Biographies of RRCCW and Springfield Rolls-Royce body builders  is continued.

George W. McNear, Brookline, Mass.

George W. McNear was a continuation of the firm of Quinsler & Co., a Boston, Mass. Coachbuilder that dates from the end of the Civil War. By the turn of the century its founder, George J. Quinsler, was looking to retire, and an arrangement was made in 1905 whereby George W. McNear became Quinsler’s chief draftsman and designer as well as a part owner of the firm. The 1906 Boston Automobile Show brochure included a striking Packard limousine designed by McNear and by 1911, the firm’s advertisements read: "George W. McNear, successor to Quinsler & Company."  Although both firms produced high quality work, they were always very small, employing no more than 20 craftsmen at their small Cambria St. Shop. 

However, that all changed when they moved to a much larger building at 14-18 Station St in suburban Brookline, Massachusetts in the early twenties. With the additional space, they were able to branch out into the lucrative commercial body business and built parlor cars, school buses and delivery trucks for many area governments, schools and businesses. 

However McNear still produced an occasional custom body, including a couple of Model A Duesenbergs as well as a number of Rolls-Royces. John deCampi’s ‘Rolls-Royce in America’ lists 5 known McNear bodies on Springfield Rolls-Royce chassis, and Rolls-Royce chassis records indicate that as many as ten McNear bodies were mounted on Springfield Silver Ghost chassis. One of them, a handsome Doctor’s Coupe on a 1923 Silver Ghost chassis #136jh, still exists. 

For further information on the history of the George W. McNear Co. please view its entry in the encyclopedia. 

Merrimac Body Co., Merrimac, Mass.

In 1919, the J.B. Judkins Co. received a large order from Mercer that consisted of mostly open bodies. As Judkins’ plant was set up to build closed bodies and couldn’t fit in the 200+ order in their already busy production schedule, a decision was made to set up another plant across town to fulfill it. At that time, Stanley L. Judkins, was helping his father, Frederick, in the day-to-day management of the family’s body building business. It was decided that Stanley would run the new concern, and William Jeffrey, an experienced Amesbury body man, and John Marshall, a forty-two-year-old Scotsman who had settled in Merrimac in 1917, were hired to assist him in setting up the new plant. The former Jackson Hard Fibre Plant was outfitted for body production and the Merrimac Body Co. began producing bodies in early 1920. 

Merrimac’s largest customer was Rolls-Royce of America, and the firm supplied them with over 420 bodies “in the white” (unpainted and untrimmed). Merrimac specialized in open bodies, mostly tourers, convertibles and roadsters, although a small number of coupes and town cars were built as well. Merrimac’s most popular Rolls-Royce body was the Pall Mall five-passenger touring car, with 200 examples. Next popular was the  "Oxford" seven-passenger touring with 77, followed by the "Mayfair" town car with 70 and the "Piccadilly" roadster with another 70. Well over 50 surviving Silver Ghosts and Phantom I’s still carry their original Merrimac-built bodies. 

For further information on the history of the Merrimac Body Co. please view its entry in the encyclopedia. 

New Haven Carriage Co., New Haven, Conn.

New Haven Carriage Co., can be traced back to Frederick A Holcombe (1807-1886), a New Haven County carriage builder that started his own firm in 1838 in the small town of Brandford, (now Branford) Connecticut. Two of his sons, George F. (b1835) and Harry S. (b1846-d1902), joined him in the family business and the firm prospered during the war. Following the retirement of their father in 1870 the brothers relocated to New Haven where they established a carriage works under Holcomb Bros., G.F & H.S. During the 1880s, the firm was reorganized as Holcomb Bros. & Co. and finally as the New Haven Carriage Co in 1886.

In 1891 a new modern factory was erected at the corner of Water & Franklin Sts. and by 1894 the firm employed 400 hands. By 1901, the city directory noted that the New Haven Carriage Company was manufacturing automobiles as well as “fashionable carriages”.

