Mr Jaegers Five Sixes by Don Butler ‘when the depression wasat its worst. Evenestablished automobile manufacturers were losing the batile to reverse the steady decline of sales. Why. then, did someone dare to launch a new car and a new company with meager financial resources in such hard times? “The daring was in the heart and head of Charles F. Jaeger. Sr., who had strong convictions of the merits of a novel sus" pension idea he conceived, and faith that an economle re- covery would carry it to a rewarding future. Facing the for- midable task of invading the domain of the auto establish: ment, he was determined to master it Before World War Jaeger wasa lumberman at Escanaba in upper Michigan, where he had played baseball in his boy- hood. A tire vulcanizing shop in Battle Creek was his next interest, then he moved to Detroit. There he started a new merchandising method for the C.F. Smith Stores, packaging lard, peanut butter, coffee and other foods so they could sell from the shelf rather than over the counter or out of a barrel. But the love of baseball remained, so he went to suburban Ts JAEGER quieily entered the automotive scene & 58 Special Interest Autos, June 1982 Redford and started a traveling baseball team with players of unusual talent, He managed the tours for two years, playing local teams in town after town, going ina travel coach which he converted from a truck. His team’s pitcher was Leroy “Satchel” Paige, who later became famous in major league baseball But Mr. J needed more income, and utilized his inventive talent to produce it. He developed a power takeoff unit for cars and. trucks, plus portable saws and generators for them to run. These were manufactured in Detroit by the Jaeger Portable Machinery Co. From this sprang the Jaeger Portable Power Corp. in 1926, addinga high-pressure water pump for fire trucks to the line. Soon another offshoot. the Jaeger Fire Equipment Co., was dealing with Chevrolet, which offered the ChevroletJaeger Triple Combination Fire-Fighting Ap- paratus for $2950. At about this time, friendship with the president of the Burroughs typewriter making firm opened the way to an- other enterprise, and the Jaeger Burroughs Adding Machine Co. was in business. “These ventures in the prosperous twenties brought in sub- stantial profits, and Mr.Jaeger apparently sold his operations before the stock market crash late in 1929. Then helooked for another field in which to invest his thoughts and resources,Always interested in the mechanics and possibilities of the ‘automobile, he now would become absorbed byt. Ideas about rotary engine materialized in an experimental one that ran, but not satisfactorily. Son Edward Jaeger remembers the engine running for long periods of time, with alterations made between runs. But the revolutionary powerplant never ran quite right. He also recalls that its rotary principle was basically like the successful Wankel engines of recent years. While the engine trials were going on, Mr J also focused some thought on ride characteristics. Unhappy with the Jouncing ride of current cars, he worked on a formula for smoothing it out. Soft coil springs would do tt, he thought. So a chassis was designed with one coil at each wheel. But a patent was not granted, and the design was modified and submitted again and again until after three years of develop- ment, an eight-coil concept (two at each wheel) was accepted for patent in April 1931. Never seriously considering peddling his innovations to the automakers, Jaeger decided to go for bigger stakes and become one of their kind. The first Jaeger car was built in the cramped space ofa two- car garage by a small group including Mr. J's sons Howard (now deceased) and Edward. It was a coupe of shorter wheel- base than those that would follow. This car wasalso intended to feature the rotary engine. The type of engine substituted is, unknown, but it probably was a common four-cylinder pur. chased off the shelf, Plans were made tostart production.and in August 1932 the trade press reported that a small car was under development by a new company. Jaeger Motor Car. Inc. of Belleville, Michigan. It was expected to sell for less than $400, Before work got under way in the modest new factory, Mr. J turned off the small-car plans. Instead, a new and longer prototype coupe was built. This one, also designed by Howard and Edward, had much more pleasing lines. Road-testing Opposite page: First prototype Jaeger was {us sometwhat cobbled effort with odd iood louvers. This page, eft Second proto type at Jaeger factory n Beltevit Michigan. Appearance has been greatly {improved jrom frst effort. Below left First “produeton Jaeger Six shows great refine- ment compared to prototypes. Below, and below center Another tagger thisone with a painted radiator shell. Jaegers didn't tse fro frame homs because of unique Springing system. Rear portion of frame extended stratght back to end of car sup- ported gas tank and bumper. Bottom: Howard Jaeger, son of companys