In browsing old automobile publications, I came across this ad in a 1911 “Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal.  It looks VERY much like our transmission, but shows a hump on the casting below and to the left of the circular observation hatch that our transmission is missing. The hump could be the difference between the transmission depicted in the ad for a 30-35 H.P. car and our 40 H.P. car.  We will have to investigate this to see if there are any references to a “Type A” or “Type C” transmission in any of the literature. There are no identifying marks on the casting to indicate who may have manufactured the transmission, and the ad seems to show that it was something NOT sourced from other manufacturers, unlike most of the other parts that were assembled into our car.

A photo of a 1912 MICHIGAN Model K, (car number: 3477)  owned by Mike Howard of Scotts, Michigan shows a transmission with the hump shown in the ad. Also of note is that his hand brake and shifter are different from ours.

Mike & Nancy Howard’s car #3477

Our car (car number: 3531), shown below, also has a leather cone clutch whereas car number 3477, above has a multiple disk clutch — one of several equipment variations available on MICHIGAN motor cars.

Our car #3531 – Note: clutch is removed in this photo, allowing view of inside mating surface of fly wheel.