From Clyde to Detroit
The year after the sale GM spent $600,000 on an addition to the Elmore plant. At the height of its operation, The Elmore plant had nearly 500 employees who produced 1,100 to 1,200 cars annually. The sudden resignation of Burton Becker in 1911 prompted General Motors to relocate its Elmore headquarters in Detroit. Later that year GM without notice closed the Elmore car works in Clyde, shipping all the factory's machinery to Detroit. The 1912 production was to include the following car lines: Torpedo Roadster ($1,150), Light Torpedo ($1,350) and a five-passenger touring car for $1,650.
In October 1912 the Fremont Daily News reported that the former Elmore plant was to be sold to the Clyde Motor Company. Although Krebs Commercial Cars and later Clydesdale Trucks operated out of the old Elmore plant, both these concerns were only assembly jobs. The depression of 1929 ended forever automobile production in Clyde, except for steering- wheel parts made by the J.M. Machine Shop.
With the dismantling of the Elmore car factory, no further Elmore cars were ever produced. During the company's brief existence, Clyde was one of the principal focal points of this country's early automotive industry. Many of the industry's early pioneers, such as Henry Ford and Alexander Winton of the Winton Motor Company, to list a few, were known to be frequent visitors at the Becker home on Vine Street in Clyde.