The Napier Motor Car Company of America
As well as manufacturing cars at Acton, it was decided to construct an assembly shop in the USA, initially in a small shop in Boston in late 1904. Then, in mid 1905 the Napier Motor Company of America opened a new factory later in the town of Jamaica Plain close to Boston in Massachusetts. The factory was located in part of the old B.F. Sturtevant blower plant opposite the railway station between Green and Williams Streets. All the components for the vehicles were manufactured in Acton and exported to Jamica Plain for assembly.
Named the Napier Motor Company of America the business had a chequered history with union and financial problems. Early in 1906 American Napier company’s 200 employees went on strike citing grievances and aggravation caused by the English superintendent who, no doubt, was well schooled in ‘The Napier Way’.
The cost of importing and assembly must have added to the price of these vehicles. When one compares the $8000 price tag for the vehicle in the 1906 advertisement below you can understand why a Napier was for multi-millionaires. In 2024 the equivalent cost is in the region of $273,000! The standard Napier chassis was offered with either an imported British body priced at $1,500 upwards or special American made bodies starting at a more attractive price of $1,000 upwards.
Of all the American Napiers built, the “Nike” model was the most distinctively American with a 4-cylinder 18 hp engine. A medium priced roadster and a light delivery wagon were planned. Additionally the Company underwent negotiations with a taxi service for several hundred taxicabs to be built. The company also established a repair department at the same address.
Despite the attractive American price production was halted in 1907 due to financial troubles. In March 1909 production resumed at the same factory but under new management and only lasted a year. This was superseded once again in 1911 by yet another company, the British Napier Motor Company of Boston, which only endured for one further year before finally closing its doors.
