Ambition
Joseph J. Cole was born in 1869 on a farm and, like many enterprising youth of that time, he left it as soon as he could in search of something to fit his ambition.
Also, like other successful enterprisers, Cole wisely finished high school, attended business college to train up on how to run a business, and sought his fortune in areas of his interest. At the time, carriages were his interest, so Cole worked in sales for two carriage concerns to learn the ropes, one of them being Moon Carriage Company (Later to be Moon Motor Car Company). Cole eventually struck out on his own.
Joseph J. Cole, about 1920. Cole Motor Car Co. image
One segue from this resolute path was Cole producing the “Rockford” (he lived in Rockford, Indiana at the time). Typical of other entrepreneurs, J.J. Cole built this prototype motor carriage in 1903 but did not produce it. Instead, in 1904 Cole bought the Gates-Osborn Carriage Company in Indianapolis and renamed it the Cole Carriage Company. With it J.J. Cole would grow the company until it was producing upwards of 3000 carriages per year.
Lure of the Automobile
1908 Cole Solid Tire Automobile. Typical configuration for a “high wheeler.”
The auto bug that had infected J.J. Cole in 1903 had never left his system, for in 1908 Cole built a motor buggy called the “Cole Solid Tire Automobile.” More commonly referred to as “high-wheelers”, motor buggies were often equipped with fragile-looking carriage wheels and minimal power, and as such became a branch of automotive history that had a short life before reaching a dead end.
After a season of producing this model, Cole decided to find another way into successful automobile manufacturing. In 1909 Cole Carriage reorganized as the Cole Motor Car company. In his first year, Cole produced the Model 30, of which he sold 100 units.
The 1909 Model 30
The Model 30 was a conventional car of the period, with a 2-cylinder engine producing 14 rated horsepower and having a 90 inch wheelbase. Three models of runabout – a 2-person, a 2/3 person, and a 3-person were produced for 1909. Perhaps as insurance, the Solid Tire high-wheeler was also produced in this production year but thereafter discontinued.
Cole Motor Co. production was not seasonal in nature - there was no 1908 model, then 1909 model, then 1910, and so on. Rather, J.J. Cole issued “series” of his car models, and when one series reached its production end, updates or improvements were incorporated into the next series as it rolled out. Mindful of the December deadline for getting a new series out for the next season of auto salons that began with the New York event in January, Cole nevertheless might have run through one or two series in one season. Hence the overlap in models that issued from the Cole factory shops.
The 1910-11 Series 30
For 1910 Cole Motor offered a 108 inch wheelbase for all four of its models and doubled its sales to over 400 units. It was now called the Series 30 and was equipped with a four-cylinder power plant rated at 30 horsepower. Common to engines of this era, two sets of two-cylinder monoblocs comprised the engine unit. Casting science was still in its infancy.
1910 Cole 30 engine with a Schebler updraft carburetor. Cole automotive catalog image
Note that the four cylinder engine has two pairs of two cylinders cast en bloc. Typical.
One model in the 1910 lineup was the Model H Flyer, a sporty torpedo roadster that soon caught the eye of speedy locals as well as national-level hotshoes.
1910 Cole Flyer ad. This particular model would put Cole motor Car Company on the map!
1909-10 Cole 30 Flyer that was replaced by a snappy Roadster and a rorty Speedster in late 1910. photo courtesy Cole Motor Car Registry
Although the Flyer was discontinued at the end of its series in late 1910-early 1911, the worthy replacements for the Flyer were a sporty Roadster and a doorless Speedster; more on the Speedster in a moment.
In 1911 Cole had improved its product by increasing the wheelbase to 118 inches for its three touring models and its 2-passenger Roadster and Speedster, while keeping the same 30-horsepower four cylinder engine. Although advertised in 1911, by mid-year the feisty Flyer was discontinued. Cole Motor Co. would support racing in several venues to get the word out about their cars and sell about 1000 cars that season.
