Cartercar
5591115
191617118
2008-02-15T10:24:04Z
Typ932
3709252
Script assisted. Units/dates/other/[[WP:CARS]] Conventions
The '''Cartercar''' was an American [[automobile]] manufactured from 1906 to 1916 in Detroit Michigan.
A fairly successful maker of [[friction-drive]] cars, the company began with a flat-twin [[engine]]; this was used alongside vertical fours in the 1909 range of cars. The company merged with the makers of the [[Pontiac]] [[High Wheeler]] in 1908, becoming part of [[General Motors]] in 1909. Two models, both pair-cast fours, appeared in 1912; the Model R was 4160 cc, while the Model S was 5437 cc. Each had a single chain drive. Tragedy struck when Byron Carter, the company head, was killed while trying to start a stalled car; the crank kicked back and hit him in the jaw, causing [[gangrene]] which ultimately proved fatal. With Carter's death, the company folded.
Carter was a personal friend of [[Cadillac]] founder [[Henry Leland]], and his unfortunate death prompted development of the Self-Starter (introduced in 1912), the first successful motor vehicle electric starting system, eliminating the dangerous crank.
Because its friction-drive transmission allowed selection of any ratio rather than having fixed gear positions, the Cartercar was advertised as "The Car of a Thousand Speeds."
==References==
*[[David Burgess Wise]], ''The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles''.
*[http://www.cartercar.net/ Website for Cartercar enthusiasts]
[[Category:Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States]]
[[Category:Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Michigan]]
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