The false marques tested and dispelled

Names that surface against this town, and do not verify

Lead: Four names actually returned by this section's searches were run against this town; none verifies as a New Carlisle, Indiana, marque, and each is dispelled by its own record. First, “Carlisle” itself: the Carlisle that nearly built cars was Carlisle, Pennsylvania — where in 1901 the press announced a Pennington automobile works (“Automobiles of a Novel Type Will Be Manufactured Here”) and the “Tractobile” episode followed — and the durable Carlisle in automotive commerce is Carlisle Tire & Rubber, founded 1917 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a tire and parts maker, never a car marque and never of this town. No “Carlisle” or “New Carlisle” automobile marque appears in the registries searched. Second, the car called up by the county seat's name: there is no production marque named “South Bend” in the records searched; South Bend's cars were sold as Studebaker (and, in its orbit, Studebaker-Garford, E-M-F, Erskine, and Pierce-Arrow under Studebaker control) — the city name is a place, not a marque, and in any case South Bend's place, not this town's.

Third, the Bendix buggy class, which splits into two records that must not be merged. Vincent Bendix's early venture is documented at two strengths that conflict on place: the Automotive Hall of Fame and biographical record credit him with designing and building 7,000 Bendix Motor Buggies in 1907–1909, built by the Triumph Motor Company at Cragin (Chicago), Illinois, for a Chicago firm; a separate registry tradition, including the Bendix automobile entry drawn from Indiana-built-automobile lists and Doyle's World's Automobiles, places “The Bendix Co., Logansport, Ind.” in 1908–1909. Both records are printed whole and unmerged here. Neither places a Bendix buggy works in New Carlisle, and the later Bendix of South Bend — brakes, starters, the proving ground — was a components giant, not a buggy builder on this ground. Fourth, the Ohio trap in automobile dress: New Carlisle, Ohio (Clark County), had its own auto-age fame, including John Dillinger's first bank robbery — dated June 10, 1933, in the FBI chronology and June 21, 1933, in the Dillinger biographical record, the date conflict noted whole — a robbery of an Ohio bank by an Indiana-born robber, which belongs to Ohio's New Carlisle and is never used here. Any “New Carlisle car” story that smells of Dillinger, Pennington, or tires resolves, on inspection, to Ohio, Pennsylvania, or parts — not to manufacture in St. Joseph County.

Sources:

1. Gardner Library (Cumberland County Historical Society), “The 'Tractobile': How Carlisle Almost Eclipsed Detroit” — Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1901 Pennington automobile announcements.
2. Carlisle Companies / Carlisle Tire & Rubber histories — founded 1917, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; inner tubes and tires, not automobiles.
3. Studebaker references (see boundary articles): South Bend production sold under Studebaker and affiliated names; no “South Bend” marque returned by searches.
4. Automotive Hall of Fame, Vincent Bendix entry (7,000 Bendix Motor Buggies, 1907–1909); Encyclopedia.com Bendix biography (built by Triumph Motor Co., Cragin, Illinois); contrasted with Bendix (automobile) registry entry and Doyle, The World's Automobiles (Bendix Co., Logansport, Indiana, 1908–1909) — conflict printed unmerged.
5. FBI, Dillinger chronology (June 10, 1933, New Carlisle, Ohio) and John Dillinger biographical record (June 21, 1933, New Carlisle, Ohio) — Ohio ground only.