 Ethel Littleton prepares to board a Beck Bus in this
promotional picture snapped near the Big
Four Bridge. |
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| Fred D. Clark of Sidney was a financial backer of the new
Bremac Motor Car Corporation in 1932. The project was a radical new idea in automobile
construction. The Bremac had no chassis frame and, as described by the company, seating in
the five-passenger sedan was the reverse of the usual, three passengers in front, two in
the rear. In mid-October, 1932, Bremac announced that its first prototype was under
construction in Sidney — and that the company expected to complete three cars of
different body model design for exhibition at the New York Automobile Show the following
month. It never made it to show. Another vehicle manufacturer was the C. D. Beck Company. It made large vehicles - primarily busses and motor homes. The company was located on the corner of Russell Road and Main Avenue. The structure now houses LeRoi International. Numerous parts for automobiles were produced in Sidney, Ohio. When the Anderson-Frazier Wheel partnership dissolved, James Anderson purchased the assets, and subsequently formed the Anderson Body Company. The firm made wooden steering wheels, automobile bodies, and associated parts for autos. It occupied the former Maxwell Mill site west of the Miami River, where Shelby Manufacturing now stands on Adams Street. The Tucker Woodworking Company’s wood products were used for invalid chairs, punching bag rims, bicycle wheels and automobile steering wheels. The company produced 75,000 car steering wheels in 1915. The Stolle Corporation manufactured fenders, radiator shells and other automobile parts. The Sidney Manufacturing Company was formed in 1907 with capital stock of $75,000 by leading industrialists Thedieck, Studevant, E.J. Griffis and attorney J. Hess, among others. It made metal seats and bodies for buggies, automobiles and trucks. Production output capacity was from 80,000 to 100,000 seats annually. The organization took possession of the old Maxwell Mill, which was purchased by Thedieck for $17,000. As with the Anderson Body Company, it was located where Shelby Manufacturing now stands on Adams Street.[Back] [Next] [Up] [New Search] Industry segment written in January, 1998 by Rich Wallace |