What is an "Assembled Car"

[George K]

7 minutes ago, AHa said:

You guys are talking about two different things. My original post was in response to a derogatory remark made in the original thread about a car they did not like by someone I did not wish to call out. The historical prospective is certainly different than the modern one. I have been in this hobby longer than I care to mention and have always heard the term, assembled, used as a derogatory term about a car the speaker didn't like or respect. This may certainly be an extension of the historical perspective, or it could be in response to the experience with a worn out example of the car. Some hobbyist are second and third generation and have certainly heard fathers and grandfathers voice their displeasure or frustrations with certain makes.

All discussions about antique automobiles are historical or experiential. Sounds like your unhappy about both. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

[SC38dls]

My 38 Studebaker was assembled once at the factory and once in my garage. It was mostly manufactured at a factory but I’m am almost positive that was more than one factory before final assembly at the Studebaker plant in Southbend, IN. Does that qualify as a manufacturer car or an assembled car?  To me I could care less as long as it runs well and I have the enjoyment of driving it. I’ll let the next owner ( yes I consider myself the legal owner repair bill payer not just the caretaker) after I die do what they want as far as descriptive titles. So I guess I’m saying “we seem to have a failure to communicate” (loved that movie) in that there are different definitions of assembled at the root of different opinions. 
dave s 

[8E45E]

4 hours ago, AHa said:

You guys are talking about two different things. My original post was in response to a derogatory remark made in the original thread about a car they did not like by someone I did not wish to call out. The historical prospective is certainly different than the modern one. I have been in this hobby longer than I care to mention and have always heard the term, assembled, used as a derogatory term about a car the speaker didn't like or respect. This may certainly be an extension of the historical perspective, or it could be in response to the experience with a worn out example of the car. Some hobbyist are second and third generation and have certainly heard fathers and grandfathers voice their displeasure or frustrations with certain makes.

I suspect that speaker had a dislike for cars that didn't have any appreciable engineering development behind them.

 

I suppose I can see why, as not a whole lot of R&D went into economy level 'assembled' cars that used proprietary engines.   They were often were put together (not 'slapped together' as it would be a derogatory term) with a minimal amount of downtime for research & development by using proven component parts and built to be sold at low cost.   

 

 

 

Craig

[Pfeil]

Texas; An assembled vehicle is a vehicle that is assembled from component parts (motor, body, and frame), as applicable to the type of assembled vehicle.

 

 

Mi: An assembled vehicle is defined as:

1. One built (assembled) from new or used materials and parts by someone not recognized as a manufacturer (usually an individual). Example: a homemade vehicle.
2. One altered or modified to the extent that it no longer reflects its original manufacturer configuration. Example: a Volkswagen made into a dune buggy. 
3. One which has had its body unit (passenger body or pickup truck cab) replaced with a different style body unit from another vehicle, altering the vehicle's original configuration. Example: A Ford pickup truck has its cab replaced with a Chevrolet cab or with a different-style Ford cab, altering its original manufacturer configuration.
   A vehicle which has had its body unit (passenger body or pickup truck cab) replaced with an identical style body unit that doesn’t alter the vehicle's original configuration is retitled as a reconstructed vehicle. Example: A 2014 Ford pickup truck has its cab replaced with an identical cab from a 2012 Ford pickup. A new state-assigned VIN is issued. The original year and make are retained.
4. One assembled from a kit designed for on-road use (often called "kit cars"), even if a Manufacturers Certificate of Origin is provided. 

Note: Off-road vehicles (ORVs), all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and off-road dune buggies can be titled as an assembled vehicle for on-road use.

Law insider

 

Rule 560-10-30-.11 Registration of an Assembled Motor Vehicle, Assembled Motorcycle, or Unconventional Vehicle (1) Prior to an applicant for registration of an Assembled vehicle or Assembled motorcycle being issued a Certificate, the applicant must have been issued a Georgia Certificate of Title in compliance with the Code and Regulations governing Assembled motor vehicles or Assembled motorcycles.

Rule 560-10-30-.10 Inspection of an Assembled Motor Vehicle or Assembled Motorcycle (1) In addition to the requirements set forth in O.C.G.A. § 40-3-30.1, prior to applying for a certificate of title for an Assembled vehicle or Assembled motorcycle, an applicant shall have that vehicle inspected in the manner set forth by the Department.

Every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.(b) Assembled vehicle or vessel.

As it noted in that decision, account must be taken of the link between a child and his/her repre- sentatives, the object and purpose of the application, and any conflict of interest.3. Procedural safeguards19.

Assembled vehicle means a vehicle that is materially altered from its construction by the removal, addition, or substitution of new or used major component parts.

