Templar automobile
Encyclopedia
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
s in Lakewood, Ohio
Lakewood, Ohio
Lakewood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area, and borders the city of Cleveland. The population was 52,131 at the 2010 making it the third largest city in Cuyahoga County, behind Cleveland and Parma .Lakewood, one of Cleveland's...
from 1917 to 1924. The company was named for the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
and used a Maltese Cross
Maltese cross
The Maltese cross, also known as the Amalfi cross, is identified as the symbol of an order of Christian warriors known as the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta and through them came to be identified with the Mediterranean island of Malta and is one of the National symbols of Malta...
as an emblem.
Advertising themselves as "The pioneer builder of quality small cars", the first Templar car had a four cylinder, overhead valve
Overhead valve
An overhead valve engine, also informally called pushrod engine or I-head engine, is a type of piston engine that places the camshaft within the cylinder block , and uses pushrods or rods to actuate rocker arms above the cylinder...
engine of 3.2 litres capacity coupled to a three speed transmission mounted in a chassis with a 118 inches (2,997.2 mm) wheelbase. The entry of the United States into World War I severely curtailed production, the company making artillery shells for the war effort. Only around 150 cars were made in 1918. Body styles included a coupe with coachwork by Leon Rubay at US$4250, a Victoria Elite tourer
Touring car
A touring car, or tourer, is an open car seating five or more. Touring cars may have two or four doors. Often, the belt line is lowered in the front doors to give the car a more sportive character. They were often fitted with a folding roof and side curtains. Engines on early models were either in...
, a 3 door sedan and a sports model called the Sportette at US$2400. The cars were extremely well equipped with a compass
Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...
and Kodak camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
as standard equipment.
Full production resumed in 1919 with 3 body types, the coupe, Sportette and sedan. 1800 cars were built by the 900 employees. While the post war boom continued, the company could sell every car it made and Templar even increased prices in 1920 and 1921. The 1921 coupe, still basically the 1917 car, cost US$3785, as did the five-passenger sedan, while the five-seat tourer, four-passenger Sportette, and two-seat touring roadster were US$2885.
By contrast, an Enger 40 was US$2000, the FAL was US$1750, US$2000, the Oakland 40 US$1600, the Cole
Cole Motor Car Company
The Cole Motor Car Company was an early automobile maker based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Cole automobiles were built from 1908 until 1925. They were quality-built luxury cars. The make is a pioneer of the V-8 engine.- Early years :...
30 and Colt Runabout were each US$1500, the high-volume Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
Runabout
Oldsmobile Curved Dash
The gasoline powered Curved Dash Oldsmobile is credited as being the first mass-produced automobile, meaning that it was built on an assembly line using interchangeable parts. It was introduced by the Oldsmobile company in 1901 and produced through 1907...
was US$650, and Western
Western Tool Works (automobile company)
Western Tool Works was a pioneering brass era automobile manufacturer in Galesburg, Illinois.Western in 1905 produced the Gale Model A, an open roadster, for sale at US$500, which was less than high-volume Oldsmobile Runabout, at US$650, the Ford "Doctor's Car" at US$850, or the Holsman high...
's Gale Model A was US$500, but Templars were still well below the Lozier
Lozier
The Lozier Motor Company was a brass era producer of automobiles in the United States of America. The company produced luxury automobiles from 1900 to 1915, with a factory at 3703 Mack Avenue, Detroit, Michigan....
Light Six Metropolian tourer and runabout
Runabout (car)
Runabouts were a popular car body style at the beginning of the 20th Century. They were small, inexpensive, open cars. Most runabouts had just a single row of seats, providing seating for two passengers. Many also had a tonneau at the rear to provide optional seating for four or five...
at US$3,250 and coupe
Coupé
A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...
US$3,850 or even American
American Motor Car Company
The American Motor Car Company was a short-lived company in the automotive industry founded in 1906, lasting until 1913. It was based in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The American Motor Car Company pioneered the "underslung" design.-History:...
's lowest-price model, which was US$4250 (its highest was US$5250), while the 1913 Lozier Big Six tourer and roadster started at US$5,000.
Competition was increasing, so in 1922, two cheaper models were announced, a roadster and a Deluxe Sports at US$1985. Production was severely affected following a major fire which had swept through the works in December 1921 and receivers were appointed in October 1922.
The company was re-financed and became the Templar Motor Car Company in 1923 and work started on a 4.3 litre six cylinder engine as the new management decided the future was in larger cars. The new models were based around a 122 inches (3,098.8 mm) wheelbase frame with a range of four- and five-seat bodies. Four wheel brakes were also introduced. However, only 125 cars were sold in 1923.
By late 1924 it seems the money ran out and the company passed into the ownership of a local bank who had called in a loan and production ceased.
Sources
- Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925. New York: Bonanza Books, 1950.