Carhartt

Carhartt was the automobile marque of the Carhartt Automobile Corporation, a separate vehicle venture created in March 1910 by Detroit work-clothing manufacturer Hamilton Carhartt. The company operated at Jefferson Avenue and Townsend Street (now Baldwin Street) and began building cars in August 1910 for the 1911 model year. Advertising traded heavily on the parent's reputation—claiming that 28 years of manufacturing success culminated in the car—even though that experience was in overalls, not automobiles. The venture entered the difficult Selden-patent era: accounts say the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers initially suggested a licence would be granted, then refused it after Carhartt had invested in plant and material, leaving the company exposed until the patent's broad claims collapsed on appeal. All documented Carhartt cars used Continental four-cylinder gasoline engines. The 1911 Junior Model J was rated 25 hp on a 118-inch/300 cm wheelbase and appeared as roadster and touring car. The larger 35 hp Four used the same wheelbase but six catalog body/model codes: Model A Gunboat Special, Model B Phaeton, Model C Runabout, Model D Coupe, Model G Landaulet and Model H Limousine. Published English summaries price the six Four forms at $2,250, while specialist accounts place the overall early range from roughly $1,100 upward; exact body-by-body equipment is not reconstructed. For 1912 the Junior kept Model J but changed enough to require annual specifications: 30 hp, a shorter 108-inch/274 cm wheelbase, and fore-door tourist runabout, limousine and coupe coachwork. The large range was simplified to Model B, now with 50 hp on the retained 118-inch chassis and fore-door touring flyabout, limousine and coupe forms priced about $2,500–$3,500. This reused Model B is not the prior year's 35 hp phaeton. Contemporary brand history says the automobile operation made around 300 pleasure cars per year; later specialist synthesis estimates approximately 500 in total. Neither is a model ledger, so no row receives an invented production count. Plans for commercial vehicles did not reach documented production. Facing financial trouble, Hamilton Carhartt ended automobile manufacture in March 1912 rather than risk the established clothing company. Monarch Motor Car Company took over the factory. Eight model-code families account for the complete published catalog, while annual bodies remain variants. No Carhartt automobile is believed to survive. The marque is distinct from the continuing Carhartt workwear company, Carhartt WIP, later apparel collaborations with automakers and similarly named Carhart or Carhartt-branded clothing products.

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