Showing posts with label Winton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Winton. Show all posts
Friday, February 06, 2026
Sunday, January 18, 2026
Winton, the topic of the day (so far) came up with a compressed air starter, and the tank of compressed air was able to double as a reservoir for inflating tires
Winton's compressed-air starter enabled advertising of “The Self-Starting Winton Six-Teen-Six”.
That starter system also enabled Winton, from 1911, to offer tire inflation using the same compressed-air reservoir.
Until 1911 there were only a handful of self starting cars that didn't require grabbing a crank handle, and Winton and Chalmers both used compressed air systems. In 1912, 60 manufacturers were including a self starter in their equipment lists, but only two were electric
In the Jan 1912 Automobile Magazine the variety of starters was listed as acetylene gas, electrical, compressed air, spring and lever starters
https://www.delcoremyhistory.com/images/Moments%20in%20Time/Starter%20Types%20Automotive_Industries%20Jan%201912.pdf for the details on how the systems worked
https://www.thesahb.com/snapshot-467-1908-winton-six-teen-six/
For a great article on how the first cars were made, written by the first American car maker, enjoy the information in the Saturday Evening Post article by Alexander Winton, who sold cars in 1898
Above, the 1st car Winton made went on it's first outing with a five-mile run from the Winton works to the main square in Cleveland and back carrying five passengers
On radiators:
These cooling devices were nothing more than banks of tubes through which water could flow.
During summer months, after school and on Saturdays, we used to have boys come in and string tin washers on tubes. When the washers were all in place we would dip the tubes in solder so as to make them one part.
On customer service:
One day I received a frantic letter from a Brooklyn doctor who had purchased one of my cars.
A few days later I was standing in his barn, looking at the machine, which, he said, wouldn’t run.
I examined the gas tank. It was all right. I looked over the spark plugs. Tested the batteries. Got down under the car and stared up underneath. Everything seemed all right, so I went around in front and spun the motor.
Finally I ran my fingers under the mixer.
Then I broke in on the physician’s sarcastic twitterings with this question: “Why did you plug the hole in the bottom of the mixer?
“To keep the gasoline from leaking.”
A few days later I was standing in his barn, looking at the machine, which, he said, wouldn’t run.
I examined the gas tank. It was all right. I looked over the spark plugs. Tested the batteries. Got down under the car and stared up underneath. Everything seemed all right, so I went around in front and spun the motor.
Finally I ran my fingers under the mixer.
Then I broke in on the physician’s sarcastic twitterings with this question: “Why did you plug the hole in the bottom of the mixer?
“To keep the gasoline from leaking.”
It was my turn to be sarcastic. "It happens that gasoline has to be mixed with air before results can be obtained.”
I punched another hole in the mixer, drained off the gasoline which had flooded the cylinders, put the fluid back in the tank, turned the crank, and started the motor.
That was one thing we pioneers in automobiles had to do that presidents of companies miss today. We had to give personal service to our customers. Many times I have piled out of bed on a winter’s night to aid a stranded driver. A good many times, too, I left my telephone receiver off the hook so I could get some sleep.
I punched another hole in the mixer, drained off the gasoline which had flooded the cylinders, put the fluid back in the tank, turned the crank, and started the motor.
That was one thing we pioneers in automobiles had to do that presidents of companies miss today. We had to give personal service to our customers. Many times I have piled out of bed on a winter’s night to aid a stranded driver. A good many times, too, I left my telephone receiver off the hook so I could get some sleep.
The air starter:
It came about in a simple way. I was looking at a car one day when one of my men came along and began cranking it. The motor was cold and it was hard work.
“Next year we are going to equip our cars with starters,” I told an associate, standing with me.
“You mean so cars won’t have to be cranked?”
“Yes.”
I went inside, made a drawing of the idea that had come, built a mechanism that could be operated by pressing down a foot, and we had the starter that took the pressure from the cylinders, stored it in a tank, and kept it ready for use. This air starter was the forerunner, in a sense, of the present electric starter.
“Next year we are going to equip our cars with starters,” I told an associate, standing with me.
“You mean so cars won’t have to be cranked?”
“Yes.”
I went inside, made a drawing of the idea that had come, built a mechanism that could be operated by pressing down a foot, and we had the starter that took the pressure from the cylinders, stored it in a tank, and kept it ready for use. This air starter was the forerunner, in a sense, of the present electric starter.
