RAUCH & LANG

Rauch & Lang Carriage Co. (1905-1915)
Baker R & L Co. (1915-1920)
Cleveland, Ohio
Rauch & Lang, Inc. (1920-1932)
Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts 

This is a Rauch & Lang hub emblem (c1910-1915)    mjs
Size: 63mm diameter    MM: None

The Rauch & Lang Carriage Company was a long established builder of fine carriages by 1903 when the company took the Cleveland agency for the Buffalo Electric and in 1905 built their own electric car. The first Rauch & Lang was an open Stanhope model followed shortly after by coupe and depot wagon models. Fifty electrics were built in 1905 and production had risen to 500 a year by 1908 and there were orders for 300 more.

By 1915 the market for electric vehicles was in decline and Rauch & Lang merged with the Baker Motor Vehicle Company (see Baker Electric) to form the Baker R & L Company. The electric cars were commonly known as Baker Raulang. The Baker name continued through 1916. Thereafter only Rauch & Langs were produced. A wide variety of models and body styles continued to be offered. In 1919 a total of 700 Rauch & Lang electrics were built and the company was restructured into different businesses; coachbuilding, passenger cars and another department set up to manufacture electric industrial trucks.

In January 1920, Ray S Deering, president of the Stevens-Duryea Company bought the electric passenger car business of Rauch & Lang, which he reorganized as Rauch & Lang, Inc. and moved to a new factory in Chicopee Falls. In 1922, Rauch & Lang entered the taxicab field with production of both electric and gasoline powered taxicabs. Only a very few electric passenger cars were produced after this time and taxicabs became the main Rauch & Lang business. Financial problems began in 1924 and in 1928 passenger car production ceased completely.

Between 1929 and 1930, an experimental gas-electric was developed using a 60 hp Knight engine and a General Electric motor. The first prototype was based on a 1929 Stearns-Knight Model M-6-80 cabriolet-roadster. Three prototypes were built, including a sedan, which still remains extant. The stock market crash stopped any plans for further development. Rauch & Lang struggled on for a few years but it was all over by 1932.

Emblems

In common with most other early electric motor cars, Rauch & Lang electrics did not have a conventional hood and radiator. 

The "Rauch & Lang" name was displayed on the hub emblems, see early black painted example shown above at the top of this post. This Rauch & Land hub emblem is rare.

The following is a Rauch & Lang wire wheel hub emblem showing the "Rauch & Land Electrics" script logo. This Rauch & Lang hub emblem is also rare.

This is a Rauch & Lang wire wheel hub emblem (c1915)    mjs
Size: 70mm diameter   MM: None

The "Rauch & Lang" name was also displayed on the rubber step board cover, see example shown below:

Rauch & Lang name on the step board cover (1916)  rmsothebys

There was a change in hub emblem following the merger with the Baker Motor Vehicle Company in 1915, see example shown below. This Baker R & L hub emblem was originally painted black and is rare.

This is a Baker R & L hub emblem (1915-1920)   mjs
Size: 63mm diameter   MM: None

The hub emblem name returned to Rauch & Lang in 1917 but was changed again when the company was reorganized as Rauch & Lang, Inc. and the factory was moved to Chicopee Falls in Massachusetts in 1920, see example shown below. This Rauch & Lang hub emblem is rare.

This is a Rauch & Lang hub emblem (1920-c1928)    mjs
Size: 67mm diameter    MM: None

This Rauch & Lang hub emblem was originally painted black, see restored example shown below:

Rauch & Lang hub emblem (1920)   rmsothebys

Rauch & Lang electric vehicles generally did not carry an emblem on the radiator or elsewhere on the body but there is an R&L emblem, see red painted R&L emblem shown below. This R&L emblem is rare.

This is an R&L emblem (c1922)   pcc
Size: 48mm high 38mm wide    MM: Unknown

There is also a corresponding red and black painted R&L hub emblem, see example shown below:

This is an R&L hub emblem (c1922)   ms
Size: Unknown     MM: Unknown

I do not know for certain when or where these emblems were used. I believe they were used for some R&L taxicabs, for example the gasoline powered taxicabs built from 1922, but I cannot confirm this. If you can identify these R&L emblems, please let me know, in order to update this post.

The only surviving Rauch & Lang General Electric gas electric sedan shown below was built in 1930 and displays a different all metal radiator emblem. If an original copy of this Rauch & Lang radiator emblem could be found, it would be extremely rare and possibly ultra rare.

Rauch & Lang M-6-80 gas electric with rad emblem (1930) conceptcarz  

This is the Rauch & Lang M-6-80 radiator emblem (1930)