Durant Motors Inc. was established in 1921 by former General Motors CEO William "Billy" Durant following his termination by the GM board of directors and the New York bankers who financed GM.
21-519: Durant Motors attempted to be a full-line automobile producer of cars and fielded the Flint , Durant , and Star brands, which were designed to meet Buick , Oldsmobile , Oakland , and Chevrolet price points. Billy Durant also acquired luxury-car maker Locomobile of Bridgeport, Connecticut , at its liquidation sale in 1922; in theory, Locomobile gave him a product that would compete against Cadillac , Rolls-Royce , and Pierce-Arrow . Durant Motors had
42-629: A relationship with the Dort , Frontenac , and DeVaux automobile name badges. The Rugby line was the export name for Durant's Star car line. However, from 1928 to 1931, Durant marketed trucks in the US and Canadian markets under the badge Rugby Trucks. The Princeton, a model aimed at the Packard and Cadillac price points, was planned but never realized; also planned was the Eagle car line, but it never made it off
63-430: A supplier to many independent manufacturers of automobiles, tractors, trucks, and stationary equipment (such as pumps, generators , and industrial machinery drives) from the 1900s through the 1960s. Continental Motors also produced automobiles in 1932–1933 under the name Continental Automobile Company. The Continental Aircraft Engine Company was formed in 1929 to develop and produce its aircraft engines , and would become
84-528: The De Vaux brand name. When De Vaux-Hall collapsed in 1932, unable to pay creditors, Continental Motors assumed automobile assembly and marketed the vehicles under the Continental-De Vaux brand name for the balance of the 1932 model year. Continental Motors introduced a completely new line of Continental-branded automobiles for 1933. These cars were not based upon the 1931 De Vaux, a product of
105-607: The Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac factory. It was finally combined with another Lansing plant to become Lansing Car Assembly . That factory was closed on May 6, 2005. Durant's Flint, Michigan , factory was bought by the Fisher Body Division of General Motors, and built mostly Buick bodies until its 1987 closure. Durant's Oakland, California , plant, located at the northeast corner of East 14th Street (now International Blvd.) and Durant Avenue (also
126-523: The De Vaux-Hall, which had been using body dies left over from the former Durant produced by Durant Motors until 1930. The 1933 Continentals were marketed in three model ranges: the largest and most expensive was the six-cylinder Ace , next was a smaller six called the Flyer and also the low-priced four-cylinder Beacon . The 1933 Beacon roadster was the lowest price full-size car offered for sale in
147-537: The United States in the 1930s, costing only $ US335. None of these met with success in the depression era economy. At this same time, Dominion Motors Ltd. of Canada was building the same Flyer and Beacon cars under arrangement with Continental for sale in the Canadian market, and importing the larger Ace models. Dominion then converted to building Reo brand trucks. The Ace and Flyer models were discontinued at
168-615: The boundary between Oakland and San Leandro), later became a General Motors parts warehouse. Part of the plant survives as loft apartments and the Durant Square shopping center. The company's Canadian Leaside, Ontario , plant later became a factory for the Canadian Wire and Cable Company, though it was later demolished and is now a neighborhood shopping center. Durant's former plant in Elizabeth, New Jersey , housed one of
189-745: The close of the 1933 model year. Finding that its cars were unprofitable, Continental stopped assembling even Beacon automobiles in 1934. Continental was a major manufacturer of horizontally opposed 'flat four' airplane engines and supplied a similar engine for Sherman tanks during World War II. Apparently the US government contracts continued during the Korean War. As the jet engine began to replace piston engine powered airplanes, Continental began losing their military contracts. The jet engine technology thus creating an understandable end to Continental's military prosperity. When Korean War ended, Kaiser Corporation, who used Continental engines in all their vehicles,
210-627: The core business of Continental Motors, Inc. In 1905 , Continental Motors was born with the introduction of a four-cylinder, four stroke cycle L-head engine operated by a single camshaft . In August 1929, the Continental Motors Company formed the Continental Aircraft Engine Company as a subsidiary to develop and produce its aircraft engines. Continental Motors entered into the production of automobiles rather indirectly. Continental
231-469: The direction of Walter P. Chrysler had been working on a prototype for a proposed 6-cylinder car. Willys had to sell off this prototype as part of its efforts to raise cash during a financial crisis. Once acquired, this prototype was further modified to create the Flint. Following financial troubles at Durant Motors, the Flint was discontinued in 1927. The Flint was priced to compete with Buick , which
