PA DUTCH REGION
The first automobile built by the Upton Motor Company, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, was completed in early 1905. Events that preceded the introduction of this car had their beginning in July, 1904, when Milton H. Schnader, proprietor of the Keystone Manufacturing Company, Lebanon, met Colcord Upton, of New York City, who had designed a water pump for automobile engines. At one time Upton had been vice-president and general manager of the Upton Machine Company, an automobile and transmission manufacturer in Beverly, Massachusetts. He had left that company in mid-1903 and organized the Upton Gear Company, New York City, to build transmissions. Schnader contracted to manufacture the Upton water pump in Lebanon. The first pumps were sold in September, 1904, by the Upton Motor Company, with offices at 17 State Street, New York City. Sometime in the fall of 1904 Schnader and Upton decided to manufacture automobiles, in part because the Upton Machine Company of Beverly had discontinued automobile production. The building of a prototype began in November of 1904.
On December 30, 1904, application was made for a charter for the Upton Motor Company, which had previously been unincorporated. The company was capitalized at $5,000. The subscribers, all Lebanon men, were Harry T. Atkins, Issac L. Beckley, and Harry H. Ulrich, who also served respectively as president, secretary and treasurer of the company. Colcord Upton was named general manager. The charter was granted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on January 11, 1905. Schnader continued to operate the Keystone Manufacturing Company. The companies shared the facilities of the factory at Twelfth and Walnut Streets in Lebanon.
The company's first automobile, a five-passenger touring car, was completed on January 10, 1905, and immediately shipped to New York City for the Automobile Show at Madison Square Garden. The car had a pressed steel frame with 98 inch wheelbase. Tires were 34 x 4 inch mounted on wood artillery wheels. The 30-horsepower four-cylinder water-cooled engine had La-Coste ignition. Other units included a sliding gear transmission, cone clutch, and shaft drive. The price was $2,500 with gas lights, horn, and tools. A top cost $200 extra. When the show ended the car was sold in the New York area by Mendal, Dale & Company, New York, who was appointed agents during the show.
Most of the parts that went into the manufacture of the Upton were made in the factory in Lebanon. Frames, bodies, radiators, transmissions, and other parts were fabricated by skilled machinists. Parts purchased from outside suppliers included wheels and electrical equipment. Engines came from Continental.
The second Upton was completed in March 1905. It was designated "Model BP1 and had only one change from the first car built: a 100 inch wheelbase. The car weighed 2,000 pounds and was described as having "great strength and speed for weight." It was exhibited at the Boston Automobile Show, which was held in Mechanics Hall, and then returned to Lebanon on March 23rd for delivery to Eli Attwood, President of the Lebanon Chain Works. The Upton Company's modest capital required delivery of each car to be made as soon as it was finished. Sales terms were: twenty per cent cash with order, the balance a sight draft on the bill of lading. Another Upton was shipped to the New York agent in early May. Before being shipped, each car was given a thorough test run by the company's drivers. Alfred Brisbane and Cy Patschke. Patschke later became a famous racing driver.
The Upton was given its first long-distance test on June 24th when two cars were driven from Lebanon to Atlantic City, New Jersey. One of the cars, to be delivered in Atlantic City, was driven by Patschke and H. T. Atkins. The other car, owned by Eli Attwood, was driven by Attwood and Fred Upton, a son of Colcord Upton. Apparently no speed constables were patrolling the road to Atlantic City that day, for on one stretch Attwood's car covered 70 miles in 100 minutes and on the road between Hammonton and Absecon the cars averaged nearly a mile a minute. In Atlantic City Atkins' car was delivered to Charles Myers, proprietor of the Hotel Randolph. The four men returned to Lebanon the following day in Attwood's car.
By early August of 1905 the Upton Motor Company had built at least seven cars, sold six of them, and had managed to stay in business for over seven months on a working capital of $5,000. The constant demand for capital was resolved that same month when the Lebanon Motor Works, with an authorized capital of $200,000, was organized under the laws of New Jersey to take over the manufacture of the Upton. Officers were Colcord Upton, president, and Rading V. Schanbacker, secretary and treasurer. Production of the Upton was continued without change.
The only recorded appearance of an Upton in competition was at the Atlantic City Beach Races on September 5th. Charles Myers entered his car in a race titled: "One mile for touring cars carrying three passengers, moving start." He finished first in a time of 1:48, beating a National.
