Name/Title
Engine, InboardEntry/Object ID
1999.018.001Description
Universal C-4 1999.018.001
The Universal Motor Company, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This is a flat-head in-line four, with a crank-start. It has a Bosch magneto ignition, and so does not require a battery at all. Part of the intake manifold is present, but the carburetor and a tube which connects to the carb and to the intake manifold (making the engine an updraft rather than a side-draft) are missing. The crank-start suggests that this motor is from the early teens, before the ubiquity of electric starter motors, but Universal literature shows that it made four-cylinder engines of this basic configuration well into the 1920s. The serial number of this motor is C4551. Universal did make a flathead four listed as C-4, in a price guide from 1920. The C-4 originally shipped with a "freshwater outfit": 6' propeller shaft, propeller, and stuffing box, for $310. However, it is not until the literature from 1925 that this specific engine, marked by the enclosed chain for the hand-crank, appears. No model numbers are given in that brochure, as it advertises a particular configuration called the "Flexifour Super Deluxe", which features a hand-operated oil pump and nickel-plated hardware, including a flywheel cover, which this engine does not have. EVS 2007Collection
Inboard EnginesAcquisition
Accession
1999.018Source or Donor
Shirley WellsAcquisition Method
DonationMade/Created
Manufacturer
UniversalDate made
1925Other Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Other NumberOther Number
C4551Location
* Untyped Location
Row CWall
Rack GBuilding
*Don Doebler Collections Storage Facility
