A couple of the many things that were common during the early era of motorcycles were talented individuals and startup companies. This is the case with the manufacturer of the 1913 Dixie Flyer Special pictured in this article.
The talented Charles Metz started his own company after finding success as one of the founders of the early motorcycle company of Waltham Manufacturing. In 1902, when Metz ventured out on his own, he formed the Metz Motorcycle Company.
Around the same time, the two Marsh brothers started building motorcycles. In 1905, the three combined and formed the American Motor Company. The new company merged their designs, commonly referred to as Marsh-Metz motorcycles.
In the infancy of the production of motorcycles, there were a lot of bicycle manufacturers that purchased and installed outside suppliers’ internal combustion engines. This was not the case with the American Motor Company, as their motorcycles were built to be motorcycles from the beginning and they manufactured their own engines. The American Motor Company’s bikes were sold to multiple companies and resellers, with different paint schemes, including the Dixie Flyer.
One final thing to note that regularly happened with many early era motorcycle companies was that they went out of business. Unfortunately, this was the fate of the American Motor Company, but the pictured Dixie Flyer still lives on.