Jewel Automobile

Manufactured by Forest City Motor Car Co. Massillon, Ohio The Jewel motorcar displayed here was built in Massillon in 1907-8. It is a Model “E” Stanhope that sold new for $800. One other model was offered that year – a Model “D” Runabout that sold for $600.

The Jewel used an engine of its own design a one-cylinder two-cycle type with a 4 ½ inch bore and four inch stroke. The company also built its own carburetor. Ignition is “jump spark.” There are no valves. The company claimed eight horsepower but state in its sales literature that “conclusive tests show that we usually exceed this by 25 percent.” Speed was estimated at four to 30 miles per hour.

The engine is water-cooled by a positive drive gear pump. Water capacity is three gallons “sufficient for 300 miles.” The gasoline tank holds five gallons, “sufficient for 100 miles.”

The transmission is the “improved planetary type with single planet and triple positive clutch which obviates all noise.” There are two speeds forward plus reverse. Drive is direct from a 5/8-inch nickel steel roller chain from the engine to the rear axle. The car weighs approximately 900 pounds. The wheelbase of the Stanhope Model “E” is 68 inches.

In 1907 the company offered a steering wheel of its own design which replaced the tiller that had been used on previous models. The throttle and spark levers are located on the steering post.

The Model “E” Stanhope features full patent leather fenders as well as patent leather aprons from the body to the fenders. The Stanhope came equipped with leather upholstery, oil lamps, top and side curtains, storm front and tool – all for $800.

The Forest City Motor Car Company was organized in Cleveland in 1905-6. Its first motorcar was called the Jewell. By 1907 it had become the Jewel. In 1909 management decided to build bigger cars and introduced the Jewel “40” on a 120 inch wheelbase. That was followed by a complete name change, to Croxton-Keeton, named after the company’s principal owners Herbert Croxton and Forrest Keeton.

The Croxton-Keeton was built in Massillon from 1909-1910. Prices ranged from $2,850 to $3,500. In 1911 Keeton left the company to manufacture another car. Croxton merged his Croxton Motor Company with the Royal Tourist Automobile Company to form Consolidated Motors. However, that merger failed and Croxton headed for Washington, Pennsylvania, where a new factory was built in late 1912. Those cars sold in prices similar to the Croxton-Keeton, but production of the Croxton stopped for good in 1914.

While several Jewell and Jewel motorcars are extant today, there are no known surviving Croxton-Keeton or Keeton motorcars. Interesting, the factory in which the Jewell, Jewel and Croxton-Keeton motorcars were built exists today. It is owned and occupied by the M-C-A Sign Company, which moved into the factory when the Forest City Motor Car Company ceased operations in 1910.