Preston Motors Corporation

The Preston Motors Corporation was organized in 1919 to manufacture automobiles in Birmingham. R. A. Skinner was president and chief engineer. With $1,000,000 in capital, the company built its Preston Motors Plant No. 1 on Vanderbilt Road at 18th Avenue North (near the present Tallapoosa Street exit off I-20/59) where it built five-passenger touring cars.

Preston Motors Plant No. 2 opened in 1921 on the northwest corner of 27th Avenue and 24th Street North in North Birmingham. The second plant accommodated production of a 6-cylinder roadster.

Preston's Premocars were built on steel frames with water-cooled Falls engines, 3-speed manual transmissions, Timken axles, Borg and Peck clutches, Wagner starters and lights, Connecticut ignitions, Spicer universal joints, Stromberg carburetors, Muncie gearsets, Willard 6-volt batteries, and Stewart vacuum feed assemblies. Standard wheels were 32" diameter by 3 1/2" wide. Each vehicle was equipped with a Klaxon horn and a Stewart speedometer.

The carriage bodies were fabricated by hand in Birmingham, using kiln-dried wood with mortised and glued joints, braced with iron. The standard color was maroon with cream-color wheels, but custom colors were available as an option. Because it was built on the same 117" wheelbase chassis, the roadster had a roomy rear compartment which could enclose steamer trunk under the fold-down roof.

During his 1921 visit to Birmingham, President Warren Harding toured the city in a white-painted 1921 Premocar Touring Car. The 1922 models featured an improved "Magic Six" valve-in-head motor.

Models

• Premocar 4-80 A Touring Car (4 cylinder, 5 passenger)
• Premocar 6-40 A Touring Car (6 cylinder, 5 passenger)
• Premocar 6-40 C Coupe
• Premocar 6-40 S Sedan
• Premocar 6-40 R Roadster (6 cylinder, 3 passenger)
• Premocar 6-40 X California Top (6 cylinder, 3 passenger)

References

• "Premocar Roadster" (December 1921) Motor Record