My Great Granpa's 1908 Fuller Auto

[Duane55]

My great grandfather's family lived in South Dakota/ Nebraska area and I wondered if anyone could help me identify this car. Was it made in Angus, NE? I grew up in Nuckolls county and there was one in the museum recently. How do you tell the difference between Jackson and Nebraska cars?

Thanks

I hope you all enjoy my trip down memory lane!

[58L-Y8]

According to The Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942, edited by B. R. Kimes and H. A. Clark only the Jackson, Michigan company built a solid-tires, high wheeler Model B which this car appears to have been.  It also notes the high wheeler was double chain drive which is difficult to determine here.    

Edited January 12 by 58L-Y8 (see edit history)

[Dean Nelson]

Your great grandfather's car pictured is a 1909 Jackson, MI-made Fuller Model B, which had a two-cylinder motor under the hood. The Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942, is in error regarding the chain drive, as the Fuller was a shaft-driven machine. I have a 1909 Fuller Model B in my auto collection that is nearly identical to your photo.

[bill witmer]

Wonderful photo. Thank you for posting. Bill

[wayne sheldon]

 Some years ago, I had a 1910 Jackson Michigan built Fuller automobile very similar to this one. But there are a few differences. For one thing, this car does not have the typical (Jackson) Fuller steering wheel. The (Jackson ) Fuller steering wheel had a four spoke deep dish style to it, not the more common four sloping spokes. The body and fenders look very much like mine, and mine was not chain driven. It used a torque tube rear end very similar to what several models of Buick used around that time, however, it had an odd reduction chain/gear between the transmission and the torque tube to compensate for the larger wheels.

The radiator was slightly different, but essentially the same.

The Jackson built Fullers had a few models in the few years they were built, both two and four cylinder cars. I believe all the four cylinder cars had pneumatic tires and wheels, while most of the two cylinder cars were semi-high wheel like in your photo.

The rear seat on this model was removeable for use as a runabout or light duty pickup.

I suspect the minor differences were due to this car being a year earlier than mine was.

 

I have seen a few pictures of the Nebraska built Fuller automobiles (they are not related). One of them was also a sort of high wheel type automobile. I don't recall if any of them may have been chain driven or not.

 

I consider the Kimes and Clark catalog a valuable resource for prewar automobiles. However, from time to time, errors in it can be found. The details and photos between the two different Fuller automobiles are a bit mixed up.

[20 T Speedster]

A (Nebraska) Fuller Touring Car showed up at the SoCal Holiday Motor Excursion a few years back.  This would have been considered a luxury car in its time.