New Haven Carriage was indirectly involved in the scandalous Electric Vehicle Company combine of 1899 which was financed by a group of New York and Connecticut millionaires and industrialists headed by John Jacob Astor, William C. Whitney, George H. Day, Philip T Dodge, Albert A Pope, Col. George Pope, and Isaac L Rice.

An 1899 article in ‘The Automobile’ reported that New Haven Carriage Company had received a very lucrative contract from the Electric Vehicle Company, one-half (2,100 bodies) of an order for 4,200 electric automobile bodies. "No such contract as this was ever made before…" The other half of the contract was awarded to the Columbia Automobile Company of Hart­ford, The Electric Vehicle Company’s automobile building subsidiary.

They continued building large numbers of carriages alongside their automobile bodies, but by the middle teens most of their production was focused on custom-built closed body styles and medium-sized runs of series customs for Marmon and Locomobile.

By the early 20s New Haven was largely dependent on the Locomobile Company for their livelihood. Following Billy Durant’s takeover of the firm in 1922, new orders from the Bridgeport, Connecticut automaker failed to materialize.

Luckily, New Haven was an early participant in the Rolls-Royce Custom Coach Work program, building 71 bodies in total between 1921 and 1923. Unfortunately the orders from Rolls-Royce of America dried up soon after the Springfield automaker opened their own coachworks in 1923, and New Haven’s owners decided to call it quits.

For further information on the history of the New Haven Carriage Co. please view its entry in the encyclopedia.

Smith-Springfield Body Corp., Springfield, Mass.

Two Springfield, Massachusetts brothers, Hinsdale & Arthur P. Smith had formed the Springfield Metal Body Co. in 1902. When the firm’s popular “Springfield Tops” became all the rage in the mid teens, outside investors bought a controlling interest in the firm, reorganized it as the Springfield Body Corp., and relocated it to Detroit.

The brothers became involved in other projects, but reunited in 1918, establishing the Smith-Springfield Body Corp. in West Springfield, Mass.

Hinsdale Smith was the firm’s new president, and his brother Arthur P. Smith vice-president. The firm was organized under the laws of Delaware for the purpose of building automobile bodies. The stock offering stated that the firm “owned 5 acres of land located on the railroad within ¾ of a mile of the center of Springfield upon which it was erecting a modern factory to be fully equipped with machinery for the most efficient production of automobile bodies and ready for operation by January 1 next. The Company has also obtained ones year’s option on a further five acres of ground immediately adjoining the present site.” 

In late 1921, LeBaron’s Ray Dietrich was hired as a consultant and spent close to a month designing and engineering the firm’s Rolls-Royce bodies. 61 Smith-Springfield bodies were built for the Springfield Silver Ghost chassis between 1921 and 1923. 

LeBaron selected Smith-Springfield to build them a sporty dual-cowl phaeton for Milton Budlong, the New York City Lincoln distributor, to display at the November 1921 New York Auto Salon. The caveat was that the car needed to be built in just 18 days, and Smith-Springfield delivered the completed car, on time. 

Springfield made a few low-volume production bodies for other manufacturers such as the air cooled Fox which was built in Philadelphia, PA but by late 1922, most of the plant was devoted to Rolls-Royce body program and at the end of the year Rolls-Royce of America purchased the entire operation. Smith-Springfield’s craftsmen became the backbone of Rolls-Royce’s Custom Body Works, which were relocated from the West Springfield factory to the former Knox Automobile Co. plant on Waltham Ave. in 1923. 

Newton H. Manning, Smith-Springfield’s sales manager became assistant manager of the Rolls-Royce body plant, a position he held until 1928 when he was hired by LeBaron-Detroit as the firm’s general manager.

The vacant Smith-Springfield plant wouldn’t stay empty for long as a group of local businessmen purchased the plant, and resurrected the Springfield Body Corp. hoping to cash in on the earlier firm’s good reputation. 

For further information on the history of Smith-Springfield please view its entry in the encyclopedia.

Springfield Body Corp. (aka Springfield Body Works), Springfield, Mass.

