McIntyre Automobile

• Name — W. H. McIntyre Company • Predecessor — W. H. Kiblinger Company Auburn, Indiana • Founder — William H. McIntyre • Fate — Bankruptcy • Successor — DeKalb Manufacturing Company, Fort Wayne, Indiana • Hq Location — Auburn, Indiana, United States • Products — Automobiles, Automotive parts • Production — 2,048 • Production Year — 1907-1915 • Brands — Kiblinger, McIntyre, IMP

The W. H. Kiblinger Company formed in 1887, manufactured buggies. After W. H. Kiblinger's death in 1894, William H. McIntyre co-purchased the company and began experimenting with automobiles as early as 1897. In 1907 Kiblinger began selling high-wheelers with tiller steering and two-cylinder air-cooled engines as the Kiblinger. Prices started at $250, which the company claimed was the "lowest price successful automobile on the road' The company grew to occupy a total of five buildings around Auburn, Indiana, and employed 400 men. After producing a few hundred Kiblingers, the company building the Success high-wheeler sued Kiblinger for patent infringement. William H. McIntyre resolved the lawsuit by buying out the Kiblinger partners and forming the W. H. McIntyre Company in December, 1908. • Illustration — alt= 1907 Kiblinger Model H Advertisement

W. H. McIntyre Company manufactured both buggies and high-wheelers. A line of two and four-cylinder high-wheelers on a non-patent infringing design, were offered. The McIntyre high-wheeler line of runabouts, tourers and trucks increased until ten different models were available. By 1911, McIntyre introduced a line of standard vehicles by taking over the 4-cylinder 40-hp America produced by the Motor Car Company (New York City), which was marketed as the McIntyre Special. The six-cylinder 40-hp McIntyre Limited was added for 1913, but McIntyre was viewed as a high-wheeler manufacturer and these cars did not sell well. • Illustration — alt= 1908 full-line McIntyre advertisement • Illustration — 1909 McIntyre advertisement • Illustration — alt= 1910 McIntyre 20-hp advertisement • Illustration — alt= 1911 McIntyre Special advertisement

In 1913 McIntyre introduced the IMP Cyclecar with a 15-horsepower V-twin engine designed by William Stout. McIntyre IMP's sold for $375, and the sales literature stated that they cost "just a 'penny a mile' to run!" Although IMP's sold well, over fifty companies had been formed during the "cyclecar craze" and by 1914 sales were ending. In 1914 McIntyre made a model 4-25 light car based on the IMP but production of all McIntyres soon ended. • Illustration — alt= 1913 IMP Cyclecar Advertisement • Illustration — alt= 1914 IMP Cyclecar in London • Illustration — alt= 1915 McIntyre Model 25 advertisement

James B. Tudhope of the Tudhope Carriage Companyin Orillia, Ontario, formed the Tudhope-McIntyre Company to build high-wheelers in 1908. Automobile parts were supplied from the W.H. McIntyre Company and the bodies were made by Tudehope's carriage company.Tudhope-McIntyres were priced at $550 CAD and production reached 514 vehicles before a fire in August 1909 destroyed the carriage factory. Rebuilding from the fire, Tudhope decided to discontinue high-wheeler production and instead acquired a license to build the Everitt 30. • Illustration — alt= 1908 Tudhope-McIntyre at the Canadian Automotive Museum • Illustration — alt= 1909 Tudehope factory fire, Orillia, Ontario

• Year — Model — Engine type / Cyl. — Power bhp (kW) — Wheelbase in — Cost • 1907-1908 — Kiblinger High-wheeler — 2-cyl. — 4 to 10 HP — 65 — $250 - $450 • 1908-1911 — McIntyre High-wheeler — 2-cyl., 4-cyl. — 12 to 18.2 hp — 69.5 to 75 — $450 - $775 • 1911-1915 — McIntyre Special — 4-cyl. — 30 bhp — 112 — $850-$1,125 • 1913-1914 — IMP Cyclecar — 2-cyl. — 15 hp — 100 — $375 • 1913-1915 — McIntyre Limited — 6-cyl. — 40 hp — 120 — $1,485-$1,275 • 1915 — McIntyre Model 4-25 — 4-cyl, — 25 hp — 106 — $695

With slowing sales, by January 1915 the W. H. McIntyre Company was in receivership. The DeKalb Manufacturing Company purchased the assets and assembled some cars for another two years.