Hatfield Motor Vehicle Company was a pioneer brass era American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 company, built in Miamisburg

Miamisburg, Ohio

Miamisburg is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,181 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, in 1907 and 1908.

The company was incorporated in 1906 by Charles B. Hatfield, Sr. and Jr., in Cortland

Cortland, New York

Cortland is a city in Cortland County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 18,740. It is the county seat of Cortland County.The City of Cortland, near the west border of the county, is surrounded by the Town of Cortlandville....

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. Variously calling the car the Buggyabout and Unique, it was a high wheeler

High Wheeler

The high wheeler was an early car body style virtually unique to the United States.It is typified by large-diameter slender wheels, frequently with solid tires, to provide ample ground clearance on the primitive roads in much of the country at the turn of the 20th century...

 with an aircooled two-cylinder four cycle engine, friction transmission

Transmission (mechanics)

A machine consists of a power source and a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Merriam-Webster defines transmission as: an assembly of parts including the speed-changing gears and the propeller shaft by which the power is transmitted from an engine to a...

, and chain drive

Chain drive

Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles...

. It offered solid tire

Tire

A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...

s on large wheels (38 in {96.5 cm} front, 40 in {102 cm} back). By spring 1907, the company had moved to Miamisburg to begin production.

For 1907, the four-place Model B had a 12 hp (8 kW) twin on a 74 in (1880 mm) wheelbase at US$600, the Model C a 14 hp four and a 101 in (2565 mm) wheelbase at US$750, while in 1908, the B grew to a 78 in (1981 mm) wheelbase at US$650, seating just two. In comparison, the Yale

Kirk Manufacturing Company (automobile company)

Kirk Manufacturing Company was a pioneer brass era American automobile company, built at 958 Oakwood Avenue, Toledo, Ohio, from 1902 until 1905....

 tourer

Touring car

A touring car, or tourer, is an open car seating five or more. Touring cars may have two or four doors. Often, the belt line is lowered in the front doors to give the car a more sportive character. They were often fitted with a folding roof and side curtains. Engines on early models were either in...

 sold for US$1000, $700 for the Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

 Model S $700, the high-volume Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...

 Runabout

Oldsmobile Curved Dash

The gasoline powered Curved Dash Oldsmobile is credited as being the first mass-produced automobile, meaning that it was built on an assembly line using interchangeable parts. It was introduced by the Oldsmobile company in 1901 and produced through 1907...

 US$650, Western

Western Tool Works (automobile company)

Western Tool Works was a pioneering brass era automobile manufacturer in Galesburg, Illinois.Western in 1905 produced the Gale Model A, an open roadster, for sale at US$500, which was less than high-volume Oldsmobile Runabout, at US$650, the Ford "Doctor's Car" at US$850, or the Holsman high...

's Gale Model A was US$500, a Brush Runabout

Brush Motor Car Company

This article is about a USA auto-maker. For the British rail-locomotive company, see Brush TractionBrush Motor Company, or the "Brush Runabout Company," based in Detroit, Michigan, was founded by Alanson Partridge Brush , who designed a light car with a wooden chassis This article is about a USA...

 US$485, the Black

Black Motor Company

The Black was a brass era United States automobile, built at 124 East Ohio Street, Chicago, Illinois, in 1906.It was a high wheeler buggy priced at a surprisingly low US$375-$450, when Gale's Model A was US$500, the high-volume Oldsmobile Runabout went for US$650, and the Ford "Doctor's Car" was...

 could be as low as $375, and the Success

Success Automobile Manufacturing Company

Success was a brass era United States automobile, built at 532 De Ballviere Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, in 1906.It was a high wheeler buggy priced at an exceedingly low US$250...

 hit the amazingly low US$250.

Hatfield bodies and chassis

Chassis

A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...

 were provided by Kauffman Buggy Company, located across town, and as receivership

Receivership

In law, receivership is the situation in which an institution or enterprise is being held by a receiver, a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights." The receivership remedy is an equitable remedy that emerged in...

 loomed in spring 1908, Hatfield merged with Kauffman to form Advance Motor Vehicle Company

Kauffman Motor Vehicle Company

Kauffman Motor Vehicle Company was a pioneer brass era American automobile company, built in Miamisburg, Ohio, from 1909 until 1912.The company was begun in 1906 as the Kauffman Buggy Company, providing bodies and chassis for Hatfield, located across town...

 in June.

The Hatfields would move to Elmira

Elmira, New York

Elmira is a city in Chemung County, New York, USA. It is the principal city of the 'Elmira, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses Chemung County, New York. The population was 29,200 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Chemung County.The City of Elmira is located in...

 to manufacture trucks (in conjunction with D. H. McConnell, G. C. Brown, and G. W. Blanchard), while Charles, Jr., would later design the O-We-Go

O-We-Go

The O-We-Go was an American cyclecar manufactured in 1914. The tandem-seat automobile sold for $385; it was built in Owego, New York. At least one car is still known to survive....

 cyclecar

Cyclecar

Cyclecars were small, generally inexpensive cars manufactured mainly between 1910 and the late 1920s.-General description:Cyclecars were propelled by single cylinder, V-twin or more rarely four cylinder engines, often air cooled. Sometimes these had been originally used in motorcycles and other...

.

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.