1912 Metz Roadster Model 22
edited by David Barth, 10 January 2009.
Courtesy The Forney Museum of Transportation at 4303 Brighton Blvd., Denver,
Colorado. Photos were taken in January 2009.
In 1893, Charles Herman Metz organized the Waltham Manufacturing Company for the production of Orient bicycles. Metz
is credited with being the first to put a motor on a bicycle, creating the first motorcycle in 1898.
In that year, Metz began building automobiles. In order to acquire financial backing, he bought in two investors, but
they took control, and Metz left to continue building motorcycles on his own. In 1905 he formed Marsh-Metz Motorcycle
with the Marsh Brothers.
In 1908 he reacquired his old company, Waltham Manufacturing, which was in financial disorder.
Metz created the "Metz Plan" whereby a person could assemble his own car and save money. The plan consisted of 14
packages of parts at $25, each, to make one car. The plan was very successful and allowed Metz to get out of
debt.
In 1909 Waltham Manufacturing was reorganized as the Metz Company. It went bankrupt in 1922 because of its inability
to provide a car that was in demand by the public.
