The Car That Has No Valves: The Story of the 1910 Elmore
- Jul 27
- 4 min read
With its tall wooden wheels, brass lamps and deep button-tufted seats, the 1910 Elmore looks like a classic Brass Era touring car. Under the hood, it is anything but conventional.
Elmore built its reputation around water-cooled, two-cycle engines that eliminated the poppet valves, camshafts and valve springs used by most gasoline automobiles. The company summarized its engineering philosophy with a memorable slogan:
“The Car That Has No Valves”
The slogan referred to the absence of conventional intake and exhaust valves. Elmore’s engines controlled gases through ports opened and closed by the movement of the pistons. Its most advanced design also used a rotating distributor to route the fuel-air charge through the engine.
Automobiles Before Standardization
In 1910, automobile design was still unsettled. Steam, electric and gasoline cars competed for buyers while manufacturers experimented with different engines, transmissions, control layouts and drive systems.
Drivers operated spark timing and throttle controls by hand. Many cars had rear brakes only and had to be started with a crank. Outside cities, roads were often unpaved and repairs could leave motorists stranded far from help.
Mechanical simplicity was therefore more than a clever advertising idea. Fewer moving parts could mean fewer opportunities for something to break.
From Bicycles to Two-Cycle Cars
The Elmore story began with brothers James H. and Burton A. Becker, bicycle manufacturers in Clyde, Ohio. They began experimenting with automobiles around the turn of the century and established the Elmore Manufacturing Company during the opening years of the 1900s.
Elmore initially produced single and two-cylinder cars, then introduced three and four-cylinder models. While most manufacturers increasingly favored four-stroke engines, Elmore continued developing the two-cycle principle. Contemporary trade publications described it as one of the few American companies offering three-cylinder automobiles and one of the most committed supporters of the two-cycle engine.
By 1910, the company offered two four-cylinder models, the Model 36 and the larger Model 46. Elmore’s factory catalog promoted both under the slogan “The Car That Has No Valves.”
How the Elmore Engine Worked
A four-stroke engine completes its operating cycle over two crankshaft revolutions. A two-stroke completes the cycle in one revolution, producing a power stroke every time the piston travels downward.
In Elmore’s standard three-port system, the upward movement of the piston drew a fuel-air mixture into the crankcase. The downward stroke compressed the mixture and forced it through a passage into the cylinder.
As the piston moved, it uncovered the intake, transfer and exhaust ports at the correct moments. The piston therefore helped control the engine’s breathing without a conventional valve train.
Elmore emphasized the resulting reduction in moving parts. The company’s claims of unmatched reliability and economy belonged to its advertising campaign, but the mechanical difference was real.
Lubrication and Cooling
The Elmore does not use a modern pressurized oil system.
A mechanical oiler delivers lubricant through small lines. Two lines serve the crankshaft journals while another introduces oil near the incoming fuel-air passage so it can travel toward the cylinders.
Cooling is equally simple. The engine relies on thermosiphon circulation, with heated water rising from the engine toward the radiator and cooler water returning below.
Driving the Elmore
Operating the Elmore requires the driver to manage several systems manually.
Spark timing and throttle controls are mounted near the steering wheel. This car also has a control connected to the rotating fuel distributor. Separate pedals operate the service and emergency brakes.
The driver must watch the oiling system, monitor the engine’s temperature and listen for changes in its rhythm. Driving an Elmore is an active mechanical process rather than a simple matter of pressing an accelerator.
Proving the Elmore Beyond the Showroom
Elmore did not rely only on clever engineering claims to sell its cars. The company also placed them in demanding endurance events where reliability mattered more than outright speed.
In 1909, a two-year-old Elmore entered the Frank A. Munsey Reliability Run, a 1,282-mile journey from Washington to Boston and back. The car had already accumulated approximately 20,000 miles before the event began. It crossed mountain roads, mud, sand and days of heavy rain, finishing with a perfect score and taking both its class and the overall sweepstakes trophy.
The achievement gave Elmore a powerful answer to anyone who doubted its unconventional two-cycle engine. The valveless design was not simply an interesting idea displayed at an automobile show. It had survived the punishing road conditions early motorists regularly faced.
Elmores also went to work in city traffic. By 1910, the company offered a purpose-built taxicab, and period photographs show groups of Elmore taxis operating in Washington, D.C. Taxi service demanded repeated starting, stopping and long daily mileage, making it a revealing test of any early automobile.
Together, the endurance victory and taxi use showed the two different worlds Elmore hoped to conquer: the open road and the crowded city street.
Elmore and General Motors
General Motors had acquired Elmore by early 1910 during William C. Durant’s rapid expansion of the young corporation. Elmore continued producing two-cycle automobiles through the 1912 model year. General Motors then discontinued the marque and closed the Clyde operation.
A Different Path for the Automobile
The Elmore represents a period when the future of the gasoline engine had not yet been decided. The four-stroke engine ultimately became the automotive standard. The Elmore preserves one of the roads not taken.
Visit the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum to see this car in person!