Ben Hur (automobile)

Share of the Ben-Hur Motor Company, issued 26. October 1916
The Ben Hur Touring Car from McClure's Automobile Yearbook 1917–18.

The Ben-Hur Motor Company was incorporated in 1916 in the state of Delaware, with the cars being built by L. L. Allyn in Willoughby, Ohio.

Features

  • Chassis with a wheelbase of 126 inches
  • Buda six cylinder engine with splash and forced feed oiling system
  • Bosch high-tension ignition magneto
  • Westinghouse separate motor for starting
  • Disc clutch and selective sliding gear set with three speeds forward and reverse
  • 19 gallon gasoline tank is mounted on rear with a two-gallon reserve tank
  • Timken axles are used in front and rear with wire wheels on which 35x4 tires are mounted.[1]

Prices

  • Five and seven-passenger touring - $1875 (equivalent to $44,591 in 2023)
  • Seven-passenger Sedan - $2750 (equivalent to $65,400 in 2023)
  • Four-passenger Roadster - $1875[2]

Ben-Hur exhibited a cloverleaf roadster at the 1917 New York Auto Show.[3] In February 1918 Allyn announced that between 30 and 40 cars had been shipped to dealers, and that plans called for five to ten cars a week for the time being, owing to the difficulty in securing bodies. The company had a factory with a capacity of building 20 cars per day. A meeting was scheduled in March to increase capitalisation, but by May 1918 the company was in receivership.[4]

Notes

  1. ^ Automobile Journal, Volume 42. 1916.
  2. ^ Automobile year book. McClure's Magazine, Automobile Dept. 1917.
  3. ^ "Auto Show Breaks Records For Sales" (PDF). The New York Times. January 13, 1917. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  4. ^ Kimes, Beverly Rae (1996). Standard Catalog of American Cars: 1805-1942. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. p. 1612. ISBN 0-87341-428-4.


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