1911 Cole ad. Notice that the fore-door tourer seen at the top also has rear doors. Cole Motor Car was the first to make a four-door vehicle. Ad courtesy AACA Library
To accommodate growth, a building was purchased at 730 East Washington St that was bounded by East Market and North Davidson in Indianapolis.
Cole Motor Car plat in 1915. image courtesy Indiana State Historical Society, Sanborn maps collection
This building would go through successive expansions throughout Cole Motor’s tenure, which lasted until 1925.
The Cole Motor Car Co. Building. Image courtesy Indiana State Historical Society
The 1910-11 Series 30 Flyer
As previously mentioned, the 1910-11 Series 30 Model H Flyer was probably an attempt to promote the brand by offering a sporting roadster that could also be competitive on the track.
1910-11 Cole 30 Model H Flyer from factory catalog. Image courtesy AACA Library
By 1910 many auto manufacturers had been showing off their wares at local tracks in a “run-what-you-brung” atmosphere of congenial competition and selling to the local speed demons. Although the events held at county fairgrounds were mostly live shows to entertain the locals, some companies took the events seriously and staffed their teams with serious career drivers.
1910 Cole 30 testing on a county dirt track. Image courtesy AACA library
Indianapolis was a competitive market that was flush with smalltime auto producers yearning to make it big like Ford was doing over in Detroit. Competition was one sure-fire way to gain attention. This was not lost on Cole Motor.
1911 Cole 30 Flyer stripped to speedster spec, ready to race. Image courtesy AACA Library
National-level drivers were hired to race Coles, and by 1911 Bill Endicott was among those racing Coles for the company.
1911 “Wild Bill” Endicott in a Cole 30 prepped for racing. Factory image courtesy AACA Library
Some of Cole Motor’s racing drivers, as seen in a newspaper of the era.
Some of the racing venues… Images courtesy Cole Motor Car Registry
The racing successes started showing up in Cole ads. A Cole Model 30 Speedster was introduced in late 1910 (see catalog image below). The sales game was on!
1911 Cole ad. “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday.” Ad courtesy AACA Library
1911-12 Cole Model A 30-40 Speedster
At this point in time, Cole was offering seven models, most of which were touring cars or coupes. Cole automobiles were “assembled” cars that incorporated key subcontracted parts into the vehicle’s design. Cole turned this disparaging term around by promoting the Cole as a “Standardized” car with outsourced equipage from the best suppliers in their respective fields.
For instance, Cole engines used a Prest-O-Lite gas starter and Bosch dual-point ignition, and the bodies featured Leonard electric lighting. By not having to invent and produce the accessories and small items that made up the vehicle in-house, this allowed J.J. Cole to focus his company’s efforts on improving the car itself, such as being the first automaker to offer a four-door vehicle for the next series that arrived in late 1911.
All models rode on Cole’s 122 inch wheelbase for 1912 and used a 40 horsepower engine. This was also true of the Model A Speedster.
1910-11 Cole 30 Speedster. Compare its more austere shape with the longer wheelbase version of the Series 30-40 as seen in the next image. Factory catalog image courtesy Cole Motor Car Registry
Similar to the background Cole 30 Model S Speedster, not much is known about the 1911-12 Cole Model A 30-40 Speedster, but from the factory profile drawings below one can see that the Roadster had doors and the Speedster did not, typical differentiation for cars of this era.
1911-12 Series 30-40 Speedster & Roadster. The Speedster’s cowl has a curve in its opening as compared to that of the Model S above. Catalog image courtesy Cole Motor Car Registry
The 30-40 was called that because the engine’s output was variable, depending on which model into which it was placed. No doubt the Speedster got the highest output in its series, and in fact each Speedster was tested at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and guaranteed to go 70 miles per hour! Speedsters and Roadsters of this era also carried a plaque celebrating Cole’s win in the 1909 Vanderbilt.
J.J. Cole once remarked that “the Speedster is built for the man who wants to get there first.” This became an advertising slogan that pretty much said it all when it came to speedsters!
