Colburn Automobile Company

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Colburn Automobile Company was a Denver, Colorado, Brass Era manufacturer founded in 1906 by Judge Ernest A. Colburn. His sons, Ernest A. Colburn Jr. and Herbert C. Colburn, were closely involved in the engineering and construction of the cars, while their father supplied the financial horsepower. Production operated from the Colburn Block area at 15th Street and Colfax Avenue.

The company built handsome, costly four-cylinder roadsters and touring cars under the Colburn name. Its machines had a Renault-like profile, with the radiator set behind the sloping hood, and a conspicuous brass “C” up front—subtle as a brass-band solo. Colburn roadsters were promoted for speed and appeared in Denver-area road and track competition during the company’s brief run.

Automobile production ended in 1911, with the decision reported publicly in February 1912. Contemporary and later records connect the Colburn name with Denver automobile business after the factory era, but the independent manufacturer belongs firmly to the city’s 1906–1911 early-motoring chapter. No merger, acquisition, or successor automobile manufacturer is documented for the original maker.

Our Colburn Automobile Company collection celebrates Denver ambition with a polished-brass grin: a high-priced local carmaker that chased the open road, made noise in the Brass Era, and then vanished before the industry’s dust had settled.