[imported_oldmitchell]

I have been very busy lately so I just now got a chance to go to the registry and this new addition to AACA forums. Ilove my Chalmers and can hardly wait until I finish the restoration. Having been around lots of antique cars over the years, I am puzzled by the seemingly low survival rate of Chalmers cars. The engineering in my humble opinion exceeds most other makes of the time. Sales were high enough that one would expect to find a good number of them still around. But there aren't. Any ideas as to why?

[Gr8race53]

I just took over the Chalmers Automobile Registry, but have owned a Chalmers for a long time and tryed to be aware of what Chalmers were out there. Why guess is there are less then 300. We have 126 cars or major parts of listed in US, England, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, and South America.

[stock_steve]

Have you guys heard about this new web site?

http://www.chalmersregistry.com/

Good work Joe!

[packards42]

Quote:

Have you guys heard about this new web site?

http://www.chalmersregistry.com/

Good work Joe!

I look aroudn any picture of these Chalmer car around

Joe SR

[DJKSETX]

I have a couple of suggestions on why the very early cars are few and far between.
The 40 hp model with its American & British engine was basically a hot rod and they were simply flogged to death.
The Model 30 with its Continental engine designed by Howard Coffin only had two ball bearing main bearings. Judging from comments in the SAE Transactions a crankshaft longer than 19" proved unacceptable in this configuration. The Model 30's crank turns out slightly over 19". A mechanic?s column in one of the trades noted that when the main bearings wear they had to be taken apart the races machined and oversize ball bearings were used. If not repaired the car would run until the balls wore out and the rear of the crank would drop causing clutch misalignment and slippage. That would normally junk a car.

I also found a Chief Engineer Geo. Dunham patent that used the same oil for both the engine and the tranny. This idea had a brief fling both here and in Europe. Without proper maintenance it doesn't take much imagination so see that sludge would soon form in the tranny or inept shifting might promote metal circulating through the engine bearings. Soon separate lubricants were developed for each unit. I'm not sure exactly which Chalmers cars used this feature but the design certainly would shorten the life expectancy.

DJ Kava
Beaumnt, TX

[pistoncollector]

I think that there are only a few early Chalmers cars because there were only a few to start with. The Chalmers Detroit was only made in 1909 and 1910. And production wasn't high these two years. It wasn't until 1911 that the Chalmers car was born. In those first two years the cars won 69 major competitions. One of them was the Indiana Cup and another was the 1910 Glidden tour (a Model 30 car). These cars were TOUGH! And they stood up well. Even today, if you have a Chalmers Detroit model 30 or 40, you have one of the best cars on a tour. They run hard, and fast, and almost never have problems. I can't tell you how many "old timers" congradulated me when I bought my 1910 Model 30. They all said, to a man, that I would never regret buying the car. And I haven't. I have been in the hobby for over 40 years now and I have never owned a car that was better engineered for it's time period. And I have owned a lot of high priced Packards, Auburns, Cords, Rolls, Bentleys, Locomobiles, Cadillacs, Jaguars, Lincolns,etc. I still own some of these. They are all good cars but not better than my Chalmers Detroit. Incidently, the Model T Ford ran the same oil in it's crankcase and transmission case. This design was used from 1908 until production was ceased in 1927. And it never caused any bearing problems that I am aware of. Oh, I own Model T Fords also.

Just my two cents..............Paul