View source for Overland Automobile

{{Short description|Former American car manufacturer}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Overland Auto Company<br>Willys-Overland Company
| logo = Overland 1909 logo.jpg
| image = PostcardToledoWillysOverlandFactoryAerial1915.jpg
| image_caption = Willys-Overland Factory - 1915 postcard
| type = Automobile Manufacturing
| industry = [[Automotive industry|Automotive]]
| founder = Claude E. Cox
| fate = Merger
| successor = [[Willys-Overland]]
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1903}}
| defunct = {{end date and age|1926}}
| location = [[Indianapolis, Indiana]] and [[Toledo, Ohio]]
| key_people = Claude E. Cox, [[David M. Parry]], [[John North Willys]], Clarence A. Earl
}}
[[File:Overland Model 13 (1903) 5 HP.jpg|thumb| The very first Overland from 1903 was the Model 13 with 5 HP from a single-cylinder engine with 552 cc, featuring a bore of 88.9 mm and a stroke of 88.9 mm.]]
[[File:Overland 42 1910.jpg|thumb|1910 Overland Model 42 Touring Car]]
The '''Overland Automobile Company''' was an American [[automobile]] manufacturer in [[Toledo, Ohio]]. It was the founding company of [[Willys|Willys-Overland]] and one of the earliest [[Mass production|mass producers]] of automobiles.<ref name=":0">{{Kimes-USCars3rd}}</ref>

==History==
The Overland Automobile department was founded in [[Terre Haute, Indiana]], by Claude E. Cox, when Charles Minshall of '''Standard Wheel Company''' decided to expand into automobile manufacturing. Standard Wheel were major suppliers of wheels to the carriage industry. Cox, a recent graduate of [[Rose Polytechnic Institute]], developed a gasoline [[Runabout (car)|runabout]] in 1903.<ref name=":1">{{Georgano-EncAuto3v}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Cox's runabout was an advanced design with a [[Water cooling|water-cooled]] 5-[[Horsepower|hp]] vertical [[Single-cylinder engine|single-cylinder]] engine mounted up front under a [[Hood (car)|hood]], rather than under the seat which was common practice. It featured a [[Spark-ignition engine|jump-spark ignition]] and a two-speed [[Epicyclic gearing|planetary transmission]] operated by a foot pedal. Priced at $595 ({{Inflation|US|595|1903|fmt=eq}}), 11 were built in 1903, doubling to 23 in 1904 when a [[Two cylinder|two-cylinder]] engine was introduced. Claude Cox continued development adding a 16-hp [[four-cylinder]] engine, [[Drive shaft|shaft-drive]] instead of chain and a [[steering wheel]] instead of a tiller, by 1905.<ref name=":0" />

In 1905, Standard Wheel moved Overland production to [[Indianapolis, Indiana]], but decided to leave automobile production and sold Overland to Claude Cox for $8,000, {{Inflation|US|8000|1905|fmt=eq}}.  [[David M. Parry]] became a 51% investor and formed the '''Overland Auto Company'''.  Overland production was now in an extension of Parry's buggy factory. Now producing two models, production was only 37 cars in 1905 because of the moves, and in 1906, production increased to 47, all sold to [[John Willys|John North Willys]], a car dealer in [[Elmira, New York]].<ref name=":1" />

The [[Panic of 1907|1907 Panic]] caused David Parry to go bankrupt, including the loss of his house. By 1910, he had recovered enough to start the [[Parry Auto Company]]. J. N. Willys arrived in Indianapolis to protect his investment and ended up taking over Overland Auto Company.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />

In 1908, control of Overland was purchased by J. N. Willys, and he managed to increase production that year to 467 Overlands. Overlands were rationalized to one design of a 24&nbsp;hp four-cylinder car on two different wheelbases selling for $1,295, {{Inflation|US|1295|1908|fmt=eq}}. In 1909, the production soared to 4,907 Overlands, and Claude Cox left for [[Inter-State Automobile Company|Inter-State]] and later to form his own laboratory business (now Testek, Inc.) in [[Detroit]].   In 1909, the [[Pope-Toledo]] factory was purchased and Overland moved to Toledo.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />

