Smith & Mabley was an American veteran era importer of European automobiles and produced the American C. G. V. automobile in 1902, and the S & M Simplex automobile from 1904 to 1907, in New York City.
History
A. D. Proctor Smith and his brother-in-law, Carlton R. Mabley founded Smith & Mabley in New York City in 1900 as an import company for European automobiles. Vehicles from C. G. V., Panhard, Renault and Mors were imported, followed later by Mercedes and Isotta Fraschini. In 1902 production of automobiles began under license from C. G. V. with the brand name of American C.G.V.. Production ended in 1903 after seven vehicles had been manufactured. In 1903 Smith & Mabley decided to start making vehicles again. They bought a seven-story plant on East 83rd Street. G. Edward Franquist designed the plant and was both Chief Engineer and Superintendent of the factory. Franquist attributed his engineering designs as being influenced by the finest European motor cars. Franquist was a founding member of the S.A.E. and was the Simplex designer until 1915.
In 1903, Franquist designed a four-cylinder engine that was used on motor boats for racing including the Vingt-et-Un, Challenger and Dixie I. The Dixie I won the Harmsworth (British International) Trophy in 1907. It was announced that motor boats and motor cars would begin production in May 1904. The new marque name was S & M Simplex and the Smith & Mabley Manufacturing Company was set up for production.
Production of the S & M Simplex ran until early 1907. A total of over 220 vehicles were built. Smith & Mabley suffered during the recession and stock market slides in late 1906 that led up to the Panic of 1907. Receivers were called in and the company would be declared bankrupt in 1907. Friend and textile importer Herman Broesel, Sr., took over the Smith & Mabley assets in 1907 and formed the Simplex Automobile Company, and continued production as the Simplex.
|4
|30/35
|106
|Brougham
|-
|1906
|30 HP
|4
|30
|106
|Touring car 5-seater
|-
|1906
|30 HP
|4
|30
|113
|Touring car 7-seater
|-
|1907
|30/35HP
|4
|30/35
|106
|3-seater runabout, 5-seater touring car
|-
|1907
|30/35HP
|4
|30/35
|111
|Touring car 5-seater
|-
|1907
|30/35HP
|4
|30/35
|115
|Touring car 7-seater
|-
|1907
|50/70HP
|4
|50/70
|124
|Limousine 5 to 7 seats
|}
Production
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year
!production number
|-
|1902-1903
|7
|-
|1904
|73
|-
|1905
|78
|-
|1906-07
|75
|-
|total
|233
|}
Advertisements
<gallery widths="200" heights="280">
File:1902 Smith and Mabley on cover of Motor Age 5-22-1902.jpg|1902 Smith and Mabley on cover of Motor Age
File:1903 Smith and Mabley advertisement in Automobile Topics 08-08-1903.jpg|1903 Smith and Mabley advertisement in Automobile Topics
File:1906 S & M Simplex advertisement in The Automobile 12-27-1906.jpg|1906 S & M Simplex advertisement in The Automobile
</gallery>
External links
- Simplex automobiles at ConceptCarz
- Smith & Mabley images at Detroit Public Library
- Smith & Mabley at Coachbuilt.com
- J. M. Quinby & Co.at Coachbuilt.com
- American Automobile.com - archived copy on S&M Simplex