Campbell (Kingston)

Campbell was the short-lived automobile marque of Theodore A. Campbell and George N. Campbell in Kingston, New York. The brothers were experienced automakers rather than first-time promoters: they had founded Imperial Automobile Company in Jackson, Michigan, in 1908, participated in its transition through Mutual Motors and Marion-Handley, and joined Robert C. Hupp and financier Willis George Emerson in organizing Emerson Motors Company in 1916. Emerson promised an extraordinarily cheap $395 four-cylinder car from Kingston but struggled to produce it—69 cars in the first quarter of 1917 before a brief rise to about five daily—and entered receivership amid stock-manipulation and fraud allegations. The Campbells withdrew in September 1917 and formed Campbell Motor Car Company for 1918. Short summaries sometimes call this a simple renaming of Emerson, but the more detailed chronology treats it as a new Campbell company continuing automobile work at the Kingston site. Its sole known product was a small open touring car with a four-cylinder engine rated 22 hp and an approximately 110-inch (279 cm) wheelbase. No authentic type code or model name survives. The $835 asking price was more than double Emerson's headline figure and exceeded Ford Model T touring-car prices; published Ford comparisons vary from $360 to $525 with model-year timing. That pricing, limited capital and the troubled predecessor context undermined sales. Receivership began in May 1919. Production is described both as 'only a few' and 'fewer than 600'; the latter is an upper bound rather than a trustworthy ledger total. Later local-history material says Campbell occupied the plant until 1921, which can reflect liquidation or residual property activity and does not extend automobile manufacture beyond 1919. The marque is disambiguated from Eric-Campbell, British and American Imperial makes, King, Allen-Kingston, Malcolm Campbell's Blue Bird record cars, Campbell coachbuilders and unrelated modern Campbell businesses.

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