JP’s A to Z Challenge – M is for Marmon
Most people have no idea, but there was a time when the finest cars in the world were built in Indianapolis, Indiana. Detroit was home to the biggest sellers, but if you wanted the best of the best before those companies all met their end in the Great Depression? You had to come to the capital city one state to the south.
The top of that small heap was, of course, the Duesenberg – the car of kings and the Hollywood elite. Then there was Stutz, maker of the famous sporting roadster called the Stutz Bearcat. But one of the most fascinating was Marmon.
The Nordyke & Marmon Company was an Indianapolis manufacturer of milling machinery. A member of the family, Howard Marmon, was interested in automobiles and decided to build his own early in the 20th Century when no commercially available car met his exacting standards. After building a few for friends, he started the Marmon Motor Car Company in 1902.
From the beginning, a Marmon was as good as anything you could buy. The most famous product of that company may be the Marmon Wasp – the car that Ray Harroun drove to a first-place victory in the very first Indianapolis 500 mile race in 1911.
My favorite is, however, the company’s final car – the great Marmon Sixteen. The Sixteen was a spare-no-expense kind of car, one of only two cars ever offered in showrooms with a 16-cylinder engine. It was an expensive car that had the misfortune to be introduced in 1931, just as the Great Depression was getting really bad. Fewer than 400 of these were built between 1931 and 1933, when the company closed its automotive business for good. This particular example, a “Victoria Coupe” is estimated to be one of only 9 that survive.
This week will be unique in featuring two separate cars – the yellow Wasp and the big, black Sixteen. This is mainly because I have but a single photo of the black Sixteen. This, the most amazing car photo of my life, was shot by Marianne out of the passenger window of our car on I-465 on the northeast side of Indianapolis. I saw it but had no idea what the car was at the time, other than that it was big and expensive and from somewhere around 1932.
Between this photo and the details that were fresh in my mind at the time, I did some photo sleuthing online to discover that we had photographed a rare Marmon Sixteen, in the wild and on the move. I have always assumed that I would eventually see other photos of this same car online, but I have yet to see them. If you click the link below, you can read the history I wrote about Marmon and the Sixteen at Curbside Classic. I will confess that this was one of my favorite writing projects at CC.
So, please excuse the extra photos that were made necessary by the lack of detail shots on the photographed Sixteen Victoria Coupe caught from our much more plebian car. I think it is a worthwhile trade for snagging such a unique and special car.
I can’t help but feel a little pride in the automotive heritage of my adopted home town. Once upon a time, Indianapolis, Indiana built some of the best cars in the world. And the Marmon Sixteen was one of them.
Photo of the 1931-33 Marmon Sixteen by the author, taken September 23, 2012, Indianapolis, Indiana. This photo was previously featured at CurbsideClassic.com
Photo of the 1911 Marmon Wasp by the author, taken October 5, 2014 on exhibit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
Photo of the 1931 Marmon Sixteen red hub cap badge was from an online auction site (here). The other hub cap photo (the design on the photographed car) was from an online source lost to time but shown on CurbsideClassic.com.
J. P.'s Blog 
That’s pretty cool.
Your brief history of the company made me think of — and I truly hope I’m not getting ahead of the story/list — Preston Tucker and his 48.
Also, another M car could’ve been Morgan, though if you’re only going through your own photo archives, that would be an obscure mention.
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I don’t think I have either a Tucker or a Morgan, so this may be as obscure as I get (though it rates pretty high on the obscurity scale!)
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I haven’t ever seen a Tucker in the wild either; but definitely one of my favorite cars.
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I actually did see one at a small car auction in the early 70s but was not old enough to appreciate it!
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We did see a couple of the replica Tuckers made for the movie at the CC meetups in Auburn & Ypsilanti.
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Wow, the rarity probably makes the capture in the wild by your navigator the best photo in your collection. When I lived in Wichita, I discovered they, like Indianapolis, were building automobiles before Detroit emerged as the survivor in that competition.
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I had to look up Wichita, and learned about the Jones 6 for the first time in my life, so good on you for your ability to stump the band!
Yes, the circumstances of my shot plus how well it turned out do make this one special.
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Outstanding! I posted it on X.
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It is impressive…..so is that Wasp that won the first Indy 500. It reminds me of the racing cars in Downton Abbey in the early race days.
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Most people don’t care much about prewar stuff these days, especially cars from before 1920. But I love the mechanical simplicity and watching how they worked through mechanical puzzles in real time.
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Great entry…I was certainly familiar with Marmon cars, but had never seen one “in the wild”. I have seen Marmon trucks, distantly related to the original Marmon car company. Known for making the “Rolls Royce” of American trucks. Worth a google if you’re bored.
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I have heard of those, and think that version of Marmon might still be in business.
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I think you are correct. Especially with military four wheel drive aftermarket contracts. Just shows with top notch engineering, and quality execution and assembly, someone will always want what you’re producing. I think they were still manufacturing in Indianapolis into the 60’s, and they are partially owned by Birkshire Hathaway!
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Interesting story! I had never heard of a Marmon – but wondered if there is one in a museum here in Alberta. I found a 1926 Marmon Model 74 Sedan at the Reynolds Museum. I will have to watch for it the next time we go there, though from the photo online it does not look to be restored, so it may be stored away from the public eye.
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I would love to see the unshown cars of a car museum.
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The Reynolds Museum has what a warehouse vehicles not in the museum. At certain times of the year you can book a tour by appointment. They also have a restoration shop that the public can view through a large window.
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Oooh, sounds like my kind of museum!
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This is quite a unique and very classy automobile JP. I am glad we get to see it at its finest, as well as in its stripped-down version racing form. The side spare wheel does seem odd to me, but everything else seems very elegant and British looking, fancy like the old Gray Poupon mustard commercials.
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Spares in the fenders were considered the height of fashion at that time. It probably reminds you of a Rolls because they stuck with this classic style longer than about anyone.
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That’s interesting how the car fashion trends change through the years. We recently commented on the width of the whitewalls, down to no whitewalls. Rolls Royce is such a classy and classic car. You’d feel safe riding in it too I’m sure.
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Very elegant lines and 16 cylinders! Wow.
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I know! Upon completion, each car was taken to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and broken in, including a stretch of wide-open throttle and over 100 mph. I read somewhere that up to 60 mph, it was faster than a Duesenberg that cost nearly twice as much. Who would have thought that a $5k+ car in 1931 could be a good value. 😁
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It has the art deco look of that era. Not just the poster but the car itself. I always enjoy these posts but this one was just a little extra something to me, but I don’t know what.
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That ad is ultimate Art Deco!
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I remember when you found this and quite a find it was. Thinking about it, I’ve only seen one or two Marmon cars in my life – which were museum kept. One of those is only about 20 minutes from me.
Experiencing that V16 would be amazing.
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One facet that fascinates me about these is the use of aluminum for the engine block. With as much trouble as GM had with aluminum in engines in the 1960s and 1970s, it is amazing to me that Marmon could make it work so well in the early 1930s. I have never read anything about these engines suffering problems that stem from the aluminum block.
One other oddity – I finally researched and found the location of the old Marmon factory buildings – it turns out that they are on property I drive past almost daily. The Eli Lilly company has taken over the property where Marmon and some other old factory buildings used to be, and a couple of the old Marmon buildings appear to still be in use on the Lilly campus. I really ought to devote a day or two to photographing some of the old sites of Indianapolis’ auto manufacturing heritage.
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