Alphabetical Index|A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

Geographical Index|AK|AL|AR|AZ|CA|CAN|CO|CT|DE|DC|FL|GA|HI|IA|ID
IL|IN|KS|KY|LA|MA|MD|ME|MI|MEX|MN|MO|MS|MT|NC|ND|NE|NH|NJ|NM
NV|NY|OH|OK|OR|PA|RI|SC|SD|TN|TX|UNK|UT|VA|VT|WA|WI|WV|WY
 

quicklinks|buses|cars|designers|fire apparatus|limos|pro-cars|taxis|trailers|trucks|woodies

 
 
Millspaugh & Irish
Millspaugh & Irish Co., 1914-1923; Millspaugh & Irish Corp., 1923-1928; Indianapolis, Indiana; 1925-1928; Hamtramck, Michigan.
 
Associated Builders
Indianapolis Body Corp., 1919-1922
     

Millspaugh & Irish are remembered today as the Duesenberg Model A’s “in-house” production body builder. They started in business as an aftermarket Model T body supplier, eventually supplying production bodies to Anderson, Barley, Duesenberg, Hanson, Kelsey, Lexington, Maibohm, Monroe, Moon, Premier and Stutz. They also furnished taxicab bodies to Barley, Checker Cab, Dodge, Kelsey, Pennant and Premier and supplied limited edition aftermarket bodies for 1923-1927 Dodge chassis. One of the firm’s final projects was a 12-vehicle fleet of Dodge-based Planters advertising vehicles shaped to look like a giant peanut.

Harry Benjamin Millspaugh, was born in Connersville, Fayette county, Indiana, on July 17, 1890 to Byron Elmer and Luella (Smith) Millspaugh. After a public education in the Connersville schools he relocated to Indianapolis where he enrolled in the Indianapolis Manual Training (aka vocational) High School. He served his apprenticeship in the drafting studio of the Nordyke &. Marmon Company, where he worked alongside Clarence R. Irish (b.1890-d.1963), his future partner.

Millspaugh later took a position as a body designer and traveling salesman for the Indianapolis body builder, Irvin Robbins Co. which was followed by a short stay with the Racine Manufacturing Company, a large production auto body builder located in Racine, Wisconsin.

Clarence R. Irish was born in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana on January 25, 1890 to John R. and Mary E. (Whaley) Irish. After a public education he embarked upon a career as a body designer by enrolling in one of the popular correspondence courses available at the time, serving his apprenticeship with Indianapolis’ Nordyke & Marmon Co., where he met Harry B. Millspaugh.

In 1914 the two 24 year old friends took $450 in savings and organized Millspaugh & Irish, securing a 4,000 sq. ft. machine shop located at 537-539 East Washington Street, Indianapolis, for their manufactory. The firm’s initial products were aftermarket bodies and accessories for the Ford Model T s, some built in-house and other’s furnished by third parties.

Soon afterwards Millspaugh married Mildred Jelf on October 14, 1914 and the union was blessed with the birth of one son, Robert Dane, on July 16, 1915.

Early in its career the partners placed small classified ads in the Indianapolis Star, three of which follow:

7-18-1915 - “We Manufacture AUTOMOBILE BODIES Of all descriptions, High-class inclosed bodies, commercial bodies etc., 20 different styles of Ford bodies. MILLSPAUGH & IRISH 539 East Washington at Indianapolis, Ind.”

11-18-1915 - “WANTED – EXPERIENCED BODY MAKERS ON AUTOMOBILE BODIES. MILLSPAUGH & IRISH, 539 EAST WASHINGTON.”

11-27-1915 - “INCLOSED winter detachable coupe tops made to fit any car. Ford tops carried in stock ready for shipment. Price $75 and up. MILLSPAUGH & IRISH, 539 East Washington street.”

A series of closed body advertisements in The Ford Owner supplied them with more business than was expected causing a 1916 move to larger quarters at 212-214 W. McCarty street, where closed body production commenced on a quantity basis.

