I had to look on the internet to find out what an interesting make Maxwell was before becoming Chrysler Corporation in 1925. Our car is in very good cosmetic condition, no rust, no signs of corrosion or rot anywhere. The seat has been recovered at some point, probably when it was restored in the 1950’s. This is what I know of Maxwells.

Walter P. Chrysler made millions as one of the savviest engineers and businessmen of the early years of the automotive industry, first running Buick, then Willys-Overland, with each stint netting him well into the millions of dollars, absolutely remarkable amounts of money for the time. Chrysler leveraged his reputation—and wealth—into taking control of the struggling Maxwell in the early 1920s, before phasing out the Maxwell name when the Chrysler Corporation was formed in 1925.
But more than a decade-and-a-half before Chrysler was born—the company that is—Maxwell was one of the largest producers of automobiles in the United States, then under the name Maxwell-Briscoe Motor Company, with its headquarters not in the Michigan, but just up the Hudson River from New York City in Tarrytown, New York. Finishing the 1910 sales race in third place, behind Ford and Buick, Maxwell sold an estimated 20,000 cars that model year. Production grew during the decade, with sales peaking at an estimated 75,000 in 1917.

In 1910, Maxwell offered both four-cylinder and two-cylinder engines in Touring, Roadster and Runabout models, the latter in three wheelbases but only with the flat-twin engine. Featuring water-cooling, mechanical valves and shaft drive to the rear axle, the Maxwell Model AA’s 101-cu.in horizontally opposed two-cylinder engine was rated at 11 horsepower. A two-speed planetary gearbox delivered power via that shaft drive.

The 1910 Maxwell AA Runabout was built in Tarrytown, New York, by the Maxwell-Briscoe Corporation. Featuring several novel designs, such as a boxer-twin engine, a two-speed planetary gearbox and shaft drive, Jonathan Maxwell’s innovative AA family of “horseless carriages” brought the company much fortune from 1904 onwards. A tragic fire at his factory and later, other financial misfortunes, continued to bring the company down, but a huge boost came from the 1909 cross-country trip made by Alice H. Ramsey and her three friends. This 3,800-mile journey from New York to San Francisco quickly established women to be equals behind the wheel and Maxwell became one of the “Big Three” American car manufacturers. Maxwell would survive as in independent automaker until 1921, when Walter Chrysler purchased the company. By 1926, the Maxwell name was gone, the company having been absorbed into the new Chrysler Corporation.

Our car has a frozen engine, no idea of what the issue is. The flywheel does not turn at all. The wheels appear to be in good condition, but the tires do not hold air or are models designed with a flat spot of the bottom.

VIN# AA 9144. For other interesting bikes and collectable vehicles, visit our web site http://www.automaniagp.com , 541 479 8888 or come by and see us at 895 SE Gladiola Drive, Grants Pass, Oregon, 97526. Oregon Dealer DA1287

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