The Yale was a Brass Era car

Brass Era car

The automotive Brass Era is the first period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such things as lights and radiators. It extends from the first commercial automobiles marketed in the 1890s until about World War I...

 manufactured in Saginaw, Michigan

Saginaw, Michigan

Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...

 from 1916 to 1918, not to be confused with the Yale

Yale (automobile)

Kirk Manufacturing Company was a manufacturer of Brass Era automobiles in Toledo, Ohio. Their automobile was marketed as the Yale.-History:...

 from Toledo, Ohio

Toledo, Ohio

Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

.

The man behind this Yale was Louis J. Lampke, who previously had been with Palmer-Singer and Lion

Lion (automobile)

The Lion was an automobile built in Adrian, Michigan, United States, by the Lion Motor Car Company from 1909-12. The Lion had a four-cylinder 40 hp engine, and was available in at least three body types. The 1912 model cost $1,600 and came equipped with internal expanding brakes with drums of ...

. He then created a car he had designed himself, this was the MPM

MPM (automobile)

The M.P.M. was an automobile built in Mount Pleasant, Michigan by the Mount Pleasant Motor Company from 1914-15. The M.P.M. was a medium-sized conventional car equipped with both a four- and eight-cylinder engine. The company had plans to move its manufacturing plant to either Alma or Saginaw at...

 of Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Mount Pleasant is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Isabella County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 25,946. The 2008 census estimate places the population at 26,675....

. In early 1915, Lampke travelled to Saginaw in order to acquire funding to transfer his company there. Apparently, the people of Saginaw were not interested in the MPM, but were interested in Lampke himself. He therefore stayed in town and created the Saginaw Motor Company in June 1916. Various local businessmen were in the executive positions, while Lampke was in charge of product development. The plan was to call the automobile

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...

 the Saginaw, but the Lehr Motor Company across town had already beaten them to the name. The Saginaw Motor people thus got together and settled on the Yale name.

Vehicle specifications

The Yale would be V8

V8 engine

A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....

-powered only, in contrast to the four- and eight-cylinder

Cylinder (engine)

A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...

 engine

Engine

An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert energy into useful mechanical motion. Heat engines, including internal combustion engines and external combustion engines burn a fuel to create heat which is then used to create motion...

s of the MPM. The Yale was also larger and more luxurious than the MPM, with prices starting at US$

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

1350. The former Argo Electric

Argo Electric

The Argo Electric Vehicle Company operated in Saginaw, Michigan, from 1912 to 1916. The Argo Electric used a 60 volt system with Westinghouse motors. They claimed to be capable of . It had 6 forward and 6 reverse speeds, had 36 x 4 cushion tires and used an steering wheel on the left...

 factory at Jefferson and Atwater in town was secured and production of seven-passenger Touring car

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...

s commenced in July 1916. This was the only body style

Car body style

Automobiles' body styles are highly variable. Some body styles remain in production, while others become less common or obsolete. They may or may not correlate to a car's price, size or intended market classification. The same car model might be available in multiple body styles comprising a...

 offered the first year. With the coming of the new year, two new body styles were added, namely a roadster

Roadster

A roadster is a two-seat open car with emphasis on sporty handling and without a fixed roof or side weather protection. Strictly speaking a roadster with wind-up windows is a convertible but as true roadsters are no longer made the distinction is now irrelevant...

 and a speedster with a rumble seat

Rumble seat

A rumble seat, dicky seat, dickie seat or dickey seat is an upholstered exterior seat which hinges or otherwise opens out from the rear deck of a pre-World War II automobile, and seats one or more passengers. An 1899 Century Dictionary describes a rumble as " A seat for servants in the rear of a...

. All three models rode on the same 126 inch wheelbase

Wheelbase

In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels.- Road :In automobiles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the center of the front wheel and the center of the rear wheel...

 and cost US$1550.

Production

The company announced its intentions to produce closed cars, but it is unlikely that any were made. In January 1918, the price had increased yet again, this time to US$1885, but by now the end was near. Production ceased in March of the same year, and Puritan of Detroit

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...

 acquired the right to the parts and to service the cars. In April, the factory was purchased by the makers of Jumbo trucks.