Early on Millspaugh & Irish produced small numbers of professional car bodies for use on popularly-priced Ford and Overland chassis. One interesting 1916 offering was a six-in-one center-door combination coach that was advertised for use as a passenger car, pallbearer's limousine, casket wagon, hearse, or sedan ambulance. The casket rode alongside the driver which allowed for a much shorter and maneuverable professional car.

Further help-wanted advertisements followed in the Indianapolis Star:

5-27-1917 - “METAL MAN, EXPERIENCED ALL-ROUND. STEADY EMPLOYMENT AND GOOD WAGES. MILLSPAUGH & IRISH, 214 WEST McCARTY_ST.”

5-16-1918 - “BODY MAKERS, FIRST CLASS, EXPERIENCED ON HIGH-GRADE INCLOSED WORK, APPLY AT ONCE. MILLSPAUGH & IRISH, 214 WEST McCARTY_ST.”

In 1919, the ever-increasing demand for auto bodies prompted a move to a 76,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility located on a five acre parcel owned by the Premier Motor Car Co. located on South LaSalle St. near Clayton Ave.

The May 29, 1919 Indianapolis Star reported on the firm’s acquisition of the old factory of the Mais Motor Truck Co., a manufacturer of gasoline-powered 1½ to 5 ton delivery trucks that was acquired by Premier in 1916:

“ACCESSORY MEN BUY MAIS PLAIT

Millspaugh & Irish Purchase Site on Belt Railroad for Expansion of Business.
OUTPUT WILL BE DOUBLED
Operation of Two Factories Will Allow for Manufacture of 200 Auto Bodies Monthly.

“Announcement was made yesterday that Millspaugh & Irish, manufacturers of automobile closed bodies, have purchased the property which was formerly occupied by toe Mais Automobile Company at Tuxedo street and the Belt Railroad. The property has a frontage of one square on the Belt and extends west to Tuxedo street. The property was purchased from the Premier Motor Corporation. While the consideration was not announced, the property, it is understood, is appraised at $50,000. The negotiation was handled by William Wocher, real estate agent in the City Trust Building.

“With the acquisition of the Mais property Millspaugh & Irish will have 60,000 square feet of floor space, distributed over five and one-half acres of ground There are seven buildings on the site, in addition to its private motive power plant.

“It is the plan of Millspaugh and Irish to erect two new additions to the buildings which at present occupy the site. The wood and metal shops will also be enlarged and modernized. According to Mr. Millspaugh, a total of more than $30,000 will be spent on the Mais properties for new building, remodeling and additions to the present structures.

“The factory of Millspaugh and Irish at 212 and 214 West McCarty street will continue in operation, on the same schedule and according to present plans, the new plant will be occupied within the next sixty days. The operation of the present factory, together with the manufacturing of their products at the new location, will enable Millspaugh and Irish to double their output.

“The firm specializes in the manufacture of enclosed bodies for all sizes and types of automobiles and with the operation of both factories, it will be possible to produce at least 200 bodies per month.

“According to Mr. Millspaugh, the demand for enclosed automobile bodies is greater now than ever before and the output of the McCarty street factory has been entirely inadequate to supply the demand.”

An article in the September and October 1919 issue of the Automotive Corporation announced the partners’ formation of the Indianapolis Body Corporation:

9-1919 - “Indianapolis (Ind.) Body Corp. has been incorporated with $25,000 capital stock to manufacture automobile bodies and accessories. The directors are Harry P. Millspaugh, Clarence R. Irish and Peter M. King.”

10-1919 - “Indianapolis Body Corp., Indianapolis, has been formed by Harry B. Millspaugh and Clarence R. Irish to build automobile bodies. The former Overland factory building at Oliver avenue and White River boulevard has been leased for a period of seven years The president and vice-president of the new concern are the members or the firm of Millspaugh & Irish, body builders, but the new concern will be kept entirely separate."

On November 20, 1919 both Indianapolis Body and Millspaugh & Irish ran classified ads in the Indianapolis Star as follows:

“CABINET MAKERS, FIRSTCLASS.  INDIANAPOLIS BODY CORP., RIVER AND OLIVER AVE.”

