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Ohio Electric Car Company

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ohio Electric Car Company
Company typeCompany
IndustryAutomobile
Founded1909
FounderJames Brown Bell, Henry P. Dodge, Rathbun Fuller, Robert E. Lee and Henry E. Marvin
Defunct1918
Headquarters
Toledo, Ohio, United States
Key people
George W. Shaw

Ohio Electric Car Company was a brass era electric car company founded in 1909 in Toledo, Ohio.

History

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James Brown Bell, Henry P. Dodge, Rathbun Fuller, Robert E. Lee and Henry E. Marvin founded the company in September 1909. The company was based in Toledo, Ohio. In 1910 the production of automobiles began. The brand name was Ohio. Initially part of the Milburn Wagon Company facility was used before moving OECC to its own facility in 1911.

Twelve vehicles were built in 1910, 300 in 1915 and 650 the following year. In 1915 M.V. Barbour became the president, C.M. Foster the vice president and general manager, and Herman H. Brand the secretary and treasurer. In 1917 George W. Shaw became the president. At that time business was already declining, so half of the company activities consisted of building bodies for other car manufacturers.

The production ended in 1918.

There is no connection to the Ohio Motor Car Company, which used the same brand name from 1909 to 1912.

Vehicles

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1913 Ohio Electric advertisement showcasing a woman steering the car with the lever.

Ohio Electric offered only electric cars, emphasising in the ads (often aimed at women) how they were particularly easy to drive. Their cars were steered with a steering lever that could be operated from both the front seat and the back seat. Ohio Electric also emphasised their patents on the double drive and magnetic control, as well as their usage of magnetic brake. The electric motors came from Crocker-Wheeler.

In 1910 there was only one model called the Shaft Drive. This is the only indication of cardan drive in Ohio Electric, otherwise chain drive is not mentioned for any model.

Model overview

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Year Model Wheelbase (cm) Car body style
1910 Shaft Drive Coupé
1911 Model D 203 Coupé
1911 Model F 203 Victoria
1911 Model G 203 Large Coupé
1912 Model D 203 Coupé
1912 Model F 229 Victoria
1912 Model G 229 Coupé
1912 Model K 229 Coupé
1912 Model Q 229 Victoria
1912 Model X 259 De Luxe Coupé
1913 Model F Stanhope
1913 Model L 269 Colonial Brougham
1913 Model M 269 Straight-Line Brougham
1913 Model O 269 Dresden Brougham
1913 Model Q 229 Victoria
1913 Model Y 269 Brougham
1914 Model 40 249 Dresden Design with 4 seats
1914 Model 50 249 Coupé
1914 Model 60 249 Viennese Design with 5 seats
1915 Model 11 Single-Drive 250 Coupé
1915 Model 21 250 Roadster
1915 Model 41 250 Brougham
1915 Model 51 Double-Drive 250 Brougham
1915 Model 61 Double-Drive 250 Coupé
1915 Roadster 250 Roadster with 2 seats
1915 Single-Drive 250 Brougham with 4 and 5 seats
1915 Double-Drive 250 Brougham with 5 seats
1916 Model 12 239 Brougham with 4 seats
1916 Model 42 Single-Drive 262 Brougham
1916 Model 62 262 Brougham with 5 seats
1916 Roadster 262 Roadster
1916 Single-Drive 262 Coupé
1917 Model 12 262 Coupé
1917 Model 43 262 Brougham
1917 Model 63 262 Brougham
1917 Coach 262 Coach
1917 Single-Drive 262 Roadster
1918 Brougham 262 Brougham
1918 Coach 262 Coach

Bibliography

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  • Kimes, Beverly Rae (1996). Standard catalog of American cars, 1805-1942 (3rd ed.). Iola, WI: Krause Publications. pp. 1056–1058. ISBN 0-87341-428-4. OCLC 34905743.
  • The Beaulieu encyclopedia of the automobile. G. N. Georgano. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. 2000. pp. 1135–1136. ISBN 1-57958-293-1. OCLC 45369199.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)