HUMBER - The British marque

Thomas Humber (1841 - 1910) was a British Engineer interested in improving the bicycle designs of those times. Humber was credited with inventing the safety bicycle  with the pedal driving the rear wheel. Later on, he pioneered same size wheels and diamond-frame design in bicycles.

A Humber Bicycle -

In 1869,  Humber and Company was created to manufacture bicycles. In 1892, Thomas Humber sold off his rights to Henry Lawson of Daimler (England). As a logical step , Humber was experimenting with motorization. In 1896 , they introduced motorized bicycle fitted with Pennigton engine. A 1904 Humber motorcycle -

Humber continued to excel in the motorcycle and motorized tricycles. Parrallely they were experimenting with cars. In 1898 they introduced the first car and followed up with another in 1899 -

This was followed with a car in 1903 , called the Humbrette -

During the war , Humber manufactured aircraft engines and continued to manufacture cars after the war.

In 1928 , Humber acquired Commer and in 1929 they acquired Hillman.  In 1932 , the Rootes group acquired Humber. Rootes group was taken over by Chrysler in 1964 and in 1978 Chrysler(Europe) sold off to Peugeot. After 1976, the Humber marque slowly disappeared.

Some of the famous and well know Humber cars - Humber Pullman and Humber Sceptre.

The Humber logos -

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 -

LORRAINE - DIETRICH

The history of De Dietrich et Cie can be traced back to 1684 when Jean de Dietrich bought over a forge and came to be known as the "King of iron". De Dietrich expanded in to manufacture of railway carriages after 1800. The Franco-Prussian war of 1870 split their factories between two countries - Luneville(France) and Niederbronn (Germany).

In 1896 , De Dietrich further expanded in to Automobile production. They built their first automobile with the 2-cylinder engine procured from Amedee Bollee, elder brother of Leon Bollee. The 1896 De Dietrich car -

In 1898 , they further refined the design and introduced the "Torpilleur"  with a 4-cylinder engine. The 1898 de Dietrich Torpedo -

By 1899/1900 , De Dietrich had tied up with Vivinus of Belgium to produce cars at their Niederbronn factory  and Turcat-Mery at their Luneville plant , under the De Dietrich badge. A De Dietrich badge Vivinus and Turcat-Mery cars -

In 1902, De Dietrich engaged Ettore Bugatti, a young and award winning engineer, at their Niederbronn factory to design develop new cars. One of the well know car being the type 5 -

In 1904 , Ettore Bugatti left De Dietrich to join Mathis Car Company and, in the  same year , De Dietrich closed their Niederbronn factory and shifted the entire automobile production to Luneville factory. In celebration , the word Lorraine was added to the De Dietrich name and the company name was changed to Lorraine-Dietrich. The Cross of Lorraine was adopted as the logo.

In 1907 , Lorraine-Dietrich acquired the Italian luxury and race care maker  Isotta-Fraschini which in turn brought in technology like four wheel brakes and overhead cam engines.

Lorraine- Dietrich was involved in racing and had won many major automobile races of that time including the Tour de France. A 1915 Lorraine-Dietrich race car -

During the world war I , Lorraine- Dietrich was involved in the manufacture of aircraft engines.

After the war , automobile production was restarted. A 1924 Lorraine-Dietrich -

Automobile business became unprofitable and ultimately closed down in 1935. The Luneville factory was converted to manufacture of railway coaches.

The Lorraine-Dietrich logo -

The logo of Turcat-Mery and Vivinus which were sold under the De Dietrich badge -

STUDEBAKER - Dead company, living advertisement

The history of Studebakers can be traced back to the 1700s when three German brothers emigrated to the US. John Studebaker (1799 - 1877), son of one of the Studebaker brothers was involved in the business of blacksmith and metal working. He ran his business on the philosophy "always give more than you promise" and in the process ran in to debt.

John Studebaker had five sons (pictured above) - Henry (1826-1895) , Clement (1831-1901) , John Mohler (1833-1917), Peter Everst (1836-1897), Jacob Franklin (1844-1887) and were the pioneers of Studebaker Corporation as we know today. 

