Fisher Automobile Company

This is a collection of advertisements Carl Fisher purchased in the Indianapolis Star for his automobile dealership, the Fisher Automobile Company. Some of the ads tout National Motor Vehicle Company's accomplishment in the great 24 hour record setting performance of 1905. That event is almost certainly was the occasion where Fisher first shared his ideas for creating the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the other three men who would become founders of the giant track.
 
Note that one of the ads provides a list of cars at "bargain" prices demonstrating that Fisher not only sold new cars but took trade-ins as well. You can learn a good deal from these ads with car features listed and that among the new brands he sold were Stoddard-Dayton, Maxwell and National. Check out the the "FisherLAd" file to find a schematic of a Maxwell Runabout. Note in the "free repairs" ad that just below it is an ad for a horse carriage company, a clear signal of the transitional time. Note that in the October 14, 1906 ad that the refinements of car construction is discussed such as the move away from chain driven to drive shaft drive trains is accentuated as is the positioning of the engine to the more accessible front of the car as opposed to underneath the driver's seat from many first generation automobiles. Another attachment worthy of special note is the one titled "customer letter." This ad presents to copy of a company letter in cursive praising the work of Fisher Automobile Company.
 
Check out the addresses communicated in the advertisements as they help us to understand the various locations of Fisher Automobile Company and how it was growing and changing during these times. Also, note the attachment, FisherAutoFLMoore021608, which presents an open letter from Fisher Automobile Company manager Frank Moore promoting an early innovation of automobile sales - the test drive. Another important point to note is that this Fisher Automobile Company merged with Gibson Automobile Company in 1911 and the name disappeared. The name returned when a new Fisher Automobile Company was incorporated in 1913. Note that in most cases the attachment name includes the date as indicated by the numerals. Such as the FisherAutoFLMoore021608 ad was published in the newspaper on February 16, 1908. In many of the others you can read the date in the attachment.