He was telling me that the same engine was used in the cars as the washing machines. Interesting how many old car companies there were back then. Many squashed by the Big 3.
Actually, the car engine and the washing machine engines had nothing to do with each other. Maytag did not introduce a gasoline powered washer until 1914.
The car and its engine were designed and a prototype built by Fred Duesenberg in 1904-1905. The engine was a 5" bore x 5" stroke 2 cylinder, overhead valve, horizontally opposed, making about 25 horsepower. It had a cast aluminum crankcase, cast iron pistons, and cast iron cylinders with integral heads, and probably weighs 300+ pounds. Not too practical for a wash machine!
When Duesenberg first designed the car, with a dream of going into production, he named it the Marvel. But to get money for a factory and startup, he sold a 2/3 interest to Ed Mason, which was enough $ to get into production. Thus, the car name was changed from Marvel to Mason. In 1909, Mason sold out to Fred Maytag, who moved the factory from Des Moines to Waterloo, Iowa; reorganized the company to Maytag Mason Motor Company; and began badging the cars as Maytags.
Maytag had made his fortune in farm equipment manufacturing, and the car business and the washing machines (and also a railroad) were attempts to diversify, smoothing out the seasonal ups and downs of the farm stuff. He lost $ on Mason/Maytag, and sold out within a year. The Maytag name was removed, so the cars were called Masons again.
When it became obvious that Duesenbergs beloved little 2 banger was obsolete (at least from a marketing perspective) Fred designed an awesome, powerful, lightweight 4 cylinder engine to update the cars. When the bean counters said "NO" and went with a cheaper engine from an outside vendor, Fred and Augie Duesenberg packed up and moved to St. Paul Minnesota, and formed the Duesenberg Motor Company. Their 4 cylinder motor, and its later derivatives, became a phenomenal success on the racetrack, in the air, and on the water, making Duesenberg a household name.
http://www.enginehistory.org/members/articles/DuesenbergAircraftEngines.pdfThe engines that Mason Motors purchased and installed in their cars, as well as the rear axles they were purchasing, were largely defective, destroying the once good name of the company, and they went bankrupt.
