page_title: Kessler Motor Company
section_title: Kess-Line Motors Company
hierarchical_section_title: Kessler Motor Company / Automobile models / Kess-Line Motors Company
caption_attribution_description: English: 7.5x9.75 black and white photograph of the Kess-Line Motor Car Company located at 657 Lycaste Street
context_page_description: The Kessler Motor Company was a short-lived American manufacturer of aircraft engines and automobiles. The brand name for engines and automobiles was Kessler; also Kess-Line for some cars.
context_section_description: Kessler formed a subsidiary called the Kess-Line Motors Company to produce its next car under the Kess-Line marque. Again Kessler was president and CEO and Radford chief engineer and vice president. H. H. Scott, formerly of Fisher Body, was chief financial officer and secretary. A new production location was rented, the former facilities of Liberty Motor Car in Detroit. In that company's best year, 1921, 21,000 Liberty Sixes had been sold; thus the plant was far too large for Kessler unless the new car sold extremely well.
  The Kess-Line 8 was also extremely reminiscent of a competitor: the engine hood and radiator grille very closely resembled those of the much more expensive Lincoln L. However, the Kess-Line, again available only as a touring car, had sportier lines than the massive Lincoln and "helmet" fenders—close to the wheel and turned out at the base, so that the profile recalled a Classical helmet. Instead of running boards, there was a nickel-plated step under each of the four doors, and the grille was also nickel-plated. The engine was an inline V8 offering 100 bhp (74.6 kW); a performance exceeded by very few production automobiles at the time, such as the compressor version of the Bugatti Type 35 or the Mercedes 24/100/140 PS. Of US cars, similar performance was offered only by, for example, the Finley Robertson Porter, which were produced in extremely limited numbers and offered 125 bhp; typical performance for US luxury cars was 80–90 bhp.
  The Kess-Line 8 also failed to fulfil expectations; only 12 were built, according to one source only one.
caption: 7.5x9.75 black and white photograph of the Kess-Line Motor Car Company located at 657 Lycaste Street
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