Graham Paige Roadster 1929 6/4900cc

Graham-Paige was an american automobile manufacturer founded by brothers Joseph B. Graham (September 12, 1882-July 1970), Robert C. Graham (August 1885-October 3, 1967), and Ray A. Graham (may 28, 1887 - 13 August, 1932) in 1927. automobile production ceased in 1940, and its assets were purchased by cars Kaiser-Frazer in 1947. As a legal person, the name of Graham-Paige continued until 1962.

History

Graham Brothers

After participating successfully in a manufacturing company of glass (eventually sold to Libbey Owens Ford ) brothers Joseph B., Robert C. and Ray A. Graham began in 1919 to produce kits to modify Ford Model T and TT trucks. That led to the brothers building their trucks using engines of various manufacturers and the brand Graham Brothers. With the time settled in dodge engines, and soon the trucks were sold by Dodge dealerships. The Graham expanded from beginnings in Evansville, Indiana , plant opened in 1922 on Meldrum Avenue in Detroit, Michigan of 13,000 square feet (1,200 m ^2), and in 1925 in Stockton, California . The canadian market was supplied by the canadian plant Dodge. Dodge bought the signature truck Graham Brothers in 1925, and the three brothers Graham took on executive positions at Dodge.

The brand Graham Brothers lasted until 1929; Chrysler Corporation having taken over Dodge in 1928.

In 1927, with the union bank controlling Dodge trying to sell the company, the brothers Graham decided to enter the business of automobile for your account. In 1927 they purchased the Paige-Detroit Motor Company , makers of Paige and Jewett automobiles, for $ 3.5 million. Joseph became president, Robert vice-president, and Ray secretary-treasurer of the company. initial offer of the company included a line of cars Graham-Paige motors with six and eight cylinders. For a time, a line of light trucks was offered under the name Paige, soon discontinued when Dodge reminded Graham about the non-compete agreement that had been signed as part of the sale of the Graham Brothers Company. Graham earned a reputation for quality and sales quickly rose. Graham also had some success in racing , which helped to boost sales. The logo of the company Graham includes profiles of the three brothers and was used in badges on the car, including the badges and the tail light lens.

Graham-Paige made most of their own bodies and engines. The brothers Graham had resolved a long Paige dilemma of supply body to acquire the Body Company Wayne and expanding with other plants in the body. They did not have a foundry and contracted with Continental for these services relative to their engines. some models made use of motors of values Continental. department of engineering of the Graham-Paige designed the majority of the engines used in the automobile Graham-Paige. The "Spirit of motion" cars and models of Hollywood 1938-1940 often incorrectly states to use the engines of Continental. After the Second World War, Continental was a smaller version of the engine, 217 cubic inches of displacement of the Graham-Paige used in the models mentioned above. These engines were used in the post-war Kaiser Frazer cars and.

Initially, Graham-Paige withstood the onset of the depression well, but sales fell as the decade progressed. The models 1932 were designed by Amos Northup . This particular design has been noted as the "design most influential in the history of the car." The new engine 8-cylinder was called the "Blue Streak". However, the press and the public quickly adopted the name "Blue Streak" for the cars themselves. The design has introduced a number of innovative ideas. Most of it was copied the defenses closed, thus covering the mud and dirt accumulated in the bottom. The radiator cap was moved under the hood, which was modified to cover the hood, and terminate in the base of the windshield.

For engineering, the abrupt jump back in the chassis frame was eliminated by the adoption of a framework of "banjo". Unlike the contemporary practice, the rear axle is placed through large openings on both sides of the frame, with rubber dampers to absorb any Shock if the car axle should make contact. This in turn allows a body more width. To help get out of the car, the springs in the rear were mounted on the outer sides of the chassis frame and not under the frame. This idea was eventually copied by other manufacturers - Chrysler, for example, in the year 1957.

For 1934, Graham introduced a crankshaft-driven supercharger . In the beginning only offered in the models of eight cylinders superior, when it withdrew the eight of 1936, the turbocharger was adapted to the six. The unit was designed in house by the deputy chief Floyd Graham Engineer F. Kishline. It was an original design, not a Switzer-Cummins or Duesenberg design. Through the years, Graham would produce more supercharged cars than any other automobile manufacturer until Buick were in the 1990s.

