Correja

Correja was the automobile marque built by Vandewater & Co., founded in 1908 at Iselin, New Jersey, by Edwin and F. C. Vandewater after their 1905–07 experience with the separate Eagle Automobile Company of Rahway. J. Correja was among the people associated with the business and became the source of the marque name. The first Correja was unveiled in August 1908 as a 1909 model. Vandewater candidly promoted high workmanship rather than radical originality. It used a 5,808 cc Waukesha four-cylinder initially quoted at 39 hp, a three-speed transmission, shaft drive, left-hand steering and a 110-inch wheelbase. Touring and several runabout/rumble-seat arrangements cost $1,900; in July 1909 the car was advertised as the Model T at 40 hp. Vandewater moved to Elizabeth in December 1909, leasing the 40,000-square-foot Heidritter building on Prince Street, and incorporated with $100,000 capital in 1910. Incorporators included J. Correja, F. C. Vandewater, E. Vandewater and S. R. Vandewater. The 1910 range split into Model 30 and Model 50 fours, with torpedo bodies and multiple wheelbases; the previous basic price rose to about $2,200. For 1911 a 35 hp short-wheelbase Four Speed Runabout is the only fully recoverable catalog entry. That became Correja's peak sales year at 120 automobiles, an annual company figure rather than a model total. The 1912 range expanded dramatically. Four-cylinder Models A, B and C shared a short 2,670 mm chassis and 35 hp rating; Model T used a longer 3,180 mm chassis. New 60 hp six-cylinder Models R and S used the long chassis as roadster and touring counterparts; a period advertising record prices the Model R roadster at $1,950 under the slogan 'Takes Every Hill and Always Will.' In 1913 Correja dropped the fours. Models C and J used 45 hp sixes as speed-roadster and touring configurations, while Models R and S used 65 hp sixes in corresponding roles. The final 1914 Six carried a published 34 hp rating on a 3,250 mm wheelbase and offered five-seat or seven-seat Knickerbocker touring bodies. Differing ratings may reflect engine changes or measurement conventions and are preserved rather than normalized. Fifteen catalog rows account for every published year/designation combination; official letters are retained because Correja reused C, R, S and T across different years and engine families. Bodies within one designation remain configurations. Public sources disagree whether the concern ended in February 1914 or continued nominal Correja activity into 1915; the bankruptcy record supports February 1914 as the end of factory production, with 1915 retained only as a later retrospective endpoint. No complete engine-displacement series, annual outputs beyond 1911, cumulative total, serial ledger or authenticated survivor registry is available. The former Elizabeth plant was later demolished. Correja remains distinct from the Vandewaters' earlier Eagle and from similarly spelled Corre, Corre-La Licorne and Toyota Corsa.

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