“BENCH MEN, DOOR HANGERS, UPFITTERS, SKILLED ON INCLOSED AUTO BODY WORK. WE CAN ALSO USE A FEW GOOD CABINET MAKERS AND MEN SKILLED IN WOODWORKING TRADES, OFFERING YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO EARN WHILE YOU LEARN. ALL OPERATIONS ON PIECE WORK. MILLSPAUGH & IRISH, LaSalle St., three squares south of Washington St.”

The following help-wanted classified appeared in the January 23, 1921 Indianapolis Star:

“HIGH-GRADE aluminum body work, panelers and finishers on aluminum bodies; first-class mechanics only need apply. Indianapolis Body Corp., Oliver ave. and river.”

The June 1921 issue of the Metal Industry included a small item describing the plating needs of Indianapolis’ automobile plants:

“Indianapolis is primarily a field for the job plater. With all its high grade automobile factories, each of which is a large user of electro-plating, the Marmon Company is the only one that maintains a separate department. The remainder all depend on the job platers for their work. Officials of some of these plants declare that in a job shop they can get just as good work at prices that are lower when figured over a year's work than the same work would cost in a special department of the plant. This probably accounts for the fact that some of the job shops of the city are highly developed.

“A vast amount of work is thrown the job shops by such companies as the Stutz Fire Engine Company, the National Motor Vehicle Company, the Cole Motor Car Company, the Lafayette Motors Corporation, the Premier Motor Car Company, the Stutz Motor Car Company, the William Small Company, makers of the Monroe, and the Duesenberg Company. During the last six or nine months the volume of work from these plants has, of course, fallen off, but since the opening of the spring season the tendency has been to increase production and with no exception the production automobile factory in the city show increases each month over the month before.

“The job plants here are also getting considerable work from the automobile body plants. The Robbins Body Corporation and the Millspaugh & Irish Company, both makers of high grade enclosed bodies for automobiles, patronize the job plants. Neither of these corporations maintains a separate electroplating department and the tendency especially for bodies of the better class, including limousines, coupes and the like, is for more bright work. Production in these plants also has been curtailed, but is showing signs of improvement.”

Since the late teens Millspaugh & Irish had offered a line of custom-built commercial box and drawer conversions for the rear decks of Ford coupes and roadsters, which by the early twenties expanded to included similar products for Chevrolet and Dodge Bros. chassis.

Millspaugh & Irish built production bodies for the Kelsey "Friction Drive" Car of 1922 as well as its contemporary, the Maibohm which shared the same basic body. The new Kelsey was an assembled car built in Newark, New Jersey whose radiator resembled the stylish piece found on the high-priced New Jersey-built Mercer.

A Millspaugh & Irish-bodied taxicab was added to the Kelsey line in 1923, but unlike the car, the taxi included a standard selective drive clutch and transmission. Kelsey soon withdrew from regular automobile production but continued to build taxicabs through 1924.

Another help-wanted advertisement from the September 7, 1922 Indianapolis Star:

“Experienced General Trimmers on high-class open and closed automobile body work. Apply Employment Office, Millspaugh & Irish, S. LaSalle and English”

By 1922 the firm was doing $1,500,000 in business, with taxicab manufacturing accounting for ninety-five percent of the production at that time. Although things appear to have been going well for Millspaugh and Irish, the following display ad from the November 21, 1922 Indianapolis Star, reveals problems existed across town at Indianapolis Body Corp.:

“AUCTION SALE
Indianapolis Body Corporation
Tuesday and Wednesday Dec. 5 and 6, at 9:30 a.m., Oliver ave. and White river.
(Take West Indianapolis car.)
Contents of. building covering entire square.

“Very Fine Wood Working Machinery Almost new and In perfect condition; over 60 electric motors, 3 to 50-horse power; sheet metal machinery and equipment; large lot of lumber; 300 auto and truck bodies; power sewing machine, vices, anvil and forges, other trimming, auto parts, 200 4-wheel factory trucks, thousands of iron clamps, paints, hardware, about 100 fire extinguishers and hundreds of other articles.

