Brand: Lozier

The Lozier name is one that immediately conjures images of the swashbuckling era of Brass automobiles, chains thrashing, dust flying from huge capacity sporting automobiles, it sits in the immortal category alongside Simplex and others of its ilk.

Like many of these behemoths, the brand originated with an individual who had seen the potential of the automobile by being involved in some form of engineering or machinery manufacturing and chased that dream. In this case, that man was Henry Abraham Lozier, who like many, moved from making sewing machines and bicycle tubes to self-propelled vehicles. Indiana based originally, he moved to Plattsburgh, New York and first began building boat engines before focusing on automobiles from 1900 onwards. His genius was brief though, as he would die in 1903, leaving it to his son Harry to drive the business forward.

While some were interested in the mass market, Harry Lozier was always firmly directed towards the luxury and sporting genre. In 1910, one of his cars was entered in the first running of the Indianapolis 500 driven by Ralph Mulford, a driver who would become synonymous with the race. On the day he placed second behind the local favorite Marmon, but many felt victory had been his and questioned the timing and scoring of the race. They went one better winning the Elgin Cup that same year and in 1911 secured the Vanderbilt Cup. These successes filled the order books and so with capacity peaked out at his Plattsburgh factory, he was convinced to follow the industry to Detroit in 1910.

Results like this, a reputation for quality, and limited production which rarely exceeded 600 units in a calendar year put Lozier's name in the history books such that it still resonates strongly today, but the move to Detroit changed their fortunes. Harry was thrown out of the company in 1912 and the loss of chief designer Frederick C. Chandler in 1913 heralded the 'beginning of the end'. By 1915 the company folded.

Descriptions & pictures by bonhams & Wikimedia & other