For the rest of his article, as I only want to show a couple examples, read
“Get a Horse,” The Saturday Evening Post, February 8, 1930 https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/sep-keyword/winton-motor-carriage-company
FYI, the 12th car was sold to someone who was very upset, and for the first time in automotive history, but not the last, the legendary phrase "then why don't you build a better car?!" and James Packard did.
the first car tires.... were ordered by Winton, from Goodrich, Here is his account of how getting car tires made, for the first car, went.
I went to the Goodrich Company, in Akron, and told them I wanted something bigger than their biggest bicycle tire, something that would fit the wheels of a horseless carriage.
“That’s a new one on us,” cried a man to whom I had been directed.
“A horseless carriage, eh? Hmph! Will it run?”
“You bet it will.”
“Well, I guess we can make them, although we never have.”
“That’s fine.”
The man hesitated, rubbed his chin, and observed: “We will make them, but you will have to pay for the molds.”
“Do what?”
“Yes, sir. There won’t be enough call for tires for horseless carriages, and we can’t afford to pay for the molds. Also, you will have to pay for them in advance — and the tires too. We’ll have them on our hands if you don’t get them.”
I paid.
They were single-tube affairs, and were pretty expensive. It wasn’t long before I got a puncture, and while I thought of patching the tire I figured out what I considered a better idea. Molasses was heavy and would stop leaks if they weren’t too large, so I began pumping it into the tube. I pumped too hard. The rubber gave way and the molasses came out too quickly to be dodged.
Alexander Winton established the Winton Motor Carriage Company in 1897, among the earliest American automobile manufacturers (Duryea and White were the others)
In 1898, the first automobile on Erie Pennsylvania's streets, was a creation of Alexander Winton from his Cleveland, Ohio shop. This was the 1st shift from horse-drawn carriages to cars.
The buyer, Jackson Koehler, an Erie brewery owner, had the car personally delivered by Winton, a journey that spanned 5 hours.
Winton stayed a week, instructing Koehler on vehicle operation.
Winton was a Scottish immigrant with a fervor for engineering and racing, Winton crafted his inaugural car in 1896, founding the company the following year in Cleveland. The company thrived until 1924.
Thomas Henderson immigrated to the United States from Scotland in 1881 and
became the business partner of Alexander Winton
He married Alexander's sister, Catherine Winton, also Scottish, and
they had eight children.
Alexander Winton (b. 20th June 1860, Falkirk, near Glasgow) son of a blacksmith who specialized in the manufacture of farm implements. Alexander went to school within earshot of the Clydeside shipyards. He learned the rudiments of mechanics from his father, then perfected his knowledge working in those shipyards, and from there it was a logical step to a job as a ship's engineer. He emigrated to New York and is in the 1880 census for Manhattan, aged twenty.
Alexander's sister, Catherine Winton and her husband, Thomas Henderson, were also in Manhattan at this time. Thomas was some eleven years older than Alexander. Alexander may have followed his sister and brother in law to the US.
His first work was as a machinist with Delameter Ironworks in New York. A year later he left to take up a position as an assistant engineer on a cargo boat plying between New York and South America. He endeavored to learn as much as he could about steam ship engineering.
He left the sea a couple of years later and married Jeanette Muir McGlashan (b. 3rd September 1861, Glasgow) in Manhattan on 18th January 1883. Jeanette had arrived two years earlier but they had known each other from childhood in Scotland. Jeanette was the daughter of foreman engineer's patternmaker William McGlashan and Jean Muir.
In 1884 he was working at the Phoenix Ironworks, and by 1881 was foreman but was again listed as a machinist the following year.
In 1891, he was superintendent of the Cleveland Lock Company.
He opened a bicycle repair shop and this was incorporated as The Winton Bicycle Co in 1892 with a share capital of $25,000. Thomas Henderson, Alexander's brother in law, was President.
The motorcycle Henderson Brothers, Tom & William, were grandsons of Alexander Winton and their father was a Winton President of some sort.
Henderson made in-line 4-cylinder motorcycles from 1912 until 1931.
They were the largest and fastest motorcycles of their time, and appealed to both sport riders and police departments.
Police favored them for traffic patrol because they were faster than anything else on the roads.
The company began during the golden age of motorcycling, and ended during the Great Depression
(Another Willie G... that's noteworthy)
Two years later, in 1899, his grandson William Henderson came to work as a designer and draftsman at the factory, helping develop the Winton during its meteoric rise.
Carl Stearns Clancy became the first person to ride around the world on a motorcycle, and he did it aboard a Henderson. The press took note. Riders took notice. Dealers couldn't keep up with demand. The Model B improved braking. The Model C added a two-speed hub. The Model F came with a kick-starter and a tighter wheelbase for nimbleness. Year by year, Henderson machines got better, faster, and smarter.
