Industry Automotive Defunct 1926 Successor Willys | Founder Claude Cox Founded 1903 Ceased operations 1926 | |
 | ||
Former type Automobile Manufacturing Fate Acquired by John North Willys Headquarters Indianapolis, Indiana, United States | ||
The Overland Automobile Company was a United States-based automobile manufacturer.
History
The Overland Automobile "runabout" was founded by Claude Cox, a graduate of Rose Polytechnic Institute, while he was employed by Standard Wheel Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, United States, in 1903. In 1905, Standard Wheel allowed Cox to relocate the Overland Automobile Company to Indianapolis, Indiana, and he got a partner.
In 1908, Overland Motors was purchased by John North Willys. In 1912, it was renamed Willys-Overland.
One of the more unusual uses of an Overland was in 1911 when Milton Reeves used a 1910 model to create his eight-wheel Reeves Octo-Auto.
Overlands continued to be produced until 1926 when the marque was succeeded by the Willys Whippet.
The last vestige of the Overland automobile empire remains in the form of bricks spelling out "Overland" in the smoke stacks at the Toledo factory that once formed the core of Willys automotive empire. But the name would come back when DaimlerChrysler introduced the Overland name for a trim package on the 2002–present (except 2005 model year) Jeep Grand Cherokee. The badging is a recreation of the Overland nameplate from the early twentieth century.