The Kalamazoo Motors Corporation

Makers of “Kalamazoo” Hand-Made Trucks

After the close of the First World War, assembly lines, standardization, and new technologies spurred growth in several sectors, including the truck manufacturing industry. Innovations like pneumatic tires, larger and more powerful engines, better transmissions, and four-wheel-drive, allowed truck builders to create specialized models for a variety of uses. Dump beds, fire trucks, buses, farm vehicles, tank trucks, and heavy-duty tractor trailer models were among the many new options.

Lane Motor Truck Company

In March 1919, the Lane Motor Truck Company was absorbed by an ambitious new firm called the Kalamazoo Motors Corporation (KMC). With $250,000 in capital (nearly $5.4 million today) and a new board of directors, the KMC would be restructured “from the ground up” (Gazette) with its primary focus on a new line of trucks to be known as the “Kalamazoo.”

“There is every indication that the Kalamazoo Motors Corporation will be a leading factor in the industrial growth of this city. The stockholders are men interested in Kalamazoo’s biggest enterprises and well able to make a success of the new concern.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, 30 March 1919

A list of KMC officers and investors reads like a Who’s Who of Kalamazoo business professionals at the time. Local developer Charles B. Hays would function as the firm’s financial manager. Arthur L. Pratt (president of the King Paper Company), along with Frank H. Milham, Noah Bryant, Joseph E. Brown, and Hale P. Kauffer (all associated with the Bryant Paper Company), and Hugh Alexander Crawford (former Flint mayor and president of the Lull Carriage Company) topped the list of initial investors, although others would soon follow.

H. Alexander Crawford

Hugh Crawford was to become the new company president, with South Dakota financier C.J. Johnson, vice president; Robert M. Gregory (from the Lane Motor Truck Co.), secretary; and William B. Milham (president of the Illinois Envelope Co.), treasurer. Lembert W. Coppock (also from the Lane Motor Truck Co.) would continue his work as chief engineer and production manager, with Vernon T. Barker (president of the Home Savings Banks), Hale Kauffer, Joseph Brown, Arthur Pratt, Frank Milham, and John McKinnon rounding out the board of directors.

“…and with the organization of the new Kalamazoo Motors corporation, this city is put on the map with the towns that produce both passenger cars and trucks.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, 13 April 1919

The new firm would continue to use the Lane Motor Truck Co. facilities on Fulford Street, while focusing on models “designed and perfected” (Gazette) by the firm’s now chief engineer and production manager, Lembert Coppock. Early emphasis was placed on trucks in the 1½-ton, 2½-ton, and 3½-ton categories. The company’s goal was to produce 1,000 trucks during its first year.

The former Lane factory building was to be rearranged, expanded, and retooled, as orders began to roll in from as far away as Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, and California. A 1,500-square-foot addition would make more room for the paint shop, while the machine shop would receive a 2,000-square-foot addition.

Support Home Industry

Postwar buyers were encouraged to “help turn the wheels of home industry” (Gazette) by patronizing hometown merchants and buying locally made products. The Kalamazoo Hack & Bus Company, Michigan Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Kalamazoo Storage, the Kalamazoo City Fire Department, Corlett-Stone Lumber, and Wolverine Construction were among the first in town to own “Kalamazoo” trucks. In June, James F. Johnson purchased a 1½-ton “Kalamazoo” bus for use on his popular Long Lake and West Lake passenger routes. In July, KMC secured its first foreign customer when a 2½-ton “Kalamazoo” truck was shipped overseas to the city of Arnhem in The Netherlands. Production reached 125 to 150 trucks per month with most units going to out-of-state buyers.

In February 1920, the firm’s capital stock was increased to $1 million (more than $16.1 million today). One hundred workers were on the payroll by then, and plans were in the works for a 114-foot by 80-foot addition designed by Kalamazoo architect Rockwell A. LeRoy. This latest addition would be used as a woodshop and assembly space.

New Models for 1920

For its 1920 models, KMC chose to use four-cylinder engines as opposed to the six-cylinder variety used during the previous year, citing greater adaptability and better economy (and most likely less expensive). The firm’s “Model G” 1½-ton trucks used a four-cylinder engine from Continental Motors Corp. (Detroit), while its “Model H” 2½-ton and “Model K” 3½-ton trucks used Wisconsin Motor’s “Type A” four-cylinder engines (Wisconsin Motor Manufacturing Co., Milwaukee). Larger and heavier wheels were also used on the 1920 models. Models “H” and “K” saw metal wheels used with pneumatic tires, still a relatively new development at the time, while the model “G” retained traditional wooden wheels, although heavier than those previous.

For its 1922 lineup, the company featured ten standard models: a one-ton “speed truck” designed for light duty highway use, four commercial models from 1½-ton to 5-ton capacity, four tractor trailer units ranging from 6-ton to 15-ton capacity, and an 18-passenger motor coach. The lighter capacity trucks used pneumatic tires, while the heavy-duty models featured air brakes and solid rubber tires. By July 1921, there were 56 registered “Kalamazoo” truck owners in the city with close to 70 trucks on the streets.

The Struggle to Stay Alive

After 1921, problems developed quickly for the Kalamazoo-based manufacturer. While facing formidable competition from larger firms, a five percent price increase was announced for the 1923 model year as KMC attempted to pay off $165,000 in mortgage bonds. The firm’s chief engineer, Lembert Coppock, who was regarded as “one of the highest type of engineers in this industry” (Gazette), resigned from KMC in February 1923 and took a position with the American Motorway Equipment Corporation, a large New York-based manufacturer. John L. Carey replaced Hugh Crawford as company president, while Crawford attempted to recover $6,500 in his own unpaid wages and “was forced to take a rest after a long struggle to keep the firm alive” (Gazette).

By May 1923, the company had been deemed insolvent and was placed in receivership, citing foreclosure of a mortgage on the company’s real estate and outstanding bonds of $104,000.00 (nearly $2 million today). By August 1923, the once promising Kalamazoo Motors Corporation was no more.

The factory complex on Fulford Street was sold in 1926 to the Voigtmann Metal Window Corporation of Chicago. By 1927, engineer Lembert Coppock was designing buses for the Metropolitan Coach and Cab Corporation in Cleveland. Coppock died in Kalamazoo in December 1929 at the age of 55. Hugh Alexander Crawford remained in Kalamazoo, where he formed the Milburn Refrigerator Company in 1927. He later served as a director for the Bank of Kalamazoo and Title Bond and Mortgage Company. Crawford died in Flint in February 1951 at the age of 77. John Carey, KMC’s final president and receiver, returned to the Detroit area and was later elected mayor of Dearborn. He died in Ypsilanti in 1983 at the age of 96.

Written by Keith Howard, Kalamazoo Public Library staff, January 2026