In 1935, the style, the "Blue Streak" was pretty outdated. A redesign of the front and rear ends of 1935 proved to be a disaster, so that the cars look more high and more narrow. Having no money for a new body, Graham signed an agreement with Reo Motor Car Company to purchase car bodies, paying Reo $ 7.50 per royalty on every body built-in Hayes. the engines had new water jackets full. Graham added new style of the front, and revised detail of these bodies to create the 1936 and 1937 Graham.

Amos Northup of Murray Body was hired to design a new model for 1938, but he died before the design was complete. It is believed that the final design was completed by the engineers of Graham. The new 1938 Graham was introduced with the slogan "Spirit of motion". Defenses, openings of the wheels and the grill, everything seemed to move forward. The design was widely praised in the american press and by american designers. He also won the prestigious contest of elegance in Paris, France. Gains were also recorded in the Award avant-garde at Lyon, the Prix d'elegance at Bordeaux, and the Grand Prize of Honor in Deauville, France. Its grid cut later gained the car the name "sharknose", which appears to have originated in the 1950's. The style was a complete failure in sales. The more reliable estimates, from the publications of the time, suggests the total production of the 3 years of these cars is between 6,000 and 13,000 units. With this low production Graham was injured through 1939 and 1940.

Joint venture

Desperate for a winning bid and you can't retool, Graham made a deal with the sick Hupp Motor Co. at the end of 1939. According to the agreement, the company hesitantly entered into an agreement with Hupmobile to build cars based on the body dies of the stunning Gordon Buehrig , a program designed Cord 810/812. In an effort to stay in business, Hupp had acquired the Cord dies, but lacked the financial resources to build the car.

Graham agreed to build the Hupmobile Skylark on a contract basis, while receiving the rights to use the Cord distinctive dies to produce a similar car of its own, which is called the Hollywood. The striking Skylark / Hollywood differed from the cord from the front fairing redesigned with a hood, front fenders and conventional headlamps, achieved by the designer of automotive, John Tjaarda of Lincoln Zephyr fame. there was no need for longer hood of the cable, such as the versions of Hupp and Graham were rear-wheel-drive. This also made it necessary to modify the floor to accept a drive shaft.

The Hollywood was available in a version for 6-cylinder standard and a supercharged version. Each engine has been manufactured by himself, Graham-Paige. However, the Hollywood did not let slides of the company. After its introduction to the public, the orders of release. However, the manufacturing difficulties caused months of delay before start of deliveries. Customers tired of waiting, and most of the orders were cancelled. Despite a response to initial public enthusiast, the car actually ended up being a failure worse in the sales department for both Graham and Hupmobile than respective previous models of any firm. The company suspended manufacturing in September, 1940, only to reopen its plant for military production for World War ii.

Post-war

The company resumed automobile production in 1946 producing a new car look modern, the 1947 Frazer, named for the new president of Graham-Paige, Joseph Frazer , in partnership with Henry J. Kaiser . It also started the production of agricultural machinery in the frame of the Rototiller name. In August 1945, Graham-Paige announced plans to resume production under the name of Graham, but the plan never materialized. The 5 of February of 1947, the shareholders of Graham-Paige approved the transfer of all of its assets automotive, Kaiser-Frazer , a car company formed by Frazer and Kaiser, in return for 750,000 shares of Kaiser-Frazer stock and other considerations. Graham's manufacturing facilities on the avenue Warren were sold to Chrysler, who used the plants for the first DeSoto body and engine production, and, finally, to the assembly of the Imperial for the 1959, 1960 and 1961 model years.

Legacy post-automotive

In 1952, Graham-Paige dropped the "motors" from its name and branched into real estate, and under the direction of Irving M. felt , purchased such properties as the Roosevelt Raceway in New York, and in 1959 a controlling stake in the old Madison Square Garden (built in 1925). in 1962, the company changed its name to the Madison Square Garden Corporation, which was absorbed later by the Gulf & Western Industries. Currently Madison Square Garden is part of Madison Square Garden, LP , of which a majority interest is owned by Cablevision Systems Corporation .