Rollston
| Industry | Automotive |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1921 |
| Founders | Harry Lonschein, Sam Blotkin |
| Defunct | April 1938 |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Successor | Rollson, Inc. |
| Headquarters | Manhattan, New York, |
Key people | Harry Lonschein, Sam Blotkin, Julius Veghso, Rudy Creteur |
| Products | Coachwork |
Rollston Company was an American coachbuilder producing luxury automobile bodies during the 1920s and 1930s readily acknowledged to be of the very highest quality.[1]
After bankruptcy in 1938 some of the same owners began a very similar business under the name Rollson.[1]
History
Harry Lonschein was 16 when he became employed by Brewster & Co.[1] He would found Rollston Company together with his partner Sam Blotkin in 1921. The business began as a repair shop at 244 West 49th Street in Manhattan.[2] Their first factory was in a building on the corner of 12th Avenue and West 47th Street later expanding to all its four floors, 48,000 square feet.[1]
Rollston built bodies for chassis supplied by Bugatti, Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Cord, Duesenberg, Ford, Hispano-Suiza, Lancia, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Minerva, Packard, Peerless, Pierce-Arrow, Rolls-Royce, Stearns-Knight and Stutz.[1]
Rollston closed in April 1938.[1]
Rollson, Inc.
| Predecessor | Rollston Company |
|---|---|
| Founded | September 1938 |
| Founders | Harry Lonschein, Rudy Creteur, Hjalmar A. Holm, Frank Sever |
| Headquarters | Plainview, New York, |
| Products | Marine manufacturing |
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Rollson, Inc. was formed in September 1938 by four partners; Lonschein, Holm, Sever, and Creteur and continued to make bodies mainly for Packard chassis at 311 West 66th Street and West End Avenue.[1]
During World War II, Rollson Inc. switched to small components for ships and fuselage sections and nose-cones for aircraft. A contract for Liberty ship cowl ventilators, toilet fixtures, life boat food tanks, storage bins, galley equipment, ship's doors, Pullman beds, berths and furniture.[1]
After the war, Rollson did not produce car bodies but fitted out luxury ships, yachts and private aircraft in Plainview, Long Island, New York.[1] In 2022 Rollson Inc. is listed as a marine hardware manufacturer operated by Rudolph Creteur.
See also
- Rollston and Rollson at Coachbuilt.com
- Old Cars Weekly article on Rollston
- Coachwork by Rollston at Conceptcarz
