Heine-Velox

American automobile manufacturer (1905 08)

Heine Velox was a large, expensive luxury car made by Gustav Heine. Heine Piano Company was originally Bruenn Piano Company before Heine became owner. All were based in San Francisco.

Gustav Otto Ludolf Heine was born near Boizenburg, Germany, in 1868, and emigrated to the United States in 1873 with his parents and seven siblings, settling in the Capay Valley. At the age of 16, he moved to San Francisco and went to work for Bruenn Piano Company. Heine became a piano tuner, but did not get along well with the owner of the firm. After much conflict, and a scar from dueling Bruenn with tuning hammers, Heine emerged owner of Bruenn Piano Company, changing the name of the firm to Heine Piano Company.

In 1903, Heine became interested in automobiles and had one of the first Ford dealerships in the west coast. The next year, he met Colonel E. J. Hall (of the Hall Scott Motor Company), who designed engines for Heine with hill climbing units. Starting in 1905, Hall worked for Heine as works driver, repairman, chauffeur, salesman, and general partner for two and a half years. Heine built three tourers before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, which destroyed the Heine Motor Company and Heine Piano Company. Following the earthquake, Heine restarted the piano business, The vehicles would be manufactured by Mauvais Motor Company, owned by Roy Mauvais. Heine's planned production of 50 cars per year never came to fruition, and he ended automobile production in 1908.

In 1921, after Heine had purchased Economy Steel Manufacturing Company, he had a new car designed and built with resources from the acquired company. The 1921 Heine Velox, advertised as a custom built luxury car, was first shown at a San Francisco auto show. The car had hydraulic brakes on all wheels, and a V 12 engine commissioned from the Weidely Motor Company. It was one of only a few vehicles manufactured after 1919 to use a V 12 engine, which was not widely reintroduced until the early 1930s. the Lozier Big Six limousines and landaulettes $6,500 (tourers and roadsters were $5,000), and the Lozier Light Six Metropolitan tourer and runabout bottomed at $3,250. By contrast, the high volume Oldsmobile Runabout was $650 and Western's Gale Model A was $500. The Heine Velox V12 had a low slung appearance because the body was mounted to the frame from the sides, instead of the top, which also provided more structural rigidity and a low center of gravity. The two headlights, mounted high on the fenders (giving a kind of bug eyed look), contained both high and low beams, operated by a switch. Rather than roll up or down, Heine windows pivoted and could be locked in position. Luggage could be stored in lockable boxes on the running boards, as well as in places on all sides of the car. An easy to spot interior innovation was the tilting of the dashboard to 45 degrees, which was supposed to be more comfortable for the driver and would hide the steering column, as well as positioning of the handbrake and gear selector which did not require leaning. Heine demonstrated his car to Chevrolet and demanded to see the head engineer. He was pointed in his direction, leaving the car unattended, and the car was stolen. The following year Chevrolet released a car with pivoting windows. Heine's car had many other innovations, including an oil level automatically maintained by gravity, and a cold weather start system operated from the dash. The Blackhawk Collection claims the cars were as powerful as the Duesenbergs of the day.