1908 CarterCar Model D

Byron J. Carter was superintendent of the Jackson Automobile Company when he left in 1905. Later that year, he organized the Motorcar Company of Jackson, Michigan, but was soon relocated to Detroit, Michigan. The company's name was changed two years later to the Cartercar Company and was relocated again to Pontiac, Michigan. The company was promoted as the car of 'A Thousand Speeds, no clutch to slip, no gears to strip, no universal joints to break, no shaft drive to twist, no bevel gears to wear and howl, no noise to annoy.'

Total sales for 1906 reached 101 examples. This was followed a year later by 264 sales and 325 in 1908.

Byron Carter was 44 years old when he died on April 6th, 1908, due to pneumonia. On October 26th, the Cartercar Company became one of the nearly 30 firms acquired by William Crapo Durant in the two years following his incorporation of General Motors. Durant had wanted Cartercar's friction drive. By this point, Cartercar sales had never achieved very high sales figures, and GM management contemplated using the Cartercar facilities to produce a Northway-powered six to wear the name of Oakland, another of the companies Durant acquired for GM.

On May 22nd, 1915, the Cartercar plant was closed.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jan 2020