James Ashbury Allison was always drawn to mechanical things. Born in Marcellus, Michigan, on August 11, 1872, the Allison family's second son followed their movements to South Bend, Indiana, and later, Indianapolis in 1880. His father, noah, was part of the new mechanical generation, owning and operating the Allison Coupon Company. His printing machines produced a variety of items, most notably, merchant coupon books for the controlled coalmining company stores of the period. James started his working career at the age of 12. Little did he know that a short decade later, he would be the one in total control of the family business after his father's death in 1890. Printing and its related machinery trained him, and writing instruments intrigued him, so he launched the Allison Perfection Fountain Pen at the turn of the century.
Prest-O-Lite Connection
Like other early American manufacturing pioneers,James switched his mechanical interests quickly to the horseless carriage. In partnership with Carl Fisher and Percy Avery, they developed what was considered then to be a superior carbide-gasbased lamp for automotive applications. In spite of the tendency of such gases to explode during nighttime operation, their Prest-O-Lite company was an immediate and profitable success.
The Indy 500
With Indianapolis continuing to grow industrially, Allison-in partnership with Fisher, Arthur newby, and Frank Wheeler-developed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909. Built on 328 acres of farmland five miles northwest of the city, the facility was initially planned to be a year-round proving ground for the growing automotive industry in the surrounding area.
At the time, motor racing was generating a new breed of fan in the sporting community, and the partners reasoned that races could occasionally be presented. these races would feature locally manufactured products that would quickly translate into their sales columns. Another issue quickly entered the fray- that of operator and observer safety. the novel track was first constructed with a surface of crushed rock-just the thing for breaking gas-illuminated headlamps. the answer, of course (to protect all of those Prest-O-Lite products), was to lay down 3.2 million paving bricks, which were supplied by rail, put down by hand, and reinforced with mortar. "the Brickyard" was born, but the drawback was that the usual format of short-heat racing quickly bored the fans and promoters alike. Allison, who was always analyzing, came up with an idea for an endurance race, and the first Indy 500 was held on May 30, 1911. Allison then established his Indianapolis Speedway team Co. in 1915. this new precision machine shop operation further expanded Allison's variety of mechanical interests.
The Allison Military Connection
After the outbreak of hostilities during World War I, Allison turned his company over to the U.S. government for war-material production. the company began with the design and production of crawler-tractor artillery haulers and moved on to Whippet mechanized tanks, support equipment, and later, supercharger production. Allison's unique contribution to the war effort, however, was the complete machining and production of two master-model Liberty aircraft engines.