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186:, Schuyler W. Zent built his first automobile. It was a gasoline runabout with single-cylinder 8hp engine and single chain drive. In the two years following, he built and sold four more. He improved this model and in July 1902 he announced his plans to manufacture commercially. He could not find the financing necessary to do that in Marion, so he journeyed to Evansville, Indiana. His car was put into production by the Single Center Spring Buggy Company, as the
204:. The new Zent was in production in early 1904. His new Zent was powered by a three-cylinder 18 hp engine mounted under the hood, and featured shaft drive. A twin and a four joined the line in 1906. Early in 1907 the Zent company became the Bellefontaine Automobile Company, and the car’s name was changed to Traveler.
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the four-cylinder water-cooled car was offered in a variety of body styles. Its most distinctive feature was its friction gear transmission which did away with the clanking chains
Copeland had disliked in the previous cars. Unfortunately whenever it rained, it would not move. When finally Copeland
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and after being evicted from the first factory he leased for failing to pay the rent, he found another site in the same city. In
October 1910 he finally declared bankruptcy. Reportedly, his vice-president disappeared with the last car in the factory and as many leftover parts as could be fit into
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After the
Windsor venture quickly failed, Worth designed a high-wheeler which he talked Copeland into building. It had an air-cooled two-cylinder engine, double chain drive, tiller steering, and the friction transmission used in the Windsor. This friction drive was originally devised by Worth for
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Windsor had trouble selling his car at his $ 2,500 (equivalent to $ 84,778 in 2023) asking price. Unable to establish a viable sales organization, he was out of business within the year. The car was taken over by Willis
Copeland who formed the Evansville Automobile Company and rebranded it as
170:
by Willis
Copeland with partners Thomas B. Jones and J. O. St. John. Initially they manufactured springs but expanded into transmissions and carriages. Starting around the turn of the century they began manufacturing automobiles against the wishes of Jones and St. John who subsequently left the
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There were two models of the Single Center sold from 1906 to 1908. The Single Center 12 HP Auto Buggy was a high-wheeler priced at $ 675 (equivalent to $ 22,890 in 2023), while the Single Center 12/15 HP Roadster was advertised as being "not a buggy but a racy-looking automobile
446:. Copeland was already manufacturing the Simplicity, and the Traveler was exactly the same car but with the friction gears enclosed. Changing the car's name from Simplicity to Traveler was hoped to be a good public relations move.
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J. A. Windsor incorporated the
Windsor Automobile Company in his native Chicago in late 1905. He traveled to Evansville, Indiana to talk to Willis Copeland of the Single Center Buggy Company, who agreed to build the car for him. The
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was a four-cylinder 30-hp touring car with shaft drive and a friction-type transmission that
Windsor preferred calling a “rolling traction drive." The friction drive was designed by Copeland’s factory engineer William O. Worth.
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Willis
Copeland would manufacture the car, and all Zent had to worry about was selling it. This proved more difficult than Zent had hoped, and within the year the partnership had broken up.
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391:". Its top speed was up to 30 mph (48 km/h) and priced at $ 800, equivalent to $ 27,129 in 2023. Both models were friction-drive, with a flat-twin engine.
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From 1900, Single Center Spring Buggy
Company built motorized buggies to order until 1906 when Willis Copeland involved himself with W. O. Worth. Worth designed the
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When Willis
Copeland suggested changes to it, Worth abruptly departed and formed the Worth Motor Car Manufacturing Company. Copeland would build the car as the
158:. The Single Center factory manufactured the Zentmobile, Zent, Windsor, Worth, Single Center, Evansville, Simplicity and Traveler automobiles from 1903 to 1910.
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discovered the reason for this was moisture in the friction gears, he also discovered that it could be solved by enclosing the gears, which he did.
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consulting engineer, Worth was brought to Evansville by Willis Copeland to get some fresh production expertise and help design the
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In 1911 Single Center ended automobile production and subsequently Willis Copeland became Evansville’s first Chevrolet dealer.
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The Traveler Automobile Company failed in 1911 and subsequently Copeland became Evansville’s first Chevrolet dealer.
