Continental engines- a bit of history

[skeptic36]

Hi all,

 

I was looking for pics of a 1934 continental flyer ( a car my grandfather used to own) and I found the following

 

 

The Continental engine was used for a while in a number of models, including this Flyer, which could easily have been mistaken for a Ford product.

 

 

The American Continental Motors Company dates back to 1905, when it produced a 4-cylinder, four-stroke cycle L-head engine operated by a single camshaft.

 

Various independent automobile manufacturers used Continental engines in their vehicles, such as Durant, which used them in the Star, Durant, Flint and Rugby models. Continental engines were also used in tractors and stationary equipment.

 

In 1929 an aircraft engine division of the company was formed, and it quickly became the core business for Continental. Following the 1932 collapse of the De Vaux-Hall Company - unable to pay a bill of $500,000 for the engines supplied to them by Continental - Continental acquired the failed company and began producing their own car, calling it the Flyer. Unfortunately, that enterprise was very short-lived, with a mere 3,310 cars built before the company was liquidated in 1934. Those cars were powered by a 65-horsepower, 6-cylinder Continental motor.

 

The Flyer body style looks similar to most of the cars produced in that era, and could easily be mistaken for a Ford product.

 

Continentals offerings included three different models: the largest and most expensive being the 6-cylinder Ace; next was the smaller 6-cylinder model called the Flyer; and the lowest-priced 4-cylinder model was the Beacon.

 

Unfortunately, none of the three models met with great success during the Depression era economy.

 

Dominion Motors Ltd. of Canada manufactured the Flyer and Beacon cars under licence for the Canadian market, and imported the larger Ace model. When Dominion decided to concentrate their efforts on building the Reo brand trucks, the Ace, Flyer and Beacon models were discontinued, ending both U.S. and Canadian production of this short lived automobile.

 

Continental returned to supplying engines to companies that had survived the Depression.

 

 

[Jabiru Phil]

1934 Plymouth look alike

 

could be wrong