1912 Mitchell Model 5-6

Henry Mitchell was born in 1810 in Scotland. In 1934, at the age of 24, he sailed across the Atlantic with his wife, Margaret. They settled in Fort Dearborn, which was incorporated as the City of Chicago three years later. Mitchell was a wheelwright by trade and built the first horse-drawn wagon ever made in Chicago. In 1855, Mitchell and his wife relocated to Racine, Wisconsin, and expanded their wagon business.

When the Civil War ended, it brought legions of settlers searching for farmland in the Midwest. This increased demand for agricultural equipment, chiefly plows and wagons. Mitchell expanded his wagon business as fast as his capital would allow. By 1877, the Mitchell and Lewis Company, which Mitchell had founded with his son-in-law William Turnor Lewis, was the largest wagon manufacturer in the country. Mitchell passed away in 1893. Lewis took over the company operations and, by 1901, was producing the Mitchell motorcycle. In 1903 (the same year as Henry Ford's first car), he founded the Mitchell Motor Car Company, which manufactured automobiles from 1903 to 1923 when the company folded, and the factory was sold to Nash Motors.

By 1910, the Model S had a six-cylinder, 50 horsepower engine with a three-speed gearbox, making it the largest Mitchell car available. Incorporating twin spark plugs per cylinder and a magneto and a distributor, it had an advanced design for its time.

The company advertised its vehicles as virtually unbeatable against all opposition. They were successful in many forms of competition, from time trials to hill climbs, relying on their vehicle's power and reliability to beat almost every other manufacturer of the day.