1932 Marmon V-16 Photo: Bill Vance Click image to enlarge

Marmon
by Bill Vance

Marmon was one of the finest names in automotive history. Its accomplishments included winning the first Indianapolis 500-mile race, and a fabulous aluminum V-16 engine in the early 1930s.

Nordyke and Marmon was formed in Richmond, Indiana, in 1851, soon moving to Indianapolis where it became prominent manufacturing flour milling machinery.

Late in the 19th century a Marmon scion, Howard Marmon, graduated in mechanical engineering from the University of California in Berkeley. He was brilliant, and became Marmon's chief engineer in 1902 at age 23. His older brother Walter, also an engineer, managed the business.

Although flour machinery was profitable, Howard was more interested in the emerging automobile. He built his first car in 1902 with an air-cooled V-twin engine, pressure lubrication and overhead valves.

Howard's second car in 1903 had an air-cooled V-4. By 1904 the company was in the automobile business, selling six cars, most of them to friends. Production increased to 25 cars in 1905, and Howard began trying different engine configurations.

After an experimental V-6, and a V-8, he settled on conventional water cooled, inline designs. Several new Marmons were introduced for 1909, among them the Model 32, which also came in a racing version called the Marmon Wasp because of its yellow colour and long, pointed tail.

The Wasp established Marmon as a reliable and fast competition machine by winning the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911 driven by Ray Harroun.

Harroun dispensed with the usual riding mechanic. To keep track of what was going on behind he fitted a rear-view mirror, said to be the first use of such a device.

The Model 32 was a good car, and although joined by other models, remained in production for several years. In 1916 Marmon designed an evolution of the Model 32, the Marmon 34. It was powered by an overhead valve in-line six made almost entirely of aluminum.

The 34 also used aluminum in the body, hood and radiator. Thus this large car with a 3,429 mm (135 in.) wheelbase in the touring model, weighed only 1,496 kg (3,295 lb).

To gain publicity, in 1916 Howard Marmon's team of drivers drove a Marmon 34 across America in pursuit of the trans-continental record. They did it in under six days, beating the legendary Cannon Ball Baker's Cadillac time by 41 hours. The Model 34 remained in production until 1924, and as the revised Models 74 and 75, until 1928.

By 1924 Marmon car sales were flagging. New money from George Williams, the former president of the Wire Wheel Corp. of America, helped rejuvenate interest. Sales rose from about 2,600 in 1924 to almost 4,500 in both 1925 and 1926. But Williams was convinced that to really prosper, lower priced cars were needed.

In 1926 the milling equipment part of the business was sold to the Allis-Chalmers farm implement company, and Marmon was reorganized as the Marmon Motor Car Co. The Williams influence resulted in the 1927 Marmon Little Eight; it lasted only one year.

This was followed by the Roosevelt in 1929, the first straight-eight to sell for less than $1000. It helped raise sales from 14,770 in 1928 to over 22,000 in 1929.

Marmon seemed to be on the right track, but alas, that was the year the stock market crashed. Marmon, like other manufacturers, experienced a serious sales decline. Its straight-eight Roosevelt, the first American eight priced under $1,000, and named for former U.S. president, Theodore Roosevelt, suffered the same short-lived fate as the Little Eight. It lasted only a couple of years.

While Marmon had kept going with Williams's less expensive models, Howard Marmon had grander ideas. He had been designing his dream car, the Marmon Sixteen, that appeared in 1931. Although not the first V-16 - the Cadillac V-16 had arrived in 1930 - the Marmon engine was more powerful, and more striking in appearance.

The V-16 would have been the pride of any engineer, and Howard Marmon was recognized by his peers when the Sixteen won the Society of Automotive Engineers' annual design award.

The 8.0 litre (491 cu in.), overhead valve, aluminum V-16 had a high 6.00:1 compression ratio and developed 200 horsepower, second in America to only the mighty Duesenberg's claimed 265.

Because almost everything, including the block, cylinder heads, oil pan, and valve covers, was aluminum, the V-16 weighed only 422 kg (930 lb), a then remarkable power-to-weight ratio.

The cylinder banks were set at 45-degrees, which resulted in a narrow engine to fit under the slim hoods of the day. It had wet, pressed-in steel cylinder sleeves, and used fork-and-blade connecting rods rather than the side-by-side type that became universal in V-type engines.

In spite of its magnificence, the Marmon Sixteen came just too late. The Depression had severely sapped the economy and shrunk the market for $5,000-plus cars. The Marmon Motor Car Co. went into receivership in 1933. Just under 400 of the glorious Sixteens had been built.

Marmon was out of the car business, although the name would carry on for many years in Marmon-Herrington four-wheel drive trucks and four-wheel drive truck conversions. As evidence of its excellence, A good Marmon Sixteen is an almost priceless collectible today.

Reflections on Automotive History by Bill Vance, Volumes I, II & III available through www.billvanceautohistory.ca

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