Per s 152(1)(f) of TTWMA, the Cou

 

Assembled motor vehicles or motorcycles are defined in Georgia law as:

• Any motor vehicle or motorcycle manufactured from a manufacturer’s kit or fabricated parts, including replicas and original designs
• A new vehicle consisting of a prefabricated body, chassis, and drive train
• Homemade and not mass-produced by any manufacturer for retail sale
• Not otherwise excluded from emission requirements and in compliance with Chapter 8 Title 40 of Georgia code

I guess Georgia considers Knockdown vehicles an assembled vehicle

[stevep516]

"The term probably comes from advertising, with one maker trying to run down his competition."

 

Interesting comment by JV Puleo sparked a  memory that I had read previously in my "Owner's Manual. The management of the Piedmont Motor Car Co must have  thought of it as derogatory based on the intro to the "Owner's Manual " of my 1919 Bush by Piedmont.

[1912Staver]

The current meaning of " assembled car " has changed a lot from what it was understood to mean 100 years ago. The original post was in the context of the term roughly 100 years ago .

[Terry Harper]

 

"The Automobile" March 28, 1907

 

"The Automobile" Dec. 6th 1917 Note in this article it appears as though they are referring to the "assembled car business" almost as a separate segment of the industry which is interesting.

 

 

Another clip from the same source.

 

In regards to "Assembled" being used in the  derogatory sense here we have a period ad from Locomobile. Note how they draw a distinction between "built" and "assembled" indirectly implying that the latter is lesser. Of course they also imply the same thing in regards to high volume production.

 

And lastly from Winton who wanted it understood that they "manufacture[d]" cars not "assemble[d]" them.

 

 

 

All very interesting stuff!

Edited January 19, 2022 by Terry Harper (see edit history)

[Terry Harper]

 

One of Moon's interesting "Specialist" Ad's  celebrating their use of outside suppliers (Specialists) and arguing that "Assembled." is not a bad word and for one manufacturer to use the term "assembled" when referring to another brand's product is really throwing rocks in a glass house.

 

From the first two paragraphs:

"The veteran car buyer doesn't quite see what a salesman means when he talks about somebody's assembled car. To hear him point with pride to standard and well known units in his own car and, in the next breath, speak of his competitors as assembled is enough to confuse anybody...."

 

 

Again, very neat stuff.

Edited January 19, 2022 by Terry Harper (see edit history)

[Cadillac Fan]

I have always understood it to be a derogatory term.  The thought being that a car manufacturer who does not make its own engine is not really a car manufacturer but an assembler of other’s products.  Exactly what locomobile/winton  is implying / stating. 

[Terry Harper]

In the July 5th 1913 edition of the "Saturday Evening Post" Cole took out a 6 page ad explaining that there were traditionally two types of motor car - manufactured and assembled and went on to claim that their cars were a product of a new type  -  i.e. "standardized" and thus were not "assembled" cars. Its quite an interesting ad. You can find it by searching Google Books. However, that ad seemed to have ignited a bit of a fire storm. 

 

A rebuttal was presented and later published by Charles W. Mears who at that time was the advertising manager for Winton. It's way too long for me to post but again is available through Google Books and appears  - in of all places in "Agricultural Advertising"  (November 1913.) Its an interesting paper.

 

In addition, while looking around I found indications of a similar debate in regards to tractors of the period - the speculation being that at some point they would become an assembled product and thus easier to mass produce and more affordable.

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by Terry Harper (see edit history)

[8E45E]

This will whet everyone's appetites.

 

From the May, 1981 Cars & Parts.

 

First 3 pages of a total of 7 pages, and this just Part 1!!

 

Craig

[AHa]

I feel the term, assembled, also misses the truth that even when "assembling" a mish mash of parts, the parts have to be engineered to fit together. If there was such a thing as a Walmart of car parts, one couldn't go in the store and buy a motor, transmission, frame, rear axle, etc, and take them home and bolt them together to make a car. Each piece has to be engineered to fit. The frame has to be drawn up and manufactured for a 2, 4, or 6 cylinder motor. Some provision has to be made to mount the trans in the frame and hook the trans to the motor, same with the rear end. Whether a car is made completely in house or the parts are purchased from outside suppliers, someone has to engineer the parts to fit together and the outside sources have to make the parts to the companies specifications. The same work goes into manufacturing the car whether the parts are made in house or purchased from outside sources.

 

Moreover, the quality of parts are not always readily apparent. Some companies chose wisely when buying parts from outside suppliers and some not so much but even today I hear about people having new gears cut for the transmissions of some cars because the originals wore out way too quickly (I'm talking about mileage, not years).

[ryan95]

As already said, Moon bragged about being an assembled car. I saved this article a while back.

 

[George K]

12 hours ago, AHa said:

I feel the term, assembled, also misses the truth that even when "assembling" a mish mash of parts, the parts have to be engineered to fit together. If there was such a thing as a Walmart of car parts, one couldn't go in the store and buy a motor, transmission, frame, rear axle, etc, and take them home and bolt them together to make a car. Each piece has to be engineered to fit. The frame has to be drawn up and manufactured for a 2, 4, or 6 cylinder motor. Some provision has to be made to mount the trans in the frame and hook the trans to the motor, same with the rear end. Whether a car is made completely in house or the parts are purchased from outside suppliers, someone has to engineer the parts to fit together and the outside sources have to make the parts to the companies specifications. The same work goes into manufacturing the car whether the parts are made in house or purchased from outside sources.

