Black Motor Company Explained

Black
Manufacturer:	Black Motor Company
Production:	1906 - 1911
Body Style:	roadster, surrey
Engine:	two-cylinder air-cooled gasoline

The Black was an American brass era automobile, built at 124 East Ohio Street,^[1] Chicago, Illinois, in 1906.

It was a high wheeler buggy priced at a US$375-$450,^[2] when Gale's Model A was $500,^[3] the high-volume Oldsmobile Runabout went for $650,^[4] and the Ford "Doctor's Car" was $850.^[5]

The Black featured a 10 hp (7.5 kW) two-cylinder air-cooled gasoline engine, chain drive, wheel steering and (unusual for the era) double brakes.^[6] It bragged speeds of 2-25 mph (3.2–40 km/h) and mileage of 30mpg (12.75 L/100 km).^[6]

Surreys and "top motor buggies" were also advertised.^[6]

Black Crow and Chicago Motor Buggy

From 1909 to 1911, Black sold a rebadged Crow-Elkhart automobile as the "Black Crow".^[7] In addition to Black and Black Crow names, during 1908 and 1909,^[8] the company also sold a two-cylinder, high-wheeler under the Chicago Motor Buggy name.^[7]

Sources

• Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925 (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p. 32.
• Kimes, Beverly. Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1996.
• Wise, David Burgess. The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles.

Notes and References

1. Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925 (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.32.
2. Clymer, p.31.
3. Clymer, p.51.
4. Clymer, p.32.
5. Clymer, p.37.
6. Clymer, p.61.
7. Book: Kimes, Beverly. standard catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996. Krause publications. 0-87341-428-4.
8. Kimes, Beverly. Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1996), p.303, calls them the Black Manufacturing Company.