“Entire Office Equipment, Everything will be sold in lots without limit or reserve.
A. Greenwald, Auctioneer, 308 Indiana Trust, MAin 123.
“LISTED SALE WILL BE MAILED BY APPLYING TO AUCTIONEER. OPEN FOR INSPECTION DEC. 3 AND 4 FROM 10 TO 4.”

In 1923 Millspaugh & Irish was recapitalized for $1,500,000 and incorporated under the same name with Harry B. Millspaugh, president; Clarence R. Irish, vice-president, general manager; and Allan S. Beckett, secretary-treasurer. Joining them on the board were Ed. V. Fitzpatrick, senior member of Fitzpatrick & Fitzpatrick, and Hays S. Buskirk. Becket was the former assistant secretary-treasurer of the Premier Motor Corp. and Buskirk was a wealthy Ford distributor from Bloomington. The new was included in the January 25, 1923 Indianapolis Star:

“MILLSPAUGH & IRISH BODY FIRM NOW CORPORATION

“The Millspaugh & Irish Corporation has been organized to succeed the firm of Millspaugh & Irish, manufacturers of automobile bodies, according to announcement of officers of the new corporation yesterday. The new corporation will take over the plant of the old firm on LaSalle street, between Meredith and Clayton streets, and conduct that business.

“The new corporation is capitalized at $1,500,000. It is planned to issue $425,000 of preferred stock, and $106,250 of common stock. Ed V. Fitzpatrick one of the directors of the new corporation said.

“Officers of the corporation have been elected as follows: Harry B. Millspaugh, president; Clarence R. Irish, vice president; Allen S. Beckett, secretary-treasurer. In addition to the officers the board of directors is Hays Buskirk and Ed V. Fitzpatrick.

“Mr. Fitzpatrick said the company was appraised at $492,113.38.”

By that time Millspaugh & Irish were operating as Duesenberg’s in-house body builder. Although some early closed bodies were furnished in-the-white by Fleetwood and Rubay, Millspaugh & Irish furnished the rest of the bodies and eventually built all of the automaker’s factory coachwork.

Millspaugh & Irish also painted and trimmed bodies in-the-white received from third parties and mounted all of the Model A’s coachwork under contract to Duesenberg through 1926. Unfortunately, they didn’t survive long enough to furnish coachwork for the Model A’s replacement, which debuted just as Millspaugh & Irish were liquidated.

Many early Duesenberg Model A’s were bodied by the New York distributor who purchased bodies from northeast coachbuilders who included H.H. Babcock, Springfield and Woonsocket. The first production Model A, chassis no. 600, survives today bearing an attractive circa 1917 Bender and Robinson opera coupe body.

As the Model A debuted in 1921 it remains a mystery as to why an old body was used. Duesenberg historian Randy Ema reports that the vehicle’s serial number, 600, verifies that it is the very first production Duesenberg and states that after being used as a demonstrator it was sold in 1922 to Samuel Northrup Castle, a founder of the Castle and Cook Co., a Hawaiian sugar cooperative. The beauty of that car reveals how far ahead of the curve Bender, Robinson's designs were for that time.

In 1923 Millspaugh & Irish began a mutually beneficial relationship with the Dodge Bros. Co. via an attractive Brougham built specifically for the Dodge chassis. A small item in the Automotive Manufacturer described the handsome vehicle:

“Millspaugh & Irish, Indianapolis, are producing a brougham body designed for mounting on Dodge Brothers chassis and to be sold through Dodge Brothers dealers. The inside width of the body is 46 in. The rear seat is of full width and is designed to accommodate three persons. The front seats are of the individual bucket type and have coil springs in the backs as well as in the cushions. There are two doors. The interior trim is in blue cloth and the hardware has a nickel finish.”

