Velie
Template:Short description Template:Infobox automobile
Velie was a brass era American automobile brand produced by the Velie Motors Corporation in Moline, Illinois from 1908 to 1928. The company was founded by and named for Willard Velie, a maternal grandson of John Deere.
Velie founded Velie Carriage Company in 1902, which was successful, then Velie Motor Vehicle Company in 1908.<ref>Vance, Bill. "Velie was quality over quantity", in Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 18 July 2008, p.E10.</ref>
HistoryEdit
Velie ads bragged they "produce every important part"<ref>Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925 (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.92.</ref> and were not simply assemblers, a lesson Ford had taught. However, Velie's first car was assembled with many components purchased from outside suppliers.<ref name="Vance, p.E10">Vance, p.E10.</ref> By 1910, Velie had sold more than 1000 cars.<ref name="Vance, p.E10"/>
In 1911 Velie introduced a truck line, and began making a proprietary four-cylinder engine, although some parts came from suppliers.<ref name="Vance, p.E10"/>
The 1911 Velie 40 had a Template:Cvt Template:Cvt four-cylinder L-head four-stroke gasoline engine, fired by Splitdorf magneto, producing Template:Cvt, mated to a Brown-Lipe sliding-gear transmission with three forward gears, and one reverse gear).<ref name="Clymer, p.92">Clymer, p.92.</ref> It was a four-seater with a Template:Cvt wheelbase and Template:Cvt hickory artillery wheels, shod in the customer's choice of Hartford or Firestone tires.<ref name="Clymer, p.92"/> It was priced at US$1800,<ref name="Clymer, p.92"/> which compared against US$1500<ref>Clymer, p.63.</ref> for the Colt Runabout and US$1600 for the Oakland 40,<ref>Clymer, p.84.</ref> but well below even American's lowest-price model, at US$4250 (its highest was US$5250).<ref>Clymer, p.91.</ref>
In 1914, a six-cylinder Continental joined electric start and Bosch dual ignition.<ref name="Vance, p.E10"/> Velie production averaged about 5,000 cars a year, peaking at 9,000 in 1920.<ref name="Vance, p.E10"/> Beginning in 1916, all Velies were powered by six-cylinder engines;<ref name="Vance, p.E10"/> in 1926 a straight eight Lycoming engine was also offered. Velie chose to focus production solely on its six-cylinder OHV Model 58 in 1922.<ref name="Vance, p.E10"/> In 1924, Velie began installing Westinghouse electric ignitions in their cars. Added to this in 1925 were four-wheel hydraulic brakes and balloon tires,<ref name="Vance, p.E10"/> both still novel.<ref name="Vance, p.E10"/>
Velie's Royal Sedan body had a raked "A" pillar, which gave its windshield a significant angle.
According to the Official Velie Register, worldwide 230 Velies are known to exist as of 2010. A 1924 Model 58 is running in New Zealand.
Aircraft and aircraft enginesEdit
In 1927, the company bought out a general aviation company, moving it to Iowa as Mono Aircraft Inc. and began producing aircraft,<ref name="Vance, p.E10"/> Under this banner, the company produced the Monocoupe 70, which proved "an instant success".<ref name="Vance, p.E10"/>
In addition, they provided engines for aircraft. Velie's M-5 aircraft engine, produced in 1928, produced Template:Cvt at 1900 rpm on a displacement of Template:Cvt and a Template:Cvt bore and stroke.
Production and development of the aircraft line survived the demise of Velie by several years.
Deaths of Willard and Willard Jr.Edit
Willard Velie died in October 1928, and his son, Willard, Jr. was unable to keep both the Velie automobile and airplane companies operating,<ref name="Vance, p.E10"/> so he eliminated the car line in January 1929. In March 1929 Willard Jr. died,<ref name="Vance, p.E10"/> and Mono was sold to Phil Ball, a St. Louis businessman and one of the backers of Charles Lindbergh. Monocoupes were then produced for several years in St. Louis. The car plant was purchased by Deere.
ReferencesEdit
CitationsEdit
BibliographyEdit
- Template:Cite book
- Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925 (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950).
- Randy Robertson Velie Webmaster / Director