User:Chief tin cloud/Mason Motor Company

The Mason Motor Company and its precursors, the Mason Motor Car Company, the Mason Automobile Company and the Maytag-Mason Motor Car Company were American automobile commercial vehicle manufacturers. The company used two cylinder and later four cylinder engines conceived by brothers Frederick and August Duesenberg. Brand names were Mason, Maytag, and Mason-Mohler. A badge engineered version for the William Galloway Company was temporally available. Fred Duesenberg was plant manager, designer and partner and board member of the company.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_Motor_Company

Fred and August Duesenberg


The German-born brothers Frederick (1876-1932) and August Duesenberg (1879-1955) were the youngest of seven children of Conrad and Louise Düsenberg from Matorf-Kirchheide (Lemgo, Principality of Lippe). After the early death of the father, the family emigrated and farmed in Rockford, Iowa. Around 1902, the brothers experimented with an internal combustion engine. Fred was a bicycle mechanic, tradesman and a successful cyclist in Des Moines, Iowa. His knowledge of engineering was self-taught. In February 1905, he co-founded the Iowa Automobile & Supply Co, which was the second auto repair shop in town and a distributor for various brands, including Ford, Rambler , Acme, and Marion. He worked together with his youngest brother for the most part of his life. Rather incidentally, they fiddled with their own engine, which they wanted to use for a planned car. However, there seems to have been little illusion that they could organize an automobile factory on their own, as Fred's small business and August's the bicycle repair shop with a small engine production of in Garner, Iowa did not make enough profit. Key patents were filed together; a later one is signed by Fred alone. The brothers did not invent this kind of valvetrain, but their Walking Beam design featured orinigal and unique solutions. Later, they built the Duesenberg Model A, which was one of the first production cars with a eight-cylinder straight engine - the first made in the United States as well as the first production car with four-wheel brakes; the latter a honor shared with a small manufacturer named  Kenworthy Motors Corporation in Mishawaka, Indiana). For it's successor, the splendid Duesenberg Model J, Fred Duesenberg was solely responsible.

The Marvel


The Duesenberg's first automobile project started with was planned as the Marvel. They were helped to realize it by coincidence. In the summer of 1905, two sons of the lawyer Edward R. Mason brought an engine for repair to the Iowa Automobile & Supply Co. Later, Fred Duesenberg made acquaintance with the father, to whom a friendly relationship developed. During a conversation about modern automobiles, Fred was able to conclusively explain his ideas, whereupon Mason was ready to finance the project.

Fred withdraw from the repair shop, and started work on the car in earnest. Further, he attended a correspondence school and learned technical drawing.

Beside the engine, the vehicle's construction followed typical principles of its time. The engine was positioned under the driver's seat. Transmission was by a drive chain for each rear wheel. A storage room in the bow headed by the functional radiator mimicked a bonnet.

The heart of the vehicle was the two-cylinder engine with OHV valve control and water cooling, supported by a water pump. With a volume of 3277 cc (200 c.i.) it immediately developed 24 to 28 hp. About five months after the decision to build the prototype, in the afternoon of February 19, 1906, Fred Duesenberg took the car for its first test drive. , just five months after the decision to build the prototype, At this time he was no longer called 'Marvel', but  Mason , after the investor. However, this brand name also leads to confusion now and then, because it was used by several US manufacturers or at least announced. The short development time suggests that parts of the vehicle had been previously designed. The  Marvel  also served to attract potential investors.

Mason Motor Car Company
Edward Mason arranged the initial investment of $25,000, of which he contributed the largest amount himself. A partner was D.J. Pattee from Perry, Iowa. In April 1906, the Mason Motor Car Company was formally established in Des Moines, with Mason as its president and Fred Duesenberg as the chief engineer. He granted the company a license to his engine patent, but retained the patent itself. According to one source, August Duesenberg was hired as a mold maker from the beginning, although his business in Garner is traceable there until 1908. He ran a bicycle shop and a small engine building enterprise to which a limited motorcycle production was connected.

By mid-May, the new facilities on East Fifth and Vine street had been completed. However, production scheduled for June 15 was delayed until August 16. The only model on offer was the Mason 24 HP. This car was based on the the Marvel. Wheelbase was lenghtened to 90 inches (2286 mm) in 1908. From the beginning, the car was available throughout the United States although this market was very limited.

Thanks to this engine, Mason was able to advertise the car with some justification as the "Fastest and Strongest Two-Cylinder in America", though Mason started not before 1907 with serious racing. It showed remarkable qualities in this year's Hill-climb. The fine handling characteristics of the vehicle were demonstrated by Fred Duesenberg even before the start of mass production Promotions staged with publicity. Widely noted was his successful attempt to climb the stairs of the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines with a Mason automobile. It probably was the former Marvel, occupied by four people, and Duesenberg did the climb both in forward and reverse. In August 1907, a  Mason  was driven from Kansas City (Missouri) to Denver (Colorado) in record setting 28 hours and 10 minutes. All that did not help, as business did not improve. In 1906, only 25 vehicles were sold.

In 1907 a share capital was raised to $50,000. Invested in the expansion of the dealer network and a branch in Kansas. The  Mason sold in spite of these efforts still insufficient. Instead of the - optimistically planned - 40 vehicles per month only 50 copies could be sold in the whole business year 1907.

The model year 1908 began in September 1907. A new two-cylinder model was announced in mid-1907, but did not appear until August 1908. In 1908, the share capital was increased again. It was now US $ 100,000, -. The successor was improved in many respects. The company employed 95 people at the time. Practically all parts of the vehicle and the engine were made by themselves. The bodies were made by a local furniture factory, the Des Moines Cabinet Company, according to Mason plans  Slowly, sales improved. The renewed factual doubling of the annual production to 100 vehicles was not enough to help  Mason  out of the financial difficulties. The plan was to produce between 300 and 1000 vehicles.

It is unlikely that a factory plant that was announced in 1907 would actually be built under these circumstances.  After Butler (p. 19); Kimes reported on the planned extension in early 1909. On the other hand, the company announced a four-cylinder model of, on which Fred Duesenberg was already working. This larger model should have a front-mounted engine with overhead camshaft and easy-to-change pistons. An innovative solution was the mounts that were cast into the aluminum crankcase to fix the engine in the chassis. However, the introduction was delayed due to the difficult circumstances.

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Category:Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States

Category:Defunct truck manufacturers of the United States