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Rollin Touring 1923 - picture from 1963
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Serial plate of a Rollin
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Engine compartment Rollin
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Rollin Touring 1924, picture from 2015
The Rollin Motors Company was an American automobile manufacturer from 1923 until 1925 and founded by Rollin Henry White.[1] The company was based in Cleveland, Ohio.[2]
Industry | Automotive |
---|---|
Founded | 1923 |
Founder | Rollin H. White |
Defunct | 1925 |
Fate | Bankruptcy |
Headquarters | Cleveland, Ohio, |
Key people | Henry Rollins, James G. Heaslet, E. E. Allyne |
Products | Automobiles |
Production output | 5,750 (1924-1925) |
The Rollin automobile[3] had advanced technology, brakes on all four wheels (mechanical internal expanding type), pistons and connecting rods of special aluminum, lubrication oil through a pump and a four-bearing crankshaft.[4] There were four models: Touring ($995, equivalent to $17,690 in 2023), Brougham, Sedan and a three-passenger Coupe($1,175). Cars were sold in the US, Australia and a very few in Europe. The cars were designed and built by Rollin H. White, formerly chief engineer of the White Motor Company.[5]
The car was planned as an economical automobile to capture a share of the lower price market. Its engine was similar to that of the Cletrac tractor, a White subsidiary. The chairman was Rollin Henry White. His father, Thomas White, was chairman of the White Sewing Machine Company, and the White Motor Company. The Rollin was too high-priced for the market for which it had been intended. In its most successful year, 1924, approximately 3,622 units were produced.[5] By the end of 1925 the factory was closed due to bankruptcy.[6]
In December 1924 the car carrier SS Lakeland transported on Lake Michigan several new automobiles. The Lakeland sank with at least twenty-two model-year vehicles aboard from Nash Motors, Kissel Motor Car Company, and a Rollin. Recreational divers recovered the Rollin automobile in 1979 but it was too damaged to save.[7]
As of 2018, there are several Rollin automobiles in the US and in Australia, as well as a few in Europe, at least one in the Netherlands and two in Sweden.
In 2023 the Rollin Preservation Society (NL) presented a documentary about a unique Rollin still registered for use on public roads.[8]
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