American Automobile and Power Company
Founded1904
Defunct1905
SuccessorMaine Alpaca Company

The American Automobile and Power Company was an American Brass Era car manufacturer, incorporated in Sanford, Maine, in 1903.[1] They produced the American Populaire[1] during 1904 and 1905.[2]

Starting with a capital of $500,000,[1] the company incorporated on December 9, 1903. There were eight officers, three from Boston, Massachusetts, the rest locals; Bostonian Henry D. Long was treasurer, Sanfordian Ernest M. Goodall president.[2]

With a design from Edward O. Mosher,[2] AEC produced a prototype in a shed in Lawrence, Massachusetts, debuting it at the Boston Automobile Show in March 1904.[2]

The company offered three models, all with Mosher's 12 hp (8 kW) two-cylinder engine,[2] on the same 84 in (2134 mm) wheelbase: a $850 roadster, a $950 tonneau (which had an unusual swing-out split front seat),[2] and a $1000 Cape Cod Tourer.[2] By contrast, the Yale side-entrance tourer sold for $1000, the Model S $700, the high-volume Oldsmobile Runabout went for $650,[3] Western's Gale Model A was $500,[4] a Brush Runabout was $485,[5] the Black from $375,[6] and the Success was $250.[3] At the upper end of the AEC range, a Cole 30 or Colt Runabout was priced at $1500,[7] while an Enger 40 was $2000.[5]

While Long bragged, "We could sell one thousand cars in three months if we could make them",[2] by April 1905, production had ceased and the Maine Alpaca Company had taken over the factory.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Kimes, Beverly Rae. The Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805–1942 (Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 1989), p.30.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kimes, p.42.
  3. 1 2 Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925 (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.32.
  4. ↑ Clymer, p.51.
  5. 1 2 Clymer, p.104.
  6. ↑ Clymer, p.61.
  7. ↑ Clymer, p.63 & p.104.

Sources

  • Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925. New York: Bonanza Books, 1950.
  • Kimes, Beverly Rae. The Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805–1942. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 1989. ISBN 0-87341-111-0.
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