Thu Jan 30, 2014 12:24 pm
Geredis Automotive
Name of Car Company: Geredis Automotives
Owner of company: Geredis
Established: July 1917
Company ID: 1917017
The company was founded by a pair of enterprising tinkerers who were fortunate enough to be able to take over a repair shop after the owner was called up to serve in the Great War. To support the war effort, they turned from doing automotive repairs to the manufacturing of engines in their workshop. Their first engine, a 4.5" V8, was an experimental aircraft engine that very quickly was rejected by the Army Air Service before being picked up and converted by the US Navy for use While not quite the glamorous role that the brothers had intended for their engine, they produced nearly fifty of these engines over the two years that followed. With 89 horsepower, these engines were found to be underpowered for the coastal patrol launches that they had been intended for, though very quickly they found use on rescue skiffs for various lifeguard and coast guard crafts as well.
The GA 1917 from Geredis Automotives
After the war, the owner returned and joined the tinkerers in their manufacturing. With the economic boom that followed WWI, the company decided to take things a little further. By 1920, they had begun making cars, mostly one-off works crafted individually for their customers. With the Crash in 1929, any hopes to continue in that niche market were dashed. Struggling to stay afloat, by 1937, the company was preparing to move over into mass market vehicles, with their first concept coming out in 1939 and a production car coming out in the following year.
Owner of company: Geredis
Established: July 1917
Company ID: 1917017
The company was founded by a pair of enterprising tinkerers who were fortunate enough to be able to take over a repair shop after the owner was called up to serve in the Great War. To support the war effort, they turned from doing automotive repairs to the manufacturing of engines in their workshop. Their first engine, a 4.5" V8, was an experimental aircraft engine that very quickly was rejected by the Army Air Service before being picked up and converted by the US Navy for use While not quite the glamorous role that the brothers had intended for their engine, they produced nearly fifty of these engines over the two years that followed. With 89 horsepower, these engines were found to be underpowered for the coastal patrol launches that they had been intended for, though very quickly they found use on rescue skiffs for various lifeguard and coast guard crafts as well.
The GA 1917 from Geredis Automotives
After the war, the owner returned and joined the tinkerers in their manufacturing. With the economic boom that followed WWI, the company decided to take things a little further. By 1920, they had begun making cars, mostly one-off works crafted individually for their customers. With the Crash in 1929, any hopes to continue in that niche market were dashed. Struggling to stay afloat, by 1937, the company was preparing to move over into mass market vehicles, with their first concept coming out in 1939 and a production car coming out in the following year.