founder. ‘with one of the ears he helped destan and bulld Special Interest Autos, June 1982 59Right: Chassis layout shows springing principle. Auxillary inboard rails connect to fiextble "Y” members which then con- ect to the coll springs. Below right: Rear suspension set-up ts lke the front, with spread ends of the "Y”flexers anchored. toward center of chassis. Below: Front end layout shows how coll springs support Jrame siderails, Mr. Jaeger’s Five Sixes continued proved that the springing system gave better handling and ride qualtties in thisstx-cyiinderjob. and that thiswas the car to produce. With refinements and dressup added, hand- crafted production began in the small factory 30 miles south- west of downtown Detroit. ‘The Jaeger Six was rather conservative except for the sim- plicity of the frame, and most significantly, the unique sus- pension setup. At each wheel, fwo coils stood in tandem, separated by the axle mounting, The colls were attached to the chassis frame siderail above, and to the tail end of acanti- lever-like "Y" below. where the axle was also attached. The spread ends of the “Y" were anchored to the frame sideand to 60 Special Interest Autos, June 1982 an auxiliary inboard rail running parallel to the siderall. The spring steel "Y” functioned somewhat likea cantilever spring, Its dlagonal arm also serving to take care of torque reaction. The system was augmented with Watson Stabilators. The spring suspension was sald to have such advantages as low production cost, noshackles, nolubrication, minimum unsprung weight, no sidesway and better handling and ride control that was most obvious in rough going. Superior handling control was credited for winning overa Ford V-8and a Chevrolet Six in a trial two-lap dash ‘round a rough half- lle dirt track. The Jaeger Six did itin 82.5 seconds, while the Ford took 93 and the Chevy trailed in 99. The Jaeger’s ad- vantage was mostly gained in the turns. Various methods of coil springing had been designed or tested by American automakers during the previous 30 years, but none of them were very similar to the Jaeger system. But when the Jaeger appeared, parts of the industry already hadplans to “spring” their own answers to the need for easter riding, In January 1934 GM and Chrysler would introduce coils in the independent front suspensions on all the two firms’ cars except Airflows. Rear cots would not come until the 1938 Buick. Torsion control, claimed for the Jaeger, ‘would remain untouched until the 1955 Packard's elaborate torsion-level ride system, Chrysler Corp. has featured front- end torsion bars since introducing its 1957 models. So it is obvious that Mr. Jaeger’s ideas were very advanced and daring for their time. Specifications of the Jaeger Six included a wheelbase of 118 inches, a 70-horsepower Continental Red Seal engine ‘and a three-speed transmission made by Detroit Gear. Most ‘components were of proprietary makes, readily available on the market. Reportedly, the 2800-pound car delivered re- spectable fuel economy. Up to 19.12 mpg was the calculation of Howard and his wife, who drove one to New York, encoun- tering all kinds of roads and weather during the trek. Left: Old newspaper photo shows coll springs installed tn chassis which was on display at Detroit auto shou. Below: The ‘only traces of the Jaeger effort which have ‘Survlved are dls radiator emblem, bumper bolt and serial plate in the possession of ‘National Automotive History Collection. Recorts show three “production” cars built by October 22, 1932. The first was for the company’s founder. The others were purchased by Detrolters. Titled as 1983 models. invoices priced the basic car at $587, accessories 835,60, license and title $8.15 and excise tax of $19.25, for a total of $650. Com- pare this with the manufacturer's calculated net cost, listing the body (with hood and fenders) at $78.50, complete engine at $75, chassis frame complete for 89.75, axles and brakes 828, all other items at correspondingly low cost, for an amazingly low total of $277.65 per car. A major portion of the margin between net and retail would have been used for product improvement and business expansion. Tt would seem that sedans werea logical model to start with, but for unknown reasons only sport cougies with a rumble seat were built. Son Edward fondly related to this writer how ‘each car was custom-constructed. He and Howard formed, assembled and spray-painted the bodies. Wallace Blackstock (who later became Ed's father-in-law) did the upholstering Special Interest Autos, June 1982 61Mr. Jaeger’s Five Sixes continued and Bd took care of the instrument panels. Those three men virtually completed the bodies. Others fitted chassis frame and suspension parts together and hammered sheet metal ‘over wooden forms to shape the hoods, fenders and radiator shells. All of this work was done by only 17 men, and they required one week to bufld and finish a car, With orders now on hand for 23 more cars, the ambitious little company announced