Mason Maytag cars

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Rich Eagle
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Mason Maytag cars

Post by Rich Eagle » Wed Oct 13, 2021 3:18 pm

Steve Jelf's Hershey photo of the 2-cyl Maytag download/file.php?id=106157&mode=view prompted me to get out some photos I have. I believe it is a 1910 and would have been on the road with a lot of Model T Fords back in the day. Not much is out there on them so I thought I would post what I know of two of them. The unrestored car was in the Charles Bovey collection in Virginia city for many years. I visited the Dudley Garage there to see it and several other early brass cars from time to time.
MaytagVC.jpg
The second car was beautifully restored in Kimberly, Idaho in the mid '90s.
MaytagJ1.jpg
I found the aluminum floor and seat plate castings very intriguing. Also the fact that the Schebler carburetor bolted to the crankcase. The passageway to the valves in apparently within the casting.
MaytagJ2.jpg
This Mason car was on a HCCA Yellowstone Tour in 2001. It must be a '12 or later as the early Masons had a different hood.
Mason.jpg
Fred and Audie Duesenberg built the first Mason in 1905 along with Edward Mason . Fred L. Maytag (of washing machine fame) invested in the company in 1909 and moved the factory to Waterloo in 1910. 4-cyl cars were added in 1911 and both were called Maytag for a time. Maytag sold out by 1912 the name reverted back to Mason Motor Co. In 1913, the Duesenberg brothers left Iowa to establish their Duesenberg Motor Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mason went out of business in 1915.
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Rich Bingham
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Re: Mason Maytag cars

Post by Rich Bingham » Wed Oct 13, 2021 4:17 pm

Greatly interesting history !! Thanks, Rich.
Funny how I'm drawn to the "Dudley" car moreso than the lovely restoration! (though I can surely appreciate it !)
"Get a horse !"

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Rich Eagle
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Re: Mason Maytag cars

Post by Rich Eagle » Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:58 pm

I too find myself gravitating to the unrestored versions rather than shiny new. It might be because all the treasures we found were rotten with patina. Or it might be that mother nature covers them with a collage of wonderful changes in color.
I just came across a 2000 HCCA Gazette story on Mason-Maytags. Previous reports praised the superior design of the Duesenberg Brothers and great power and performance of these cars. This report notes that after the 1910 F. L. Maytag takeover that " Fifty percent of the....cars retuned to the factory with stripped differentials, broken axles and failed front wheel spindles. In 1911 it was even worse with 70% of defective cars being returned." This was why F. L Maytag opted out of the business. Perhaps that is why there are few survivors. Maxwell owners speculate poor metallurgy put a lot of Maxwells down in 1916 and later. Lots of problems took successful companies down hill.
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Rich Bingham
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Re: Mason Maytag cars

Post by Rich Bingham » Wed Oct 13, 2021 6:20 pm

Fascinating stuff !! It's very easy to overlook how instrumental the early cars were in advancing metallurgy, machine methods and mechanical design. We sometimes "point and laugh" at some of the early cars with wooden frames without realizing that the steel of that day would not stand the gaff of engine weight and vibration while negotiating rough roads.
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Re: Mason Maytag cars

Post by TXGOAT2 » Wed Oct 13, 2021 7:24 pm

Re: Carb on crankcase... Is it a 2-cycle engine? That car looks pretty big for a 4-cycle, 2-cylinder engine.


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Re: Mason Maytag cars

Post by TXGOAT2 » Wed Oct 13, 2021 7:27 pm

As for wooden frames, look what they did with wood when building paddle wheel steamships, well drilling equipment, and more.

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Rich Eagle
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Re: Mason Maytag cars

Post by Rich Eagle » Wed Oct 13, 2021 10:04 pm

This shows the layout of the chassis and the 2 engines. They were 4 cycle and the 2-cyl was typical of REO and Buick for that time.
Maytagdtlz.jpg
The 2-cyl was 5 X 5 bore and stroke 24 hp. It had a planetary transmission and leather cone clutch operated by either foot or hand or both. The valves are overhead. The 4-cyl was 4 1/8 bore and 5 3/4 stroke and 35 hp. Both came equipped with Splitdorf magnetos and dry cells. I'm pretty sure the frames are steel channel like a Model T.
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Re: Mason Maytag cars

Post by Herb Iffrig » Wed Oct 13, 2021 11:22 pm

There was a Mason automobile on the Red Flag Tour this year at New London Iowa.
Mason Car.JPG
Mason Car.JPG (58.9 KiB) Viewed 2066 times


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Re: Mason Maytag cars

Post by TXGOAT2 » Thu Oct 14, 2021 10:25 am

I'd guess they mounted the carburetor that way for pre-heat. It would also help cool the oil.

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Rich Eagle
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Location: Idaho Falls, ID
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Re: Mason Maytag cars

Post by Rich Eagle » Thu Oct 14, 2021 2:55 pm

That is a reasonable assumption Pat. However, 2-cyl Buicks got along with the same Schebler carburetor and pipes to accomplish the same thing. I've never had icing or seen a heat pipe on any of them. I will say that with that much distance for the mixture to travel, the throttle action is somewhat delayed. You have to plan acceleration a bit ahead.
07Buick.jpg
The Mason design would save on pieces and assembly time.
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TXGOAT2
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Re: Mason Maytag cars

Post by TXGOAT2 » Thu Oct 14, 2021 3:50 pm

That's a big 2 cylinder at 5X5. With overhead valves and a big flywheel it probably made a lot of torque.

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