HAL (automobile)
Encyclopedia
The HAL 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...

 made in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

 from 1916 to 1918. HAL stands for the initials of the founder—Harry A. Lozier.

Harry Lozier stated in June 1915 that "only an accident
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

... prevented the formation of my company last summer." Harry Lozier was upset that Lozier Motor Company
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....

 stockholders had taken his decidedly luxury self-named car downmarket. So he did what Ransom E. Olds
Ransom E. Olds
Ransom Eli Olds was a pioneer of the American automotive industry, for whom both the Oldsmobile and REO brands were named. He claimed to have built his first steam car as early as 1894, and his first gasoline powered car in 1896...

 and Harry C. Stutz
Harry C. Stutz
Harry C. Stutz was a United States automobile entrepreneur, engineer, and innovator in the automobile industry.Stutz grew up caring for and repairing agricultural machinery on the family farm. Automobiles and engines fascinated him. Stutz built his first car in 1897, and then a second auto using...

 did before him—create a new car company using his initials as the name of the car. Thus was the H.A. Lozier Company formed. A prototype using a Weidely V-12 engine
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft....

 was displayed at the New York Automobile Show
New York International Auto Show
The New York International Auto Show is an annual auto show held in New York City in late March or early April. It is usually held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. It usually opens on or just before Easter weekend and closes on the first Sunday after Easter...

 in January 1916. Production of the $2100 car commenced in Cleveland that summer, though the price would rise as time went on. The former Royal Tourist factory was used, which had been leased from the F.B. Stearns Company
Stearns (automobile)
F. B. Stearns and Company was a manufacturer of luxury cars in Cleveland, Ohio marketed under the brand names Stearns and Stearns-Knight.-History:...

. Harry Lozier left the company in September 1916 for health reasons. The company was now renamed the Hal Motor Car Company, with A. Ward Foote of the Foote-Burt Machine Company as president.

Company brochures stated that even though the engines of the HAL-Twelve were rated at 40 hp
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...

, they actually developed over 70 at 2000 RPM
Revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...

, and 100 at 3000 RPM. Among the prominent owners of HALs during this period was none other than Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...

, though he would switch to Locomobiles by the time he became president
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

. The continuing war resulted in materials shortages. There was a rumor in October 1917 that HAL would merge with the Abbott Corporation
Abbott-Detroit
The Abbott-Detroit was an American luxury automobile manufactured between 1909 and 1919. It was considered powerful and well-designed, and had a Continental engine. Production of the auto began in Detroit, Michigan and was moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1916 at which time the automobile name was...

, recently moved to Cleveland from 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...

. Unfortunately, Abbott declared bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

in January 1918, while the Hal Motor Company was petitioned into involuntary bankruptcy the next month, on creditors' claims of only $1500. The Hal assets were auctioned off in April, thus ending Harry Lozier's 2nd automotive venture named after himself.
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