Smith Automobile Company

Terry Stafford was testing his first car by February, 1900. Lacking operating capital, he gained financing from the artificial limb manufacturing brothers Anton and Clement Smith. The Smith brothers financed the building of a factory and the first automobiles were sold to the public in August, 1902. Early two-cylinder Smiths were marketed as Veracity with Smith becoming the marque name with the introduction of larger cars.

Smith Automobile Company was formed in November 1904 with a capitalization of $100,000.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w6oAAAAAMAAJ&q=%22smith+automobile%22 |title=Motor Age |date=1904 |publisher=Class Journal Company |language=en}} Terry Stafford designed a new four-cylinder car with shaft-drive introduced as a mid year-model in 1906.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1BZaAAAAYAAJ&q=%22smith+automobile%22 |title=Automotive Industries |date=1906 |publisher=Chilton Company |language=en}}

The Great Smith of 1907 was priced at $2,500 ({{Inflation|US|2500|1907|fmt=eq}}) with a 318 in³ (5213 cc) (4.5×5-inch, 114×127mm) water-cooled four, four-speed sliding gear transmission (three forward, one reverse), multi-disk clutch.Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925 (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.54. It featured 34×4 in (86×10 cm) spoke wheels and a 107 in (2718 mm) wheelbase.Clymer, p.54. Smith advertised heavily that almost all parts were built in their own factory under their own patents.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MnTPHt_y9qIC&dq=%22great+smith%22&pg=RA7-PA102 |title=Automobile Trade Journal and Motor Age |date=1906 |publisher=Chilton Company |language=en}}

In 1908, a Great Smith became the first automobile to make it to the top of Pikes Peak.McConnell, Curt (1995). Great Cars of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska Press. {{ISBN|0-8032-3163-6}} In 1908 and 1909, the Smith brothers sold their interests in the company and Michigan investors took over with plans to move the factory to Grand Rapids, Michigan. This was opposed by A.L.A.M. and Smith remained in Topeka.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1BZaAAAAYAAJ&q=%22smith+automobile%22 |title=Motor World |date=1906 |publisher=Chilton Company |language=en}} In 1910 Smith Automobile made a plea for financial assistance to Topeka residents to save the company but by December, 1910 Smith Automobile Company was in the hands of a Receiver.

Upon exiting the automobile business, Anton Smith reportedly destroyed all the files and records of the company in a large bonfire.{{cite book |last1=Georgano |first1=G.N. |title=The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present |date=1968 |publisher=E.P. Dutton & Co. |location=New York |page=523}} Terry Stafford left the company in 1908 to build an automobile under his own name.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xClhG6eV7gAC&q=stafford |title=The Horseless Age: The Automobile Trade Magazine |date=1908 |publisher=Horseless Age Company |language=en}} The Stafford Motor Car Company lasted until 1915. President Harry Truman owned a Stafford Automobile.{{cite web |title=The Stafford Automobile & The Stafford Motor Car Co. |url=http://www.american-automobiles.com/Stafford.html |accessdate=10 March 2015 |website=American Automobiles |publisher=Farber and Associates, LLC}}

The Smith automobile plant was sold to Charles and George Southwick in 1911 who built remaining Smith cars from parts on hand. The plant was sold to a silo manufacturer in 1912.

The Kansas Historical Society has a red and black Great Smith on display.

File:1905 Smith Surrey from Smith Catalog.jpg|1905 Smith Surrey from a Smith Automobile catalog

File:1906 Smith 24-Hp Touring car article The Automobile magazine.jpg|1906 Smith 24-hp Touring Car from The Automobile

File:1906 Smith Four-Cylinder article The Automobile magazine.jpg|1906 Smith Four-cylinder Touring Car with Shaft-drive from The Automobile

File:1907 Great Smith fro article in Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal.jpg|1907 Great Smith Touring Car from article in Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal

File:1911 Great Smith Cruiser in Hand Book of Gasoline Automobiles.jpg|1911 Great Smith Cruiser from Hand Book of Gasoline Automobiles

File:1911 Great Smith Touring Car in Hand Book of Gasoline Automobiles.jpg|1911 Great Smith Touring Car from Hand Book of Gasoline Automobiles

File:1906 Great Smith small advertisement in Motor magazine.jpg|1906 Great Smith advertisement in Motor magazine

File:1907 Great Smith advertisement in 1906 Motor Way.jpg|1907 Great Smith in Motor Way

File:1910 Great Smith Cars advertisement detail from Motor Age.jpg|1910 Great Smith advertisement from Motor Age

• Brass Era car
• List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.kshs.org/cool3/greatsmith.htm Kansas State Historical Society -Great Smith Automobile]
• [https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/smith-automobile-company/15498 Kansas State Historical Society - Smith Automobile Company]

{{Commons category|Smith Automobile Company}}

Category:Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States

Category:Economy of Topeka, Kansas

Category:American companies established in 1902

Category:1902 establishments in Kansas

Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1902

Category:American companies disestablished in 1912

Category:1912 disestablishments in Kansas

Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1911

Category:Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Kansas

Category:Veteran vehicles

Category:Brass Era vehicles

Category:1900s cars

Category:1910s cars

Category:Cars introduced in 1902

Category:Cars discontinued in 1911