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#1732779885087252-969: The drafting tables. Durant co-founded a truck-making subsidiary, Mason Truck , and also acquired numerous ancillary companies to support Durant Motors. In 1927, the Durant line was shut down to retool for a brand-new, modernized car for 1928, re-emerging in 1928 with Durant, Locomobile, and Rugby lines in place, and dropping the Mason Truck and Flint automobile lines and the top-selling Star car in April 1928. In 1929, Locomobile went out of production. Initially, Durant Motors enjoyed success based upon Billy Durant's track record at General Motors, where he assembled independent makes Chevrolet, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac. However, when sales failed to meet volumes sufficient to sustain Durant Motors holdings,
273-678: The firm's financial footing began to slip. As a result, Durant Motors began losing market share and dealers. The final Durant-branded models rolled off the US assembly line in August 1931 at Lansing, but continued in Canada into 1932 under Dominion Motors, which also built the Frontenac. The Lansing, Michigan , Durant plant on Verlinden Avenue opened in 1920. After the demise of Durant, it remained closed until GM purchased it in 1935. It restarted production for GM's Fisher Body Division, later becoming
294-581: The first supermarkets in the 1930s, and then was used as a cookie bakery by Burry Biscuits for many years. It was in use as a warehouse when it was destroyed by fire in December 2011. Billy Durant died nearly broke at age 85 in 1947, the same year as Henry Ford , aged 83. Flint (automobile) The Flint was an automobile marque that was assembled by the Flint Motors Division, Flint, Michigan between 1923 and 1927. Flint Motors
315-567: The late 1930s 7 and 9 cylinder air cooled radial aircraft engines were adapted for use in armored vehicles. The W670 and R975 were considered very reliable by the British in North Africa, but were not developed further. Opposed: just after WWII an air cooled O6 was developed for armored vehicles. All were supercharged, AOS895-3 models had carburetors, -5 models had fuel injection with no increase in power, but greater fuel mileage. V type: in
336-475: The mid-1960s. However, Stutz built both single and dual overhead cam inline six-cylinder engines in, respectively, the late 1920s and early 1930s (sohc) and the early 1930s (dohc). Moreover, these were fitted in Stutz production cars (though their numbers were comparatively small). Particular models of John Deere tractors are currently being supplied by Continental since the ownership transfer to Korea, as stated on
357-528: The tractor's engine identification plate. Continental built many engines for the US military, some by license, and many of unusual type. Inline: several conventional gasoline I6s were built for trucks, the COA331 (licensed from REO), 6602, 22R, and AO895 (also used in some armored vehicles). Later the M-A-N licensed multifuel LDS427, LD465 and turbocharged LDT465 were developed, also for use in trucks. Radial: in
378-539: Was a wholly owned subsidiary of Durant Motors Company (United States). The Flint was considered an assembled car because Durant Motors used components manufactured by outside suppliers to build its automobile lines. The cars were powered by a 6-cylinder Continental engine , and its body stampings were made by Budd in Philadelphia . The origins of the Flint can be traced back to the Willys car company, which under
399-635: Was able to gain ownership of a Continental engine making factory.* It was during that time of downsizing Continental's operations that many Continental employees dispersed to find jobs elsewhere in the industry -those engineers finding new jobs at other companies like the newly formed American Motors, even Chevrolet. Kaiser, working with a Continental-designed engine, introduced the USA's first mass-produced OHC inline six-cylinder engine. It debuted in Kaiser-owned Jeep Corporation vehicles in
420-537: Was also assembled in Flint, Michigan. Automobiles produced by Flint should not be confused with those manufactured by the Flint Automobile Company , founded by A. B. C. Hardy in 1901, and which went out of business in 1903 after manufacturing only 52 automobiles in the $ 750–$ 850 price range. Continental Motors Company Continental Motors Company was an American manufacturer of internal combustion engines . The company produced engines as
441-605: Was the producer of automobile engines for numerous independent automobile companies in the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s, including Durant Motors Corporation which used the engines in its Star, Durant, Flint and Rugby model lines. Following the 1931 collapse of Durant, a group having interest in Durant Motors began assembling their own cars, the De Vaux-Hall Motors Company, using the Durant body dies, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Oakland, California, and under
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