E-M-F and Flanders: the cars South Bend sold to the world but did not build

1908 — 1913

The South Bend side, stated first: No E-M-F or Flanders car was built in South Bend in the record. The cars were made in Detroit and at Walkerville, Ontario. South Bend's part in the two makes was the part its wagon empire was built for: the money, the distribution and, at the end, the name. The narrative — the September 1908 contract that made Studebaker the E-M-F's exclusive distributor, Fred Fish's purchase of a third of the company that year and of the remainder in 1910, the million-dollar campaign Studebaker directed to remedy the early cars' defects for their owners, and the rebadging of the two lines as the Studebaker 30 (the ex-E-M-F) and the Studebaker 20 (the ex-Flanders) through the end of 1912 — stands whole in the Studebaker section and is cross-referenced here, not retold. What this entry carries is the production record of the two makes at documented size, because it is the scale of what South Bend was selling.

The E-M-F record: The E-M-F Company of Detroit was founded in 1908 by Byron Everitt, William Metzger and Walter Flanders — the initials are the company. Its Model 30 was a four-cylinder car of thirty horsepower, and the make rose fast: in its first full year, 1909, E-M-F ranked fourth in United States production, behind Ford, Buick and Maxwell, on the speedway history's account of the Everitt record. The quality troubles that made the cars a byword — and made the South Bend remedy campaign necessary — are the Studebaker section's telling. After the 1910 buyout the make was a Studebaker property built in Detroit, and its last cars were sold as Studebakers.

The Flanders record: When Everitt and Metzger left E-M-F in 1909, Walter Flanders stayed — and persuaded the Studebaker brothers, substantial E-M-F stockholders and its sole distributors, to buy the defunct De Luxe Motor Company's Detroit factory and build there a cheaper challenger to the Ford. The Flanders Automobile Company was organized in 1910, and its one product, the Flanders 20, was patterned on the smaller E-M-F pattern: a four-cylinder engine of twenty horsepower on a 100-inch wheelbase — lengthened to 102 inches for 1912 — priced at 750 dollars in 1910, then less than a Model T. In its first year the 20 came two ways: a two-passenger runabout at the 750 dollars and a four-passenger touring car at 790. The cars were sold only through Studebaker dealerships, and were built also in Canada, by the E-M-F Company of Canada at Walkerville.

The marque record counts the 20's production two ways, and both print: 31,514 cars in its three years on the Kimes-cited company record, against 30,707 in the Studebaker Drivers Club chapter's account of the model. In 1911, on the marque history's account, E-M-F and Flanders together ranked second in the industry. In 1912 Studebaker took over both companies completely and sold the cars as its own; for 1913, on the Drivers Club account, redesigned successors replaced them as the Studebaker 35 and the Studebaker 25. One pointer to the truck record belongs here: Studebaker's first gasoline commercial vehicle was a delivery car built on the Flanders 20 chassis, as the Drivers Club's truck history carries it. And one disambiguation: the Flanders Motor Company of late 1912 — the Everitt and Metzger reorganization whose shell became the Maxwell Motor Company — is a second, different company from the Flanders Automobile Company of this entry, and its Maxwell ending is not this marque's fate.

Sources:

1. The Studebaker section of this history — the September 1908 distribution contract, the 1908 and 1910 stock purchases, the owner-remedy campaign, the Studebaker 30 and Studebaker 20 rebadges through 1912; cross-referenced, not retold.
2. The Flanders Automobile Company record in the Kimes-cited marque references — Detroit, 1910–1913; the product sold through Studebaker dealerships only; the Model 20's four-cylinder twenty-horsepower engine, 100-inch wheelbase (102 inches in 1912) and $750 price of 1910; Walkerville construction by the E-M-F Company of Canada; 31,514 cars built in three years; the 1912 Studebaker takeover entire.
3. The Studebaker Drivers Club's chapter and truck histories — the Flanders 20's production as 30,707; the 1913 succession by the Studebaker 35 and Studebaker 25; the Flanders 20 chassis under Studebaker's first gasoline delivery car.
4. First Super Speedway's account of the Everitt record — E-M-F fourth in United States production in 1909, behind Ford, Buick and Maxwell; the marque histories for the combined E-M-F and Flanders second place of 1911.