 

Moreover, the quality of parts are not always readily apparent. Some companies chose wisely when buying parts from outside suppliers and some not so much but even today I hear about people having new gears cut for the transmissions of some cars because the originals wore out way too quickly (I'm talking about mileage, not years).

That’s not really true. Always has been wholesalers.SAE standardization.

[1912Staver]

Hi George, what catalog is this ? 

[George K]

It’s a liquidator wholesalers catalog. That one is from Chicago. I collected a few over the years.

[1912Staver]

The one at the top is very similar to my Staver. I wonder if they had a bunch on hand when they stopped making cars in 1914 ?

[58L-Y8]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:34 AM, John_S_in_Penna said:

A few people here have surmised that the term

"assembled car" was merely a marketing term

meant to disparage the competition.  In viewing

many old car ads, and using them in our regional

newsletter, I have never seen the term used by

the car companies themselves.

 

It is likely that the term was created by the frustrated

owners themselves.  We recall that, in the early years,

car companies were going into and out of business.

If that was true of suppliers, imagine trying to get a

specific part for your Kline Kar, your Kurtz, or your

Kleiber, when the companies didn't stock them and

the supplier perhaps no longer existed.

The crux of the matter whether a make of car had the pejorative term an 'assembled' car applied came down to whether the maker engineered and manufactured their own engines.

To promote the superiority of their specific marque, it was considered advantageous to emphasize the engine was engineered and manufactured by their company.  The public regarded the engine as the 'heart' of the car, the most critical component requiring diligent and rigorous engineering and manufacturing quality discipline.  

Myriad under-financed companies arose particularly in the 1915-1925 decade to cashing-in on the developing automobile market.   Without a well-developed engineering and manufacturing support structure, it was still possible to source the necessary components from proprietary suppliers to assemble and market a car.  Of course, that was once a rudimentary distribution and dealer network was developed.  

How were those manufacturers and dealers going to separate what they viewed as their legitimately quality manufactured car from the upstarts?   Emphasize that the one major component on which rested the ultimate functional utility of the car was engineered and manufacture in-house, staking their reputation on it.  By implication, those makers who sourced their engines from any of the proprietary engine builders, be that Continental, Lycoming, Wisconsin, Buda, Teetor-Hartley, Hershell-Spillman, etc. were dependent upon those companies to do the job properly and provide service parts when needed.  

The secondary market cemented that attitude of an onus on the 'assembled' car as inferior to those who manufactured their own engines.  As those short-term makers failed, their cars became low-or-no value 'orphans', not worth the money people paid for them.    Dealers would reject the 'assembled' cars at trade-in, tell the owner to sell it outright for whatever he could get for it.  While there were doubtless some makes that deserved this, others that were as good as any by a 'name' manufacturer were lumped into derogatory 'assembled' car class. 

[30DodgePanel]

Let's face it, the term can be used in a derogatory way or a positive form. It seems the NACC used the term frequently to describe exports that were configured in other countries, even though the parts were built in the USA or other countries by many manufacturers. 

 

If the NACC and early literature power houses used it to explain "assembled parts" purpose in detail, then it should be good enough for us today. As a researcher, I struggle having all the information so spread out in so many different historical documents, however, I think we should be thankful that it was documented as precisely as it was, even if some of the material was lost or destroyed. After all, the NACC had to track it for reporting as the Commerce Department (lest we forget).  

My personal opinion is ALL manufacturers knew this and thus used the term quite frequently to suit each sales situation.

This Martin Parry info in a Dodge Brothers bulletin for my very truck was a prime example (see the DA124" reference).

 

Love this topic, I find it fascinating. Dodge (Chrysler from 1928 on) also claimed the Senior Six engine was it's very "own" but that was not exactly truthful as Continental 12M was the Senior Six engine used in many of the D and E series trucks in that era. Many, many more examples of this deception fill the DB literature I've studied. 

 

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[8E45E]

The remaining 4 pages of Part1:

 

[Jim Skelly]

"I would say there probably has never been a production car 100% built in house"

 

That is a correct statement. 

 

My Dad and Grandpa referred to an assembled car as a manufacturer that did not make its own engine.  That was the commonly accepted definition when they were growing up.  An engine is what often distinguished one company from another in the early days of the automobile.     

[Tim Crowder]

The Kline Motor Car Company produced a form of assembled car for all of the years that they were in business in both Pennsylvania and Virginia. Typically, they purchased all of the mechanical components for their cars from standard parts suppliers. The bodies however, were always constructed from scratch in their factory. The fenders were standard, purchased items as were the wheels. Early on, they bought the Kirkham motor plant and used their manufactured engines. Later, they bought and used Red Seal 7W Continental engines, Grant/Lees transmissions, and Hess differentials. The frames were also purchased assemblies.