Anderson Carriage Co. (1907-1910)
Anderson Electric Car Co. (1911-1918)
Detroit Electric Car Co. (1919-c1939)
Detroit, Michigan
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| This is a Detroit Electric wood wheel hub emblem (1911-1918) mjs Size: 48mm diameter MM: Unknown |
The Anderson Carriage Company was established in 1884 and moved to Detroit in 1895. In 1907 Anderson moved into the automotive field with the introduction of the Detroit Electric, an urban electric motor car with an advertised 80 miles range on a single battery charge. The car was particularly targeted at women drivers and this was one of the reasons for its continued success. In 1909 Anderson bought the Elwell-Parker Company of Cleveland, which had supplied electric motors to Baker Electric and others, so Anderson was then able to build all the components of the Detroit Electric.
Production of the Detroit Electric grew year by year from 1907 and reached 1,500 in 1910. In 1911, the company was renamed the Anderson Electric Car Company. Some Detroit Electric models in the 1910-1912 period were given false hoods and radiators to make them look like conventional gasoline cars, although most models retained their distinctive electric car appearance. The Anderson Electric Car Company had a program to buy back some of their earlier cars and "remanufacture" them with changes to modernize them. These remanufactured cars were sold as new but kept their old serial numbers. Detroit Electric production continued to grow and reached about 4,700 by 1914. In 1919, after the retirement of William Anderson, the company name was changed again to the Detroit Electric Car Company.
Commercial vehicles were built from 1909, starting with a 1-ton truck with a single Elwell-Parker electric motor and side-chain drive. The range of trucks grew to a 2-ton vehicle by 1916. Light trucks and van production continued until 1922 when the company tested a milk delivery van with four alternative driving positions; at the front, at the rear, and on either running-board. Three years later the Detroit Industrial Vehicle Company was founded to develop a gasoline engine version of this delivery vehicle to be called the Divco (see Divco).
Electric cars were falling out of fashion by the early 1920's but the Detroit Electric remained in production, although mainly on commercial vehicles. Some further Detroit Electric passenger car models were redesigned to look like gasoline cars with a false hood and radiator. After the Great Depression in 1930, sales fell sharply and production was eventually limited to an individual-order basis. Detroit Electric cars became identical to gasoline cars in appearance, some using Willys-Overland coachwork. Some of the final Detroit Electric models in the later 1930's used Dodge hoods and radiator grilles.
America's most famous and longest-lived electric car, the Detroit Electric, quietly disappeared from the automotive field by about 1939.
Emblems
Precise details of Detroit Electric emblems and their dates of use are difficult to confirm with certainty, so some dates given below may be speculative.
The Detroit Electric had a distinctive logo that was shown in Detroit Electric advertisements from 1909, see logo shown below:
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| The Detroit Electric Logo |
For most of its life, the Detroit Electric did not carry an emblem on the body of the vehicle but did display the "Detroit" name on the hubcaps, the step plates and on a small maker's nameplate/serial plate attached to the body or on the dash. The following show examples used by the Anderson Carriage Company:
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| This is a Detroit Electric Model D hubcap (1910) bonhams |
This is the originally black background painted, metal Detroit Electric hub emblem shown below. This Detroit Electric hub emblem is scarce.
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| This is a Detroit Electric hub emblem (1907-1910) mjs Size: 51mm diameter MM: Unknown |
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| This is a Detroit Electric Model D step plate (1910) bonhams |
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| This is a Detroit Electric Model D serial plate (1910) bonhams |
From about 1910 to 1912, some Detroit Electric models had a false hood and radiator to make the car appear more conventional but they did not carry a radiator emblem. The following photo shows a restored Detroit Electric, which is stated to be from 1912. The car displays the "Detroit Electric" logo on a script mounted on a false radiator. This Detroit Electric logo style radiator script is not seen on original period photos but is seen on several restored Detroit Electric cars and has most likely been produced specially for the restoration, but I cannot confirm this.
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| Detroit Electric showing a radiator script (1912) vancouver electric vehicle association |
From 1911, the Detroit Electric company name changed to the Anderson Electric Car Company, which appeared on the hub emblems, sill plates, step plates and nameplates, see examples shown below.
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| This is a Detroit Electric wood wheel hub emblem (1911-1918) mjs Size: 48mm diameter MM: Unknown |
The following is a Detroit Electric wire wheel hub emblem. This Detroit Electric hub emblem is scarce.
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| This is a Detroit Electric wire wheel hub emblem (c1914-1918) mjs Size: 56mm diameter MM: None |
The following is an Anderson Electric Car Company Detroit Electric sill plate:
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| This is a Detroit Electric sill plate (c1916) mjs Size: 307mm wide 26mm high |
The following is a Detroit Electric step plate:
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| This is a Detroit Electric step plate (c1918) mjs Size: 210mm wide 103mm high |
The following is a Detroit Electric nameplate/serial plate:
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| This is a Detroit Electric nameplate/serial plate (c1918) mjs Size: 89mm wide 25mm high |
The following is a Detroit Electric patent plate. This Detroit Electric patent pale is rare.
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| This is a Detroit Electric patent plate (c1916) mjs Size: 66mm wide 33mm high |
The company name was changed to the Detroit Electric Car Company in 1919 and the Detroit Electric hub emblem was changed to the design shown below. Originally, the Detroit Electric hub emblem had the letters and borders finished in polished nickel on a dull black background. This Detroit Electric hub emblem appears to have been superseded later in 1919 but reappeared in the later 1920's. This Detroit Electric hub emblem is scarce.
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| This is a Detroit Electric hub emblem (1919) mjs Size: 50mm diameter MM: None |
In 1919, some Detroit Electric models were given a false hood and Fiat style radiator and carried a radiator emblem, as shown on the following Detroit Electric brochure cover and newspaper advertisement:
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| Detroit Electric brochure (c1919) historicnewengland |
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| Detroit Electric ad with rad emblem (1919) ld |
This Detroit Electric radiator emblem is seen on the following restored Detroit Electric Model 82 from late 1920:
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| Detroit Electric Model 82 radiator emblem (1920) rmsothebys |
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| Detroit Electric radiator emblem (1920) rmsothebys |
This is the Detroit Electric radiator emblem shown below, which originally had polished nickel letters and borders in a dull black background. This Detroit Electric emblem is rare.
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| This is a Detroit Electric radiator emblem (1919-c1925) sam Size: Unknown MM: Unknown |
The same emblem was also used as the hub emblem, see example shown below:
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| This is a Detroit Electric hub emblem (c1920) ms |
The "Detroit Electric" name was also displayed on the sill plates where fitted, see cast metal example shown below:
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| Detroit Electric sill plate (1926) rmsothebys |
The Detroit Electric radiator emblem seen from 1919 appears to have continued on some Detroit Electric models into the early 1930's, see surviving 1931 Detroit Electric Model 99 showing possible radiator emblem:
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| Detroit Electric Model 99 Coupe showing radiator emblem (1931) sportscarmarket |
Detroit Electric models in the later 1930's did not carry a radiator emblem but continued to display the "Detroit Electric" name on the hub emblems, which were the same design as the hub emblem shown earlier for 1919, see surviving 1937 Detroit Electric example shown below:
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| Detroit Electric Model 99 without a radiator emblem (1937) rmsothebys |
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| Detroit Electric hub emblem (1937) rmsothebys |
I am grateful to Ted Panofsky for his most helpful advice regarding Detroit Electric cars and their emblems. Any errors in my interpretation of this advice is entirely down to me.
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