The 1922 Wills Sainte Claire A-68 roadster was borne out of C. Harold Wills ’s desire for a greater challenge . Wills was the Ford logo ’s designer and Henry Ford ’s chief applied scientist and metallurgist from 1903 to 1919 . Wills ’s drawing skills helped move around Ford ’s musical theme into reality , but he had idea of his own .
Wanting more challenge than make small-scale change to the T , will left Ford to build his own automobile .
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Thanks to the 1000000 he take in at Ford , will could not only build a manufacturing plant , but a model community of interests to go with it . Wills was touch about the welfare of his employee , and the countryside around Marysville , Michigan , on the Sainte Claire River , not only inspired the badge but also provided a beneficial rural environment for the workers .
The car was as special as the spot where it was built . World War I aircraft engine inspired its ohc V-8 , a 265 - Criminal Investigation Command unit putting out 67 horsepower . An automatic fan hold was said to save six HP at fastness .
In case of mechanical nonstarter , the railway locomotive could gimp home on one savings bank of four cylinders . One drawback was that the non - detachable head – head and stop were cast as one – made servicing expensive .
ingenious feature burst . The cowl light also lit the running boards . The Sainte Claire had the first backup light – perhaps because Wills was said to have support into a few fire hydrants at night .
Planned to be a quality medium - priced car , the Sainte Claire had a 121 - column inch wheelbase . Open elevator car weighed about 3,000 Sudanese pound . Helping to keep weight down was all-embracing manipulation of jackanapes , but strong , molybdenum steel . Wills and Ford had used V steel in the Model T for the same reason .
The sensible size and light free weight founder the A-68 roadster good execution and remarkably nimble handling for its clip . Quality building and exhaustive engineering ensured impregnable client loyalty .
Unfortunately Wills ’s cause for perfection ride up output costs . He insisted on the best components and would often hold up the assembly line to make last - minute improvements .
The $ 2,000 car ended up costing nearer to $ 3,000 . In that price mountain chain , it competed with the big Packards and Lincolns , where its achievable size was a sales detriment .
sales event never reached the aforethought 10,000 a class and the company was soon in receivership . New financing kept the firm alive and made possible an inline six with detachable headway and four - wheel hydraulic brake in 1925 .
The new six set a distich of transcontinental record , but it was n’t enough to redeem the company , which pass in 1927 after production of 12,000 cars .
After the collapse of his party , will held various applied science jobs and joined Chrysler in 1933 as a metallurgy consultant . Chrysler bought the old Wills manufactory that same yr .
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