forerunner challenged all comers.
The story of the Maxwell car--which 20 years after its inception became the sensational Chrysler--is one of determination, constant endeavor and well-earned success, Back in 1903, Jonathan Dixon Maxwell and Benjamin Briscoe designed, built and tested a little car which ran so well that they decided to put it into production. Both Maxwell and Briscoe were outstanding personalities and pioneers in the automotive business. It was Maxwell, for example, who in 1894 joined the Apperson brothers in helping Elwood Haynes build the first Haynes auto buggy--which later evolved into a famous car.
Anyway, in 1904 the partners Jonathan and Benjamin incorporated their firm as the Maxwell-Briscoe Company and pro-duced their first two models during the fall of that year. Both were two-cylinder cars, but one had an eight hp engine while the other rated 15 hp. The engines of both had a bore and stroke of equal dimensions, de-signed to limit piston speed; quite a pro-gressive idea for those days, since it wasn’t until years later that de-signers became actively conscious of the direct influence of this factor on engine life and efficiency. The cylinders of the smaller engine were four inches by four, and of the larger, five by five.
Prices were $750 and $1,550 respectively and the cars found a ready sale. By August, 1905, in fact, 532 Maxwells were built and delivered from the factory at Tarrytown, New York. While on the subject of progressive features, the Maxwell was the first popular, quantity-produced car to use shaft drive in place of the usual chains. It also was one of the earliest to employ the principle of thermo-siphon cooling.
Encouraged by their success, Maxwell and Briscoe entered their product in the Glidden Tour, where it tied with a Pierce-Arrow for premier award. It was then en-tered in just about every competitive event that was going. The following year, a Max-well won the Deming Trophy in the Glidden Tour and the partners were busy building two special cars for the Vanderbilt Cup. Unfortunately, though both showed promise in the early stages, neither turned out to be a success.
"Is this a car dad?"
"Yes son, it's a 1905 Maxwell Model H 16hp touring."
"Huh?"
The first popular, quantity-produced car to use shaft drive instead of chains, this Chrysler forerunner challenged all comers.
The story of the Maxwell car--which 20 years after its inception became the sensational Chrysler--is one of determination, constant endeavor and well-earned success, Back in 1903, Jonathan Dixon Maxwell and Benjamin Briscoe designed, built and tested a little car which ran so well that they decided to put it into production. Both Maxwell and Briscoe were outstanding personalities and pioneers in the automotive business. It was Maxwell, for example, who in 1894 joined the Apperson brothers in helping Elwood Haynes build the first Haynes auto buggy--which later evolved into a famous car.
Anyway, in 1904 the partners Jonathan and Benjamin incorporated their firm as the Maxwell-Briscoe Company and pro-duced their first two models during the fall of that year. Both were two-cylinder cars, but one had an eight hp engine while the other rated 15 hp. The engines of both had a bore and stroke of equal dimensions, de-signed to limit piston speed; quite a pro-gressive idea for those days, since it wasn’t until years later that de-signers became actively conscious of the direct influence of this factor on engine life and efficiency. The cylinders of the smaller engine were four inches by four, and of the larger, five by five.
Prices were $750 and $1,550 respectively and the cars found a ready sale. By August, 1905, in fact, 532 Maxwells were built and delivered from the factory at Tarrytown, New York. While on the subject of progressive features, the Maxwell was the first popular, quantity-produced car to use shaft drive in place of the usual chains. It also was one of the earliest to employ the principle of thermo-siphon cooling.
Encouraged by their success, Maxwell and Briscoe entered their product in the Glidden Tour, where it tied with a Pierce-Arrow for premier award. It was then en-tered in just about every competitive event that was going. The following year, a Max-well won the Deming Trophy in the Glidden Tour and the partners were busy building two special cars for the Vanderbilt Cup. Unfortunately, though both showed promise in the early stages, neither turned out to be a success.