The Chandler Automobile

Incorporated by veteran automakers in 1913, the Chandler Motor Car Company was initially successful in a fiercely competitive industry, manufacturing an array of quality automobiles at a range of prices. Yet by the late 1920s the company was floundering under mismanagement. Producing four lines of cars with numerous body styles, Chandler and its lower-priced companion marque, Cleveland, were unable to find markets for their numerous models and seemed in effect to be competing against themselves.
Drawing on numerous automotive histories and two large private collections of memorabilia, this exhaustive study of the Chandler Motor Car Company covers the automobiles in detail, including all body styles, and their changes during production. The author chronicles the growth, expansion and later troubles of Chandler and Cleveland, providing fresh insight into the formative years of the auto industry and the personalities who made it go.

Retired construction electrician James H. Lackey is a charter member of the Jordan Register and has been its historian for many years. He lives in Huntington, West Virginia.

James H. Lackey
Format: softcover (8.5 x 11)
Pages: 264
Bibliographic Info: 377 photos (46 in color), notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2023 [2018]
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9341-5
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments  vi
Preface  1
Introduction  3
I. Chandler  5
One. 1912–1913: Roots and Beginning  5
Two. 1914–1916: Small Company, Big Success  20
Three. 1917–1918: The War Years  33
Four. 1919–1922: Postwar Recession and Recovery  44
Five. 1923–1924: The Pikes Peak Motor and Traffic Transmission  55
Six. 1925–1926: Racing Success, Internal Struggles and Merger  63
Seven. 1927 Model Year: Too Many Models, Too Little Profit  72
Eight. 1928 Model Year: Big Sixes, Big Eights, Big Trouble  81
Nine. The End of Chandler  92
Ten. Advertising, Personalities, Distributors and Dealers  102
Between pages 118 and 119 are 16 color plates containing 46 photographs
Eleven. Racing, Hill Climbing, Endurance and Other Competition  119
Twelve. Chandler Specifications  131
II. Cleveland  165
Thirteen. The Cleveland Model 40, 1919–1921  165
Fourteen. Models 41 and 42, 1922–1924  173
Fifteen. Models 43 and 31 and the “Mileage Motor,” 1925–1926  181
Sixteen. Racing, Hill Climbing, Distributors, Dealers and Advertising  190
Seventeen. Cleveland Specifications  201
Appendix A. Press Release of 1915 Nonstop Mexico to Canada Run  208
Appendix B. Chandler Dealer Contract, 1916  215
Chapter Notes  221
Bibliography  231
Index  233

• “The first truly definitive work on Chandler and its Cleveland companion marque…handsomely presented…will be a go-to reference in perpetuity”—Hemmings Classic Car
• “Writing about orphan cars takes a lot of time and research and luckily, for both collectors and historians, there are those who take on that challenge…fills in some gaps in automotive history. All Chandler and Cleveland owners will want to put a copy of this book on their shelf, plus it will make a great addition to the collection of anyone interested in automotive history.”—Antique Automobile
• “An exhaustive and comprehensive study of the Chandler Motor Car Company that covers the automobiles in detail… Aptly chronicles the growth, expansion and later troubles of Chandler and Cleveland, providing fresh insight into the formative years of the auto industry and the personalities who made it go. Profusely illustrated throughout, exceptionally well organized, and presented, The Chandler Automobile is an extraordinary and welcome addition to personal, community, and academic library 20th Century American Automotive History collections and supplemental studies reading lists.”—The Automotive Shelf