Dort Motor Car Company

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for clobbered parameters|check|nested=1|template=Infobox company|cat=Template:Main other|name; company_name|logo; company_logo|logo_alt; alt|trade_name; trading_name|former_names; former_name|type; company_type|predecessors; predecessor|successors; successor|foundation; founded|founders; founder|defunct; dissolved|hq_location; location|hq_location_city; location_city|hq_location_country; location_country|num_locations; locations|areas_served; area_served|net_income; profit|net_income_year; profit_year|owners; owner |homepage; website }}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox company with unknown parameter "_VALUE_" | ignoreblank=y | alt | area_served | areas_served | assets | assets_year | aum | brands | company_logo | company_name | company_type | defunct | dissolved | divisions | embed | equity | equity_year | fate | footnotes | headquarters | former_name | former_names | foundation | founded | founder | founders | genre | homepage | hq_location | hq_location_city | hq_location_country | incorporated | image | image_alt | image_caption | image_size | image_upright | income_year | industry | ISIN | key_people | location | location_city | location_country | locations | logo | logo_alt | logo_caption | logo_class | logo_size | logo_upright | members | members_year | module | name | native_name | native_name_lang | net_income | net_income_year | num_employees | num_employees_year | num_locations | num_locations_year | operating_income | owner | owners | parent | predecessor | predecessors | production | production_year | products | profit | profit_year | rating | ratio | revenue | revenue_year | romanized_name | services | subsid | subsidiaries | successor | successors | traded_as | trade_name | trading_name | type | website| qid | fetchwikidata | suppressfields | noicon | nocat | demo | categories }}

File:1918 Dort Sedan and Sedanet (6113179245).jpg
1918 Dort sedan and sedanet
A red 1922 Dort sedan car showing design features derived from a Rolls-Royce model
1922 Dort sedan, showing design features derived from a Rolls-Royce model, in the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan

The Dort Motor Car Company of Flint, Michigan, built automobiles from 1915 to 1924. The company was founded by Josiah Dallas Dort as a spinoff from the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, and produced vehicles at Durant-Dort Factory One until its dissolution.

History

In 1886, William Crapo "Billy" Durant and Josiah Dallas ("Dallas") Dort, as equal partners, established the Flint Road-Cart Company, later named the Durant-Dort Carriage Company. By 1900 it was the largest manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles in the United States. In 1914, Durant sold out of the business and departed, amicably, to pursue his existing interests in General Motors. Dallas Dort and the remaining stockholders took over the carriage business, incorporated the Dort Motor Car Company, and used some of the same plant to manufacture Dort cars.<ref>Automobile News. Chicago Livestock World, 23 March 1916</ref><ref name=Naldrett>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:RpTemplate:Refn

Dort's chief engineer, the Swiss mechanic Louis Chevrolet, together with noted French designer Étienne Planche, designed the company's product. Two models were launched in 1915 and 1916: both touring cars (i.e., open cars without a fixed roof) with a 4-cylinder, 17-horsepower (12.7-kilowatt) Lycombe engine. They quickly acquired a reputation for being reliable.<ref name=Naldrett/>Template:Rp Demand became so strong – 9,000 cars in its first year<ref>Template:Citation</ref> – that the company opened an extra factory Template:Convert to the south of Flint, adjacent to Detroit at Windsor, in the Canadian province of Ontario.

In 1917, three more models were introduced: the Cloverleaf roadsterTemplate:Refn and two sedan (closed-in) models.

Dort's cars came at a premium: whereas Ford Model T cars were selling for $440 in 1915,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the Dort sedan sold in 1917 at $1,065; the convertible sedan at $815; the five-place open tourer at $695, and the roadster at $695.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

A coupé followed in 1918.<ref name=Naldrett/>Template:Rp In the company's peak year, 1920, production was 30,000 cars. Subsequently, more luxurious models, including the Harvard and Yale, were introduced with design features derived from a Rolls-Royce model, and a six-cylinder car was produced in 1923.<ref name=Naldrett/>Template:Rp

Dort had become the country's 13th largest automobile producer by 1920.<ref name=Schafer>Template:Cite book</ref> The company built a new large factory on the east end of Flint; however, the post-World War I recession took hold at the same time. The company started bleeding cash and attempted to seek capital or a merger partner, neither of which eventuated; staff numbers were cut and expenses were curtailed.<ref name=Schafer/> By 1924, J. Dallas Dort was ready to retire, and liquidated the company.<ref name=Naldrett/>Template:Rp The new factory building was sold to AC Spark Plug to manufacture carburetor air filters and fuel pumps.<ref>Template:Cite newsPaid subscription required subscription: the source is available for a free trial period before a paid subscription is required ("paywall").</ref> Dort died while playing golf on May 17, 1925, aged 64.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Notes

Template:Reflist

References

Template:Reflist

See also

Template:Durant Motors

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Dort_Motor_Car_Company&oldid=818890"