As explained in “Background and Restoration” our car has a very unusual acetylene starter. (Go to that part of the blog for more details).  The Prest-O-Lite Company of Indianapolis, Indiana was in the business of selling full tanks of acetylene for use in the “pre-electric” headlights on early cars. Many of the earliest cars had carbide generators that dripped water onto carbide crystals which, in turn, generated acetylene gas at very low pressure. When ignited, the gas gives off a remarkably bright light.

Carbide generators are somewhat complex and required regular maintenance if they were to operate correctly. Spent carbide crystals created a soggy ash in the bottom of the generator that had to be cleaned out after each use.  The Prest-O-Lite Company saw an opportunity to provide compressed acetylene in purpose-built tanks that could be swapped out for filled tanks when the acetylene was used up. The system was exactly like our BBQ propane tanks. Bring in an empty tank, pay for the propane and get a filled recycled tank. This system was widespread and most acetylene headlight cars switched to Prest-O-Lite tanks over carbide generators because they were very convenient. By 1910 & 1911, the industry was looking for ways to start cars other than by cranking them. The Prest-O-Lite company already had a captive market where cars were using the tanks for lighting their headlights. So why not see if there was a way to use the existing acetylene system to also start the car?  It would ensure a broader market and require more acetylene tanks to be sold.  Enter the Prest-O-Starter.

Only one problem. The competition was going all electric.  A flip of a switch is much easier than turning on a valve, walking around to the front of the car with matches and lighting the headlamps. So, as electric lights were adopted by many manufacturers (Ford was notably slow, waiting until 1915 to switch to electric headlights), the need for acetylene went away. And went away quickly. The year 1912, was the first year Cadillac made electric starters standard on their cars and the technology quickly dominated the alternative automobile starter choices. Those included: electric start, acetylene start, compressed air start, spring start, and the original — hand crank starting.  It is again important to note that Ford did not put electric starters on as standard equipment until 1919.

I have been trying to find anyone that has a car with an acetylene starter and better yet, someone that has USED IT.  So far, I’ve encountered a hand full of folks that have them on their cars, but all have rigged electric starters to their vehicles.  In my search for all things related to our car, I chanced upon an eBay ad for PREST-O-STARTER installation and operation booklet.  *** Updated – December 2018 *** I located a second brochure by the Prest-O-Lite company with an even more detailed manual produced in 1912. Both brochures are reproduced below, just click on the blue words: Prest-O-Starter Manual, circa 1910 and/or How to Install and Use Prest-O-Starter 1912 below.

Prest-O-Starter Manual, circa 1910

How to Install and Use Prest-O-Starter 1912

The very nice eBay seller of the 1912 Prest-O-Starter manual also included a cover from the May 1912 McClure’s Magazine, which had the Prest-O-Starter advertisement on the back cover. Check it out:

Click on the photo to enlarge it.

An Early List of Car Brands That Were Equipped with Self Starters —

The following list was published in the January 4, 1912 issue of the magazine, The Automobile at page 30:

Of the car brands listed in the article, only Cadillac survives. All the other brands are extinct. The listing does NOT include our MICHIGAN car.

Prest-o-lite, the Indianapolis 500 and The Lincoln Highway —

One of the wonderful things about researching is that you sometimes encounter unexpected and remarkable relationships between things that you never imagined were connected. Such is the case with the three captioned items: the Prest-o-lite company that made the acetylene starter for our MICHIGAN, the Indianapolis 500 race, and the creation of the Lincoln Highway. All three are connected through a remarkable individual, Carl Graham Fisher (1874 – 1939).

Fisher had his energetic fingers in all sorts of businesses. One of the earlier businesses was the launch of the Prest-O-Lite company (formerly the Concentrated Acetylene Company) with James Allison and P.C. Avery in 1904.

Up until Avery’s invention, (see attached patent drawing #933152) all vehicles driving at night had to depend on oil / kerosene lamps or the relatively new, but complicated acetylene burning headlights. The improved and much brighter acetylene lighting system required that water drip on to a bed of calcium carbide crystals to generate acetylene gas. This all happened in an enclosed container and the resulting entrapped gas was piped to the headlights in small tubes. The operator would get the process started in a “carbide generator” and then light the burners in the headlights with a match. If the water dripped too fast, too much acetylene was generated with a big flame or too much pressure. Drip the water too slow and the flame was weak or absent. The process was volatile and messy with ash quickly accumulating in the bottom of the enclosed container. The earlier company was formed because Avery believed that it was possible to put acetylene gas dissolved in acetone in porous material filled cylinders. And with backing from Fisher and Allison, that is exactly what they did. Now, instead of the messy and uncertain “carbide generator” system, a motorist could simply turn a lever on a tank filled with acetylene, and go light the burners. Presto — instant light.

Avery withdrew from the business in 1905 and the business was re-christened, the Prest-O-Lite company, based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company did tremendous business making its owners wealthy as the rapidly expanding auto industry adopted the Prest-O-Lite tanks for their night driving needs. The bottom of the tank (which was mounted on its side) had a dial gauge that indicated how much gas remained inside. When the acetylene ran out, all that a motorist had to do was exchange the empty tank and pay for a full one. The company had refill facilities all across the nation, making the product widely and easily available at service stations and elsewhere. Electric lights for cars were fraught with issues created by bumpy roads, weak bulb filaments, unreliable generators and poor batteries.  Although electric lighting for cars started fairly early, acetylene lights hung on tenaciously well into the late 1910’s – and Prest-O-Lite did their best to delay the inevitable transition.

Both Fisher and Allison were already wealthy when in 1911, they built the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Fisher drove the first pace car in the first 500 mile race at the Speedway.

The following year, Fisher proposed the creation of the Lincoln Memorial Highway system, with the establishment of the Lincoln Highway Association. The proposed highway was to connect the East Coast to the West Coast, starting in New York City and ending in San Francisco.

Up until this time there was no transcontinental road for automobiles. The existing roads were former wagon trails — most without any sort of paving. A “good” road was gravel or oiled dirt. Many of these tracks became choked with mud and nearly impassable in rainy weather and for weeks thereafter.

Fisher tried to enlist major automotive companies and related businesses to sponsor the project, which hoped to have cement sections gradually link together across the Nation. He met with mixed success. While many prominent businesses did choose to contribute to the effort, Henry Ford opted not to participate. The project was to be financed privately with local businesses and institutions along the route. Many local groups participated by building their own paved highway sections through each town or city along the way. Sections of the Lincoln Highway (which had several iterations and routes) still exist today, many of which date back to its creation in 1913.

While it was envisioned as a continuous route across the country, it was built as a stitched together hodgepodge of cement & gravel & asphalt ranging from carefully engineered — to very rustic.

A formal Federal highway system did not exist until the passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act in 1956, during the Eisenhower administration. Until that time even the so-called “U.S. Highways” were largely designated by agreement of the States with varying amounts of Federal funding.

Simultaneous with his promotion of both the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Lincoln Highway, the now multi-millionaire Fisher got involved in the promotion of real estate in a swamp that he was to transform into Miami Beach, Florida.

That part of his life was not so successful. Between another real estate scheme of his in Montauk, New York; a hurricane that wiped out most of Miami Beach; and the stock market crash of 1929, Fisher lost everything. But it was a remarkable ride. Thank you Mr. Prest-O-Lite; Mr. Indy 500; Mr. Lincoln Highway; Mr. Miami Beach: Mr. Carl Graham Fisher.