1908 Rauch and Lang Runabout

Although many early manufacturers of horseless carriages had backgrounds in various industries, most had either built bicycles or carriages. In regards to Jacob Rauch and Charles Lang of Cleveland, Ohio, they were carriage builders prior to entering the burgeoning automobile industry. Established in 1884, they took a franchise for the Buffalo Electric automobile in 1903. An electric car of their design followed two years later, and its stanhope body style was soon joined by coupes and depot wagons. By 1908, they were producing approximately 500 cars annually with back orders for 300 more.

After World War I, electric car sales began to wane, and Rauch & Lang was forced to merge with the Baker Motor Vehicle Company, the neighboring maker of the Baker Electric. This union was known as the Baker R&L Company (unofficially Baker-Raulang), and although they retained a sizeable share of the electric vehicle market, Baker R&L diversified into jobbing for other automakers, including building the Owen Magnetic car for Raymond and Ralph Owen from 1916 to 1919. Their coachwork division supplied bodies to Peerless, Stearns, Ruxton, and Stanley.

Baker R&L was acquired in January 1920 by Ray S. Deering, president of Stevens Duryea in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts. Proceeding to move the company to his city, the body plant in Cleveland was closed later that year. Rauch & Lang Incorporated began building taxicabs with either petrol or electric power at a newly constructed factory in Chicopee Falls. The petrol-powered vehicles were more successful and accounted for the bulk of production. By 1928, production had all but ceased. The following year, the company experimented with a petrol/electric hybrid vehicle, developed in conjunction with the General Electric company. The 'final nail in the coffin,' however, was the Wall Street Crash of October 1929, effectively finished off Rauch & Lang.

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2023