United States Motor Company
The United States Motor Company (USMC) was organized by Benjamin Briscoe in 1910 as a selling company, to represent various manufacturers. It had begun life as the International Motor Company in 1908 in an attempt to create a major consolidation within the industry with Maxwell-Briscoe and Buick, which did not succeed. International Motor was renamed USMC in December 1909. By the end of 1910, there were 11 constituent companies, each still headed by the individual who had built each company originally. In 1910, rumors surfaced that United States Motor Company was going to merge with General Motors, but Briscoe scotched the rumors by stating that any attempt to integrate General Motors into USMC would create chaos.
A 1911 Flanders automobile advertisement – Malvern Leader, May 4, 1911
Advertisement from a 1912 newspaper in the Netherlands
Maxwell was an American automobile manufacturer which ran from 1904 to 1925. The present-day successor to the Maxwell company was Chrysler, now Stellantis North America, which acquired the company in 1925.
Maxwell Mascotte Touring 1911
Racer Alice Huyler Ramsey posing beside her Maxwell
Comedian Jack Benny (shown here shaking hands with Harry S. Truman from the seat of a c. 1908 Maxwell Roadster) kept the Maxwell familiar in U.S. popular culture for half a century after the brand went out of business.