1911 Inter-State Bulldog 50

The Inter-State Company of Muncie, Indiana, was introduced in October of 1908 by Thomas F. Hart and described as 'the best automobile made in America, even though everyone doesn't know it.'

The company produced approximately 323 vehicles in 1909, with the touring, runabout, and Demi-Tonneau bodies resting on a 122-inch wheelbase. They were priced at approximately $1,750 which placed them within the medium-priced market. Their four-cylinder engines delivered approximately 40 horsepower. The 1910 models had a slightly smaller wheelbase of 118 inches with pricing remaining in the $1750 range. Touring and Roadster bodies were joined by a Torpedo priced at $2,000. Production nearly doubled in 1910 to 627 units, increasing to 839 units a year later. The company crested the 1,000 mark in 1912 with 1,012 units built. By this point, the company offered three models on two different wheelbase platforms (118 and 124-inches) with the Model Thirty powered by a thirty-horsepower, four-cylinder engine, the Model 40 delivering 40 horsepower, and the range-topping Fifty with fifty horsepower. Prices ranged from $1,750 to $3,400.

Inter-State switched to six-cylinder power in 1913, the same year that Thomas Hart requested receivership, attributing the company's problems to disagreements among stockholders. The company was ultimately forced into involuntary bankruptcy proceedings before the start of the 1914 year. F.C. Ball acquired the Inter-State factory and its real estate in February 1914.

Mr. F.C. Ball was an investor in the Inter-State company since its inception, and after satisfying the company's debts, he reorganized the company as the Inter-State Motor Company. He moved the company 'down market' by introducing a lower-priced four-cylinder model resting on a 110-inch wheelbase platform. It was priced in the $1,000 range for the five-passenger touring body style, which appealed to a much wider audience than in the past, with production reaching its highest levels of 1,238 units. Production rose slightly for 1916 to 1,238 units, and again for 1917 with 1,413 units built.

In May of 1918, Inter-State became one of the first American companies to halt automobile production to focus on military contracts in support of World War I. Around 876 Inter-State vehicles had been produced prior to the shutdown and these would be the final vehicles that would leave their factory wearing the Inter-State name. Following World War II and the completion of the government contracts, F.C. Ball sold his Inter-State factory to General Motors for the production of the Sheridan automobile - one of William C. Durant's final projects as chief of G.M. The Sheridan was designed as a medium-priced four-cylinder model that would fill the void between Chevrolet and Oakland within the G.M. hierarchy. The four-cylinder model was intended to use a 116-inch platform, and a larger eight-cylinder model on a 132-inch platform. A few examples of the four-cylinder model were built but only prototypes of the 80 horsepower eight. In the summer of 1921, G.M. sold the Sheridan Company and the Muncie plant to Mr. Durant who had recently left G.M. for the final time. The factory was later used to produce the Durant Six.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2021