The Knox Automobile Company was a manufacturer of automobiles in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, between 1900 and 1914. Knox also built trucks and farm tractors until 1924. They are notable for building the very first modern fire engine in 1905. History Harry Austin Knox built three experimental gasoline cars at Overman Wheel Company between 1895 and 1898. He left Overman when they decided to build a steam car. Knox joined with his former employer, Elihu H. Cutler of the Elektron Company to form the Knox Automobile Company in Springfield Massachusetts in 1900. The Waltham Watch Company factory was purchased and Knox built 15 cars in their first year. The Knox Model A was a three-wheel runabout with a 5-hp one-cylinder air-cooled engine. In 1902 a four-wheel runabout and a 8-hp two-cylinder engine joined the model line-up. Early cars were called Knoxmobile with the Waterless Knox being used from 1903. A slogan used was "The Car That Never Drinks". In some models, passengers rode up front over the front axle while the driver and another passenger sat in the back over the engine. The "Old Porcupine" engine The flat-mounted single-cylinder engine was air-cooled. Rather than flanges to improve the efficiency of cooling, 1,750 threaded 3/16 inch (5mm) diameter rods were screwed into the cylinder casing as projecting studs, which led to the engine sometimes being referred to as "Old Porcupine". A 2-speed planetary transmission was fitted. This engine was situated at the center of the car and produced 8 hp (6 kW). It was also called a "hedgehog". The one-cylinder engine was used until 1905. In 1902 a two-cylinder version was added that was used up to 1907. Growth Knox pricing for the one-cylinder and two-cylinder models went for a low price in 1900 of $750, () to medium-priced by 1904. A 1904 Knox Tuxedo Touring model, equipped with a straight-twin engine producing 16 hp (11.9 kW), was priced at $2,200, . In late 1904 Harry Knox left the company over a disagreement on policy with Elihu Cutler. Harry Knox set-up a new business across town to build the Atlas air-cooled car. In 1906 Knox Automobile Company introduced the Model G, a 40-hp air-cooled four-cylinder engine on a 112-inch wheelbase. With a limousine body priced at $5,000 (), Knox had entered the luxury car market. The two-cylinder models were phased out in 1907 and all Knox's became mid-priced to high-priced cars.