On September 14, 1905, the Lebanon Motor Works received $75,000 worth of bonds from the Lebanon County Trust Company in exchange for a mortgage on the company's property. The bonds, which were offered to potential investors to raise working capital, provided no voting power in company affairs. In order to attract investors the company kept its legal problems quiet. A suit by Post & Lester Company, lamp manufacturers, for an unpaid bill was settled out of court in October. In November the Continental Motor Manufacturing Company filed suit for- unpaid bills. These suits were only the start of troubles for the company.
Total sales for 1905 were about fifteen cars. For 1906 the Upton was improved and enlarged. The engine was a larger 40-horsepower unit fitted with a multiple disc clutch. Final drive was by shaft to a DeDion-type rear axle. The card had a 109 inch wheelbase and more roomy body. The price was advanced to $3,000 F.O.B. Lebanon. The first 1906 Upton was exhibited at the Automobile Show of the Automobile Club of America in New York City in January.
In Lebanon suits for unpaid bills had been filed against the company during December and January. On January 25, 1906, the motor works was closed by order of the sheriff, who made a levy on the company's personal property to satisfy one claim. The following day a levy was made on the company's factory.
With no ready cash and its factory closed by two suits, the Lebanon Motor Works was faced with bankruptcy. It was rescued by Joseph R. Wilson, a wealthy stockholder from New York, who paid the claims against the company with his own money. The factory was reopened on January 30th and the company's twenty-five employees were paid. Production was interrupted again in late February when four cars in the factory were seized by the court on a suit $206. The debt was quickly paid, presumably by Wilson, and production resumed without delay.
As a result of the company's financial difficulties in early 1906 active control was assumed by a group of investors from New York. New officers elected in May included J. R. Wilson, president, and A. E. Moorshead, secretary. William H. Mendel of Mendel, Dale & Company was elected a director. Colcord Upton was named manager. Many Lebanon investors lost faith in the company. After January, 1906, company stock was virtually unsaleable in the Lebanon area.
The company's largest automobile was completed in June, 1906, and delivered to J. R. Harding, Providence, Rhode Island. The car was unique; for it was Upton's only runabout and was powered by two four-cylinder engines mounted one behind the other. The price of this car was not listed but it must have been expensive, with all of the special parts and custom work that went into it.
In August the company received orders for fifteen automobiles from customers in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. This kept the motor works busy for the rest of the year. Total sales for 1906 were thirty-three cars.
The Upton was unchanged for 1907. Few cars were built and sold that year before production ceased. In a final effort to save the sinking company the management tried to secure an order for seven hundred taxi cabs for use in New York City. The effort failed, the factory was closed, and the Lebanon Motor Works "retired from business" in the spring of 1907.
After the closing of the Lebanon Motor Works, Cy Patschke, who had started work as a test driver for the Upton Motor Company at the tender age of sixteen, went to work for the Acme Motor Car Company, Reading, Pennsylvania, as a tester and driver. He drove Acme cars in a number of events, scoring three firsts in the Jamaica Trials of June 1908 and finishing second in the 1908 Fairmont Park Race in Philadelphia. In August 1909 he drove an Acme to third place in the Brighton Beach 24-hour race with Charles Bowers as co-driver. After leaving Acme, Patschke was co-driver with Ralph Mulford in a Lozier that won the Brighton Beach 24-hour race and set a record by covering 1,196 miles. In 1911 Patschke drove one of his best races and received no recognition. In the first Memorial Day 500-mile race in Indianapolis, he was a relief driver for the Marmon factory team. He took over for Ray Harroun in the Marmon Wasp, which had been in second place but had dropped to fifth place during the pit stop. By skilled and determined driving Patschke took the car from fifth place to first. When he turned the Marmon back to Harroun, the car had a large enough lead that it remained in first despite the pit stop.
Harroun went on to win the race and receive a great deal of publicity when Patschke's contribution to the victory was overlooked. In later years relief drivers were given co-winner status, but Patschke wasn't mentioned in accounts of the race. It is only in recent years that recognition of his superb driving in the 1911 Indianapolis 500 has been generally acknowledged. Patschke drove in later races, including the 1911 Vanderbilt Cup Race, without a great deal of success. He returned to Lebanon in 1913 to help run the Ideal Automobile Company and later ran an auto parts firm in Lebanon for many years prior to his death in 1951.
Story of the Upton Motor Company, Lebanon, PA
HISTORY