Crane-Simplex

Crane-Simplex was a car manufacturer, operating in New York City and New Brunswick, New Jersey, at the beginning of the 20th century.[1]

Not to be confused with American Simplex

1912 Crane-Simplex car

History

The Smith and Mabley Manufacturing Co. of New York City was founded by Carleton Raymond Mabley (1878-1963) and his brother-in-law Albert Proctor Smith to import European cars for sale in America. They built their first car in 1904, which was called the S&M Simplex, largely from imported Mercedes parts. The company went bankrupt in 1906 and in 1907 the firm's assets were absorbed into the Simplex Automobile Co. Herman Broesel, passionate about racing, purchased the company and redesigned the Simplex so it could reach speeds of 90 mph (140 km/h). The firm became Crane-Simplex after purchase of the Crane Motor Car Company of Bayonne, New Jersey, which had been founded by Henry Middleton Crane, in 1915. The Crane-Simplex Company was purchased in 1920 by the Mercer Automobile Company but by 1922 ownership had passed to Henry Crane, who then failed to realise an ambition to revive the marque.

Cars
1909 Simplex at Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum

The 1904 Smith and Mabley was a touring car model. Equipped with a tonneau, it could seat 5 passengers and sold for US$5500. The vertically mounted water-cooled straight-4, at the front of the car, produced 18 hp (13.4 kW). A 4-speed transmission was fitted. The wood and angle iron-framed car weighed 1200 lb (544 kg). The car used a honeycomb radiator with a fan.

The Crane-Simplex, built in New York, was among the most expensive, largest, most powerful, and well-built luxury cars of the early twentieth century. They were owned by only the wealthiest socialites and entrepreneurs of the time and built by the best coachbuilders in the U.S. Only 121 examples were made.

Notable models
  • 1908 50 Speedcar Roadster (oldest known Simplex)[2]
  • 1909 90 HP Tourabout - large 11 liter straight four engine, with 90 horsepower (67 kW) and 3 valves per cylinder
  • 1915 Roadster - believed to be the only Simplex roadster ever made, with 110 horsepower (82 kW)
  • 1915 Sport Berline Brewster - personal car of Henry Crane and built for 1915 New York Auto Show, sold new for $13,800
  • 1916 Model 5 Holbrook Skiff - built for 1916 New York Auto Show with yacht-inspired design, (including doors in the middle rather than beside passengers and a propeller in back) soon purchased at the San Francisco Auto Show, now owned by Jay Leno
  • 1918 Crane-Simplex - owned by John D. Rockefeller, had two Brewster bodies, for summer and winter seasons, now one of the last surviving Rockefeller family cars
  • 1918 Model 5 Prince of Wales Limousine, coachwork by Brooks-Ostruk - built for Frederick W. Vanderbilt, now owned by Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site.

Notable owners

Boats

Simplex engines powered the Dixie series motor boats which won the Harmsworth Trophy four times between 1907 and 1911.

References
  1. Crane-Simplex Model 5 Conceptcarz.com
  2. "Wayne Carini Auctions 1908 Simplex 50 Speedcar Roadster". carproperty.com. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  • Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly (January, 1904)
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