For many years the firm had supplied bodies to mid-west taxicab builders who included Barley (Pennant), Checker Cab and Premier. In 1924 a line of Dodge Bros.-Millspaugh & Irish taxicab bodies were announced to the trade:

“Moderately priced, the Dodge Brothers-Millspaugh and Irish taxicab is remarkably reasonable for the high quality of construction and efficiency of operation.”

The Pennant was the result of declining sales of the Kalamazoo, Michigan-built Barley automobile. Equipped with a Millspaugh & Irish taxicab body and a Buda 4-cylinder, the Pennant Taxicab was produced from 1923 into late 1924. To better distinguish the Pennant from its competition they left the factory with a maroon upper body and ivory lower body. Fleet operators in both New York City and Washington, D.C. were known purchasers of Pennant taxicabs.

Millspaugh & Irish also supplied taxicab bodies to Kalamazoo’s Checker Cab Mfg. Co., Although they were built to Checker’s specifications they looked almost identical to Millspaugh & Irish’s other taxicabs which during the early-to-mid twenties all followed the same general outline and configuration - only the livery distinguished one brand of taxi from another.

Millspaugh & Irish marketed their own taxicab bodies under the Shamrock moniker. The attractive taxicabs were available with a choice of a fixed or collapsible landaulet roof over the rear compartment and were also available without a right front passenger door which allowed for quicker loading and unloading of baggage.

Midway through 1924 Millspaugh & Irish became the Indiana distributors for the recently-introduced Duco lacquer system. Capitalized at $12,000, the Duco Corporation of Indiana, Inc. controlled the sale and distribution of DuPont, DeNemours’ Duco to Indiana’s numerous automobile refinishers and body shops. Officers were as follows: C. R. Irish, president; H. B. Millspaugh, vice-president; Allan S. Beckett, secretary and treasurer; and Edwin Theis, general manager. The June 1, 1924 Indianapolis Star reported:

“Local Concern To Handle DUCO
“Named Sole Distributor in Indiana for Automobile Paint.

“E. I. DuPont. DeNemours & Co., have appointed the Duco Corporation of Indiana, Inc., as sole distributors in this state of their new, product, Duco, for the refinishing of automobiles.

“This action by the DuPont organization places Indianapolis in the front rank of cities where this new and very remarkable process of refinishing automobiles is available for the public.

“The factory of the Duco Corporation of Indiana, Inc., is located at Twentieth and Olney streets, where one of the most complete and highly organized automobile refinishing shops in the country has been installed. The shop has been in operation for several weeks. It is the plan of the officials of the Duco Corporation to specialize in the refinishing of cars for individual owners in addition to the handling of contract work for motor car dealers.

“Men Trained Here.

“Under the supervision of trained experts, automobile refinishing companies will be instructed in the method of applying Duco and will be given a franchise to use the process. Already a number of well known shops both in Indianapolis and in other parts of the state have been using Duco in refinishing the cars of their customers.

“A number of entirely new concerns, realizing that the Duco process is the greatest development ever made toward a permanent and wear-resisting finish on motor cars, have been organized and have had their employees trained at the Indianapolis factory of the Duco Corporation.

“The officials of the Duco Corporation of Indiana, Inc., are Indianapolis business men, who are well-known in the automotive business. C.R. Irish, who is vice president, and general manager of the Millspaugh & Irish Corporation, America's largest independent builders of taxicab bodies, is president of the Duco Corporation of Indiana, Inc. Harry B. Millspaugh, president of the Millspaugh & Irish Corporation, is vice president of the

new organization, and Allan S. Beckett, of the Millspaugh & Irish Corporation, is secretary and treasurer of the new corporation. Harry B. Doty, another prominent figure in automobile circles, is general manager of the new Duco plant.

“School Is Aiding Men

“The Duco School of Instruction is proving to be a very great advantage to automobile refinishing companies who are planning, to offer the Duco process to their patrons. In a very short time the experts at the local factory can make the workmen sent to them by these users of the Duco process, very efficient in the technique of applying the new finish. The Duco process is .looked upon as one of the outstanding achievements in the entire motor car industry. One grave fault in the past has been that new cars would not retain their handsome appearance very long when subjected to the rigors of every day service. The process which was worked out by the chemical division of the DuPont organization has eliminated this difficulty entirely.