In his book, the American Rolls-Royce, Arthur W. Soutter claims that most of the undocumented Springfield Silver Ghost bodies were built by Springfield Body Works of Springfield, Massachusetts and Amesbury Body Company of Amesbury, Massachusetts. The Springfield Body Corp. was Soutter’s “Springfield Body Works”.

A January 10th, 1923 press release announced that the newly formed Springfield Body Corp. intended to purchase two additional body plants, the first in Pontiac, Michigan the second in Bloomfield, New Jersey, to compliment the firm’s West Springfield, Massachusetts factory giving the new firm the capability to produce as many as 15,000 automobile bodies annually.

Charles C McElwain, director of the Safe Deposit & Trust Co. of Springfield, MA, was chairman of the board of directors. Other directors included Harry G. Fisk, vice-president of the Fisk Rubber Co., Chicopee Falls, MA, Frank A Woods, director of the Safe Deposit & Trust Co. and Farr Alpaca Co. of Holyoke, MA., and Victor M. Tyler president of the Acme Wire Co. of New Haven, CT and director of the Gotham National Bank of New York. C.S. Dame was the firm’s initial president and Frank M. Livingston, its controller. 

Following the preliminary announcement of the formation of the Springfield Body Corporation came a Jan 28, 1923 statement that a purchase contract has been made for a large plant in northern New Jersey with a capacity of from 5,000 to 7,500 custom jobs per annum, with an option secured on another plant with a yearly capacity of 10,000 bodies in the Detroit district. 

The new firm is thought to have built a small number of bodies for the Roll-Royce Custom Coach Work program, but no firm evidence has been uncovered. In fact, little evidence of the firm having produced any bodies for firms other than the Peerless Motor Company of Cleveland, Ohio exists.

Despite the absence of product, Springfield kept themselves in the headlines and on March 21, 1923 Springfield Body Corporation stock reached an all-time high of 49 1/8. However, a follow-up to the March 21 item dated March 28, 1923 stated: “The rise in shares of Springfield body was influenced by reports that a contract had been closed calling one of the largest orders ever booked by that corporation. Confirmation was lacking.” The large contract mentioned in the new release was with the Peerless Motor Co.

Peerless chose to introduce a new line of Springfield-built luxury bodies in 1924, and they chose the Winter 1923-24 New York Auto Show and Auto Salon for their introduction. A fair amount of publicity resulted from the introduction of a radio-equipped Peerless sedan at the Springfield booth. Springfield boasted that it was the first vehicle to include a radio as standard equipment.

The following year, Springfield exhibited two Peerless sedans at the winter 1924-1925 New York Auto Salon. The New York Times took notice of the firm’s “…five-passenger car being finished in brown, with a hairline black striping and a centerline of gold.”

Known polygamist George Brinton Caldwell was listed as the firm’s president as late as 1925, but within the year, the town of West Springfield foreclosed on the firm’s body plant for non-payment of taxes. 

The following item appeared on the AP wire: 

“August 14, 1926 – Town Bids In Plant for Arrears In Taxes. (AP) For non-payment of taxes of $6,445 the plant of the Springfield Body Co was today bid in for the town of West Springfield by tax collector Raymond A Sweeney, when no bidders at the tax sale. Negotiations were supposed to have been virtually completed for the transfer of the plant to the Sikorsky Manufacturing Co for the manufacture of airplanes, but complications arose and it is now said the sale is unlikely.”

Five months later Samuel T. Freeman & Co., Auctioneers held an auction of the Springfield Body Corp.’s West Springfield real estate, machinery, equipment and supplies. The sale of the firm’s brick 1-story 25,000 sq ft Circuit Ave plant and 5-acre parcel (which included a railroad siding) took place on Tuesday, February 1, 1927.

For further information on the history of Springfield Body Corp. please view its entry in the encyclopedia.

Springfield Coach Works, Springfield & Chicopee, Mass.

