Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-08-05
EMERSON CAR Is
NEWEST CREATION
r. c. Hupp Introduces New Car
and Plans Quality Production
on Low-Priced Model

Thomas" element is beginning to come
around and sagely shake their heads
and mutter. 1t can't be done After
! seeing the car at New York and mi
nutely examining every part on the
! lookout for defects, they walk away
and say, 1t can't be done This is in
keeping with the farmer who saw a
! camel for the first time at a circus and
after gazing at it for two hours shook
! his head and said, 'Shucks; there amt
no such animal They belong to the
same class of men who did not believe
that the steam locomotive or the
steamboat could be made practical"
Musing along these lines. r. c.
| Hupp, Vice-president and chief engi-
/ neer of the Emerson Motors company,
! recalled his experiences in the early
days of motor-car production. II re-
member very well when Henry Ford
| first started to manufacture low pric-
ed cars in 1908. 1 was at that time
with the Olds Motor company, and
most of the well-known automobile
manufacturers were banded togeth-
er in what was known as the licensed
association. In other words, they
were operating under the so-called
Seiden Patents. Ford had been MAX
ing a few special racing cars and had
also been connected with the Detroit
Automobile company, which had not
been a successful producer of cars.
Among the members of the associa-
ton the general comment was that
the New Ford Car could not possibly
be success because 1t was not a IL
censed machine and that Ford HIM
self would probably be driven out Of
business. 1 myself thought at the time
that this would be pretty big hurdle
for the new company to make, as it
was quite evident that the manufac-
turers of parts would be chary of do
ing business with a company that was
likely to be on the receiving end Of a
tremendous legal attack by practically
the whole automobile world. On the
other hand, the fact that prospective
buyers were given to understand that
they would invite legal action against
themselves in buying an unlicensed
machine kept many people from buy
ing Fords. The company itself was
not particularly strong financially, one
OF the officers of the company being
quoted at the time as saying that they
started with a cash capital of $2S,-
600 and did not own their own plant.
Neither did they have any experience
in quantity production of motorcars
at the time. and in spite of all this
they went ahead and produced and
sold cars at price other manufactur-
ers said was impossible. And so in
spite of those lit can't be done peo-
ple' the company went ahead. ad-
mired the fighting spirit shown by the
new company and decided to leave the
Olds works and enter the arena with
them. After two years of hard work,
during which time I saw the company
grow to great proportions and pros
per, came to the conclusion that a
good car could be built for even less
money and still show q profit to the
maker. So in 190S--July, to be exact
l with three other gentlemen who were
not known in the automobile world
discussed plans for the designing and
manufacture of the first Hupmobile.
The Hup Motor Car Company was
organized on November 10 of the
same year and the first three cars
were finished in February, 1909 fol-
lowed by the first 500 in August, 1909.
AT the start only a few hundred dol
lars were available among the party
OF myself and associates, and with this
we went ahead and rented a factory,
equipped it to assemble cars, includ-
Ing motors, transmissions and axles.
In view OF our small working capital
1t was extremely difficult to find people
who would sell us parts. etc, and It
was with the utmost difficulty that the
source of supply could be kept open
Practically none of the larger supply
companies would have any dealings
with us and the outlook was not of the
DSSli " say IHe leaSL. 1nOSe with
whom we talked regarding the sale
of the cars invariably questioned our
ability to produce a good car for what
was then the lowest price a car had
been offered at-S750. But the sample
car looked we'll and ran we'll, and,
strange as 1t may seem, these two
points created more skepticism than
If it had not performed so well. They
figured that we had put into these
haftnr
manship than we could afford to give
In subsequent production. and that
after contracts had been made and
deposits paid by dealers future cars
would be skimped and cheapened.
But as the company went along snd
the public commenced to realize that
the cars being produced were not only
as good as the samples, but had even
been improved as to minor details, the
Hupmobile became a Nine Days Won
der and before year had passed it
had become one of the mos talked of
cars throughout the United States.
And this brings us down to the
present day and the new Emerson
Four We are now going through the
weathered by the Ford and Hupp
companies. We are now meeting the
doubterS who do not believe that we
can produce this car for such a low
price. Right here I want to say that il
is much more economical to use ma
terial of good quality and to have
the general design of car up to date
than to try to use inferior materials
and design which in the process of
manufacture would probably give
trouble and in great many cases re-
quire doing the work over, rejecting a
high percentage of parts, and dissatis-
faction in general, both as to looks
and operation when the car is in the
hands of the public. We believe that
1t is a very easy matter to understand
but at the same time hard to explain,
that in using materials of good quail
ity and following a simple design a
maker can by producing in large quan-
titles give car to the public that will
give a good account of itself and will,
in fact. sell itself, thereby reducing the
cost of sales to a minimum. While
there will not be an abnormally large
profit on each car, the large sales and
production in the aggregate will make
for very substantial and attractive
profits.
Due credit must be given to Henry
Ford for conceiving and carrying out
the idea that a low-priced car and a
small profit on each, coupled with
large quantity production, is the real
way to achieve the greatest success in
the manufacture of automobiles, and
the position that Ford holds at the
present day in the industry of the
country is the hest proof of +l a eo,,.a