“I picked this up yesterday,” Don Whalen, of Sierra Madre Motorcycles, said. “It’s a 1902 Mitchell. It was made in Milwaukee at the same time those other guys were starting up. I wonder if they knew each other? Can you imagine that conversation.”
We ran to the Bikernet Library and flipped through the Encyclopedia of Motorcycles by Hugo Wilson. It indicated that the Mitchell line of motorcycle were produced from 1901-1906. “A pioneering machine built by the Wisconsin Wheell Works. It used a 1.5hp engine mounted near the dteering head of a bicycle-style frame. A twisted rawhide belt drove the rear wheel.”
Then we dug on the web and here’s what we found: Two pieces on early Mitchell car, but there’s interesting motorcycle facts in the mix:
1912 Mitchell Model 5-6
The Mitchell & Lewis Wagon Co. started out in the late 1890’s. By 1901, the firm was producing the Mitchell motorcycle. In 1903, the Mitchell Motor Car Co. built its first automobile. That was the same year as Henry Ford’s first car. The company produced cars until 1923.
The Mitchell Motor Car Company of Racine, Wisconsin, built motorcycles in 1902, and then built cars from 1903 to 1923. Its founder, Henry Mitchell, was among the earliest American automakers, having previously built wagons in Chicago for decades. By the 1870s, his company was one of the largest wagon makers in America.
By 1910, the Model S had a six-cylinder, 50 horsepower engine with a three-speed gearbox, making it the largest Mitchell car available. Incorporating twin spark plugs per cylinder and a magneto and a distributor, it had an advanced design for its time.
1913 Mitchell is a member of Lewis Miller’s family
BOONVILLE, Mo. — Lewis and Susan Miller refer to “Mitch” as if he were a family member. In some ways, he is.
“Mitch” is a 1913 Mitchell Touring car, a car built by a company started by Miller’s great-great-great-grandfather, Henry Mitchell. Mitchell was born in Scotland in 1810, and he moved to America in 1834. He and his wife Margaret settled in Fort Dearborn, which later became Chicago. Mitchell, a wheelwright, built the first wagon ever made in Chicago.
Mitchell and his wife settled in Racine, Wis., in 1855. By 1877, the Mitchell & Lewis Co. was one of the largest and best-equipped wagon makers in the country. The company had 7,200 employees and made between more than 8,000 wagons a year. They were exported all over the world.
Henry Mitchell died in 1893. William Turnor Lewis, his son-in-law, took over the Mitchell company. His son, William Mitchell Lewis, or Uncle Bill as the family called him, started producing motorcycles. Six hundred Mitchell motorcycles were built in 1902. In 1903, the Mitchell Motor Car Co. built its first automobile. That was the same year as Henry Ford’s first car.
Lewis’ 1913 Touring car had a 600-cubic-inch, six-cylinder engine that produced 50 horsepower. The car sold for $1,850, which would be equivalent to $33,000 today.
We will continue to research Mitchell Motorcycles and bring you more info as it surfaces.
