Besser Museum
is a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization.
The Besser Museum is a 501 (c)(3), non-profit, membership corporation stewarded by its own Board of Trustees.
The museum receives no continuing financial support from federal, state, or local government entities or millage.
Operational support is generated through admission fees, membership dues, awarded grants and donations.
Besser Museum is an accrediated museum by the American Alliance of Museums.
Our vision is a community that can explore the dynamic story of Northeast Michigan's interconnected natural resources and cultural heritage
through the ability to navigate the past, illuminate the present, and imagine the future.
Alpena Motor Company
The Alpena Motor Company built the Alpena Flyer from 1910 - 1914. Their 13 models were light and inexpensive cars, using water cooled 4 cylinder engines rated to 35hp, with 3 speed transmissions. It was designed for speed using a unit engine/gearbox construction with a three-point suspension design. Total production was 480 vehicles.
The company's first ad noted: "Let it be borne in mind that we do not make cheap runabouts nor luxurious limousines. We have the greatest value in a five-passenger car offered anywhere in America, at $1,450." The 1910 New York auto show listed the Alpena Flyer as one of the top 10 cars in the world.
Emile Huber, the patentee of the design, sued the company and forced it into bankruptcy in 1913, leading to the Besser Manufacturing Company's purchase of their building on Johnson Street for $5,200.
For more information on the Alpena Flyer restoration project, please visit http://www.ru2inc.com/inprogress8.html.
