Apperson Brothers

Apperson Brothers. Builders of the Apperson Car. , The Apperson Farm, where the Apperson brothers grew up, was just one mile west of Center. Elmer was the older brother and he served his apprenticeship in Kokomo at the Star Machine Works. Then he opened the Riverside Machine Works close to downtown on the banks of the Wildcat Creek. Edgar learned to repair farm wagons, buggies, farm equipment and bicycles., In 1902, Elmer started Apperson Brothers Automobile Company. The company decided to build larger and more powerful cars. In 1903, they introduced a five passenger car that had a longer body and a larger engine than the Haynes-Apperson Company. The car sold for $2500, nearly twice as much as earlier models of Haynes-built cars. Although the Apperson Brothers left the Haynes- Apperson Company in 1901, Haynes left the name the same until 1905., After building 194 cars in 1905, a fire destroyed the Apperson plant. The new building was completed in 1906 and was located on South Main Street, just south of the creek on the east side of the street., In 1907, the company would introduce the Apperson Jackrabbit. The company would become famous for the Jack Rabbit for the final years of production., Elmer loved auto races and in 1911 he entered an Apperson car in the first Indianapolis 500 mile race. During the race, the Apperson had a problem and pulled into the infield. The Apperson brothers, the driver and mechanic were near the car when a race car slid off the track and hit the Apperson car. As luck would have it, none of the Apperson team was hit, but it was too close for comfort. Elmer made a decision never to run another car at Indianapolis because it was to dangerous., The Apperson Brothers Automobile Company would build cars until 1926 when they went into receivership.