1912 Cole 30-40 Model A Speedster. Factory image courtesy AACA Library
As seen in the factory photo above, two prominent racing legends, “Wild Bill” Endicott (driving) and cigar-chomping Barney Oldfield were two of many enjoying a test drive in the new Speedster. No doubt they were soon trying a pair of ‘em out at the track! There must have been something to the Cole Flyers and Speedsters in competition, as racing successes were racking up and being touted in the Indianapolis Star and other papers: Cole’s auto sales topped 1000-plus for the first time!
Post-Speedster, sort of
Having proved its point with competition successes, Cole would cease making a two-passenger speedster and stop its racing program in 1913 after phasing out the 30-40 Speedster in the fall of 1912. Instead, it would shift its strategy from speed racing and endurance trials to competing with the likes of Cadillac and other up-market brands in the luxury market, focusing on bigger and more comfortable. In 1913 a six cylinder engine appeared to power its cars, and in 1914 an eight cylinder V-8 would be produced in direct competition with Cadillac, making the two companies pioneers in V-8 production.
Cole would increase production on par with its growing success as a small independent, peaking with over 5000 sales in 1915 and holding onto steady production of close to that number until the post-war depression of 1919-20.
After the Great War, Cole Motor Car would never quite recover the market share that it had enjoyed before that conflict. Failing in an attempt to merge ten Indiana manufacturing concerns into a powerhouse conglomerate, J.J. Cole saw the writing on the wall for small independents like his and decided to liquidate his firm. Cole Motor Car would end automobile production in 1924 and sell off its assets. Ironically, its founder passed away the next year.
Glory Days, Revisited
Cole Motor Car had sold rolling chassis to coachbuilders, and a couple for whom we have records had fashioned speedster bodies on the Cole chassis with remarkable results.
One example was done by Manhattan coachbuilder Moore & Munger for the 1911 New York Auto Show. As noted in the January 19, 1911 edition of the New York Times:
The Cole-Stratton Company is showing at the Palace Show, among other 1911 Cole 30 models, a very racy roadster, body work for which was done by Moore & Munger. The snap and style shown in this roadster make this car a very attractive feature of the Cole 30 exhibit. The name ‘Special Speedster’ is rather pat in view of the many racing victories of the Cole 30 in the past year.
1911 Moore & Munger Cole 30 Special Speedster…
… and 100 years later, on the lawn at Pebble Beach! Photos courtesy Cole Motor Car Registry
The car in the next photo was a one-off coachbuilt Speedster created by Ferdinand W. Peck, and it was fashioned in 1912, so it probably had the Series 30-40 four cylinder engine and was mounted on a 122 inch wheelbase. Although speedsters were customarily two-seaters, several companies would develop three, four, and even up to seven-seater speedsters. So this example is not at all out of step!
1912 Cole custom four-passenger Speedster by F.W. Peck. Factory image courtesy AACA Library
Perhaps as a last hurrah, some enterprising Cole dealers who recognized that Cole automobiles were engineered like Marmons or Duesenbergs decided to make a few one-off specials (using the Aero 8 series of 1918-22) to promote the brand, even if the factory was no longer doing that. The number of cars made and where they were campaigned is not clear, but below we have two examples of Coles making it big in Cuba and Uruguay. No doubt they raced elsewhere while in the southern hemisphere!
1918 Cole Aero 8 Special winning in Havana!
1922 Winning again, this time in Uruguay! images courtesy Cole Motor Car Registry
Cole Motor Car Company is one of many small independent manufacturers that rose and succeeded in a local market, only to lose out as they failed in a very competitive national market. We’ll revisit this theme in future posts, as many of these independent companies also produced speedsters!
Thanks to research libraries like the AACA Library, the Horseless Carriage Foundation, and the Indiana State Historical Society for material used in this post. Also, thanks to the blog HistoricIndianapolis.com for its coverage of local automotive topics and histories, as well as the ColeMotorCarRegistry.com.
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