PACKARD - Luxury

James Ward Packard (1863 - 1928) bought a car from Winton and was not satisfied with its operation and approached Alexander Winton with some suggestions to improve the car. Winton rebuked him and told him to build his own car to incorporate all the suggestions.  James Packard along with his brother William Doud Packard(1861 - 1923) built the first car in 1899.

A 1899 Model A Packard-

In 1900, they formed the Ohio Automobile company to manufacture cars. In 1902 , they renamed the company as Packard Motor Car Company.

A 1902 Model F and a 1910 Packard Tourer -

Packard was known for reliability and luxury and sold their cars in the price range of over $2000 when all others were selling cars below $1000 and thus was serving wealthy customers.

Packard was known for new inventions and innovations. Some of major and well know inventions are -

1913 - Introduced spiral bevel gear in the final drive making the cars silent

1923 - Introduced hypoid gears leading to lower floor levels

1940 - Introduced air conditioning

Packard was one of the top automobile manufacturer for long time before losing traction around the 1950s. Some of the well know models out of a large array of models are -

A 1920 Packard Twin and a 1947 Packard Clipper -

In 1954 Packard was acquired by Studebaker corporation and in 1956 the company was renamed as Studebaker-Packard Corporation. By 1962, the Packard badge was dropped and the brand disappeared.

Packard Logo -

SELDEN - 549.160

George B Selden (1846 - 1922) was a patent lawyer and an inventor. In 1879 , he filed a patent for a horseless carriage - Road engine powered by liquid-hydrocarbon engine of the compression type. After many updates, the US patent office finally  awarded the patent to him in 1895 - Patent no 549.160. The liquid-hydrocarbon engine mentioned in the patent was of the Brayton cycle type.

Even though George Selden never built an automobile , he intended to use the patent effectively to collect royalties. In 1899, Selden sold the patent to Electric Vehicle Company (EVC) who wanted to control the Electric vehicle business by controlling the Gasoline powered automobiles through the Selden patent. Immediately they filed patent suit against Winton Automobiles who were one of the largest sellers of automobile.

By 1903, 30+ automobile manufacturers got to togather to support the Selden patent with a view to limit and shut out competition, called the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM). The Association would pool in royalties from the members and use it partially to find patent infringement cases. Winton joined the ALAM and the case against him was dropped.

The royalties started with 1.25 % and was finally fixed at 0.75%.

In 1903 , Ford Motor Co decided to contest the patent by refusing to pay royalties and a long drawn legal battle ensued. In 1909, Ford lost the case as the judge ruled in favour of Selden. Ford appealed and, in 1911 , the US courts ruled against the Selden patent , the main reason being that the current automobiles use Otto cycle engine and not Brayton cycle engine.

Thus, one of the longest patent battle for the Automobile ended in 1911.

George Selden did found an automobile company in 1905 and they produced cars between 1909 and 1911.  The Selden Motor vehicle company ceased production in 1911.

WINTON - Famous but forgotten

Alexander Winton (1860 - 1932) immigrated to US (from Scotland) in 1880. In 1890 , he started his own business of manufacturing and selling bicycles. In 1893, he developed a motor-bicycle and continued his efforts to build four-wheeled motor car. In 1896 he manufactured his first car , fitted with pneumatic tyres supplied by B.F. Goodrich rubber company.

In 1897, he further refined the design and introduced the second Winton car.

Alexander Winton is credited with many innovations apart from proving that his cars are reliable by driving 1300 Kms in one of his cars. He could reach speeds up to 35 mph , which was an unheard of speed during those times. Some of his innovations include compressed air starting system , where compressed air is let in the engine which pushes the piston downward and brings the adjacent piston to firing stroke - a system nowadays used to start large marine diesel engines. Winton is also credited with using the first steering wheel , replacing the tiller mechanism in use till then.

Winton was America's first automobile manufacturer to make and sell automobiles as a standard product even though Duryea brothers were making custom made automobiles, on order.

Car no 12 was sold to one Mr James Ward Packard and had to experience lot of faults in his car. He met Alexander Winton and complained , to which Winton got angry and challenged him to build a better car. That challenge resulted in another car company - Packard Motorcar co.

Some of the famous and large selling cars of Winton were 1899 - Winton Stanhope and 1910 Winton Six.

The Winton Logo -

Winton stopped making cars in 1924, unable to compete with the cheaper car available in the market. However, they continued to make large , marine diesel engines - the diesel engine division was taken over by General Motors in 1930.