“The Duco finish not only is absolutely impervious to the action of sun, wind, rain, snow or alkali, but also long continued tests have proved that it actually improves with service. Cars finished with Duco have been operated for twenty-two months, under the most severe conditions of climate, dust, etc., and at the conclusion of the test, their finish was even more lustrous than when it was applied. Duco has a soft, satin-like luster that is very attractive. It is furnished in practically an unlimited range of colors.”

Shortly after Dillon, Read purchased Dodge Bros. from the Dodge widows, Millspaugh & Irish established a satellite assembly plant at 8745 Conant Ave., Hamtramck, Michigan a ¼ mile northeast of Dodge’s Hamtramck assembly plant which was located at 7900 Joseph Campau St. The move helped reduce the cost of Millspaugh & Irish’s Dodge-chassised vehicles which could now be shipped directly from Dodge’s Hamtramck assembly plant.

The following notice appeared in various trades in early 1926:

“The Millspaugh & Irish Corporation of Indianapolis, manufacturers of automobile and taxicab bodies, has begun operating the general offices, receiving and shipping departments at a new facility in Detroit. The main factory will not be moved. The company is one of the largest builders of taxicab bodies in America. The change of some departments was made because of a large number of orders received during the last three months of last year. According to officials the outlook for business this year is the best they have ever had.”

Dodge Bros.’ 1924 Series 116 offerings included 3 Millspaugh & Irish-built vehicles; an open-drive taxi, a closed drive taxi and a landau sedan. Although Dodge had stopped offering its own taxicab in 1920, the market exploded soon afterwards and Dodge decided it could no longer ignore it.

A circa 1926 Millspaugh & Irish 8-page brochure advertised the firm's Shamrock taxicab bodies all prominently placed on Dodge Bros. chassis. Depicted in the brochure was a fleet of Shamrock taxicabs slated for delivery to Quebec, Canada. The firm also issued a four-page brochure for their Shamrock taxicab partition which allowed a standard Dodge Bros. sedan to be easily converted for taxicab use.

The same basic Millspaugh & Irish taxicab bodies remained available through authorized Dodge Bros. dealers through 1927. The cabs featured a bi-level belt treatment whose lower bead extended through the hood, providing a division line for two-tone body colors. The car also included a limousine-like partition, landau roof style and standard disc wheels.

The Millspaugh & Irish taxicab line expanded to six models in 1927 with the addition of the new Dodge six-cylinder 126 chassis – three 4 cylinder models and three 6 cylinder’s, all on Dodge Bros’ heavy duty 116” chassis.

The 1927 Dodge Fast Four was available as a cowl and chassis which included the following: fenders, hood, wood wheels and a cowl assembly with windshield and header, plus the Deluxe sedan instrument board. Budd disc or Kelsey wire wheels were optional.

For the new Fast Four chassis Millspaugh & Irish developed an All-Purpose Sedan conversion which featured removable rear seats and a curb-side opening rear door similar to those found on sedan deliveries and panel trucks. The Dodge catalog listed it as a $225 conversion, rather than a standard vehicle offering and it failed to qualify as a light delivery car as it weighed over 1,800 lbs.

Soon after the Cole automobile company went out of business in 1925, Millspaugh & Irish relocated their Indianapolis offices into the former Cole factory which was located at 730-738 East Washington St., Indianapolis.

The partner’s Indiana Duco operations, H.E. Doty manager, were moved to the Cole factory as was its finishing and trimming departments and by 1927 they were using 250,000 square feet of floor space. The former Cole automobile factory at 730-738 East Washington Street exists and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

In 1926 Millspaugh & Irish Co. leased the 250,000 square foot plant of the Midwest Engine Co. at 19th St and Martindale Ave. The firm and its predecessor, the Lyons Atlas Co. were descended from the Atlas Engine Works a manufacturer of steam stationary and traction engines. Stationary gas engines and wooden rail cars were manufactured at the facility until in closed down in 1924. The property was advantageous to Millspaugh & Irish as it included a railroad siding that allowed completed automobile bodies to be loaded directly onto railcars from inside the plant. (Martindale was subsequently renamed D. Andrew J. Brown Ave.)

