Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
accessible at www.djnfoundation.org
The Jewish Automaker
You Never Heard Of
C
ar dealerships have reopened in
Michigan as we recover from the
COVID-19 pandemic. Although it
will be a different experience now, we can
resume a 120-year-old, great American pas-
time — shopping for new cars.
Speaking of car shopping,
on a cruise through the
William Davidson Digital
Archive of Jewish Detroit
History, I ran across an inter-
esting article in the Nov. 4,
1921, issue of the Detroit
Jewish Chronicle: “F. L.
Klingensmith Starts Making of
Low-Priced Cars.”
Klingensmith was the
president of the newly formed Gray Motor
Corporation. The company and the cars
they made were named after the first presi-
dent of Ford Motor Company, John S. Gray,
who had died in 1906. His name was first
attached to a firm that made boat engines,
the Gray Motor Company, which was the
Gray Motor Corporation’
s ancestor.
Don’
t feel badly if you never heard of a
Gray. They were only manufactured for five
years, 1921-1926, and never in large num-
bers.
By the time the Gray Motor Corporation
was launched in 1920, the automobile
manufacturing market was crowded and
highly competitive. Hundreds of companies
in Michigan and thousands in America
attempted to mass-produce automobiles
during the first two decades of the 20th cen-
tury; only a few were successful.
In southeast Michigan alone, Ford Motor
Company, General Motors — the umbrel-
la corporation for Buick, Oakland (later
renamed Pontiac), Oldsmobile, Cadillac,
Chevrolet and GMC Trucks — and the
Dodge Brothers, all produced thousands
of cars. Along with these carmakers, there
were smaller companies such as Packard,
Hudson, Huppmobile, Maxwell, among oth-
ers. Chrysler Corporation began its opera-
tions in 1924.
Klingensmith was the former vice
president, treasurer and member of
the board of directors of Ford. A
highly regarded executive, he has
been given credit for handling Ford’
s
strategy of placing a network of fac-
tories around the country to make
parts and assemble cars. His chief
partner at Gray was former Packard
Motor Car Company vice president
Frank F. Beall.
It is also interesting to note that,
during this era when anti-Semi-
tism was widespread, both Ford
Motor Company and General
Motors (GM) had Jewish treasur-
ers. Meyer Prentis held that office
at GM from 1919-1951.
Gray automobiles were built
at a factory on Mack Avenue in
Detroit, near the railroad termi-
nal. The first Grays were priced
below $500, in the same price
range as Ford’
s Model T’
s. They featured
steel bodies and self-starters. A Gray with
an enclosed body, a sedan, cost a bit more.
The Gray was also a very economical car.
In 1922, a Gray set a new transcontinental
record when it averaged 33.8 mpg on a trip
from California to New York.
Although the owners projected the Gray
Motor Corporation to ramp-up production
to 250,000 vehicles a year, the car was never
made in large enough numbers to achieve
financial success. Klingensmith resigned
as president in 1925, just before the Gray
Motor Corporation’
s collapse in the sum-
mer of 1926.
By the way, another automobile company
from this early era was founded by a Jewish
inventor/entrepreneur, Max Grabowsky.
Unlike Klingensmith, however, his compa-
ny was a great success. Established in 1902
as the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company, we
know it today as GMC Trucks.
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation
archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation.org.
Mike Smith
Alene and
Graham Landau
Archivist Chair
54 | JUNE 11 • 2020
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