SGV (automobile)

SGV Company
Industry Automobile
Genre Touring cars
Fate Sold to SGV (1911)
Predecessor Acme Motor Car Company
Successor Phianna Motor Company
Founded 1911
Defunct 1916
Headquarters Reading, Pennsylvania
Products automobiles

SGV was a United States automobile manufacturer that made automobiles using Lancia components.

Origin

The Acme Motor Car Company sold its site and plant to J H Sternbergh for $72,100 in May 1911.[1] Sternbergh in turn sold the Acme Motor Car Company and leased it plant to a New York consortium. The company's name was changed to SGV.[2] Sternbrgh died in March 1913.[3]

SGV was short for Sternberg, Graham, and Valentine the owners of the company. In 1911 they built 9 models.[4] By 1916 the company had fallen deeply into debt and was wound up.[5]

Several sources state that the SGV line was taken over by R J Metzler's Phianna Motor Company and renamed as Phianna, with production moving to Newark, New Jersey in 1916.[6][7] The 1916 Phianna was a $3,600 town car.[8]

Models

Lancia Beta on which the SGV was based

Acme had been making SGV models since 1910. They acquired components from Lancia and made cars under the SGV badge. The model was similar in style to the Lancia Beta Torpedo.[9] Newspapers of the time described the SGV as lightweight and mechanically efficient. The Lancia engine was used and a four speed transmission. The steering radius was noted being small, making the car maneuverable in city traffic.[10]

With the sale to SGV in 1911, the new company produced eight models including a limousine, touring car, torpedo, toy tonneau, and roadster models.[11] They were priced from $2,500 to $3,500 and achieved 15 to 20 mpg.[4][12][13]

In December 1912 a 44 hp car, the model D, was introduced.[14] SGV 4 and 5 seat passenger cars were selling for $2,150 on sale in August 1915.[15]

Motor Racing

An SGV was entered in the 1911 Vanderbilt cup race.[16] They also competed in the October San Francisco to Los Angeles and back endurance run with C Matthews driving.[17]

Existing examples

A 1912 SGV Runabout was on display at the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Motor Car Company sold". Reading Times. May 13, 1911. p. 13. Retrieved June 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "Acme auto plant leased". Allentown Leader. May 20, 1911. p. 6. Retrieved June 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Sternbergh will in full". Lebanon Daily News. March 11, 1913. p. 9. Retrieved June 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 "SF Advertisement". The San Francisco Call. February 23, 1911. p. 12. Retrieved June 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Final claims in SGV case". Reading Times. April 29, 1916. p. 7. Retrieved June 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ The World guide to automobile manufacturers, Nick Baldwin, Facts on File Publications, 1987, page 440, ISBN 0816018448, 9780816018444
  7. ↑ The New encyclopedia of motorcars, 1885 to the present, G N Georgano and Thorkil Ry Andersen, Dutton, 1982, page 489, ISBN 0525932542, 9780525932543
  8. ↑ "Phianna Advertisement". The New York Times. October 11, 1916. p. 12. Retrieved June 17, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Car here negotiating with leading dealers". The Washington Times. October 25, 1910. p. 13. Retrieved June 15, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "S.G.V" "SGV car one of the interesting exhibits". San Francisco Chronicle. March 5, 1911. p. 40. Retrieved June 15, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "S.G.V" "SGV limousine reaches this city". San Francisco Chronicle. November 19, 1911. p. 46. Retrieved June 15, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "S.G.V" "SGV Advertisement". San Francisco Chronicle. March 5, 1911. p. 39. Retrieved June 15, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "S.G.V" "SGV Advertisement". San Francisco Chronicle. July 30, 1911. p. 45. Retrieved June 15, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "SGV Advertisement". Oakland Tribune. December 8, 1912. p. 37. Retrieved June 15, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "SGV Advertisement". The New York Times. August 15, 1915. p. 29. Retrieved June 15, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Hundred cars expected to be entered". Asheville Citizen. October 8, 1911. p. 11. Retrieved June 15, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Seven cars off on endurance run to south". San Francisco Chronicle. October 12, 1911. p. 9. Retrieved June 15, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ retrieved 17 June 2015
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