The Bates was an automobile manufactured in Lansing, Michigan, by the Bates Automobile Company from 1903 to 1905. The Bates was the brainchild of M.F. Bates, who was vice-president of the company.
History Bates Automobile was organized on May 27, 1903, by M.F. Bates, an ex-P. F. Olds & Son company (founded by Ransom E. Olds) draftsman and developer.Ingham County Biographical Sketches: M.F. Bates; US Gen; [Excerpt from "Past and Present of the City of Lansing and Ingham County, Michigan;" by Albert E. Cowles; published by The Michigan Historical Publishing Association, Lansing, Michigan; 1905; Pp. 249–250]; accessed January 2014. Bates automobile manufacturing was started up in an old Armory building in Lansing, on south Capitol Street.Google Books: Industrial Lansing
Production The company started out producing brass-era single-cylinder runabouts; and later produced a few two-seater and four-seater cars with four-cylinders. The four-seater touring cars produced cost US$2,000. In all, a total of about 25 cars were produced. The early cars had two-cylinder 16 hp engines, while in 1905, a three-cylinder, 18 hp engine was used.
Marketing and details The company's slogan was "Buy a Bates and Keep Your Dates."
The Bates Automobile Company was entirely separate from the Bates & Edmonds Company, another auto manufacturing firm of which Bates was a partner.
Notes