BEARDSLEY ELECTRIC

Beardsley Electric Co.

Los Angeles, California (1914-1915)

Culver City, California (1915-1917)

This is a Beardsley Electric emblem (c1916-1917)     mjs
Size: 69mm diameter   MM: Unknown

The Beardsley Electric Company was set up in 1913 by Volney S Beardsley, who had previously produced the Tourist and California motor cars. The Beardsley Electric car was aimed at a Californian and primarily female clientele and was introduced as "A California car that does California proud".

Production of the Beardsley Electric began in Los Angeles but by late 1915 the Beardsley Electric was doing well and production moved to a larger plant in Culver City. But First World War shortages of materials and the falling popularity of electric cars led to the failure of the Company early in 1917. 

Beardsley Electric also built some battery powered trucks of 1/2-ton and 1-ton capacity from 1914 through 1915, but this commercial vehicle venture was taken over by the Moreland Motor Truck Company, which later absorbed the remainder of the Beardsley Electric Company.

Emblems

The first Beardsley Electric cars did not carry an emblem but did display a brass script on the front of the vehicle, see example below. Original Beardsley Electric scripts are very rare.

This is a Beardsley Electric car showing a script (1913/1914)    piam

This is a Beardsley Electric brass script (c1914-1915)     piam

It is believed that the Beardsley Electric emblem shown above at the top of this post was used after production moved to Culver City but I cannot confirm this. This Beardsley Electric emblem is very rare.