Tidaholms Bruk was founded in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 and over the years it merged with several smaller industries into woodworking and the making of carts. In the small community of Sandhem

Sandhem

Sandhem is a locality situated in Trollhättan Municipality, Trollhättan County, Sweden with 60,000 inhabitants in 2007....

 outside Tidaholm

Tidaholm

Tidaholm is a locality and the seat of Tidaholm Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden, with 7,920 inhabitants in 2005.-History:Early Tidaholm was primarily agricultural. An ironworks factory was established in 1799 at the site of the Holmagarden forge. The ironworks were replaced in 1868...

 the brothers Gottfrid and David Lindström in 1895 had a workshop where they made Kronan

Kronan (bicycle)

Kronan bicycles are marketed by Kronan Trademark AB, also known as Kronan AB. Kronan AB was established in June 1997 by three former-students, John Wahlbäck and two brothers Henry and Martin Avander...

 bicycles. After a while Gottried got tired of making bicycles and went to USA to study the budding automobile industry and returned full of new ideas. He was a workaholic and he worked late into the nights to create the Tidaholmsbilen (the Tidaholm car). Most of the parts were made within the works. Engine blocks and pistons in the foundry, the frame in the smithy, transmission in the mechanical workshop, woodwork in the wood workshop. In 1903 it was time for the first start attempt which was successful and the first Tidaholm car could roll out of the workshop under its own power.

The first model was called Tor I and was powered by a two cylinder engine producing about 10 hp at 800 rpm. It could cary 1.5 tons and had a curb weight of 2.7 tons. It was sold to Surte Glasbruk and was used to transport peat

Peat

Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...

. The high reliability of the car inspired the managing director Victor Johansson to put Lindström in charge of building Tor II which was finished in 1905. Tor II had three gears forward and one reverse. It was used for demonstrations at the country fair in Skara

Skara

Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18595 inhabitants in 2005. Despite its small size, it has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. One of Sweden's oldest high schools, Katedralskolan , is situated in Skara...

 in 1905. By 1907-1910 the manufacturing had come so far that the works built a small series of ten chassis of type TB, a combined truck and personnel car, or open bus powered by a four cylinder engine giving about 12 hp. Four personnel cars were built in 1911 or 1912 the first probably using an imported German body. The second was a test car for a possible larger production. When Tidaholms Bruk folded in 1934 the car was sold to a blacksmith and its fate is unknown. The third car was exported to Russia and delivered to a Grand Duke in St Petersburg. The Thulin logo in the front was written in Cyrillic letters on that car. The fourth car was sold to firefighters in Uppsala.

Tidaholms Bruk also sold German Fafnir

Fafnir (automobile)

Fafnir was a German engine and vehicle manufacturer based in Aachen. They made a range of cars between 1908 and 1926.The company was founded in 1894 producing needles. With the growth of the bicycle industry, they started to make wheel spokes...

 cars and Argus

Argus (automobile)

The Argus was a German automobile manufactured by Internationale Automobilzentrale KG Jeannin & Co from 1902 to 1904, then Argus Motoren-Gesellschaft Jeannin & Co from 1904 to 1906, and then Argus Motoren-Gesellschaft m.b.H...

 and Deutz

Deutz AG

Deutz AG is an engine manufacturer, based in Cologne, Germany.-History:The company was founded by Nikolaus Otto, inventor of the four-stroke internal combustion engine, in 1864 as N. A...

 engines. It's very possible both engines and body from German cars was used on Tidaholm cars. A car made for Stockholms Södra Spårvägar AB had a Bugatti

Bugatti

Automobiles E. Bugatti was a French car manufacturer founded in 1909 in Molsheim, Alsace, as a manufacturer of high-performance automobiles by Italian-born Ettore Bugatti....

 engine. From 1923 onwards all parts were made using a tolerance system making all parts interchangeable and standardised. They also had a testing department that tested the parts before they were assembled. In the 1920s buses became very popular and the works built special bus chassis. The engines were often four cylinder engines giving something like 40-50 hp. Starting in 1928 they worked in two shifts to be able to meet demand. In 1929 they introduced hydraulic four wheel brakes. In 1930 engineer Allan Lindström designed the first three axis bus chassis with both rear axles driven and three differentials. This was important for buses as it meant larger passenger space and softer running. The design also allowed a lower tire pressure. The first heavy truck with sleeping cabin was made in 1930. In 1931 they also made road trains for passenger transport where the bus held 37 passengers and the trailer 23. They were used by SJ

Statens Järnvägar

The Swedish State Railways or SJ, originally the Royal Railway Board , is a former government agency responsible for operating the state railways in Sweden....

 in Bohuslän

Bohuslän

' is a Swedish traditional province, or landskap, situated in Götaland on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea to the west, and the county of Østfold in Norway to the north...

.

Tidaholms Bruk made well built engines and they sold well, but experiments and new designs cost a lot of money and with the depression following the Kreuger crash the company was forced to close.