1919 Dort Driveline and Parts

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

And Now For Something Completely different - 1919 Dort Parts - NB

LandShark68_2+2 · Guru

WOW !!

Dorts were made in Chatham, Ontario, where I lived for 7 or 8 years.

I know a few Dort owners, including the local museum, so I think I'll pass this info on.

Regards, Scott (LandShark ...)

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

The Dort was an automobile built by the Dort Motor Car Company of Flint, Michigan from 19151924. Dort used Lycoming built engines to power their vehicles.

Dort Motor Car traced its history back to its founding as the Flint Road Cart Company in 1884 by William Crapo Durant and Josiah Dallas Dort, who sold wagons, built by local suppliers for $8 apiece. In 1900, the company, which by now was making 50,000 wagons, carts, and carriages annually, changed its name to Durant-Dort Carriage Company.

Dort was a Director and Vice President of Chevrolet in 1912; in 1913 Dort stepped down and by 1915 he and Durant cut their business ties.

By 1917, Dort was offering four models: a closed sedan at $1,065, a convertible sedan at $815, a five-place open tourer at $695, and a Fleur-de-Lys roadster at $695.^[1] By contrast, Ford Model Ts were selling for $440 in 1915.^[2]

Dort continued manufacturing cars until 1924, when the mounting price of development and distribution of the vehicles made it impossible to compete in the automotive markets of the 1920s. Josiah Dallas Dorts death in 1923 sealed the fate of Dort Motors

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Interesting, many years ago a good friend of mine had a 1919 Gray-Dort, the oldest car I ever had a ride in, FWIW.

To clear up the confusion, the Dort was a US company, and the car was produced in Flint, Michigan. The Gray-Dort was produced in Chatham Ontario under license from Dort.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray-Dort_Motors

My buddy's car:

GD3 .jpg

Spare emblem he had:

GRAY DORT.jpg

Old Autos recently had a good article on the Gray-Dort, if anybody has old issues to browse through.

LandShark68_2+2 · Guru

I emailed the seller and it is an American Dort, from Flint MI.

Regards, Scott

NOS · Poncho Master!

contact; Stan Uher @ Classic Coach, Blenhiem, ON. Stan knows these cars by heart. He has restored several and knows where most if not all the suvivers are

stanuher@hotmail.com

Dale @ NOS

-- Edited by NOS on Wednesday 23rd of December 2015 05:43:56 PM

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

Lots of great info. here. Thanks.

I love "off brands" of cars.

MC wrote:

Interesting, many years ago a good friend of mine had a 1919 Gray-Dort, the oldest car I ever had a ride in, FWIW.

To clear up the confusion, the Dort was a US company, and the car was produced in Flint, Michigan. The Gray-Dort was produced in Chatham Ontario under license from Dort.

Probably used identical parts, I would think. Small manufacturers would do so to cut costs.

cheetah 427 · Poncho Master!

i dort like it lol

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Pontiacanada wrote:
Lots of great info. here. Thanks.
I love "off brands" of cars.

MC wrote:
Interesting, many years ago a good friend of mine had a 1919 Gray-Dort, the oldest car I ever had a ride in, FWIW.
To clear up the confusion, the Dort was a US company, and the car was produced in Flint, Michigan. The Gray-Dort was produced in Chatham Ontario under license from Dort.
Probably used identical parts, I would think. Small manufacturers would do so to cut costs.

Yeah, it's my understanding that they used a lot of common parts. I recall that a lot of the smaller companies used a lot of supplier parts back in the day, like engines supplied by Lycoming or Continental, common fender stampings, etc., to cut down on costs and required in-house manufacturing capability. Meanwhile Ford was doing everything himself including making his own steel and electricity for the Rouge plant. It was an interesting time in the auto industry.

BTW, I understand that these parts are being sold as the owner is installing a small block Chevy and newer suspension in the car.