Paxton Phoenix
Of the many automobile manufacturing ventures attempted over the years, one of the most interesting and daring came from chain saw manufacturer Robert Paxton McCulloch. An engineer by training, McCulloch formed McCulloch Motor Corp. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1943 to manufacture two-stroke gasoline engines. He moved the business to Los Angeles in 1946, and in 1948 began making McCulloch chain saws. They also built aircraft engines.
McCulloch chain saws developed a solid reputation and business prospered. Car enthusiast McCulloch decided to established Paxton Automotive to manufacturer beltdriven centrifugal superchargers as an aftermarket item for Fords and others, and used on production Kaisers and Studebaker Avantis. McCulloch’s even more ambitious quest was to manufacture automobiles.
McCulloch launched his Paxton Phoenix car project in 1950 by establishing the Paxton Division and assembling the necessary talent. The Phoenix was to be a sporty, upscale, four/five passenger, rear engine convertible. Not wanting to deplete his main company engineering staff he contracted out much of the work. Chassis design went to Hoffman Motor Development who had worked for Ford and others. Well known Milwaukee industrial designer Brooks Stevens, stylist for the postWorld War Two Jeep station wagon, Jeepster, was engaged to do the body. The most unusual Paxton feature was its method of power, and several engine configurations were considered. With McCulloch’s two-stroke expertise, one idea pursued was a three or four cylinder, supercharged two-stroke, opposed piston gasoline engine. Within each long cylinder were two opposed pistons that formed the combustion chambers between them when at top dead centre. Thus, there would be six pistons for the three cylinder and eight for the four. Each set of pistons drove a crankshaft and these were geared together for power take-off.
Another bold idea, and the preferred one, was steam power. Famous steam consultant and former steam car manufacturer, Abner Doble, was engaged and they designed a six cylinder compound steam engine with three high-pressure and three low-pressure cylinders. The steam condenser was at the front of the car and the goal was a start-up time of under a minute. All steam was condensed, limiting the need to add water.
For chassis inspiration a Porsche 356 was purchased. They fabricated a stressed skin sheet metal frame that was light, yet stiff enough for an open car. Suspension, a la Porsche, was fully independent with trailing arms and lateral torsion bars. A novel feature was a “banking” system that tilted the front wheels up to 3 degrees toward the inside of a turn to keep the tires closer to vertical for better cornering adhesion.
Stevens created a modern, attractive style with an advanced feature: a powered convertible hard top ingeniously designed to exactly match the contour of the rear deck. After releasing the windshield toggles, an electric motor was engaged and cables slid the roof back and down onto the deck. It was almost invisible when lowered.
A fibreglass prototype Paxton was ready by 1953. Within in its 2,997 mm (118 in.) wheelbase it could accommodate four passengers, or five if the front three were friendly. There were electric doors latches, full instrumentation and a telescoping steering wheel. Since their own engine was not ready, a Porsche air cooled four was installed for testing.
In spite of steady progress Robert McCulloch decided to discontinue the Paxton Phoenix venture in 1954. The reason stated was that it was drawing too many engineering and capital resources away from the core business. This is no doubt valid, and it could also be noted that it was a very technically challenging project for a relatively small company. A two-stroke opposed piston engine was an exotic configuration. And the steam engine, although dynamometer tested, was never installed in the car. It would have involved countless engineering hours to develop. Only the prototype Paxton Phoenix was built.
The Paxton Phoenix project was fully described by Road & Track editor John Bond (R&T 4/57). Bond was a former McCulloch engineer who had been part of the car’s engineering staff. I was intrigued by the story at the time, and over the years occasionally wondered what happened to the Paxton. Fortunately it fell into caring hands and has survived.
Robert McCulloch kept it until his death in 1977. It then passed to an Ari Minasian who owned it until 1994 when Brooks Stevens bought it for his museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1998 when the museum was winding down the Paxton was acquired by current owner, Myron Vernis of Akron, Ohio. Mr. Vernis drives his Porsche powered Paxton occasionally, and says that being a prototype it lacks some refinement but reflects the driving characteristics of its era. He generously shows it at concours to share it and introduce the Paxton Phoenix saga to a new generation of enthusiasts.