Ruxton (automobile)
front-wheel drive automobile produced by the New Era Motors Company of New York
The Ruxton was a front-wheel drive automobile produced by the New Era Motors Company of New York, New York, United States, during 1929 and 1930. The car was the brainchild of William Muller and was built in the Board Machine plant in Philadelphia, Moon Motor Car factory in St. Louis, Missouri, and Kissel Motors of Hartford, Wisconsin, who also produced the car's transmission unit.
A car designed to sell to an automotive company
While employed in the engineering department of the Budd Body Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Muller convinced his employer to invest in developing a front wheel drive prototype automobile. Budd would then sell the rights to the car to an automotive company which would contract with Budd for the body work. While Muller designed the drive train, Joseph Ledwinka designed the body for the car and the project was completed in 1928, and the engines were provided by Continental Motors, Inc.
In an era when the American automobile had an average height of 6 feet (1,800 mm) from the ground to the level plane of the roof, Muller’s car was only 53 inches (1,300 mm) high, a feat accomplished by eliminating the drive shaft to the rear wheels. Ledwinka accentuated the lowness to ground through the elimination of the running boards.
Instead of attracting an automotive producer, Muller’s concept car attracted the attention of Archie Andrews, a member of Budd’s Board who also sat on the Board of Hupp Motor Car Company. Andrews recognized the possibilities of producing the car and made it possible for Muller and Budd to present the idea to Hupp.
The public source identifies “Ruxton (automobile)” as front-wheel drive automobile produced by the New Era Motors Company of New York. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ruxton, automobile and front-wheel.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q46540. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1929, 1930 and 1928.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ruxton (automobile)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.