In 1917, as America entered the Great War and industry shifted gears, the Henderson brothers sold their company to Ignaz Schwinn, the bicycle baron behind one of America's most successful "Big Three" motorcycle manufacturers, Excelsior. Production moved to Chicago, and the bikes were branded Excelsior-Henderson. For a time, it was a golden partnership. William Henderson stayed on as a chief engineer
Monday, May 01, 2023
Sunday, November 20, 2022
This photo was taken on 28 May, 1910 in Salt Lake City, showing a 40 HP, 7-passenger Winton Six newly delivered to the Winton agent, Carl Horst, at The Motor Company
The story stated that the all the big Wintons were pre-sold and would be driven to San Francisco soon by their owners to see the Jack Johnson - Jim Jeffreys fight. This photo resides in the Shipler Commercial Photographers collection at the Utah Historical Society.
Saturday, July 30, 2022
Thursday, July 07, 2022
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Barney Oldfield & Alexander Winton... a jaunty hat, and a ornery look. The pancake flat car was the Winton Bullet
Found on https://www.facebook.com/groups/lecyclecaristebelge/
the above is Bullet #1, set the 1st speed record on Daytona Beach,in 1903, 26 February to be exact, Alexander Winton, aboard the 13 liter 4 cylinders, he reached 68 mph
Winton's "Bullet 2" carried two 4 cylinder engines bolted together, creating a straight eight
thanks Steve!
http://www.365daysofmotoring.com/showonthisday/article/318
https://www.facebook.com/RuoteclassicheIT/photos/a.239719156151947.1073741828.171130486344148/382232095233985/?type=3&fref=nf
Sunday, July 26, 2015
the first automobile to successfully transit the North American continent, a Winton. The trip cost about 8000 dollars then, about 300,000 in todays dollars
in 1903, Horatio Nelson Jackson, a physician and automobile pioneer, and Sewall Crocker arrive in New York, successfully completing the first continental crossing by car, a journey prompted by a $50 bet to determine whether a car could successfully be driven across the U.S.
Dr. Jackson was a 31-year-old auto enthusiast who differed with the then-prevailing wisdom that the automobile was a passing fad and a recreational plaything.
The wealthy young doctor, who had retired at age 28 (his wife, Bertha Jackson, had inherited a fortune from her father who founded a popular cure-all called Paine’s Celery Compound), had stopped in San Francisco after a long trip to buy two automobiles and learn how to drive.
While in San Francisco's University Club as a guest on May 18, 1903, he agreed to a $50 wager ($1299 in today's dollars) to prove that a four-wheeled machine could be driven across the country. Having no mechanical experience, Jackson convinced a young mechanic and chauffeur, Sewall Crocker, to serve as his travel companion, mechanic, and backup driver.
Jackson purchased a slightly used two-cylinder Winton touring car from a Wells Fargo executive for $3,000 (about $100,000 today). He loaded it up with cooking and camping gear, a rifle and an ax, an extra gas tank, and a block and tackle to use if the car got stuck. With the 225-pound Jackson and the 150-pound Crocker on board, the fully loaded car weighed more than 3,000 pounds. Jackson christened the vehicle the Vermont, after his home state.
Along the way, the two picked up a pit bull and they named him Bud. Their trip took sixty-three days, twelve hours, and thirty minutes after commencing their journey in San Francisco
Their trip started off auspiciously enough. Despite blowing a tire after just 15 miles, they made it to Tracy the first night, having covered 83 miles. But then one mishap after another befell them. On the way to Oroville, they noticed that their cooking gear had fallen off the car. Then they got lost and asked a redheaded young woman riding a horse directions to Marysville. She pointed down a road. “We took that road and drove down it for about 50 miles and then it came to a dead end at an isolated farmhouse,” Jackson recalled. “The family all turned out to stare at us and told us we’d have to go back. We went back, and met the red-haired young woman again. ‘Why did you send us way down there?’ I asked her. ‘I wanted paw and maw and my husband to see you,’ she said. ‘They’ve never seen an automobile.’”