Springfield Coach Works was one of the numerous Springfield, Massachusetts automobile body builders that supplied production bodies to a number of regional manufacturers, Hendee Mfg. Co., Rauch & Lang, Rolls-Royce of America, and Stevens-Duryea among them. A 1922 recapitalization prospectus claimed the firm had: “large production contracts from the Mercer Motors Company, the du Pont Motors Company and for Cadillac, Pierce-Arrow, Packard, Franklin and other cars.”

A satellite facility located in Chicopee, a northern suburb of Springfield, supplied production bodies to Rolls-Royce and Stevens-Duryea, taxicab bodies to Rauch & Lang and side cars to the Hendee Mfg. Co., better known as the manufacturer of Indian bicycles and motocycles.

Springfield Coach Works’ direct predecessor, the Springfield Harness Co. was founded by Alphonse U. Premont, a talented Canadian machinist who emigrated to the United States in 1895.

The May 4, 1922 issue of The Automobile includes a brief mention of the firm producing bodies for Rolls-Royce of America Inc.:

“Rolls-Royce Takes on More Men

“SPRINGFIELD, MASS., May 1— Orders are being received at such a gratifying rate at the Rolls-Royce works that it is planned to make another addition of 200 men to the plant force May 15, bringing the factory to practically normal production. The feature of the selling situation is the continued large demand for closed cars.

“Springfield Coach Works has doubled its force employed in making automobile bodies, and is turning out many custom bodies for the Rolls-Royce and other makes. With its associate concern, the Springfield Harness Works, it is rushing production of Hendee sidecars.

“The Springfield Coach Works and the associated company, the Springfield Harness Works, also reports an increasing number of orders for automobile bodies.”

The taxicab field exploded during the early 1920s, but the field was quickly saturated and by 1924 many taxicab manufacturers were facing bankruptcy, Rauch & Lang Inc., among them. The April 17, 1924 issue of Automotive Industries reported:

“Rauch & Lang Plans Greater Production

“Difficulties That Arose from Changing to Taxicab Field Being Smoothed Out.

“Chicopee Falls, Mass., April 15 — H. W. Steiner, president and general manager of Rauch & Lang, Inc., whose plant has been offered for sale by the city of Chicopee for taxes, said today that an extension of time has been granted until May 1, and that arrangements would be effected by which the company’s production of gasoline and electric taxicabs would go forward uninterruptedly.

“The schedule, he says, calls for successive increases of production between now and September to fill orders already in hand. Twenty gasoline cabs a month are now being made, he said, which gradually will be raised to fifty. Production of electric cabs is said to be about six a month. Large outlays and various difficulties incidental to entering the taxicab field cramped the concern temporarily, he states, but most of the difficulties have been smoothed out, and orders and prospects warrant an optimistic view of the future.

“A portion of the Rauch & Lang plant was leased some months ago to Stevens-Duryea Motors Inc., and the two concerns are carrying their production on independently under the same roof. The old Stevens-Duryea plant is in use for storage. At the recent annual meeting of Rauch & Lang, Inc., Mr. Steiner was chosen president and Frank H. Potter of Chicago, treasurer.

“Relative to the Springfield Coach Works, whose plant is also up for sale for taxes, the president, A. U. Premont, declares that steps had been taken to reorganize the company, meet the obligation and obtain additional working capital. The company has been devoting a large share of its production to bodies for the Rauch & Lang taxicabs.”

Although Rauch & Lang Inc. remained in business into the 1930s, Springfield Coach Works’ Chicopee plant was abandoned in 1925 due to its tax situation and its main Springfield operation reorganized as Springfield Upholstering and Metal Works which was later reoganized as the Springfield Upholstering and Awning Co.

For further information on the history of Springfield Coach Works please view its entry in the encyclopedia.

Willoughby Co., Utica, N.Y. 

The Willoughby Company was one of America’s larger custom production body builders and the only one who specialized in chauffeur-driven town cars, landaulets and limousines, with virtually no open body styles produced after the mid-twenties. Willoughby’s quality and workmanship was first-rate and although their styling tended to be very conservative.

