Page 14 - Wayne Dispatch Pages

Early car makers in Wayne

There were cars made in Wayne
before Ford? Yes! The first was made
by a man named Charles Collier, a
Civil War veteran, he moved to
Wayne around 1900 and opened a bi-
cycle repair shop at the corner of
Brush and Newberry. Known as a tin-
kerer, Collier put bicycle tires on a
buggy body and made a two- cylin-
der gas engine from scratch. It was tory and added an additional 1.2 mil-
the first car in town and caused lion square feet of factory space. Har-
much amazement, and it is said he roun managed to raise the capital
"ran around in it for years". and began production, making a few
Next, in 1910 a Company named thousand cars before WWI forced
Swift Automobiles came to town and them to stop and switch to artillery
built a large two-story factory build- shells. After the war they tried to go
ing on Clinton Street. They planned back to cars but struggled and
on making 5,000 cars per month, if closed in 1920. One and a half Har- Detroit Air Cooled Car - Made in Wayne. Photo courtesy of the Wayne Historical Museum
they could raise the stock. One sam- roun cars are known to exist today. cars have surfaced other than a few company in Detroit. Eventually Paige
ple car was made and displayed In 1923 the abandoned Swift fac- pictures. The factory, abandoned bought the factory, then merged with
around town, but the stock was tory was bought by the Detroit Air and full of the car company's blue- Graham to become Graham-Paige
never fully sold so production never Cooled Car company, which was prints, designs and tooling, burned Motors. The model 610 was made
started, and the company was done going to make a unique lightweight down a few years later. exclusively at the Wayne plant, as
by 1912. six-cylinder car in three different In 1924 the abandoned Harroun well as bodies for other Graham-
The next company was Harroun, models. Some cars were actually plant was bought by Gotfredson, an Paige models. They survived the de-
named for Ray Harroun, the winner made, orders were placed, and deal- auto body maker and upholsterer. pression but sales were slow, and
of the first Indy-500. He came to ers were lined up, but again not They would use the factory to make the Wayne plant closed in 1936.
Wayne in 1916 and bought the enough stock was sold and the com- heavy duty trucks as well as bodies Wayne was without a car maker until
closed Prouty and Glass Carriage fac- pany folded within a year. No known and upholstery for the Paige motor Ford arrived in the 50s.

14 · July 2023 · The Wayne Dispatch