Brush Motor Car Company
This article is about the U.S. automaker. For the British rail-locomotive company, see Brush Traction
Brush Motor Car Company (1907-1909), later the Brush Runabout Company (1909-1913), was based in Detroit, Michigan. The company was founded by Alanson Partridge Brush (February 10, 1878 in Michigan – March 6, 1952 in Michigan), who designed a light car with a wooden chassis (actually, wooden rails and iron cross-members), friction drive transmission and "underslung" coil springs in tension instead of compression on both sides of each axle. Although there were many makes of small runabouts of similar size and one to four cylinders at this time (before the Model T Ford dominated the low-price market), the Brush has many unusual design details showing the inventiveness of its creator. Power was provided by a large single-cylinder water-cooled engine. Two gas-powered headlamps provided light, along with a gas-powered light in the rear. The frame, axles, and wheels were made of oak, hickory or maple, and were either left plain or painted to match the trim. The horn was located next to the engine cover, with a metal tube running to a squeeze bulb affixed near the driver. A small storage area was provided in the rear, with a drawer accessible under the rear of the seat.