Lozier

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Lozier

The Lozier Motor Company was a brass era

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 radiator s....
producer of automobile

Automobile

An automobile or motor car is a wheeled motor vehicle for transportation passengers, which also carries its own car engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally f...
s in the United States of America

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. The company produced luxury automobiles from 1900 to 1915, with a factory at 3703 Mack Avenue, Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Wayne County, Michigan. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwestern United States of the United States....
.

The company was founded in Plattsburgh, New York by Henry Abrahm Lozier, an Indiana

Indiana

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The Lozier Motor Company was a brass era

Brass Era car

Automobile

United States

Detroit, Michigan

Indiana

The State of Indiana was the 19th U.S. state admitted into the union. It is located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America....
-born sewing machine and bicycle manufacturer.

After selling his bicycle business, Lozier moved to Plattsburgh to manufacture boat engines. In 1900, he entered the automobile business. At his death in 1903, his son Harry took over the company.

Loziers were top line luxury cars and for a time were the most expensive cars produced in the United States. The 1910 model line featured cars priced between US$4,600 and US$7,750. The same year, a Cadillac

Cadillac

Cadillac is a luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors. Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, mainly in the United States, Canada, and Mexico....
could be had for about US$1,600 and a Packard

Packard

Packard was an United States luxury automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana....
US$3,200. The average annual salary in America that year was approximately US$750.

The company was moved to Detroit in 1910. In 1911, a Lozier was entered into the first running of the Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, often shortened to Indianapolis 500 or Indy 500 or commonly known simply as The 500, is an USA automobile auto racing, held annually over the Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana....
. The car, in the hands of Ralph Mulford

Ralph Mulford

Ralph Mulford was an United States racecar driver active during the formative years of the auto racing.Indy 500 results...
, finished second in a controversial scoring decision and many observers felt Mulford's Lozier had actually won the race. On March 19 the same year, Lozier ads claimed, a stock 49 hp (37 kW) model piloted by Teddy Tetzlaff

Teddy Tetzlaff

Teddy Tetzlaff was an United States racecar driver active in the formative years of auto racing. He competed in the first four Indianapolis 500s, with a highest finish of second in 1912 Indianapolis 500....
set a world record for 100 mi (160 km) at 1:14:29.

Because of Lozier's limited market niche, the company only produced a few thousand cars during its brief lifespan. Production peaked in the 1912 model year at 600 cars.

The company faced new pressures as more manufacturers entered the market. Frederick C. Chandler, Lozier's top designer, left the company in 1913 and formed the Chandler Motor Company

Chandler Motor Car

The Chandler Motor Company produced automobiles in the United States during the 1910s and 1920s....
which produced cars similar to the Lozier but at a substantially lower sales price. Chandler took several top company executives with him producing a brain drain

Brain drain

Brain drain or human capital flight is a large emigration of individuals with human capital, normally due to war, lack of opportunity, political instability, or disease....
from which the company never recovered.

At the 1913 Los Angeles Motordome, however, the company introduced the 88 hp (66 kW) Big Six, with electric headlights, with tourer

Touring car

A touring car was a popular car body style in the early 20th century, being a larger alternative to the runabout and the roadster. They were open cars, often fitted with convertible tops....
s and roadster

Roadster

A roadster, also known as a spyder or spider, is a two-seater car, traditionally without a roof and no side or rear windows. Modern day two-seaters commonly have windows and feature retractable roofs ....
s at US$5,000, limousine

Limousine

A limousine is a luxury car sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coach builder....
s and landaulettes at US$6,500. It was joined by the 52 hp (40 kW) Light Six Metropolian, with electric starter and lights; the tourer and runabout

Runabout (car)

Runabouts were a popular car body style at the beginning of the 20th Century. They were small, inexpensive, open cars. Most runabouts had just a single row of seats, providing seating for two passengers....
were US$3,250, coupe

Coupé

A coup? or coupe is a closed car body style, the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time. Coup?s are often hardtopped sports cars or sporty variants of sedan body styles, with doors commonly reduced from 4 to 2, and a Close-coupled sedan interior offering either two seats or 2+2 seating ....
US$3,850, and limousine US$4,450.

Lozier tried to expand into the mid priced car market and in 1914 offered a four-cylinder car priced at US$2,000. It faced competition from the US$2000 Enger 40, the cheaper FAL at US$1750, the US$1600 Oakland 40 and Cole 30 at US$1500, and the much cheaper high-volume Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile was a brand name of automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory....
Runabout

Oldsmobile Curved Dash

The Curved Dash Oldsmobile is credited as the first high-volume mass-produced automobile. It was introduced by the Oldsmobile company in 1901 and produced through 1907....
at US$650, and Western

Western Tool Works (automobile company)

Western Tool Works was a pioneering brass era automobile manufacurer in Galesburg, Illinois.Western in 1905 produced the Gale Model A, an open roadster, for sale at United States dollar500, which was less than high-volume Oldsmobile Oldsmobile Curved Dash, at US$650, the Ford "Doctor's Car" at US$850, or the Holsman Automobile Company...
's US$500 Gale Model A roadster, to name just a few. The new four was not a sales success and company finances continued to falter. After a failed attempt to merge with Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company

The Ford Motor Company is an United States multinational corporation and the world's List of automobile manufacturers#World Motor Vehicle Production by Manufacturer based on worldwide vehicle sales, following Toyota, General Motors, and Volkswagen Group....
, the company declared bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay its creditors. Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against a debtor in an effort to recoup a portion of what they are owed or initiate a restructuring....
in 1915.

Sources

Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925. New York: Bonanza Books, 1950.

Lozier

Sources

See also