Gus Monckmeier

Monckmeier was born in Stolzenau, Germany[2] and emigrated to the United States in 1901, where he had an uncle in Brooklyn, New York;[3] within a year at age 14, he found work at the American Mercedes factory in Queens.

[4] In 1910, he appears as an entrant in the Wisconsin State Association Reliability Tour's Milwaukee Sentinel Trophy, driving a Staver entered by the Stephenson Motor Car Company.

[10] Ned Crane didn't make it back for the 1911 season, killed while testing a Buick in April, but Monckmeier continued to win efficiency contests, hillclimbs and endurance events, soon joined by driver Emery T. Knudsen.

[20] After his career with Staver finished, Monckmeier settled in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he began marketing a "Universal Piston Inserter" of his own design.

While most of his inventions were for automotive applications, he also registered a US 2259390  "Portable collapsible clothes drier" and US 2632629  "Pawl actuated cable lift" in common use today.

[24] In 1961, he recreated the 1911 Around Lake Michigan run with reporter Hal Foust, detailed in a four-part series of articles in The Chicago Daily Tribune.

Monckmeier in "Staver Chicago doing a turn like a whirlwind," at 1910 Elgin Nationals, Automotive Industries , Vol. 23.
Monckmeier and mechanic Ray Latham in a Staver at the Elgin National Road Races , c. August 28, 1911
Monckmeier, mechanic F. G. Salisbury and unidentified others in a Staver (middle) during the 1912 Around Lake Michigan Run
Monckmeier Universal Piston Inserter
Monckmeier patent clothes drier
Monckmeier patent pawl actuated cable lift
Bearing cap finishing device