The Lexington Automobile

Lexington, a smaller marque that twice won the famous hill climb at Pikes Peak, produced its first car in 1909 in its namesake city of Lexington, Kentucky. The manufacturer’s story is fascinating. (Lexington, for example, was a leader in the use of color in magazine advertising and factory literature, and the company used advertisements to support contemporary issues like women’s suffrage.) Lexington relocated to Connersville, Indiana, in 1910, with promised municipal perks such as advanced facilities, free water, and no local taxes for five years.
From incorporation to insolvency in 1926, this is the first book to offer the complete story of the Lexington Motor Company as well as the related Howard and Ansted cars: from choice of property, factory design and name selection, through relocation, World War I, auto racing ventures, and a 1927 takeover by Auburn. Detailed automotive specifications and options are given, along with information on surviving Lexingtons. More than 250 photographs depict the communities, cars and people associated with the Lexington.

Richard A. Stanley, retired school administrator and teacher, is the director of the Fayette County Historical Museum in Connersville, Indiana, and a member of the Antique Automobile Club of America and the Society of Automobile Historians.

Richard A. Stanley
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 263
Bibliographic Info: 251 photos, tables, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012 [2007]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6934-5
eISBN: 978-0-7864-9193-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii

Preface      1

1. Birth of a Thoroughbred in the Bluegrass State      5

2. The Lexington Becomes a Hoosier      40

3. A New Name is Born      67

4. The War Years      96

5. Lexington Goes to the Races      121

6. A New Corporation and Continued Expansion      148

7. Loss of Credit and Credibility      179

8. Lexington Lives On      202

9. A Gallery of Surviving Lexingtons      207

Appendix: Lexington Models      233

Notes      235

Bibliography      241

Index      251

“well-researched, fascinating…it’s remarkable to see in this book how many photos and ads of Lexington cars, their factory, parts and advertising have survived…McFarland has emerged as a source for interesting books on obscure, but worthy, American cars”—Hemmings Classic Car; “definitive…extensive research…well-documented and interesting…outstanding”—SAH Journal; “a gold mine of information…and the author has made it an excellent reading experience”—Antique Automobile; “writing style that reads easily as a story”—AACA Library & Research Center; “outstanding job”—www.cruise-in.com; “Richard Stanley has done it to me again. He’s written a complete, and completely interesting, history of a car company I’d never heard of until receiving a review copy of Stanley’s book”—iZoom.com.