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G.C. Kuhlman Car Co. - 1892-1931(1932) - Cleveland, Ohio

The G. C. Kuhlman Car Co. was founded in Cleveland ca. 1893 by Gustav C. Kuhlman. Predecessor firms were run by Gustav, his three brothers, and father, Frederick. The Kuhlman family produced finished hardwood interiors for office buildings and private residences. The firm first built horse-drawn streetcars during the 1880s. During the subsequent decade Gustav started his own firm, specializing in street railway and interurban vehicles. Expansion led Kuhlman from the family shops along St. Clair Avenue to two former carbarns at Broadway and Aetna. A large plant was finally built ca. 1901 at E. 140th (Adams) and the NYCRR tracks (near Aspinwall) in Collinwood.

The company was incorporated in 1901; Fayette Brown served as president during that time. Kuhlman was taken over in 1904 by Philadelphia's J.G. Brill Co., replacing Kuhlman's officers with Philadelphia executives. Gustav Kuhlman remained with the firm briefly as general manager, and continued to visit the plant until his death in 1915.

Kuhlman ultimately built over 5,000 electric railway vehicles, most of which were streetcars. Only about fifteen percent of Kuhlman's output consisted of interurban cars. Railways in Ohio, Michigan, New York, and Illinois accounted for most of Kuhlman's orders, with Cleveland and Detroit being the two largest city customers. During the early 1920s the firm branched into bus body construction, becoming one of the first manufacturers to build bus bodies entirely of steel. Cleveland's White Motor Corp. was a major customer.

As the market for electric railway vehicles shrank in the wake of the automobile and bus manufacture concentrated in specialist firms, Brill expanded Kuhlman's product line to include steel diners. The firm was re-incorporated as the J.G. Brill Co. of Ohio in 1925, though it continued to be known as Kuhlman until 1930. The firm was closed permanently by Brill during the mid-1930s.

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Kuhlman made bus bodies in the early twenties and was a know manufacturer of trolley cars in the teens and twenties.

(Acquired by Brill 1904 but operated under Kuhlman name.)

The City of Utica, New York owned six Kuhlman-bodied Brockway buses during the early 1920s.

The G.C. Kuhlman Car Company had its beginnings at Cleveland, Ohio, in the custom-carpentry business of Gustav C. Kuhlman (c.1859-1915), his father and three brothers. The family did the beautiful hardwood interiors we now so much admire in upscale houses and offices of the nineteenth century. In the 1880 U.S. Census for Ohio, we find 21-year-old Gustave, born in Baden (State), Germany, residing in the home of his father Frederick, declaring his occupation as “sawyer.”

As did many firms and individuals of the time that did fine carpentry, the family started building horsecars during the 1880s.

In 1892, Gustav started his own firm, the G.C. Kuhlman Company, specializing in street railway and interurban vehicles. The business soon outgrew the family shops and into two former car barns at Broadway and Aetna.

The G.C. Kuhlman Car Company was incorporated in 1901, and built a new plant where E. 140th Avenue (now Adams Street) crossed the New York Central railroad tracks in the suburb of Collinwood.

In 1904, the G.C. Kuhlman Car Company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the J.G. Brill Company, another firm concentrating on electrified cars, but cars continued to be built under the Kuhlman name. Gustav Kuhlman remained briefly as General Manager, and continued to keep his hand in at the plant until his death in 1915.

In 1906, Kuhlman produced one of the earliest gasoline-powered railcars. It was a 43'-9" eight-wheeled car powered by a 220-hp Chase engine. Built for the New York Central, it reportedly attained speeds as high as 65 mph.

By the time of the 1st World War, the automobile was making inroads on city and interurban railways, and this trend accelerated even through the Great Depression. Car orders became fewer and fewer, and Kuhlman/Brill had to look for other markets. Besides bus bodies, between 1927 and 1932 Brill/Kuhlman built steel diners (as distinct from dining cars). Doors on both ends of their façades gave the Brill Steel diners a streetcar look.

On 1 February 1931 the G.C. Kuhlman Car Company was reorganized as J.G. Brill of Ohio, but the company couldn’t survive the national depression, and was closed 15 April 1932.

The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History says“Kuhlman ultimately built over 5,000 electric railway vehicles, most of which were streetcars. Only about fifteen percent of Kuhlman’s output consisted of interurban cars. Railways in Ohio, Michigan, New York, and Illinois accounted for most of Kuhlman’s orders, with Cleveland and Detroit being the two largest city customers. During the early 1920s the firm branched into bus body construction, becoming one of the first manufacturers to build bus bodies entirely of steel. Cleveland’s White Motor Corp. was a major customer.”

Kuhlman Interurban Car

Kuhlman, GC Kuhlman Company (subsidiary of Brill) [became Brill

Brill nevertheless acquired the entire capital stock of many smaller manufacturers such as American Car Company, St. Louis, MO (1902), G.C. Kuhlman Car Company, Cleveland, OH (1904)

For more information please read:

Ed Strauss & Karen Strauss - The Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses

G.N. Georgano & G. Marshall Naul - The Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles

Albert Mroz - Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks & Commercial Vehicles

Donald F. Wood - American Buses

Denis Miller - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trucks and Buses

Susan Meikle Mandell - A Historical Survey of Transit Buses in the United States

David Jacobs - American Buses, Greyhound, Trailways and Urban Transportation

William A. Luke & Linda L. Metler - Highway Buses of the 20th Century: A Photo Gallery

William A. Luke & Brian Grams - Buses of Motorcoach Industries 1932-2000 Photo Archive

William A. Luke - Greyhound Buses 1914-2000 Photo Archive

William A. Luke - Prevost Buses 1924-2002 Photo Archive