Henderson

The Henderson brothers of Indianapolis were employees of the Cole Motor Car Co who took leave of that firm in 1912 to stat their owned venture. The Henderson Motor Car Co was capitalized with a paid up capital of $100,000, and the plant to produce a low priced Cole type Automobile. Chester Ricker who up to that point was best known as a technical writer was the designer. Ricker would later become well known as the Chief Timer for the Indianapolis 500 for several decades, and was also general manager of Duesenberg from 1923 to 1924.  CP Henderson was Company President and RP Henderson was VP and General Manager.  The Henderson car was introduced prior to the 1912 500 with a police escorted drive through town ending on Monument Circle where Mayor Lew Shank gave a short address and according to the Automobile formally christened the car and autographed its hood with a huge pencil.  “The Car of Your Dreams” according to Henderson was offered as a 4 cylinder initially, and a 6 was added in 1914, the final year for the Henderson, sufficient working capital having been the problem from the beginning. The Henderson’s chose to liquidate, converting all assets to cash and apportioning same to creditors- no court action was required.  They were welcomed back by the Cole Motor Company, CP as Sales Head and RP as his assistant. The Henderson Family later became famous in the motorcycle field.

At least one Henderson remains in a private collection.