Chalmers Master Six History

The Master Six (also tied to the company's Model 24 series) was Chalmers' big six-cylinder offering as the marque moved upmarket and away from its early fours. Sold in two- to seven-passenger configurations at prices spanning roughly $2,175 to $3,680, it sat at the top of the Chalmers range in the period before the lower-priced Six-30 became the volume car.

Among its selling points was the Chalmers-Entz combined electric starting and lighting system — a notable convenience as electric self-starters were displacing the hand crank across the industry. The 'Master Six' name was introduced in September 1913, and the marque's first six-cylinder cars followed for 1914 as the big Model 24; a smaller, lighter 'Light Six' (the Model 26) ran alongside it. Period records give incomplete end dates for these overlapping designations (sources vary), but the big Master Six was superseded once the lower-priced Six-30 became the volume car from 1916.