Mitchell (automobile)

Mitchell Motor Car Company
Automobile Manufacturing
Industry Automotive
Genre Runabout
Fate Failed
Founded 1903
Defunct 1923
Headquarters Racine, Wisconsin, United States
Area served
 United States
Products Vehicles
Automotive parts
Mitchell Motor Car Company advertisement - Automotive Industries, 1906
Mitchell automobile built in Racine, Wisconsin, ca. 1911
1909 Mitchell Model K.jpg

Mitchell-Lewis Motor Company was founded in 1900 in Racine, Wisconsin as a motorcycle maker spin-off from the wagon maker Mitchell & Lewis Company Ltd. The company began manufacturing automobiles in 1903. The wagon business and auto companies were combined into Mitchell-Lewis Motor Co. in 1910. The Mitchell car brand produced automobiles from 1903 to 1923.[1]

Mitchell-Lewis Building in Racine

The Mitchell Lewis Building at 815 Eighth Street in Racine was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 20, 2005. The Racine architectural firm of Guilbert & Funston is credited with designing the building.

The Mitchell House at 905 South Main Street was owned by Henry Mitchell of the Mitchell Wagon works and was designed by Cecil Corwin.[2]

Originally a carriage builder, the company's first model was a 7hp runabout.[1] Nash Motor Company bought Mitchell-Lewis in 1924.[3]

Mitchell offered four-, six- and eight-cylinder models were built. The 1920 Model E-40 had a rear-sloping radiator which led to the unfortunate nickname of the "Drunken Mitchell".[4] Sales never recovered, and when the company folded in 1923, Nash Motors bought the factory.[1] The company was known for large, fashionable touring cars.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wise, David Burgress (2000). The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles. Chartwell Books. ISBN 0-7858-1106-0.
  2. ↑ of Racine
  3. ↑ Racine, Belle City of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement; Chicago: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1916, 1216 pgs.]
  4. ↑ Kimes, Beverly Rae (1996). The Standard Catalog of American Cars: 1805-1942. Iola, IA: Krause Publications. p. 1612. ISBN 0873414284.
  5. ↑ The making of a Mitchell Car, 1911 Making the Mitchell Car: an illustrated description of the Mitchell Plant, Wisconsin Historical Society

Further reading

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