CARHUNTER : TEMPLAR MOTOR CAR COMPANY 1917-1924 AND 2014!! CANNONBALL WHO?

Can it be true that 90 years since the last Templar's were built the factory is still in place?

Yes sir, thanks to David Buehler who grew up in this Cleveland suburb of Lakewood the history of this long gone marque lives on!

There is a 400 year gap between the battle ready Knight above and the "modern" Knights Templar"

As usual I am not going to explore a long explanation nor get involved with political views of what is basically a Masonic organization or Freemasons as commonly known. Thought of as "Secret Societies" are actually fraternal organizations that looked to ancient ways to form modern day groups and whether or not you can follow this way of thinking let it be known most are very community driven for charities and education funding. This is where you take the cue to do some research on your own if you want.

The eight pointed cross and each one had a meaning. Oddly enough one was vow of poverty.

Two knights sharing one horse! It took a small group of Knight Templar Freemasons with the financial backing,power and engineering know how to start building their own cars and for profit not poverty!

This is the logo on the cars note one rider because clearly poverty was not the plan here!

The building was and is still is use all the years since cars left the floors.
The Lake Erie building as it is most commonly known.

http://templarmotors.com/
To keep the blog simple I suggest going to the website and watch the video Of David Buehler explaining everything OK!

The cars were hand assembled right here using natural light and David has spent many hours saving the history, notice the logos using that light on the overhead signs?

Hey is that Cannonball Baker? Keep reading folks.

Before we walked in David pointed out we were standing on the old test track and here are some original bricks from it

The factory never got as big as the plan

Extensive newspaper articles about Cannonball Templar records

8 points

Fat man wheel, first tilt wheel?

8 points

Jump seat

At the same time Henry Ford was selling his cars for about $400 the Templar's sold for as much as $4000 so these were not being built for the masses.

Perfection Kerosene heater

They made their own engines with unusually long strokes, Look at that crazy cast lower sump!

Although Templar made their own engine (one of the uppity ups owned a foundry) they sourced parts from all over the very auto saturated Cleveland area, rear ends, chassis, bodies,etc... David explains it in the video and I will do a blog next about the auto industry in Cleveland.

Employee security badges as the factory became a munitions supplier at one point

The Lake Erie building spent much of its life being know as the "screw building" hey hey out of the gutter potty mouth, it was a machine screw plant for years! This one was actually in the building as a display in the presidents office of the screw company! David finally was able to purchase it!

Cannonball Baker was the test driver for Templar because he could drive the wheels off a Locomotive - This could be a blog by itself, Erwin George Baker raced motorcycles and cars to records and was the first commissioner of NASCAR. E G "Cannonball" Baker had this never ending desire to get across the USA as fast as possible and the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash was organized.

Did you guess yet? It was shortened to The Cannonball Run! We know the movie, but the cross country race against the clock exists for real,ah maybe not officially!

Cannonball below in his Indy 500 Templar - hey the 8 point cross!

I really want to thank David Buehler for his time meeting me and showing me this fantastic collection! It is said only 40 Templar's are still in existence today.