Years In Operation: 1920 Models Built: Jaquet Flyer Approximate Number of Cars Built: 1 or 2 Factory Address: 400 Reed St., Belding MI(Approximately) Officers of the Company:
Alfred J. Jackson: President, Car Designer, Director of Sales
L.W. Wilson: Vice President and General Manager(President at a later date)
Charles Marquet: Production and Experimental Work Manager
Roy D. DeWolf: Vice President and Production Manager(possibly post-reorganization)
Byron F. Brown: Secretary
Fred L. Warner: Treasurer
What can i see today?
There was one or possibly two Jaquet Flyers built and their whereabouts are unknown. To find out more about the Jaquet Flyer and the Belding area history visit the Belding Museum at the Historic Belrockton. Address: 108 Hanover St., Belding, MI 48809 Phone: (616) 794-1900 Website: https://belding.mi.us/museum_history.php
The factory is still standing but is not open to the public. Address: 400 Reed St,. Belding MI 48809(Approximately)
The story
In January of 1920, the president of the Grand Rapids Brass Company was looking to sell its' building due to financial troubles. This opened the door for Jaquet to have a place to build their vehicle in hopes of becoming the next Detroit or Flint...
The building was bought on January 27th...
The Jaquet Motor Corporation of America was formed in January as shown here in these articles. The name of the company was derived from a combination of Jackson(Predsident) and Marquet(Production and Experimental Manager).
The officers of the company seemed to be the perfect fit based on their experience in other auto and truck ventures. A.J. Jackson, who was the president of the company, had worked with Republic Truck in Alma...
$100,000 in stock was the initial investment in the company....
The factory was located at approximately 400 Reed St. right next to the railroad. The production started February 17th with just 5 men. The first vehicle was to be completed March 15th but was not built until months later...
On May 12th things seemed to be moving along. A shipment of motors had just arrived and production was scheduled to begin. The company also opted to buy more land to expand in the future...
On June 2nd Jackson was voted out and a vote of confidence was given to L.W. Wilson to lead the company. Jackson had went to Manitowoc Wisconsin and claimed the company was going to relocate. The rumor was shot down by Jaquet proclaiming that Jackson was no longer with the company and could therefore not make that decision. The company was also reorganized at the same time with $30k of stock being underwritten by the board...
There was a feature in the Belding Banner News in July celebrating the company and hoping there would be big things for Belding in the future...
The factory was now ready to go and the suppliers were lined up...
Parts were to come from many different manufacturers...
It appears auto painting was also done out of the Jaquet Building...
The car was to be comparable to a Stutz Bearcat with a similar Wisconsin Engine. It boasted an aluminum body and 82 h.p.
The Bearcat is shown in this ad on the bottom right...
On August 15th there was a meeting held to raise even more money for the company....
It is known that at least 1 car was built before the Labor Day Parade of 1920 as it appeared in the parade and was shown around the grounds of the Ionia Fair. A possible second car was built and 4 to 5 were in various states of assembly when the company went under according to records...
The company continued in November and December to attempt to raise money....
On December 22nd, Jaquet officially announced it had "temporarily side-lined car production" to manufacture the B.J. Steam Gas Generator. By March of 1921, the company was producing the Little Giant cement mixer...
August of 1921 was the end of the car building business for the company. The car was given away through a raffle and the winner, George "Leo" Bowler, eventually sold it. The whereabouts of this vehicle, a second possible vehicle, and the possible four or five partially assembled vehicles is unknown...
