Palladium-Item from Richmond, Indiana • Page 22

C6 PALLADIUM-ITEM, Sunday, Jan. 22, 1995 "7 tMHMn LID America's first car wreck doomed Ohio automaker 5 A 4 AUTO PROFILES By BillTyndall 0H10CITY FIRST SUCCESSFUL AUT0II0BILE CUILT HERE CP a LAMBERT 10.91 America's first car, the Lambert, made in Ohio City, Ohio, in 1891, was less than a success. Its three-wheel design was short on stability. I would guess that a good chuckhole would have broken it. Bad luck seemed to haunt this early automaking venture.

Sometime in the summer of 1891, the car's inventor, John William Lambert, was making a test drive in Ohio City, and, according to eyewitness accounts, demolished the machine. Lambert apparently was careening down Main Street at a torrid 15 miles per hour. He swerved to avoid a tree stump in the dirt thoroughfare, lost control, glanced off the stump and crashed into a hitching post at the curb. Horses tied up at the curb started kicking, and the village constable came running to assess the situation. No charges were filed, but the car was left in sad condition.

Lambert only bruised his ego, witnesses related. Lambert picked up the pieces and moved back to his grain elevator and immediately started building a second car. By this time he was beginning to have doubts that he would ever sell one of his three-wheeled products. On Oct. 1, 1891, before the second car was road tested, its engine backfired and set the elevator on fire.

The building and the car and all of Lambert's plans, drawings and tooling were destroyed. This tragedy resulted in a loss for Ohio and a gain for Indiana. In 1892, Lambert joined relatives in one of the family enterprises, the Pioneer Pole and Shaft Company in Union City, Ohio. There, he manufactured stationary gasoline engines. Business flourished and an additional plant was built in Anderson, two years later.

The new company was called the Buckeye Manufacturing Company, and Lambert moved to Anderson to oversee its operation. In 1895, Lambert's friend, El-wood Haynes, invited him to attend America's first auto race in Chicago. Haynes and Lambert viewed the race with great enjoyment. The event re-invigorated Lambert's auto 9 BY festival honoring the city's most famous event has been held every year since 1968. The 1995 event will be held in mid-July.

If only some enterprising mechanic would build a replica of the 1891 Lambert. That would add some hardware to the occasion. Just keep it away from the Main Street hitching posts. HAPPY MOTORING grain elevator stood. America's first car was built inside.

Upon returning from the race, Lambert began to build an automobile, powered by his Buckeye motor. In 1898, the engine was fitted in a four-wheel chassis and operated with limited success. During the period of 1900 to 1902, he continued his research and tests using the gearless, friction-drive engine. In 1902, another Indiana and Randolph County auto marque was added to the record book. That year the Union Automobile Company in Union City, was formed by Lambert.

Production soon reached a schedule of 10 cars a month. The Complete Encyclopedia of Motor Cars reports: "The Union was a small two-cylinder car with a single headlamp. Available with air or water-cooled engine, the car had a friction transmission and double-chain drive. Models included both two- and five-seaters." One source said 300 Unions were built in Randolph County. This company was closed in 1904 and Lambert concentrated on Anderson, for the production of the "new and improved" Lambert auto.

All of Lambert's Anderson produced-cars had a friction drive. Up to 1910, a chassis with a small two-cylinder engine and single or double-chain drive was used. Shaft drive appeared on the big Lamberts in 1907. Later models used four- and six-cylinder engines by Continental, Buda or Rutenber. Twelve minutes Don Kennedy OUR Believe it or not, this is where the After 1917, the marque continued for two years as a commercial vehicle.

In the heyday of its auto production, the Anderson factory had more than 1,000 employees and production reached 3,000 cars and trucks a year. The Lamberts felt that a small auto manufacturer would have difficulty competing with the Fords, Dodges, and other mass producers after World War I. They decided to halt vehicle production and concentrate on auto parts and accessories and allied fields. The Lamberts moved their factory and headquarters to Dayton, Ohio, at a later time and started manufacturing products for which they are more universally known. The Lambert line of lawn sweepers, lawn vacuums and snow from Richmond VkffjfMiTftfnfvi EXT FIRST jrv) BEST ADVICE YOUR MOTHER EVER GAVE YOU! Stand up straight talk to strangers your vegetables iir me: throwers is highly regarded today by professional grounds-keepers worldwide.

Ohio City Mayor Von Mottinger laments (like Rodney Dangerfield) that his city "just don't get no respect." The fact that America's first car was made in his little town has not created a groundswell of traffic to honor the occasion. On the other hand, a Lambert Days People who know use Valvoline. Including 22-point safety check 962-5541 Martin FRONT BRAKE SERVICE MO00 OFF $fiA95 Most cart WW Premium semi-metallic. 1X free replacement Resurface rotors. Inspect system.

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