| The "Betzmobile" - - - Date Line: 1911 |
![]() |
![]() |
The Betz 22 and the Betz 30 are just being introduced here to the general motoring public. The cars are designed by Irving Betz son of the Hammond business tycoon Frank S. Betz. Built more for practically than style, the Betz autos are meant to appeal to the tens of thousands of doctors and dentists clientele, whom the F. S. Betz Company sells its products to worldwide.
Irving Betz for years studied the question of building an efficient automobile to be sold at an economical price. Irving spent several months in Detroit working on the assembly lines of a large auto maker. The young son of Frank Betz is said to one of the best authorities of automobiles in this part of the nation. Many new efficiencies and essentials in auto manufacturing are included in the new Betz cars. The autos are to be built by a Chicago company. If the demand for the vehicles is great enough, a factory maybe built in Hammond.
As a footnote - The first of the Betz cars were seen on the streets of March 14, 1911. The firm was receiving inquiries of around 40 per day, which later grew to around 100 per day. The orders were coming in so quickly that is was impossible to build them fast enough to keep up with the demand. Many of the prospective buyers become disappointed and simply went elsewhere to buy their cars. This was a big mistake of Betz, by not having a plant to build the autos. The large market for them simply dried up.
|| Back to Twentieth Century Time Capsule Main Page ||
Source information from The Times microfilms located at the Hammond Public Library
Graphic illustration from The Times microfilms.
Twentieth Century Time Capsule © 1999/2000 HammondIndiana.com
![]() |
![]() |
![]() | |
| || Search || Index || Message Board || Weather || History || Links || Photos || Postcards || Newsstand || | |||