Briscoe

Automotive financier and industrialist Benjamin Briscoe established the Briscoe Motor Corporation after the 1913 collapse of his United States Motor Company combine. His earlier career had included financing David Buick, co-founding Maxwell-Briscoe, and operating Briscoe Frères at Billancourt, France. French design work informed the new marque, but production took place principally at Jackson, Michigan, with New York corporate offices. The first Briscoe appeared at the January 1914 New York Automobile Show. Its 33 hp L-head four, 107-inch wheelbase, unusually light composition body and single headlamp faired into the radiator created a recognizable 'cyclops' car. Briscoe advertised it as French design at an American price, although the $750 figure omitted a top, windshield and starter. The Model B remained the only series through 1915. For 1916 it became the longer 114-inch Model 4-38 and gained a 35 hp V8 companion, Model 8-38; buyers were even offered a later four-to-eight-cylinder conversion. In 1917 both gave way to the smaller Model B 4-24, whose 24 hp air-cooled four and gradually shortened chassis supported touring, roadster, runabout, Coachaire, sedan and coupe bodies through 1920. Its named commercial derivative, the Rapidelivery, used a high waterproof-Vehisote panel body and was promoted for economical day-and-night business service. The final 1921 Model 4-34 returned to 35 hp and offered touring, roadster, coupe and sedan bodies on a 109-inch wheelbase. Briscoe also created Canadian Briscoe Motor by combining with Brockville Atlas Automobile Company interests in Ontario. Canadian production began with the 1916 4-38 using Michigan mechanical parts and bodies made by Canada Carriage Company; it continued with the common American model range until 1921. Approximately 5,000 Canadian cars are estimated over five years, but they share the Briscoe model identities and are not duplicated as a separate marque. A destructive 1918 Canada Carriage fire removed about 200 jobs but did not immediately end Canadian assembly. Standard Catalog-derived annual figures report 56,941 Briscoes from 1914 through 1921, peaking at 10,237 in 1919; alternative contemporary industrial statistics differ and are not combined into false model totals. Benjamin Briscoe transferred the presidency to Clarence A. Earl in March 1921 and withdrew entirely in October. The corporation failed that year, ending both Jackson and Brockville manufacture. Earl founded Earl Motors in 1922, but Earl was a separate marque rather than a Briscoe continuation. Argo, Hackett and Lorraine were associated manufacturing ventures or separate badges and likewise are not Briscoe models. Six catalog families preserve the five chassis series and the separately marketed Rapidelivery without splitting annual body or wheelbase revisions into invented models.

Text adapted from “Briscoe” on Wikipedia ↗ · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