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61:, although R. Ralston Biddle did not seem to have a major role beyond lending the name. Car was an assembled car manufactured in Philadelphia. The first bodies were believed to be from the Fleetwood body company in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania. The first cars were equipped with Buda four-cylinder engines, 3
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Both the spare, poetic copy and the oriental minimalism of the image clearly represent the high standard of design and equally high aspirations of the company for its customer base. Biddle was one of more than 2000 car makers, located all over the US in the first quarter of the twentieth century, who
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motor, and that it reflected
European styling. The roadster shown in the ad closely resembles a contemporaneous Mercedes Benz sport model, with its deeply V-ed radiator, cycle fenders, wire wheels and step plates. From its dramatic prow, the long hood-line sweeps back to a raked windshield spanning
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The car is pictured in the unacknowledged drawing standing at the foot of a long drive winding down from a
Colonial-style golf club through a manicured lawn. The drawing is heavily influenced by Japanese printmaking in its linearity, stark use of light and shade, and abstract composition. The
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wire wheels. The bodies were styled in the
European tradition. Biddle stood out with V-shaped radiators, angular or cycle fenders, step plates instead of the usual running boards, and dual side-mounted wire wheels when that concept was still strictly European.
50:"Information, rather than Persuasive Sales Talk" was the advertising slogan of the company, which was noted for its conservative advertising. The company produced six models, with the heaviest weighing 2,950 pounds with a 48 bhp (36 kW) four-
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failed to survive the intensifying pressures of mass-production and national distribution in the late teens and the intense competition imposed by massive corporate consolidations in the early 1920s.
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The thrills of speed with perfect control are his who drives the Biddle car equipped with
Duesenberg Motor. Security and comfort are also his – for the character of construction assures them.
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sophisticated imagery of the advertisement is complemented by an elegantly lettered text, headed by the haiku, ‘Automobiles Biddle Speed’ and the following evocative declaration:
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The company was incorporated in
October 1915 and presented finished automobiles at the Philadelphia Auto Show in January 1916. It was namesake of the
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an aeronautical cowl, then drops to the rakish line of its cut-down doors and finally flows into a streamlined tail.
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in 1917 confirms that the car was "assembled" from parts produced by others, including a top-quality
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Floyd Clymer, Historical Motor
Scrapbook Number Four, Clymer Motors, Los Angeles, 1952.
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stroke and Warner 3-speed transmissions. Some models featured
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Share of the Biddle Motor Car
Company, issued 1 April 1919
167:, Number 168, Fawcett Books, copyright 1952, p. 103.
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Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
23:"A special sporting type—custom made" advertised in 1917
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Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1922
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Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1915
214:Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Pennsylvania
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133:Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805–1942
16:Defunct American motor vehicle manufacturer
131:; Clark, Henry Austin Jr., eds. (1996).
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209:1922 disestablishments in Pennsylvania
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89:A Biddle advertisement appearing in
204:1915 establishments in Pennsylvania
39:manufactured luxury automobiles in
189:Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers
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54:engine being sold for $ 3475.
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163:John Bentley, "Biddle", in
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37:Biddle Motor Car Company
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137:Krause Publications
47:from 1915 to 1922.
129:Kimes, Beverly Rae
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146:978-0-87341-428-9
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165:The Old Car Book
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83:Rudge-Whitworth
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59:Biddle family
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45:Pennsylvania
41:Philadelphia
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178:Categories
158:References
97:Duesenberg
71:Bore by 5
52:cylinder
76:⁄
66:⁄
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115:Notes
141:ISBN
35:The
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