History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests / compiled from the official records of the county, the newspapers and data of personal interviews, under the editorial supervision of Thaddeus D. Seeley.

330

HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY

Company, Vulcan Gear Works, and the Champion Manufacturing Company.
The Flanders Manufacturing Company operates nine plants,-five
in Pontiac and four in Chelsea, Washtenaw county.
Number i, formerly the Pontiac Motor Cycle Company, is now devoted to the manufacture of electric cars and has a daily capacity of
twenty. The original business was moved to Chelsea and comprises the
manufacture of every kind of automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, or other
parts that can be made from bars in automatic machines. The Chelsea
plant is known as Number 2.
Number 3, the drop-forging plant, was the first of the group to
commence operations, taking its first heat on the afternoon of December
8, IgIo. The plant forges not only for its own work, but for outside
manufacturers, and has a remarkably full line of steam hammers.
Plant Number 4 is at Chelsea.
Nurnber 5 (formerly Vulcan Gear Works), was moved from Detroit
and manufactures all kinds of gears, having a daily capacity of from
fifty to sixty complete transmission sets.
Number 6 is also located at Chelsea.
Number 7, the foundry (formerly the Pontiac Foundry Company),
turns out all kinds of castings of gray iron, brass, bronze and aluminum.
Number 8 is a Chelsea plant and Number 9, at Pontiac, is devoted
to the manufacture of the Champion Automatic Power Sprayer.
The estimated total output of the five Pontiac plants is valued at
$300,000 monthly, and they employ an average of eight hundred hands.
Present officers of the Flanders Manufacturing Company: Walter
E. Flanders, president; Don C. McCord, vice president and general
manager; Henry L. Stanton, secretary and treasurer; James B. Book,
Jr., assistant secretary and treasurer; Messrs. Flanders, J. N. Gunn,
Book, Scott Brown, William T. Barbour, McCord and W. S. J. Kopmeier, directors.
THE CARTERCAR COMPANY
The large plant of the Cartercar Company is devoted to the manufacture of what automobilists term "friction drive" cars, embracing
touring cars, roadsters, coupes and light-grade commercial autos. The
make is in contradistinction to "geared transmission" machines, and is
the invention of Byron J. Carter, formerly of Jackson, Michigan, who
commenced his experiments for a suitable metal to use for the friction
disc. He first tried aluminum, but discarded that in favor of an alloy,
which, as well as the retaining ring, is fully covered by patents. The
Cartercar Company was established in that city in October, 1908. The
Pontiac Spring and Wagon Works was operating a substantial plant,
which was utilized by the Motor Car Company of Detroit under the
name of the Cartercar Company.
The first friction-driven automobile appeared in 1903, only after
Mr. Carter had surmounted many difficulties, and the manufacture of
the Cartercar has since steadily progressed. Its largest model, a touring car, seats seven passengers. All the makes are self-starting, sim