American (1916 automobile)
The American was an American automobile that was from 1917 to 1924 by the American Motors Corporation in Plainfield (New Jersey ) was built. The Company sold the car under the name American Balanced Six and Six American. These were a clothing manufacturer, that is, the cars were assembled from various foreign -made components. For example, did the clutches of Borg & Beck, the transmission of Warner, the carburetor Stromberg and the engines of Rutenber.
The company was never very large; the largest annual production of 1,400 automobiles is recorded for 1920. This year, the old 6-cylinder engine with 45 bhp Rutenber - (33 kW) by a six-cylinder Herschell - Spillman of 58 bhp (43 kW) was replaced. The American was commonly known as the " Smiling Auto" markets, which the company wanted to indicate that the car ran for many miles without any problems. 1923, did the Company together with the Bessemer Truck Company and in October it traded under Amalgamated engine, also the company Northway and Winther belonged to the company network. Long did not consider this construct, because before 1924, the snow melted, it was necessary to adjust the production. A total of approximately 6,000 vehicles emerged.
For some time, the automotive engineer and racing driver Louis Chevrolet was employed as chief engineer for American.