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Our Company's History

The Gray and Prior Machine Company was organized in 1898 as the combined vision of Robert Gray and George Prior. George Prior had worked for the Electric Vehicle Company and had been granted a patent for a universal joint. Robert Gray had worked for the Hartford Rubber Works and contributed $5,000 in capital. The building seen here was on Windsor St. in Hartford, CT. It was originally built in 1880 and housed a brass foundry until 1904, when Gray and Prior moved in.

Gray and Prior didn't start out in the building on Windsor St. Their first building was on High St. but as their production increased, they moved into a new location on Asylum St. and soon moved to the Windsor St. location for the same reason. The company remained at this location for seventy years until it moved to its current location at 95 Granby St. in Bloomfield, CT in 1974. Seen here is company President Robert W. Gray III in front of the building as it appears today.

George Prior was an inventive genius and contributed much to the initial success of the company. He designed and built his own motorcycle in 1900, and completed his first automobile in 1904, both using the Gray and Prior 2-cylinder marine engine that he designed. He applied his vast experience in the machine shop to his inventions and designs which have been the foundation of the success of the Gray and Prior Machine Company for almost a century. Gray and Prior originally made marine engines in addition to their growing line of universal joints and couplings. Their Hartford Marine engines were of very high quality and commanded respect in the market. Many of the ideas involved in their design were improvements over existing marine engines of the day. Gray and Prior continued to manufacture the engines for more than 25 years, until they sold the tooling and the designs for the Hartford Sturdy Twin to the Indian Motorcycle Company in Springfield, MA for $15,000. The company has continued to manufacture universal joints as its primary product for more than 70 years since.

Mr. Robert Gray and Mr. George Prior on the roof of the building on Windsor St., circa 1935.

Advertisement for the Hartford Sturdy Twin Marine Engine from the January, 1928 issue of "Yachting," page 118.

Mechanics assembling the largest engine made by Gray and Prior.
This is a 4-cylinder model D-4, with a 4.5" bore and an 8" stroke resulting in 508 cubic inches and 36 HP at 700 RPM. It weighed 1800 pounds. At left is Bill Jewell, who joined Gray and Prior
in 1904 and remained with the company for more than sixty years.

Single Atlas U-Joint

Double Atlas U-Joint

Atlas U-Joint Specs.