grandiose intentions to establish branch factories in every state to produce and sell carsdirect- ly to consumers. With no dealers involved, the cars would sell for less than $700. ‘The company's sights were almed high, but cash reserves were getting low. President Jaeger. owner of a major portion of the firm’s 39,000 shares of stock, had to find more money, and this probably was the reason for a decision to relocate. Another community might have some cash to invest in jobs and economic gain for their locality. “Above and right: Before embarking on his ‘uiomaking venture Charles Jaeger manu- factured fire pumps such as the one shown ‘mounted on 1928 AA Ford. He also mani Jactured utility pumps for clearing flooded ‘reas. (rrigation work and fire fighting. ‘Atypical untt ts shown mounted ‘on 1926 Chevrolet. 62 Special interest Autos, june 1982 For reasons now obscure, the target site became little Cass City, 85 miles north of Detroit. It was the birthplace of Ann Kelley, Jaeger’s bookkeeper, and she just might have hinted of possibilities that aimed him in that direction. Cass City townspeople were delighted with the prospect of promising industry in their midst, Enthusiasm didn't pre- vail, however, when Mr. J spoke to the local Rotary Club in April 1933, launching efforts to get the community to invest $10,000 in stock. The natfonal economic disaster had now caused bank closings, and depositors couldn't get whatever savings they still had, Jaeger had lost all financial holdings and his home. The effort to find money there was futile, but the village council soon got together and voted to lease a former powerhouse to the company for a dollar a year. Ma- chinery was quickly moved in and it appeared that Mr. J's optimistic prediction of a larger work force producing ten cars a day within 60 days was going to be realized. ‘Operations never reached that scale, however. In fact. records offer no proof that any cars were completed at Cass, City. Edward didn’t relocate with the company, and is not certain about what was done there. But he is certain that thecar venture’ failure was a result ofthe hard timesand not the fault of the car itself. ‘The burn-out of car-making ambitions was hinted by a news item in November 1933, Without mention of the Jaeger Six automobile, it described Its suspension in detail and stated that Mr. Jaeger planned to have the system in limited production after January 1. Tt 1s apparent that he finally Sought salvation in hisbrainchild by offering it to established automakers. Trade news had spread reports that GM and Chrysler were expected to introduce front coils shortly. But Ford and a host of independents were possible targets for the Jaeger system. TCwas during this time that he managed to get an appoint ment with Henty Ford. He arrived at the Dearborn engincer- {ng offices on time, but it seems that Mr. Ford was detained elsewhere. He waited anxlously for quite awhile gazingat the outside surroundings now and then. At one point he looked out and saw engineers examining and taking vital measure- ‘ments from his Jaeger Six Infuriated by what he thought was deliberate trickery, he dashed out to the car and sped away. Mr, Ford later telephoned apologies for his absence and for the nosy engineers, who Ford explained had looked the car cover because of thelr personal curiosity about the coil sus- pension. ‘final footnote to the ill-fated car venture was an inquiry about the chassis patent. It came from the National Service Bureau of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1937. They asked if it had been sold, and if not, how much cash could buy it, or could it bbe acquired on a royalty basis? There is no evidence of a reply to this, or that the patent was ever sold to anyone. But the in quiry poses a further question: On behalf of what manufac- turer did the Bureau want this information? Tn 1936 Jaeger entered a young industry by founding the Red Arrow Trailer Corporation in East Detroit, turning out house and camp trallers. Semi-retired after World War il, he had time to reflect on the past, which isevident in the records, photos, news clippings and memorabiliahe had saved. But he didn’t keep his Jaeger Six, and no one seems to know what happened to it or the four other automobiles built that car- led his name a Acknowledgements and Bibliography The Jaeger Collection in the National Automotive History Collection of the Detroit Public Library: Automotive In- dustries, August 27, 1932 and November 5, 1932; The Detrott News, December 16, 1970. Our thanks to M. Sandula, Curator of the National Automotive History Collection. Special thanks to Charles F. Jaeger, Jr. Royal Oak, Michi- gan; Edward Jaeger, Englewood, Flortda: Louts Jaeger, Mesa, Arizona; Charles Minton, Oxford. Michigan. Above: The inventive Charles F: Jaeger. Sr Left: After his Jaeger Svx failed to find a riche in the marketplace, Jaeger founded the Red Arrow Tratler Corporation. an effort which met with good success. Special Interest Autos, June 1962 63,