Willoughby’s antecedent was R. M. Bingham & Co. of Rome New York, a builder of carriages, sleighs and wagons who dates back to the Civil War. Bingham had a talented engineer named Edward A. Willoughby (1850s-1913) who eventually became responsible for the day-to-day operation of the firm. After Bingham's factory burned to the ground on March 4th, 1897, the Utica Chamber of Commerce approached Willoughby and arranged for him to assume management of the bankrupt Utica Carriage Co. 

In partnership with William H. Owen, Willoughby organized the firm of Willoughby, Owen & Company in 1899 to build a small series of 135 bodies for the Columbia Automobile Company of Hartford, Connecticut. The order, one of the first quantity orders for automobile bodies in the United States, was for Columbia’s new electric car and Willoughby & Owen followed the Columbia with their own electric in 1901. The car was not a success and Owen sold his share in the firm to his partner who reorganized under the name of Willoughby Co. in 1903 to design and build automobile bodies. Early work was limited to commercial vehicles, buses and small batches of bodies for regional automakers, plus an occasional custom body for a locally-owned luxury chassis. 

In 1913 Willoughby secured an order from Studebaker for more than 1,000 bodies – its largest order ever and its first million dollar contract. Willoughby was one of the few select coachbuilders that were commissioned to build bodies "in the white" (untrimmed and unpainted) for the Rolls-Royce Custom Coach Work program. Willoughby produced 372 bodies for the Springfield Silver Ghost and 43 for the Springfield Phantom I.

At the 1925 New York Salon (1926 model year) Willoughby showed a Lincoln Enclosed Drive Landaulet, a Springfield Rolls-Royce Coupe, a Wills Ste. Claire Sports Sedan and Town Car. 

Shortly after Rolls-Royce of America purchased Brewster, Willoughby’s involvement with Roll-Royce’s Custom Coach Work program ended and their future looked dim. Luckily a series of large semi-custom production body contracts with Packard and Lincoln kept them afloat through the late 1930s. 

For further information on the history of the Willoughby Co. please view its entry in the encyclopedia. 

F.R. Wood and Son, New York, N.Y. 

Frederick Wood first established a carriage works in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1848. His firm prospered Wood‘s son, Frederick R. Wood established a Manhattan showroom at 219-221 West 19th St following the Civil War. 

Just before the turn of the century Wood became heavily involved with electric delivery vehicles and invalid coaches and even built a one-off steam-powered bus for the New York Motor Vehicle Co. in 1900.

The firm was listed as an electric motor vehicle manufacturer from 1900-1902 although they built few electric automobiles. Their specialty was electric-powered commercial vehicles; delivery vans, ambulances and light trucks. F.R. Wood was unaffiliated with the Woods Motor Vehicle Co. of Chicago, Illinois, a much more prolific electric vehicle manufacturer of the early 20th century.

The bulk of Wood’s business remained commercial vehicles however occasional custom bodies were built as a special favor to the firm’s wealthiest commercial customers and the odd celebrity.

A Wood-bodied Springfield Silver Ghost Salamanca was purchased by Mary Pickford in 1921. F.R. Wood also built a roadster body for another early Springfield Silver Ghost chassis that appeared in the 1923 United Artists feature “Paddy, the Next Best Thing” starring Mae Marsh.

At least 3 Wood-bodied Rolls-Royce Landaulets are known to exist. Two of the Rolls-Royce’s carry their original bodies, the first a 20/25 hp model and the second a 1921 40/50 hp Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. The third Rolls-Royce is a 1911 40/50hp Silver Ghost that was re-bodied by noted Silver Ghost collector Millard Newman in the early 1980s with an F.R. Wood Landaulet body taken from a 1914 Thomas-Flyer.

For further information on the history of F.R. Wood and Son please view its entry in the encyclopedia.

Appendix 2 - Rolls-Royce of America Body Builders by Manufacturer 

Appendix 3 - Rolls-Royce of America Body Types by Name 

Appendix 4 - Rolls-Royce of America Body Styles Sorted by Coachbuilder

© 2004 Mark Theobald - Coachbuilt.com

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