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car and designed for Copeland a bigger chain-drive motorized buggy that was offered for the 1906 model year as the
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William O. Worth was an engineer from the earliest days of horseless carriages. He designed the
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The Windsor Automobile Company failed in 1906 and Willis Copeland formed a new enterprise, the
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company. Single Center continued to build buggys alongside automobiles.
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Simplicity advertisement built at the Single Center Spring Buggy Company
649:"The Benton Harbor Motocycle & The Benton Harbor Motor Carriage Co"
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1907 Worth 16 passenger Model F car advertisement in Motor Magazine
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1906 Windsor advertisement in Cycle & Automobile Trade Journal
706:"The Simplicity Automobile & The Evansville Automobile Co"
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in Evansville for the production of a car to be known as the
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Willis Copeland, W. O. Worth, Schuyler W. Zent, J. A. Windsor
759:(Rev. and updated ed.). Edison, N.J.: Chartwell Books.
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Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
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Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1911
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Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library Digital Archives
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Zent (1900-1902), Zentmobile (1903), Zent (1904-1906)
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Willis Copeland, Thomas B. Jones and |J. O. St. John
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Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1903
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Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1886
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336:cars were produced in Evansville, Worth moved to
301:built from 1894 to 1896 by the Baushke Bros. in
756:The new illustrated encyclopedia of automobiles
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438:In January 1909 Willis Copeland organized the
196:Schuyler Zent returned to Ohio to build a new
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797:Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Indiana
732:Horseless Age: The Automobile Trade Magazine
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415:Simplicity, Evansville, Traveler (1906-1911)
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584:The Beaulieu encyclopedia of the automobile
523:Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942
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587:. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.
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271:1906 Windsor advertisement in Motor Way
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166:The company was founded in 1886 as the
45:The Single Center factory in Evansville
16:Former American automobile manufacturer
691:Automobile Trade Journal and Motor Age
526:(3rd ed.). Krause Publications.
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551:"Single Center Spring Buggy Company"
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426:Locally the car was marketed as the
365:1909 Worth runabout Model A Roadster
520:; Clark Jr., Henry Austin (1996).
234:Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal
168:Single Center Spring Buggy Company
148:Single Center Spring Buggy Company
113:Converted to Automobile Dealership
54:Single Center Spring Buggy Company
20:Single Center Spring Buggy Company
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182:In 1900 at his machine shop in
735:. Horseless Age Company. 1909.
621:. Horseless Age Company. 1903.
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421:Evansville Automobile Company
150:was an American carriage and
22:Evansville Automobile Company
708:. 2015-03-17. Archived from
651:. 2015-03-17. Archived from
321:built in the late 1890's in
74:; 138 years ago
753:(2000). Cole, Lance (ed.).
440:Traveler Automobile Company
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371:Single Center (1906-1908)
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694:. Chilton Company. 1907.
678:. Chilton Company. 1910.
822:Cars introduced in 1906
817:Cars introduced in 1903
303:Benton Harbor, Michigan
299:Benton Harbor Motocycle
154:manufacturer based in
675:Motor World Wholesale
332:. After only a few
751:Burgess-Wise, David
637:. L.L. Bligh. 1906.
232:1904 Zentmobile in
216:1903 Zentmobile in
156:Evansville, Indiana
123:Evansville, Indiana
23:
832:Brass Era vehicles
518:Kimes, Beverly Rae
618:The Horseless Age
533:978-0-87341-428-9
305:. In 1906 now a
289:Worth (1906-1910)
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118:Headquarters
837:Highwheeler
842:1900s cars
786:Categories
716:2022-11-05
659:2022-11-05
560:16 October
473:References
432:Simplicity
428:Evansville
295:drivetrain
257:Simplicity
190:in 1903.
188:Zentmobile
152:automobile
137:Key people
63:Automotive
775:44401900
603:45369199
444:Traveler
389:runabout
338:Kankakee
297:for the
220:magazine
87:Founders
59:Industry
51:Formerly
319:Chicago
311:Windsor
248:Windsor
162:History
100: (
95:Defunct
77: (
69:Founded
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601:
591:
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377:Worth
334:Worth
771:OCLC
761:ISBN
599:OCLC
589:ISBN
562:2021
528:ISBN
317:the
255:the
198:Zent
110:Fate
102:1911
98:1911
79:1886
72:1886
383:.
200:in
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597:.
570:^
553:.
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481:^
325:.
313:.
126:,
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
