Bicycle production slowed during the late 1890s prompting the companies that had built them to turn to other products to stay afloat. One such company was based in Racine, Wisconsin, initially known as the Wisconsin Wheel Work, and produced a 1¾ horsepower motorcycle in 1901. A number of experimental automobiles followed, with production beginning in 1903. With its new product, the company's name was changed to the Mitchell Motor Car Company in 1904, and its first cars were two-cylinder, chain-drive runabouts with tiller steering.

Henry Mitchell was born in Scotland in 1810. He sailed the Atlantic in 1834, at the age of 24, and along with his wife Margaret, settled in Fort Dearborn, which was incorporated as the City of Chicago three years later. Using his skills as a wheelwright, Mitchell built the first horse-drawn wagon ever made in Chicago. Mitchell and his wife relocated to Racine, Wisconsin, in 1855, where he expanded his wagon business.

When the Civil War came to an end, settlers were looking for farmland in the Midwest, increasing the demand for agricultural equipment, chiefly plows and wagons. The Mitchell business prospered, soon becoming the largest wagon manufacturer in the country. In 1877, the Mitchell and Lewis Company was formed by Mitchell and his son-in-law William Turnor Lewis. After Mitchell passed away in 1893, Lewis took over the company operations. Automobile production commenced shortly after the turn of the century.

Early experimentations included two-stroke engines and air cooling before eventually settling on a motorcar with a conventional design with water-cooled engines and shaft drive. All of their models in 1904 received sliding gear transmissions. Four- and six-cylinder models followed, along with a short-lived V-8 and a V-12. The four-cylinder units had their cylinders cast-in-pair with an unusual F-head type valve arrangement with overhead exhaust valves opposite the side valve intake. Mitchell built nearly every component for their cars. Mitchell production ended in 1923 by which time they were considered one of the most expensive and finest-built American cars. Period advertising proudly declared 'the car you ought to have, at the price you ought to pay.'

French engineer Rene Petard was hired to design a new series of T-head engines which were introduced for the 1913 model year. When William T. Lewis retired in 1910, he was replaced by William Mitchell Lewis, who was replaced by a banker named Joseph Winterbottom, Jr. in 1913 when the company experienced financial issues. William Lewis and Rene Petard started a new company to produce a car dubbed the Lewis. The wagon business and automobile company had been combined into the Mitchell-Lewis Motor Company in 1910 and was reorganized again in 1916 as the Mitchell Motors Company, Inc. The company's sales manager Otis Friend took over the presidency that same year. Otis left two years later and built a car of his own called the Friend in Pontiac, Michigan. A General Electric executive named D.C. Durland became the new president of Mitchell.

The management instability, post-war depression, and styling mistakes in 1920 (a sloping radiator configuration that earned the model the nickname, the 'drunken Mitchell') eventually led to the company filing for bankruptcy in June 1923. In February 1924, the Mitchell factory was sold to Nash Motors, and the Ajax automobile would be produced there.

Along with exceptional build quality, Mitchell cars capitalized on their power and reliability. Their automobiles beat nearly every other manufacturer of the day in everything from time trials to hillclimbs.

1913 Mitchell Model 5-4

The Mitchell Model 5-4 was powered by a T-head inline four-cylinder engine with a 397 cubic-inch displacement, a single Updraft carburetor, and delivered 40 horsepower. It was paired with a three-speed Selective Sliding Gear and rear wheel mechanical drum brakes that provided the stopping power. The 120-inch wheelbase chassis was suspended by a leaf spring suspension. The two-passenger roadster and five-passenger tourer were both listed at $1,500.

Along with the Model 5-4, Mitchell's 1913 model lineup included the 5-6 on a 132-inch wheelbase and powered by a six-cylinder engine. Both the roadster and tourer were priced at $1,850. The top-of-the-line model was the Model 7-6, which rested on a 144-inch wheelbase platform and was motivated by six-cylinder power. The seven-passenger tourer was priced at $2,500.

Mitchell produced approximately 6,316 vehicles in 1912, 3,813 a year later, and 2,253 in 1914. Production increased to 6,230 units in 1915 and to 7,680 units in 1916. The company's two best years were in 1917 and 1920, with 10,938 and 10,873 examples built, respectively.

by Dan Vaughan