Marmon Motor Car Company
39°45′07″N 86°10′51″W / 39.7520492°N 86.1808944°W
Vehicles , parts |
Marmon Motor Car Company was an American
It was established in 1902 but not incorporated as the successor of Nordyke Mormon & Company until 1926. In 1933 it was succeeded by Marmon-Herrington and in 1964 the Marmon brand name was sold to the Marmon Motor Company of Denton, Texas. Marmon-Herrington became the Marmon Group of Chicago, in 1964.
Marmon was notable for its various pioneering works in automotive manufacturing, introducing the rear-view mirror, pioneering the V16 engine, and the use of aluminum in auto manufacturing. The historic Marmon Wasp race car of the early 20th century was the first car to use a single-seater "monoposto" construction layout.[citation needed]
Marmon Automobiles
Marmon's parent company was founded in 1851, manufacturing
Model 32
The Model 32 of 1909 spawned the Wasp. The Wasp, driven by Marmon engineer Ray Harroun (a former racer who came out of retirement for just one race), was the winner of the first ever Indianapolis 500 motor race, in 1911. This car featured the world's first known automobile rear-view mirror.[1]
Model 48
The 1913 Model 48 was a left-hand steering
Model 34
The 1916 Model 34 used an aluminum straight-six, and used aluminum in the body and chassis to reduce overall weight to just 3295 lb (1495 kg). A Model 34 was driven coast to coast as a publicity stunt, beating
New models were introduced for 1924, replacing the long-lived Model 34, but the company was facing financial trouble, and in 1926 was reorganized as the Marmon Motor Car Co.
Little Marmon, Roosevelt
In 1927 the Little Marmon series was introduced and in 1929, Marmon introduced an under-$1,000 straight-eight car, the Roosevelt, but the stock market crash of 1929 made the company's problems worse.
Marmon Sixteen
The Marmon Sixteen was produced between 1931 and 1934. Howard Marmon had begun working on the world's first
, too, had been developing a V16 with help from an ex-Marmon engineer, James Bohannon.The Sixteen's engine displaced 491 in³ (8.0 L) and produced 200 hp (149 kW). It was an all-aluminum design with steel cylinder liners and a 45° bank angle.[7]
Manufacturing Plant
The original Nordyke & Marmon Plant 1 was at the southwest corner of Kentucky Avenue and West Morris Street. Plant 2 was at the southwest corner of Drover and West York Street. Plant 3 was a five-story structure measuring 80 x 600 feet parallel to Morris Street (now Eli Lilly & Company Building 314). The Marmon assembly plant was built adjacent to the Morris Street property line with Plant 3 behind and parallel to it (also part of the Eli Lilly complex).[8]
Marmon-Herrington
While the Marmon Company discontinued auto production, it continued to manufacture components for other auto manufacturers and manufactured trucks. When the
In the early 1960s, Marmon-Herrington was purchased by the
For the
Notable owners
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2024) |
Actor Francis X. Bushman, at the height of his movie fame in the 1910s, owned a custom built purple painted Marmon. Other actors who were owners of Marmons include Wallace Reid, Douglas Fairbanks and Arthur Tracy.
Statesman and national hero of Finland Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim's official car was a Marmon E-75. Much later, the same car was bought by a group of technology students. It is still the representational car of the Aalto University student union after considerable repairs,[8] and the name Marmon, to some extent, is coupled to this specific vehicle.
J. Horace McFarland, president of the American Civic Association, owned a Marmon. In 1924, he wrote to John Gries of the National Bureau of Standards' Division of Building and Housing that his Marmon cost nine cents a mile to operate, "independent of the chauffeur."[10]
In his memoir, "The Cruise of the Rolling Junk", F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about a 1,200-mile automobile trip to the South that he and Zelda Fitzgerald took in their used 1918 Marmon Speedster.
In 1916–17, Ruby Archambeau of Portland, Oregon, became the first woman to drive the circumference of the United States. Her vehicle was a Marmon.[11]
"King of Bootleggers" Italian Canadian Rocco Perri of Hamilton, Ontario, was known to favour Marmons in the 1920s.
Actress Bebe Daniels was driving a Marmon Roadster 72 miles per hour south of Santa Ana when she became the first woman to be convicted of speeding in Orange County. [12]
Advertisements
See also
References
- Ward's Auto World. May 1, 2002. Archived from the originalon 2005-04-26. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ^ Clymer, Floyd (1950). Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 115.
- ^ a b c Clymer, p. 115.
- ^ Clymer, p. 115. This would reappear several times in later years, including on the 2.3 liter Ford Ranger pickup.
- ^ Clymer, p. 115. Evidently this was not usual.
- ^ a b c d 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ Horvath, Dennis E. "Use of aluminium in autos debuted in 1902". www.autogiftgarage.com. Archived from the original on 2014-06-20.
- ^ a b "Marmon history". marmon.ayy.fi.
- ^ Bajaj, Vikas (December 26, 2007). "Rapidly, Buffett Secures a Deal for $4.5 Billion". The New York Times. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
- ^ McFarland, J. Horace (5 November 1924). Letter to John Gries. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania State Archives.
- ^ "Circum-motoring the U.S." Motor Age. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 2021-10-06 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Bebe Daniels: The Orange County "Speed Girl"". Orange County Sheriff's Museum & Education Center. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
Philip Marlowe drives a Marmon in the short story, "FingerMan".