Maxwell-Mascotte

[brewsterbuff]

I have a friend who recently acquired a ser. number plate for a Maxwell-Mascotte, made by the Maxwell-Briscoe Motor Co., Tarrytown, NY. He would like to have some information about these cars, i. e. when they were built, how many, what did it look like, etc. Thanks.Don Weir

[Shamas]

I'm going to try to answer this, if for no other reason to flush out a real Maxwell expert. I just bought a 1910 AA runabout and can find NOTHING on the internet.<BR>The Mascotte is listed as a 1912 model only, selling for $950.00, either a touring or a roadster, 4 cylinder, 4 inch bore and 4 inch stroke. 25 horsepower, 104 inch wheelbase, 32 x 3 1/2 tires, thermo siphon cooling, battery and magneto ignition, force fed lubrication, a 3 speed sliding gear transmission, shaft drive, roadsters were blue black with battleship grey wheels and white stripe, tourings were Mascotte grey with black striping, tops were optional. (From an undated page of the HCCA Gazette, compiled by James Zordoch)<BR>Maxwells were built in Terrytown and other places from 1905 to 1922 when they were bought by W. P. Chrysler and became the.... Chrysler!<BR>So it's really a Maxwell 300M, and Jack Benny said "I've never owned a Maxwell, never even wanted to own one."<BR>Enuf

[Clincher]

You might get in touch with Merle E. Simonsma, 9600 Calvine Road, Sacramento, CA; 95829. He is certainly a Maxwell expert, and I found him to be most friendly and helpful when I asked his advice.

[Guest]

Maxwell-Brixcoe Co. started in 1903, by Jonathan Maxwell & Benjamin Brixcoe. Jonathan Maxwell also work with the Apperson brother's on Elwood Haynes' first car in 1894, and on the Northern & Oldsmobile. Jonathan Maxwell was credited with inventing the thermo-siphon cooling system, and in 1905, the first car to use steel panels over a wood frame. In 1910, Maxwell-Brixcoe Co. was conbined with some 130 or so companies, like Columbia, Stoddard-Dayton, E.R. Thomas, by Benjamin Brixcoe, to form United States Motor Car Company. Around 1912, United States Motor Car Company collapsed, but the Maxwell Co. was saved. In 1921 Walter Chrysler took over the Maxwell, in 1936 the Maxwell became the Chrysler-50, and in 1929 it became the Plymouth.

[Guest]

***in 1926 the Maxwell became the Chrysler-50

[Guest]

Another little piece of Maxwell information.<BR>By 1911-12 the Maxwell was the third largest<BR>selling marque in the US, only behind Ford<BR>and Buick

[Noleah W Sirk]

I figure I'll contribute to this 24-year-old discussion with a 1912 Maxwell Mascotte advertisement I picked up this past weekend. It appeared in an issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The issue date isn't given. I learned the of year (1912) after googling and finding this thread.

 

Edited September 30 by Noleah W Sirk (see edit history)

[zepher]

On 12/4/2000 at 8:24 AM, Guest said:

***in 1926 the Maxwell became the Chrysler-50

This is actually incorrect.

First year for Chrysler was 1924.

One of my uncles has a 1924 Chrysler Model B Roadster.

[Akstraw]

The story of Maxwell is well told in the book “Maxwell Motor and the Making of Chrysler Corporation” by Anthony J. Yanik, 2009.  Copies are readily available from various online sources.