K-R-I-T Motor Car Company
Encyclopedia
K-R-I-T was a small automobile manufacturing company (1909-1916) based in Detroit, Michigan
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. Krit occupied two different sites during its history: the first one it took over from the Blomstrom car, and in 1911 moved to the works that had been used by R. M. Owen & Company who had moved to become Owen Magnetic
. The cars were conventional 4 cylinder models and many were exported to Europe and Australia. The outbreak of World War I
seriously damaged the company and it failed in 1915. A few cars were subsequently assembled from remaining parts.
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
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History
Its name probably originated from Kenneth Crittenden who provided financial backing and helped design the cars. The emblem of the cars was a swastikaSwastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
. Krit occupied two different sites during its history: the first one it took over from the Blomstrom car, and in 1911 moved to the works that had been used by R. M. Owen & Company who had moved to become Owen Magnetic
Owen Magnetic
The Owen Magnetic was a brand of hybrid electric luxury automobiles manufactured between 1915 and 1922. Car models of the brand were notable for their use of an electromagnetic transmission and were early examples of a electric series hybrid drivetrain. The manufacture of the car was sponsored by...
. The cars were conventional 4 cylinder models and many were exported to Europe and Australia. The outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
seriously damaged the company and it failed in 1915. A few cars were subsequently assembled from remaining parts.
Surviving examples
- 1913 K-R-I-T "KT" 5-Passenger Touring at the National Automobile MuseumNational Automobile MuseumThe National Automobile Museum, located just south of the Truckee River in Reno, Nevada, displays historic automobiles from the late 19th century and from throughout the 20th. Most of the vehicles displayed are from the collection of the late casino owner William F...
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See also
- List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers
External links
- Once teeming with auto plants, Detroit now home to only a few nameplates (Detroit NewsThe Detroit NewsThe Detroit News is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival Free Press's building. The News absorbed the Detroit Tribune on February 1, 1919, the Detroit Journal on July 21, 1922, and on November 7, 1960,...
16 January 2000)