In 1858 , Henry Studebaker and Clement Studebaker formed the company H and C Studebaker to manufacture wagon components  and later on wagons. John Mohler Studebaker was in the business of making wheel barrows and parts.

In 1868 , John Mohler joined the wagon making business and Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company was formed. Studebaker became largest and finest manufacturer of horse-drawn wagons.

A Studebaker Wagon -

Studebaker flourished in the wagon business aided by war and supplies to the war machinery.

In 1891 , Frederick Fish , son-in-law of John Mohler joined the business and was urging the Studebaker brothers to move towards horseless carriages. In 1897 , Studebaker Automobiles was created to manufacture and sell horseless carriages. As the Studebakers considered gasoline and steam engines as noisy, they decided to manufacture electric automobiles. In 1902 , Studebaker introduced the first electric automobile. The second electric automobile was purchased by Thomas Edison -

Frederick Fish continued to look for opportunities to enter the gasoline automobile and in 1904 entered in to agreement with Garford Automobile company to supply engines and Chassis on which Studebaker will build the carriage and sell it through their distribution network. These cars were known as Studebaker-Garford -

Garford company could not keep up with the demand and coupled with labour problems were unable meet the requirements of Studebaker. Frederick Fish was looking for an alternative and in 1909 entered in to an agreement with E-M-F company to supply engines and chassis to Studebaker. Garford was discontinued. A Studebaker-EMF car -

E-M-F cars were notoriously unreliable and was known to have major mechanical problems in transmission and clutch and was jokingly known as "Every Morning Fix-it". E-M-F company also ran in to financial problems and it gave an opportunity for Studebaker to acquire the company . In 1911 , Studebaker Automobiles acquired E-M-F Company and renamed as Studebaker Corporation and then on all cars were branded as Studebaker. After that Studebaker sent out mechanics to all owner's of Studebaker-EMF 20 cars and replaced defective parts , probably the first recall.

Studebaker was one of the major suppliers of automobiles and military equipment during the WWI.

In 1937 , Studebaker corporation planted 5000 pine trees in their factory in such a shape to spell the company name. Even today these tress can be seen from satellite pictures. Link to Studebaker trees.

Some of the famous an well known Studebaker Automobiles -

1927 Studebaker Erskine

1939 Studebaker Champion

1950 Studebaker "Bullet Nose"

1953 Studebaker Starliner

1963 Studebaker Avanti

In 1954 Studebaker was acquired by Packard Corporation and in 1956 , the company was renamed as Studebaker-Packard Corporation. In spite of this the company was losing money in view competition from Ford and General Motors. In 1962, the Packard name was dropped and reverted back to the earlier name Studebaker Corporation.

Studebaker corporation could not keep up with the competition and finally was closed in 1966.

The evolution of the Studebaker logo over the years -

HORCH - Listen

August Horch (1868 - 1951), a German Engineer, was employed in the Engine factory of Karl Benz. In 1899, he quit Benz and started his own company and named it A.Horch & Cie. The first automobile made in 1901 was a 2 cylinder , 4.5 HP car -

In this car , Horch had a "shock-free" engine design - it was claimed that a 5 cent coin, standing on its side, will not fall when the engine is idling. He was also the first to introduce Aluminum alloy for the engine crankcase and transmission housings.

In 1904 Horch introduced  4 cylinder cars and in 1908  6 cylinder cars -

Horch recognized the importance of racing and was actively involved in various racing event , winning many. A 1908 Horch racer -

In 1909 August Horch quit the company after a tussle with the board of directors. After quitting A. Horch & Cie, August Horch created another company  called Audi, the latin translation of Horch - meaning "Listen" 

Horch continued to manufacture luxury cars with bigger engines. In 1923, Paul Daimler designed a 8 cylinder engine for Horch.

A 1938 Horch -

In 1928, Horch was acquired by another company called DKW. In 1932 , 4 companies got together and formed the Auto Union comprising of Horch, Audi, DKW & Wanderer.

After the war,  Horch manufacturing facilities in East Germany were controlled by Russians and manufactured Sachsenring P240 cars and later on the infamous Russian Trabant cars. A 1956 Sachsenring -

In 1964, Auto Union was acquired by Volkswagen group and later renamed as Audi.

Horch Logo -