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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