Page 137 - Exploration10LLR

It was this sort of accomplishment that grounded an early Marmon
slogan, "The Foremost Fine Car." In 1916, a Marmon 34 made it from
New York to San Francisco in less than six days, gaining it the immediate
respect, and custom, of the U.S. military. Marmon also won a federal
award for the flawlessness of its Liberty aircraft engines during World
War I. Any Marmon from these years onward is an exquisite delight.

An indication of what was coming, though, occurred in 1921, when
ballooning inventories of its ultra-costly cars prompted Marmon to
radically trim prices, with the cuts--not the prices themselves, mind you--
starting at more than $1,000. Three years later, a huge stock deal
concocted in large part by Alfred P. Sloan, Walter Marmon's former MIT
classmate, put civil engineer George Montague Williams in charge of
Marmon. Following a 1926 reorganization and initial public offering, the
automotive part of Marmon was still making money. Howard Marmon
was already planning a new pinnacle for his firm.
He formed what was ostensibly an aviation business, but instead was
tasked with building a glorious passenger car with V-16 power. Brush
was the consultant this time, with most of the actual design handled by
George Freers of Marmon. Before it was finished, though, the collapse of
Wall Street staggered Marmon sales. The company was almost $3
million in the hole when the
spectacular Marmon Sixteen
debuted in 1931. The
devastating financial reversals
ended production of all
Marmon cars, however, less
than two years later.

Howard Marmon died in 1943.
Figure 118: 1931 Marmon Model 16 He deserved to be a giant.

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