Horse Power From Horse Country

Back in the early days of the automobile there were manufacturers popping up all over the place. One of the least likely was the heart of Blue Grass race horse country, Lexington, KY. But in 1909 a race horse promoter named Kninsey Stone founded the Lexington Motor Company.

The company didn't stay in Lexington very long. A group of businessmen from Connersville, IN saw the handwriting on the wall for their various buggy manufacturers and managed to entice Stone to move his young company there. By 1910 they were rolling cars off the line and making some interesting innovations. A dual exhaust system proved to produce about 30 percent more power while using less fuel. A Lexington wore one in 1911 courtesy of chief engineer John C. Moore.

Through the next decade the company had successes and also suffered from financial problems. Through the early 1920s the company partnered with the Ansted Engineering Company and turned out some amazing engines which helped Lexington to some impressive racing victories, including the famed Pikes Peak hill climb.

But even with this success and orders for that engine from GM, the post World War I depression and the growing competition out of Detroit sent Lexington the way of so many other small car makers. Eventually Cord Motor Company bought the Lexington facility in Connorsville and by 1927 the Lexington was nothing but a memory.

The Lexington shown is a 1921 model with a 224 cubic inch six cylinder engine that generated 60 horse power.