American Automobile and Power Company facts for kids

The American Automobile and Power Company was an American car maker from the "Brass Era" (the early days of cars). It was started in Sanford, Maine, in 1903. This company made a car called the American Populaire in 1904 and 1905.

The American Automobile and Power Company

The company officially started on December 9, 1903. It began with a lot of money, $500,000! Some of its main leaders were Henry D. Long from Boston, Massachusetts, who was the treasurer, and Ernest M. Goodall from Sanford, Maine, who was the president.

A designer named Edward O. Mosher created the car. The first test car was built in a small building in Lawrence, Massachusetts. It was shown to the public for the first time at the Boston Automobile Show in March 1904.

What was the American Populaire?

The company offered three different models of the American Populaire car. All of them used Mosher's 12 horsepower (8 kW) two-cylinder engine. They all had the same wheelbase (the distance between the front and back wheels) of 84 inches (2134 mm).

The three models were:

• A roadster for $850. This was a sporty, open-top car.
• A tonneau for $950. This car had an unusual front seat that could swing out.
• A Cape Cod Tourer for $1000. This was a larger car, good for longer trips.

To give you an idea of the prices back then, other cars like the Oldsmobile Runabout cost $650, while a Black car could be as low as $375. More expensive cars like the Cole 30 cost around $1500.

Why did the company close?

Henry D. Long, one of the company's leaders, once said, "We could sell one thousand cars in three months if we could make them." This shows they believed their cars were popular. However, despite this hope, the company stopped making cars by April 1905. The factory was then taken over by the Maine Alpaca Company.