Automobile manufacturing

With the end of World War I the demand for military engines ended, and like many similar companies, Kessler Motors turned to building automobiles. The first model, the Kessler Super-Charge Four, was announced in January 1920 and shown the following month at the Detroit Auto Show.^[1]

Super-Charge Motor

For the Super-Charge Four the company developed the Super-Charge Motor, a technically interesting engine for which both Kessler and Radford later claimed credit.^[1] It was a two-liter^[2] 4-cylinder inline engine with integrated compressor. It was innovative in incorporating a compression space into the crankcase; pressure was increased by the downward movement of the pistons.^[3] A more than respectable performance of 70 bhp (52.2 kW) was claimed, equalling that of the basic model of the Bugatti Type 35. The Ford Model T offered 20 bhp (15 kW). The company's advertising emphasized that the engine produced negligible carbon deposits.

Kessler Super-Charge Four

Apart from the engine, the Kessler Super-Charge Four was a very conventional private car. Because of the company's limited resources, it was an assembled car, consisting of purchased components fitted together. The chassis consisted of a ladder frame with front and rear beam axles. The wheelbase was 117 inches (3,000 mm). The car was only available as a touring car and was a close copy of the then new Packard Single Six;^[4][5] the Super-Charge Four offered distinctly superior performance over the Packard's 52 bhp (39 kW)^[6] and a slight advantage in wheelbase over the Packard's 116 ins. / 2946 mm^[6] When first introduced, the Single Six cost $3640 as a touring car^[6] (and was soon reduced in price); the Super-Charge Four cost only $1995.^[1] Regardless, the Super-Charge Four flopped badly; by the end of 1921 only 16 vehicles had been produced. The reason is unclear, but may have been the engine.^[1]

Kess-Line Motors Company

Kessler formed a subsidiary called the Kess-Line Motors Company to produce its next car under the Kess-Line marque. Again Kessler was president and CEO and Radford chief engineer and vice president. H. H. Scott, formerly of Fisher Body, was chief financial officer and secretary.^[1] A new production location was rented, the former facilities of Liberty Motor Car in Detroit. In that company's best year, 1921, 21,000 Liberty Sixes had been sold;^[7] thus the plant was far too large for Kessler unless the new car sold extremely well.

The Kess-Line 8 was also extremely reminiscent of a competitor: the engine hood and radiator grille very closely resembled those of the much more expensive Lincoln L.^[4][8] However, the Kess-Line, again available only as a touring car, had sportier lines than the massive Lincoln and "helmet" fenders—close to the wheel and turned out at the base, so that the profile recalled a Classical helmet. Instead of running boards, there was a nickel-plated step under each of the four doors, and the grille was also nickel-plated. The engine was an inline V8 offering 100 bhp (75 kW); a performance exceeded by very few production automobiles at the time, such as the compressor version of the Bugatti Type 35 or the Mercedes 24/100/140 PS. Of US cars, similar performance was offered only by, for example, the Finley Robertson Porter, which were produced in extremely limited numbers and offered 125 bhp;^[9] typical performance for US luxury cars was 80–90 bhp.^[10][11][12]

The Kess-Line 8 also failed to fulfil expectations; only 12 were built,^[1] according to one source only one.^[13]