Buggy Opportunity
Like many enterprising young men of 19th century America, two of the Parry brothers, David M. and Thomas H., wanted to build a business. So in 1882 they purchased the C Spring Cart Company in Rushville, Indiana; C Spring was involved with the carriage trade and made “equipage.”
The business moved along for the Parry’s until a fire in 1884 destroyed their small factory and forced some strategic decisions. Choosing to be nearer to railways and distribution channels, the Parry brothers moved to Indianapolis and set up shop there. After purchasing the factory and equipment of the Great Woodburn Savern Wheel Company, the two brothers renamed their firm The Parry Manufacturing Company. Expanding as success merited, they hired another brother, St. Clair, as secretary-treasurer. Soon after they hired J.F. Pratt to be Vice President. And off they went to the races!
Parry Mfg Co in 1888
By 1890 they had located a 20-acre tract along the railway that connected them to several Midwestern cities. The Parry Mfg. Co. was successful enough to employ 2800 skilled workers and produce up to 1000 carriages, buggies, carts, and other rolling whatnot per day. Parry was on a roll!
By late 1891, Parry Mfg Co. was located on a large site near railways for ease of distribution.
Lure of the Automobile
Parry Mfg. would continue to be a leading manufacturer of horse-driven carriages and employ a second generation of Parry’s.
By 1905 Horse-driven carriages had peaked, as horseless vehicles were growing in number and desirability.
About that time. D.M. became interested in horseless carriages, and in 1906 decided to buy into the distressed Overland Company of Terre Haute, Indiana. Using his controlling interest of 51%, D.M renamed it the Overland Automobile Company and unfortunately got in over his (undercapitalized) head. The panic of 1907 arrived, and soon thereafter Overland was foundering.
John North Willys, an automobile dealer from Elmira, New York, traveled to Indy in late 1907 to enquire about his $10,000 deposit and order for 500 Overlands. When he arrived, Willys found that the factory only had enough materials to make three complete cars. Sensing opportunity in the midst of a disaster, Willys made an on-the-spot offer and bought out Parry.
D.M. had learned an expensive lesson, but he was still smitten… and he was still a partner in Parry Mfg.
The Parry Automobile
In 1909 D.M decided to have a go at the automobile trade again, and from that germ the Parry automobile was created for 1910. In fact, the automobile endeavors of D.M. Parry, which will continue in the next episode, were his alone and not of Parry Mfg. More on that later.
The Parry Automobile Company catalog for 1910. Images courtesy private collection
As illustrated in the Parry catalog for 1910, the Parry Automobile Company’s core principles applied the keep-it-simple rule and conservatively offered two cars for sale, a tourer and a roadster. Other core principles were not as practical.
The first core principal would get this company in trouble soon.
The two models offered were fine examples of the era and were extensively dissected in period auto trade journals with the conclusion that they were stout and worthy. Based on a 116-inch wheelbase, the chassis was a typical ladder frame and the four-cylinder engine was also typical for its time.
Overhead view reveals a simple ladder frame and standard propulsion set-up.
The 116-inch wheelbase Parry chassis was the same for both models.
The engine description reveals a conventional power plant.
1910 Parry 4-cylinder.
The models themselves were attractive and adaptable to meet varying needs. For instance, the roadster had a rear platform that could accept a single mother-in-law seat, a two passenger bench seat, or be configured as an open platform for carrying goods or equipment.
1910 Parry Roadster with back bench seat in place.
1910 Parry Roadster in speedster configuration. The open platform allowed for equipment or whatnot.
1910 Parry Touring.
Sketches of the Parry and catalog formatting was done by son Max Parry.
The New Parry
Sales were not 5000 in the first year as had been promised, and once again D.M. was facing an undercapitalized situation, forcing his departure as head of the firm. Therefore, in January of 1911 new owners reorganized the firm to be the Motor Car Mfg. Co., which in turn would make the “New Parry” for 1911 and beyond. DM. may have continued involvement with the new company, but that is not certain.
This announcement came out shortly after Parry Auto filed for bankruptcy in Dec. 1910.
The New Parry itself was not really anything new. Remember that “core principle” that stated “Not less than 5000 1910 cars?” Well, New Parry re-badged the unsold 1910 Parry models, of which only 900 had been made, and decided to add two more models for variety. From this opening, speedsterism would soon insinuate itself.
Parry, New Parry, and Speedsterism
This is where forensic history gets confusing. When dealing with trade journal reports, legal filings, printed documents, and company ads, with not many surviving car examples, it can be a murky dive. All of this encompassed the Parry.
For instance, despite being “no longer in business”, a speedster had been offered by the Parry Auto Co. in late 1910 that expanded its two-model line to three vehicles. The Bull Dog was a 100-inch wheelbase go-getter slated for 1911.
Although the Bull Dog was advertised in 1910 for 1911, it probably didn’t make it to production, as Parry Auto had gone into receivership by year’s end.
We know from a report in the Horseless Age that, in December of 1910, the Parry Automobile Co. had filed for bankruptcy, and in January 1911 the public notice of new owners appeared in The Automobile. During this period Parry may have continued producing cars, as they had advertised for 1911 a “Bull Dog” outfitted in classic cutdown speedster style. Were any made? Did any sell?
August 1910 ad for the 1911 Parry Bull Dog, offered with a 25-hp ALAM-rated engine on a 100-inch wheelbase frame. Probably none were made other than this photographed example, a real shame…
In 1911 the New Parry explored this speedster theme a bit further by offering a Model 39 Speed Roadster in its model line of four vehicle types. In 1912 the new organization, now known as the Motor Car Mfg. Co., modified the vehicle to be a more enclosed sporty roadster. The Model 51, as it was now called, was virtually the same as the Model 39, but it was also fitted with a “juvenile seat” at extra cost. Also called the Speed Roadster, this model now featured doors, a safety measure that many speedsters of the nineteen-teens adopted.
The Speed Roadster probably had removable doors. They offered an implied enclosed cockpit.
Still, speedsters were meant to be sporty and performance-oriented, so the doors and other accoutrements were probably removable on the Model 51, as seen in the ad below for the Model 39.
1911 New Parry Speed Roadster doing what it did best - hillclimb! The Model 39 probably did not have demountable doors as seen by the design of its passenger cowl.
Beyond the Parry
Lack of sales and undercapitalization had dogged D.M. Parry and his Parry Auto Company, but the Parry Mfg Co. had already taken another trail and had moved into making truck bodies for the Model T and other vehicles, so at least D.M had something to fall back on. Unfortunately, D.M. would succumb in 1915 to an illness after returning from an international trade association trip.
1916 Parry Truck Bodies made by Parry Mfg. Co.
Parry Mfg. Co. would later merge with Martin, be subsequently purchased by Chevrolet in 1930, and would become the truck body component of that division of GM. And so the Parry DNA lives on through that strand.
As for the Willys purchase of Overland? Well, through the trials and tribulations of two wars and several decades, the Willys Jeep that was developed for American troops in WWII is now the modern Jeep that we witness today. So, in this path Parry also continues…
And despite new owners, the New Parry also shared the Parry’s lack-of-sales situation. So, in 1912 the Motor Car Mfg. Co. decided to “find a new path” and terminated production of the New Parry. They had other plans…
Their next venture would be the “Pathfinder.” We’ll cover the Pathfinder story in our next episode!
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Several sources, to whom I am indebted, contributed information to help me write this piece, including the Indiana State Historical Library, Coachbuilt.com, period journals available through the Horseless Carriage Foundation Library, and other private collections.