Continental Motors Company

The Continental Motors Company was an engine manufacturer based in Muskegon, Michigan. The company manufactured a wide range of engines from small industrial engines to large tank and aircraft engines. Continental's heavy truck engines were used by several fire apparatus manufacturers into the 1960s.   
The company still exists as an aircraft engine manufacturer Continental Motors Inc, a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China. 
==Company History==
Continental Motors founder Ross Judson designed and built a prototype 4 cylinder L head engine in 1902. Later that year he partnered with his brother in law Arthur W. Tobin. In 1903 they purchased a 900 square foot hayloft in Chicago, Illinois to serve as their production facility. By the end of the year the company had sold 25 engies and had 7 employees. 
The partners displayed one of the new engines at the 1903 Chicago Automobile Show, which gained them wider attention and more orders for the new engine. In 1904 they incorporated the company as the Autocar Equipment Company, with Judsen serving as President, his sister Ione Tobin serving as vice-president and his brother in law Arthur Tobin serving as secretary and treasurer. The company was now offering two engines, a 12hp 2 cylinder, and a 24hp 4 cylinder. Demand for these engines required the an expansion of its facilities and a 9900 square foot factory was purchased in Chicago.
In 1905 it was found that the Autocar name had been in use by the Autocar Company of Pennsylvania since 1899. The company had been using the term continental motors in its advertising to capitalize on the similarity in design of their engines to those built in Europe by Mercedes and Renault. To avoid confusion with the other Autocar, the company changed its name from the Autocar Equipment Company to the Continental Motor Manufacturing Company. 
A contract to build a new 16,000 square foot factory in Muskegon, Michigan was also signed in 1905, with production moving to the new factory in 1906. Product lines also expanded to include transmissions, carburetors and other engine accessories. 
Co-founder Arthur Tobin died in 1908.
By 1910 sales were exceeding 1 million dollars and in 1912 a second production plant in Detroit, Michigan was established to help meet the demand for engines. This year also saw the introduction of the company's first 6 cylinder engine. In 1916 the company name was shortened to the Continental Motors Company. 
By 1920 Continental had become a major supplier of automobile and truck engines, and was expanding into the industrial engine field. In 1925 the company's first inline 8 cylinder engine was introduced. Continental introduced a 9 cylinder radial aircraft engine in 1927, and the following year entered the into an agreement with the Gray Marine Motor Company allowing for the exclusive conversion and sales rights of Continental engines for marine use.
Company founder Ross Judson left the company in 1930. 
During the 1930s the company struggled due to the Great Depression, losing money nearly every year. Despite this the company continued to develop new products. In 1933 it began to experiment with diesel engines. By the late 1930s the military build up towards WW2 provided much needed sales and new markets. Several of Continentals aircraft engines were selected to power American tanks.
In 1943 Continental acquired the Wisconsin Motor Company, which by then was producing a series of air cooled industrial engines. Continental purchased Gray Marine in 1944. After WW2 Continental would continue to shift its efforts into aircraft and specialty engines. Military contracts would become a major source of income for the company during and after World War 2.  
The decline of automotive engines. The automobile manufacturers were moving away from the use of 3rd party engines by the 1930s preferring to use in house designs. By the 1960 Checker was the only automobile manufacturer still using a Continental engine. By the late 1940s the same shift was beginning to occur in the heavy truck market. Sales of gasoline truck engines were also shrinking due to the growing popularity of diesel engines. Continental did offer some diesel truck engines, but they were not as popular as those from established diesel manufacturers like Cummins and Detroit Diesel. With the exception of military use, the manufacture of Continental truck engines would end by the early 1970s.
In 1964 the Ryan Aeronautical Company purchased Continental. In 1969 the company was sold to Teledyne Incorporated, becoming the subsidiary Teledyne Continental Motors. In 2010 Teledyne sold Continental to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, where it now operates under the name Continental Motors Inc.  
==Fire Service Products==
Continental supplied engines to a number of fire apparatus manufacturers and commercial truck manufacturers from the 1920s through the 1960s. Most of these were large 6 cylinder inline gasoline engines. Continental did offer a few diesel engines in the 1950s and 1960s.
:20R 380 cubic inch, inline 6, OHV, gasoline
:21R 428 cubic inch, inline 6, OHV, gasoline
:22R 501 cubic inch, inline 6, OHV, gasoline
:24B 209 cubic inch, inline 6, L-head, gasoline
:25B 244 cubic inch, inline 6, L-head, gasoline
:29B 288 cubic inch. inline 6, L-head, gasoline
:31B 318 cubic inch, inline 6, L-head, gasoline
:32B 361 cubic inch, inline 6, L-head, gasoline
:33B 381 cubic inch, inline 6, L-head, gasoline
:34B 427 cubic inch, inline 6, L-head, gasoline
:35B 501 cubic inch, inline 6, L-head, gasoline
:38B 205 cubic inch, inline 6, L-head, gasoline
:B6290 290 cubic inch, inline 6, L-head, gasoline
:B6330 330 cubic inch, inline 6, L-head, gasoline
:B6371 371 cubic inch, inline 6, L-head, gasoline
:B6405 405 cubic inch inline 6, L-head, gasoline
:B6427 427 cubic inch, inline 6, L-head, gasoline 
: T6427 427 cubic inch, inline 6, OHV, gasoline
:TD6427 427 cubic inch, inline 6, OHV, diesel
: R6501 501 cubic inch, inline 6, OHV, gasoline
: R6572 572 cubic inch, inline 6, OHV, gasoline
:RD6572 572 cubic inch, inline 6, OHV, diesel
: R6602 602 cubic inch, inline 6, OHV, gasoline
:V8603 603 cubic inch, V-8, OHV, gasoline
:VD8603 603 cubic inch, V-8, OHV, diesel
:R6749 749 cubic inch, inline 6, gasoline
:R6820 820 cubic inch, inline 6, gasoline
:SD6802 820 cubic inch, inline 6, diesel
==Sources==
*Wagner, William. Continental! Its motors and its people. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, Inc, 1983.
Category:Apparatus Component Manufacturers