Lee Hunter

Lee Hunter

Lee Hunter

For the Hollyoaks character, see Lee Hunter (Hollyoaks).

Lee Hunter (1913-1986) was an automotive engineer.

His inventions include the "Kwikurent" device for the rapid charging of a car battery, and a machine to balance car wheels while they spin. He founded Hunter Engineering Company in 1946. For his "dramatic impact on the development of the automobile and the automotive industry" he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan.

Hunter Engineering Company

Lee Hunter, Jr., a 23-year-old St. Louis architecture student, found himself frequently confronted with car battery failure in his Packard convertible. In 1936, it took several days to recharge a car battery. Hunter was determined to find a better, faster way. With the help of a former Washington University electrical engineering professor, Hunter began experimenting and his efforts paid off. His quickcharge battery recharger was based on a diverter pole generator. He put this new product on the market and during the Great Depression, the Lee Hunter, Jr., Manufacturing Co. sold the $497 Kwikurent charger as fast as the company could make them. After serving in both the U.S. Army Engineering Corps and Ordnance Corps during World War II, Hunter returned to St. Louis in 1946 and reopened his business at Ladue Rd. and Hunter Ave. in Clayton, Missouri, under the name of Hunter Engineering. The new company manufactured another Hunter invention, the 'Tune-In,' which balanced automobile wheels while they were spinning on the car. At the same time, Hunter began assembling what would later become the largest dedicated U.S. field sales and service team in the industry. Hunter also laid the foundation for a global distribution base for Hunter products. In 1955 Hunter developed a new wheel alignment system called 'Lite-A-Line,' which became the industry standard. Lite-A-Line was the industry's first simplified light beam wheel aligner. Wheel-mounted instruments used projected light beams to achieve precise wheel alignment. The development of innovative products to serve the booming automobile industry during the 1960s made Hunter the undercar service leader. In 1962, Hunter's 'Tune-Align' became the first mechanical alignment system capable of compensating for lateral wheel runout, a major factor affecting wheel alignment precision. Hunter also continued to grow its export markets and in 1964 was named by the U.S. Department of Commerce as a winner of the EAward for excellence in the development of export trade.

Nearly 50 years after Lee Hunter founded Hunter Engineering Company, he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan. In this shrine of automotive history, Lee Hunter shares the spotlight with industry giants like Henry Ford, Louis Chevrolet, Walter P. Chrysler and Soichiro Honda. The Hall of Fame places Hunter among ndividuals who have made a dramatic impact on the development of the automobile and the automotive industry

External links

Automotive Hall of Fame official site

Lee Hunter at Find a Grave

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Categories: 1913 births | 1986 deaths | American engineers | American inventors | Automotive biography stubs | American engineer stubs

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