Sometime during 1927 Millspaugh & Irish constructed a fleet of 12 identical Dodge-based Planters advertising vehicles shaped contoured and colored to resemble a giant peanut. A Mr. Peanut effigy rode atop the rear of the car, under which located a storage area for salesman’s samples and baggage. During the next half decade the Peanutmobiles were displayed by the firm’s salesmen at state and county fairs and festivals across the nation.

During 1927 Millspaugh & Irish ramped up their sales staff appointing J.M. Niehaus, a former advertising executive with the Indianapolis Star, as advertising manager. William G. Wood, 247 Park avenue, New York, New York, formerly with Fitz Gibbon & Crisp, Inc., was hired as the firm’s Manhattan representative.

Sometime during 1928 the firm withdrew from business. Indianapolis’ Robbins Corp. exited the body business at the same time, converting their factory over to the manufacture of wooden radio cabinets and it’s likely the same mitigating factors contributed to the demise of Millspaugh & Irish. As the manufacture of production bodies was transferred to the Detroit-based giants, Briggs, Budd and Murray, independent production body builders like Robbins and Millspaugh & Irish were awarded fewer and fewer contracts and decided to withdraw from business before they were forced into receivership.

The firm’s 730 East Washington St facility was taken over entirely by the partner’s Indiana Duco distributorship, which survived into the 1960s. The 19th and Martindale factory was abandoned and the firm’s Hamtramck assembly plant at 8745 Conant Ave., was leased to the Swedish Crucible Steel Co, a manufacturer of automotive castings.

Clarence R. Irish became an executive with the Hoosier Coffee company, which was owned by his brother Everett, and Millspaugh took a job as general manger of the Verville Aircraft Corp. a Detroit-based manufacturer of 4-place Wright-powered personal aircraft.

Verviele’s owners and management had deep ties with the auto body business, its largest stockholder was Briggs Manufacturing Co.’s Walter O. Briggs and Barney F. Everett of Everitt Bros. and E.M.F. fame served as the firm’s president and plant manager.

© 2004 Mark Theobald - Coachbuilt.com with special thanks to Fred Roe and  Thomas A. McPherson

<previous

 

 

 

 
   
 
Pictures
   
 
   
 
References

Logan Esarey - History of Indiana From Its Exploration to 1922, with an Account of Indianapolis and Marion County Vol. IV, pub.1924

Thomas A. MacPherson - The Dodge Story

Thomas A. McPherson - American Funeral Cars & Ambulances Since 1900

Beverly Rae Kimes & Henry Austin Clark Jr. - Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942

Raymond A. Katzell - The Splendid Stutz

Marian Suman-Hreblay - Dictionary of World Coachbuilders and Car Stylists

Michael Lamm and Dave Holls - A Century of Automotive Style: 100 Years of American Car Design

Fred Roe - Duesenberg: The Pursuit of Perfection

Hugo Pfau - The Custom Body Era

   
 
Extended Auto Warranties WarrantyDirect.com
Are you paying too much? Make sure your auto warranty covers your entire vehicle.

Car Shows CarShowNews.com
State by State directory of car shows; includes new car shows and classic auto events.

Auto Buying Guide SafeCarGuide.com
Paying too much? Use this step by step guide to help get the best deal on your next car.

Car Books, Models & Diecasts MotorLibrary.com
Your one stop shop for automotive books, models, die-casts & collectibles.

ADVERTISE 

   
 
Submit Pictures or Information

Original sources of information are given when available. Additional pictures, information and corrections are most welcome.

Click Here to submit pictures or information

   
 
 
 
Pictures Continued

<previous    
         

quicklinks|buses|cars|designers|fire apparatus|limos|pro-cars|taxis|trailers|trucks|woodies

© 2004-2012 Coachbuilt.com, Inc.|books|disclaimer|index|privacy