Brush Motor Company, or the "Brush Runabout Company," based in
DetroitDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
, Michigan, was founded by
Alanson Partridge Brush (February 10, 1878 in Michigan – March 6, 1952 in Michigan) who designed a light car with wooden chassis (actually wooden rails and iron cross-members), friction drive transmission and "underslung" coil springs in tension instead of compression on all four axles.
Brush Motor Company, or the "Brush Runabout Company," based in
DetroitDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
, Michigan, was founded by
Alanson Partridge Brush (February 10, 1878 in Michigan – March 6, 1952 in Michigan) who designed a light car with wooden chassis (actually wooden rails and iron cross-members), friction drive transmission and "underslung" coil springs in tension instead of compression on all four axles. Although there were many makes of small runabouts of similar size and one to four cylinders at this time (before the Model T Ford dominated the low-price market), the Brush has many unusual design details showing the inventiveness of its creator. Power was provided by a large single-cylinder water-cooled engine. Two gas-powered headlamps provided light, along with a gas-powered light in the rear. The frame, axles, and wheels were made of oak, hickory or maple, and were either left plain or painted to match the trim. The horn was located next to the engine cover, with a metal tube running to a squeeze bulb affixed near the driver. A small storage area was provided in the rear, with a drawer accessible under the rear of the seat.
A feature of engines designed by Brush (who also designed the first Oakland Motor Car, ancestor of
PontiacPontiac is a brand of automobiles first produced in 1926, and sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico by General Motors . Pontiac has been marketed as an "athletic" brand, specializing in mainstream performance vehicles....
and who helped design the original one-cylinder Cadillac engine) was that they ran counter-clockwise instead of the usual clockwise, which, in those days before the invention of the electric starter, was Brush's idea intended to make them safer for a right-handed person to crank-start by hand. With clockwise-running engines, many injuries were sustained, most often dislocated thumbs and broken forearms, if the hand crank kicked back on starting, especially if the car was not properly adjusted before starting, or the person cranking it did not follow correct safety procedures, including fully retarding the manual spark advance, keeping the thumb alongside the fingers instead of around the crank, and pulling the crank upward in a half turn, never in a full circle or pushing down.
In 1912, Francis Birtles drove a Brush while becoming the first person to drive across the Australian continent from west to east.
The Brush Runabout Company, along with Maxwell-Briscoe, Stoddard-Dayton, and others formed
Benjamin BriscoeBenjamin Briscoe was born in Detroit, Michigan and was an automobile pioneer and industrialist.Briscoe entered business for himself at age of 18 with capital of $472, organizing the firm of Benjamin Briscoe & Co. to manufacture sheet-metal stampings. This later became part of the American Can...
's
United States Motor CompanyThe United States Motor Company was organized by Benjamin Briscoe in 1910 as a selling company, to represent various manufacturers. It had begun life as the International Motor Company in 1908 in an attempt to create the first major consolidation within the industry with Maxwell-Briscoe and Buick,...
from 1910, ending when that company failed in 1913. Runabouts, in general, fell out of vogue quickly, partly due to the lack of protection from the weather.
A restored 1909 Brush Runabout is on display at the Pioneer Heritage Museum,
Brownsville, OregonBrownsville is a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,449 at the 2000 census. The 2007 estimate is 1,755 residents. It is the setting for the fictional Castle Rock, Oregon in the film Stand by Me.-History:...
.
See also
- List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers
- List of cars
- United States Motor Company
The United States Motor Company was organized by Benjamin Briscoe in 1910 as a selling company, to represent various manufacturers. It had begun life as the International Motor Company in 1908 in an attempt to create the first major consolidation within the industry with Maxwell-Briscoe and Buick,...
- Not to be confused with Brush Electric Company nor Brush Traction
Brush Traction is a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives, based at Loughborough in Leicestershire, United Kingdom situated alongside the Midland Main Line.- History :...
(United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
company)
- Francis Birtles
Francis Edwin Birtles was the third child of David Edwin Birtles and Sarah Jane Bartlett. Francis was an Australian adventurer who set many long-distance cycling and driving records, including becoming in 1927 the first man to drive a car from England to Australia...
External links
- Liberty Brush Automobile on Smithsonian site The Liberty Brush was distinguished from the standard model by a different treatment of fenders which were not attached to the separate side step. The standard model had long sweeping front and rear fenders connected to a very short running board.