American Automobile and Power Company

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Manufacturer	American Automobile and Power Company
Production	1904-5
Designer	Edward O. Mosher

The American Automobile and Power Company was a American brass era automobile manufacturer, incorporated in Sanford, Maine, in 1903.^[1] They produced the American Populaire^[2] during 1904 and 1905.^[3]

Starting with a capital of US$500,000,^[4] the company incorporated on 9 December 1903. There were eight officers, three from Boston, the rest locals; Bostonian Henry D. Long was treasurer, Sanfordian Ernest M. Goodall president.^[5]

With a design from Edward O. Mosher,^[6] AEC produced a prototype in a shed in Lawrence, debuting it at the Boston Automobile Show in March 1904.^[7]

The company offered three models, all with Mosher's 12 hp (8 kW) two-cylinder engine,^[8] on the same 84 in (2134 mm) wheelbase: a US$850 roadster, a US$950 tonneau (which had an unusual swing-out split front seat),^[9] and a US$1000 Cape Cod Tourer.^[10] By contrast, the Yale side-entrance tourer sold for US$1000, the Model S $700, the high-volume Oldsmobile Runabout went for US$650,^[11] Western's Gale Model A was US$500,^[12] a Brush Runabout could be had for US$485,^[13] the Black as low as $375,^[14] and the Success hit the amazingly low US$250.^[15] At the upper end of the AEC range, a Cole 30 or Colt Runabout was priced at US$1500,^[16], while an Enger 40 was US$2000.^[17]

While Long bragged, "We could sell one thousand cars in three months if we could make them",^[18] by April 1905, production had ceased and the Maine Alpaca Company had taken over the factory.

[edit] Notes

^ Kimes, Beverly Rae. The Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942 (Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 1989), p.30.
^ Kimes, p.30.
^ Kimes, p.42.
^ Kimes, p.30.
^ Kimes, p.42.
^ Kimes, p.42.
^ Kimes, p.42.
^ Kimes, p.42.
^ Kimes, p.42.
^ Kimes, p.42.
^ Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925 (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.32.
^ Clymer, p.51.
^ Clymer, p.104.
^ Clymer, p.61.
^ Clymer, p.32.
^ Clymer, p.63 & p.104.
^ Clymer, p.104.
^ Kimes, p.42.

[edit] Sources

Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925. New York: Bonanza Books, 1950.
Kimes, Beverly Rae. The Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 1989. ISBN0-87341-111-0.