1908 Chalmers Model 30

The Chalmers Motor Company of Detroit, Michigan, was in production from 1908 through 1923 when it merged with Maxwell helping to form the Chrysler Corporation. Chalmers was founded by Hugh Chalmers, who had accepted the role of 'president' at Roy Chapin's Thomas-Detroit Company in 1907. Hugh later acquired E.R. Thomas's interests in the Thomas-Detroit company, established dealerships across the United States, and (before 1910) built a factory on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit.

E.R. Thomas had built a lower-priced car that was sold under the Thomas name, but when this venture failed, the cars were sold as Chalmers-Detroit starting in 1908. The cars were priced between $1,500 to $3,000 and offered good value, performance, mechanical sophistication, and features. Hugh Chalmers preferred to build higher-quality, performance-oriented cars, while Howard Coffin and Roy Chapin preferred less expensive cars to fuel the $1000 (and under) car market. Coffin and Chapin persuaded JL Hudson to fund a new car company under their investor's name, freeing Chalmers with sole control of his company and the ability to produce the cars he wanted to make.

On June 15th, 1908, the company was renamed the Chalmers-Detroit Motor Company, and later the Chalmers Motor Company on January 26, 1910.

The early Chalmers automobiles were promoted by their success at the racetracks and by their customers, with the list including the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, J. Herreschoff, and the soon-to-be Packard chief engineer Jesse Vincent. By 1910, the Chalmers Motor Company had become one of the nation's most popular builders and by 1915, was building 20,000 cars annually.

The Chalmers Model 30

The Model 30 was introduced in 1908 and was light, nimble, and used the axles of the type later used in the Mercer cars. There were two-wheel mechanical drum brakes, elliptic leaf spring suspension, initially a 110-inch wheelbase (growing to 115 inches in 1910), and a three-speed sliding gear transmission. Power was from an 'F' head, 226 cubic-inch four-cylinder engine (designed by Howard Coffin) with an advanced valve train and forty horsepower. The four-cylinder unit was cast-in-block with an innovative ball-bearing crankshaft and overhead intake valve with side exhaust valves.

The four-cylinder Chalmers Model 30 raced in the 1910 Glidden Tour, a 2,851-mile event, which they won. It was the first production car priced below $2,000 to conquer the Glidden Tour (the Glidden Tour was a reliability/endurance event organized by the American Automobile Association (AAA)). Additionally, the Model 30 was demonstrated in a highly publicized reliability and durability 20,000-mile trial. A Model 30 covered the 200 miles between Detroit and Pontiac, Michigan, four times a day, around the clock, for nearly a month!

The 1911 Model 30 was updated with running boards, a redesigned dashboard, and a new radiator emblem. The earlier open driveline was replaced with U-joints.

by Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2023