Production continued to grow, and Overland remained a top three U. S. automobile manufacturer through 1919. In 1912, it was renamed [[Willys-Overland|Willys-Overland Company]]. Overland models expanded in the mid-price automobile market until 1917, when a new $500 ({{Inflation|US|500|1917|fmt=eq}}) Overland to challenge the Model T Ford was announced. A disastrous strike delayed introduction until 1919, when it was priced at $845 ({{Inflation|US|845|1919|fmt=eq}}) with electric lights and a self-starter. Willys revised this car to the Blue Bird and Red Bird models, which helped Willys-Overland return to strength following a Receivership.  Willys-Overland continued to use the Overland marque until 1926, when it became the Overland Whippet and then [[Whippet (car)|Willys Whippet.]]<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />

==Models==
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Model
|-
|1903
|Model 13
|-
|1904
|Model 13, Model 15
|-
|1905
|Model 15, Model 17, Model 18
|-
|1906
|Model 16, Model 18
|-
|1907
|Model 22
|-
|1908
|Model 24
|-
|1909
|Model 30, Model 31, Modell 32, Model 34
|-
|1910
|Model 38, Model 40, Model 41, Model 42
|-
|1911
|20&nbsp;hp, 25&nbsp;hp, 30&nbsp;hp, 40&nbsp;hp
|-
|1912
|Model 58, Model 59, Model 60, Model 61
|}

==Media==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="170px">
File:Overland Automobile Model 83.JPG|Model 83, produced between 1915 and 1916.
File:Emblem Overland.JPG|Logo on 1910 radiator
File:Tom McKelvey - Overland - San Francisco 1915.jpg|Tom McKelvey in his Overland race car before the [[1915 American Grand Prize]] at [[San Francisco]]
File:D.J. Harkness at the wheel of an Overland Sports car, 1920 - 1929.jpg|D.J. Harkness at the wheel of an Overland Sports car, 1920 - 1929
File:Overland model 59T.JPG|Model 59T, 1912.
File:Overland automobile 1909 ad.jpg|1909 Overland Automobile Advertisement
File:Overland-auto 1910-1127.jpg|Ad. from Indianapolis Star, Nov. 27, 1910
File:Edward J. Naylor repairing a tire on a 1913, Overland touring car, Blue Earth County, Minnesota - DPLA - 7e90a5d548f31e3a4cac9fa94a46ad3f.jpg|Edward J. Naylor repairing a tire on a 1913 Overland Touring Car, Blue Earth County, Minnesota
</gallery>
One of the more unusual uses of an Overland was in 1911 when Milton Reeves used a 1910 model to create his 8-wheel [[Milton Reeves#Octo-Auto and Sexto-Auto|Octo-Auto]], his eight-wheel car.

The last vestige of the Overland automobile empire remains in the form of bricks spelling out "Overland" in the smoke stack at the [[Toledo, Ohio|Toledo]] factory that once formed the core of Willys automotive empire. But the name would come back when [[DaimlerChrysler]] (Now [[Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]]) introduced the Overland name for a trim package on the 2002–present (except 2005 model year) [[Jeep Grand Cherokee]]. The badging is a recreation of the Overland nameplate from the early twentieth century.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Overland vehicles}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311235708/http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/wokr/gallery/ov_hist.htm History of Overland from Willys-Overland-Knight Registry]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061005053702/http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/wokr/gallery/gallery1.htm Photographs of Overland automobiles from Willys-Overland-Knight Registry]
* [https://www.conceptcarz.com/view/model/443/overland.aspx Overland Automobiles at ConceptCarz]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030629184658/http://mbautomuseum.com/Tour/Overland.htm Overland at Manitoba Auto Museum]
* {{imcdb vehicle|make=Overland|model=|Overland}}
* [https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/claude-e-cox Hemmings Feature Article - Claude E. Cox]

{{IndianapolisCars}}

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[[Category:Chrysler]]
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[[Category:Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States]]
[[Category:Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Indiana]]
[[Category:Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Ohio]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Indiana]]
[[Category:Veteran vehicles]]
[[Category:Brass Era vehicles]]
[[Category:Vintage vehicles]]
[[Category:1900s cars]]
[[Category:1910s cars]]
[[Category:1920s cars]]