With a completely different low to the ground style, the American company and its Underslung brand was one of the early pioneers of ground effects and improved handling to create a 'sporty' car for the younger market.
The American Motor Car Company (not to be confused with American Motors) was the first company in America to exclusively produce sports cars. Their cars were dubbed the 'Underslung' which was in reference to the chassis which was slung under the front axles. This configuration allowed the body to sit low and produce a sporty, rakish appearance. This also required large wheels to give adequate ground clearance.
The underslung design was an attempt to make the car as low as possible. Harry C. Stutz, an engineer who would later produce cars under his own name, is credited with creating the design. Although Stutz created the chassis design, it was American's chief engineer, Fred I. Tone, who turned the chassis upside down. Tone decided to place the frame below the axles, instead of the traditional design of placing them above. The semi-elliptic leaf springs were mounted above the frame. Due to achieving such a low ground clearance, 40-inch wheels were needed to give the vehicle ample space between the frame and the ground.
The Underslung models provided safety that many other early manufacturers could not guarantee. The Underslungs were virtually impervious to roll-overs. Sales documentation stated that the vehicles could be tilted up to 55 degrees without rolling over.
The Underslung featured a four-cylinder, 7.8 litre engine capable of producing 50 horsepower.This engine, unfortunately, was not up to snuff compared to the larger engines starting to be produced at this time and the car did poorly in races as a result. That lack of success hurt domestic sales because in the early days of motoring what your car did on the track really mattered to a lot of buyers. In 1913 it went into receivership and the marque was lost. But from this idea came many more ideas and Harry Stutz especially was to go on to build some of the worlds best sportscars of the day.
