Jackson Automobile Company
Jackson Automobile Company
Main page
1158663

Jackson Automobile Company

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Jackson Automobile Company

The Jackson Automobile Company was an American Brass Era automobile manufacturer located in and named for Jackson, Michigan. The company produced the Jackson from 1903 to 1923, the 1903 Jaxon steam car and the 1904 Orlo.

Byron J. Carter operated a steam driven press and was a rubber stamp manufacturer. In 1894 Carter went into a partnership with his father selling bicycles. By 1899 he built his first gasoline automobile but focused on steam cars. By 1901 his steam car was being manufactured by the Michigan Automobile Company in Kalamazoo. A year later, Carter returned to Jackson after inventing and patenting a three-cylinder six-horsepower steam engine. Carter partnered with George A. Matthews, a buggy manufacturer and Charles Lewis, president of the Lewis Spring Axle Company, and the Jackson Automobile Company was incorporated in 1903.

Full production started in 1903 with a single-cylinder engine car that closely resembled the Oldsmobile Curved Dash. The cylinder count in the engines doubled the next year, and doubled again in 1906. Not long after full production started, Carter left the firm to create the Cartercar. He left due to a disagreement with his partners, who did not wish to use the friction drive transmission he had developed. After Carter left, Jackson automobiles lacked any distinct feature, but they were well-built and long-lasting. In 1910, Matthews bought out Lewis, leaving him as the sole remaining partner. Lewis left to start the Hollier car. Matthews installed his sons in the president, secretary and treasurer positions within the company.

The engines used by the company continued to grow, with a Northway six-cylinder engine becoming available in 1913, and a Ferro V8 available in 1916. Later cars resembled the contemporary Rolls-Royce. Indeed, the company used the phrase "The Car with the Keystone Radiator" in advertisements.

Jackson also produced their own engines with valves in the cylinder heads and overhead camshaft. By 1912 larger vehicles used a multiple metal disc type clutch running in an oil bath, with the smaller horsepower cars using the more standard leather faced cone clutches.

The 1921 Princess Coupe was a hit at the Chicago Auto Show, but obtaining credit was difficult during that year's recession.

Carter further developed his automobile, eventually patenting a 3-cylinder steam engine of 6 horsepower. This became the basis of the 1903 Jaxon automobile. All Jaxons were steam-powered, with the Jackson name reserved for the gasoline-powered cars. There were two models on offer: the $975 Model A riding on a 72" wheelbase, and the $800 Model B on a 7" shorter wheelbase. Production lasted 1 year.

Advertisements proclaimed that "steam is reliable and easily understood".

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.