They didn't know it, but Packard had planned to do the same thing a few weeks later, and so, both parties were cross the continent at the same time
https://www.facebook.com/automotivehistory http://misleddit.com/p/2swauj/
this entire trip is very well covered by a documentary movie: Horatio's Drive
you can find some of it on Youtube, or get it from Netflix
http://www.vintag.es/2017/02/it-all-started-with-50-wager-two-men.html
https://www.facebook.com/automotivehistory http://misleddit.com/p/2swauj/
this entire trip is very well covered by a documentary movie: Horatio's Drive
you can find some of it on Youtube, or get it from Netflix
http://www.vintag.es/2017/02/it-all-started-with-50-wager-two-men.html
Monday, June 15, 2015
the yellow Winton Flyer made by Von Dutch for Steve McQueen's early movie, the Reivers
The Reivers, based on William Faulkner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, was a departure from Steve McQueen's typical action/adventure films. In some markets, in fact, the movie is titled Yellow Winton Flyer.
Steve McQueen, whose Solar Productions was instrumental in the production of The Reivers, turned to his friend Von Dutch to construct the movie car.
The Winton Flyer had to combine four-passenger capacity and 1904 appearance with the practical requirements of strength and reliability that the shooting schedule demanded. It was an assignment particularly appropriate to the whimsical Dutch, who applied his peculiar brand of tongue-in-cheek style with his highly developed skill at creating functional mechanical gizmos. The resulting Yellow Winton Flyer looks, acts, rides and shakes like the 18 horsepower 1904 touring car it's supposed to be.
It sold with Bonhams for $100,000 http://www.mcqueenonline.com/yellowwintonflyer.htm in 2006 at the Petersen Museum auction of the Brucker collection
it was built using a car called a Flanders
Most recently, the car was at a car show in Michigan, the Eyes On Design, June 15, 2014 car show at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford estate in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan.
http://www.gizmag.com/most-expensive-movies-cars-at-auction/32235/pictures#352
http://blog.classiccars.com/eye-candy-eyeson-design/ photo by Steve Purdy
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Monday, June 11, 2012
The oldest car collection in the US... the Larz Anderson museum in Brookline Mass
The collection has the following
1899 Winton
1900 Rochet-Schneider
1901 Winton Bullet
1903 Gardner-Serpollet
1905 Electromobile
1906 CGV
1907 FIAT
Powerful and bold, the Andersons’ 1907 Fiat was the supercar of its time. Even the motto of the automobile, No Hill Can Stop Me, reflected its strength, for many automobiles at this time had difficulty going up hills. This 11-liter, 6-cylinder Fiat boasted a strength of 65 horsepower; only 86 were manufactured. Bought by the Andersons while they were on vacation in Europe, the car was then shipped to New York to be re-bodied by the Hol-Tan Company.
1908 Bailey Electric
1910 Panhard et Levasor
1912 Renault
1915 Packard Twin Six
1924 Renault Torpedo
1925 Luxor Taxi
1926 Lincoln
and small sidenote, the museum collection (in a 1888 carriage house) was voted as one of the Top 10 Boston Museums for a wedding
This year, the Pebble Beach Concours has invited the Larz Anderson museum to bring the 1907 Fiat, and it needs a couple of tires. http://larzanderson.org/1907fiat/
You'll understand that car museums in Massachusetts are off the beaten path of tourists, and door donations might be a bit down lately... but the car is IMPRESSIVE! It has been a feature of the collection that has been open to the public for viewing.... get this, since 1927. The Museum was founded in 1949, and might be the oldest car museum in America that is still open.
It just needs a couple of dollars to get tires.
The 1907 Fiat was last was operated in 1919, and the workshop of "The Old Motor" David is getting it ready to be shipped to Pebble Beach, read about that at http://theoldmotor.com/?p=50392 .
David is one of the few who are expert at brass era and classics, and is buying one tire, handling all the work of fixing the rims, handling the lubrication (etc etc etc) but is not set to sponsor more than the one tire as they are about $500 apiece.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
hodge podge of autos that caught my attention
I missed noting on this photo what this car is. But Greg identified it as a 'Duesenberg Model J'
Billie Burke in San Francisco's Presidio Park drving her Studebaker
Century
Dodge... with a chauffer? In a Dodge? Really?
Henry Ford in his first automobile
Franklin
1927 Holland Tunnel in New York
New York hot dog stand 1935 in Manhattan
a safety idea that didn't stick
1909 flight of the Wright brothers... but look at the elegant horse carriage
Lady Astor, a parliament member in England and her Terraplane
a Packard 12, 7 passenger limo
Panhard and Levassor
Regal
This Supercharged Graham 120 won over 4 other v8 autos in a contest to win the favor of this fire dept chief
REO Flying Cloud
The first Oldsmobile, 1896
A Winton stripped down for racing
all found while browsing through http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/
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