A black and white photo postcard showing houses and the Arizona Motor Company. The message on the back reads “Their house on Naco Road 4 apt.” The postcard was unused, and the publisher is unknown. James Burnett Collection.

The Arizona Motor Company was owned and managed by Wayland Wood and the company’s garage was once on Naco Road. Overseeing many first automobile purchases, Wayland was a representative of the Studebaker Corporation so many Bisbeeites first cars were Studebakers excluding the sale of an occasional Ford. Wayland was responsible for leading first road trips for many: on June 2nd, 1913 he led ten-day Studebaker pathfinding tours to the Grand Canyon with a small side trip to the petrified forests. His other tours later included locations such as the Yavapai mountains and the lava plains in Cocino. Wayland Wood also formed the canyon touring club. Alongside Will Catlin and Jack Holmes, Wayland organized an automobile parade to show off the Mademoiselle Nineteen Fifteen among other models, trussing up the vehicles with red carnations. On March 20th, 1920, management of the Arizona Motor Company was transferred over to E.M. Barnett. Another of the noted employees was H. James, a machinist who took over the repair department on February 1st, 1921 and charged a dollar an hour with satisfaction guaranteed ($1 or $27.37 in 2021, adjusted for inflation).

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