Manufacturer | Kirk Manufacturing Company Company |
---|---|
Production | 1902-1905 |
Body style | roadster |
Engine | two-cylinder, four-cylinder |
Curb weight | 1400 lb (635 kg) |
Kirk Manufacturing Company was a pioneer brass era American automobile company, built at 958 Oakwood Avenue, Toledo, Ohio,[1] from 1902 until 1905.
A manufacturer of bicycles, in 1899 Kirk announced it would begin building cars.[2] They introduced the Yale in 1902. Describing it as "the Beau Brummel of the road",[3] it had the choice of two gasoline engine models: a two-cylinder 14 hp (10 kW) side-entrance tourer for US$1000 and a four-cylinder 24 hp (18 kW) for US$2500. This compared to US$650 for the high-volume Oldsmobile Runabout,[4] the $700 Ford Model S, US$1500 for the Colt Runabout[5] and Cole 30,[6] the US$1600 Oakland 40[7] the FAL at US$1750,[6] and the Enger 40[6] and Ford Model F at $2,000. Even so, the Yale was well below even Lozier's lowest-price Light Six Metropolian tourer and runabout, at US$3,250,[8] American's entry-level car, at US$4250 (its highest was US$5250),[9] or the Lozier Big Six, starting at US$5,000.[8]