THE NEW-/-OLD TEMPLAR MOTORS COMPANY is located

in the original Templar Motors factory building

located at 13000 Athens Ave., Lakewood, Ohio. The

current owners of the building, OMNI Lakewood, have

agreed to change the name of the whole facility to Templar

Industrial Park.

A group of Cleveland investors in 1916 (most of them

being members of the Masonic Order of Templar Knights)

started the company, with the most notable being Matthew

F. Bramley (president), who also started and owned The

Trinidad Paving Co. that is still in operating as an international

company.

Templar Motors Co. was in operation and auto production

from 1916 to 1924, with approximately 6,500 units produced

in that time. Only 15 cars were shipped prior to Armistice,

as the U.S. Government took over the factory to produce 155mm

artillery shells for WWI. Templars were assembled cars, meaning

all major components were purchased from outside suppliers.

However, Templar used its own 197cid overhead valve four-cylinder

engine that developed 45 horsepower. Cars were very nicely

designed, and rode on a chassis with semi-elliptic springs and a

semi-floating rear axle with Hotchkiss drive.

Good publicity was received in July of 1919 when “Cannon

Ball” Baker set a driving record in a Templar by going from New

york to Chicago in just 26 hours 50 minutes, surpassing the old

record by more than six hours. However, the company was riding

financial disaster, and in December 1920, most of the factory

burned down. Continuing production in the building that remained,

financial woes still burdened the company and the company was

taken over by a Cleveland bank for loan default.

Today, cars are on display on the third floor of the building,

where the original Templar Motors assembly room was located.

Currently there are seven Templars on display, representing five

body styles: roadster, coupe, sedan, sportette, and touring). For

further information and/or to make an appointment to visit

“The New-Old Templar Motors Company", pls. contact David Buehler,

c/o The Templar Trust, 13000 Athens Avenue, Third Floor, Lakewood, OH. 44107 USA

PH: 216-392-3000 (cell)   E-mail: greatlakestech@ameritech.net 

The New-/-Old Templar Motors Co. is Back home in Lakewood, Ohio  USA