Car de Luxe

Car de Luxe was the public automobile marque of De Luxe Motor Car Company, organized in Toledo, Ohio, in 1906 with Nathan F. Kaufman as president and Daniel W. Kaufman as general manager. The new concern occupied the former Kirk Manufacturing/Yale automobile factory and developed a large, high-priced car rather than continuing the small Yale range. In October 1906 De Luxe merged with Carl H. Blomstrom's legally troubled C. H. Blomstrom Motor Company of Detroit, maker of the Queen. Queen and Car de Luxe are related corporate lineages, but Queen models retain their own badge and chronology; the merger did not make every prior Queen a Car de Luxe. Car de Luxe production is securely catalogued from 1907. Model A was the only 1907 family: a seven-passenger touring car on a 121-inch/307 cm wheelbase, powered by a 6,755 cc overhead-valve inline-four generally rated 40/50 or 50 hp and priced around $5,000. The unusual valve gear used one rocker per cylinder operated through a push-pull rod. Its rear arrangement separated load support from final drive: an I-beam dead axle carried vehicle weight while a separate differential unit transmitted power. Model B replaced it for 1908 on the same wheelbase and engine. Seven-seat touring, four-seat runabout and seven-seat limousine-landaulet bodies were catalogued; for 1909 the engine rating became 50/60 hp and the body list included touring, four-/five-seat close-coupled touring and seven-seat limousine forms. These coachwork and rating changes remain one Model B generation. The firm moved its headquarters and operations to a new 15-acre Clark Street/Jefferson Avenue Detroit site by 1907–08. Fewer than 100 cars are reported for 1908, and no complete production ledger survives. Production ended in 1909—some summaries round the marque through 1910, likely reflecting disposal or corporate aftermath. Everitt-Metzger-Flanders acquired the plant in 1909 to build the Flanders 20; Studebaker later absorbed E-M-F. Two model rows account for the complete published range. Car de Luxe is distinct from Queen, the separate Spacke-made De Luxe engine, Pontiac or other 'De Luxe' trim labels, Cadillac DeVille usages and generic luxury-car descriptions.

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