1922 Marmon Model 34B Information and History

View more photos
Speedster

The 1922 Marmon has a unique transverse rear suspension. It has a unit frame with running boards acting as horizontal & lateral truss. The four-passenger speedster body style was introduced in response to customer demand after seeing the 1920 Indy pace car 2 passenger.

The Speedster was given to Barney Oldfield after the 1920 race.

The Marmon 34 was America's fastest stock car, beating Mercer and Duesenberg (A).

View more photos
Speedster

The Marmon Automobile was manufactured by the Nordyke-Marmon Company of Indianapolis, Indiana. The company had become financially successful during the 19th century by making flour grinding and mill equipment. The first experimental Marmon automobile was produced in 1902, and by 1904 the company was beginning to build production vehicles. In 1911, a specially built Marmon was made to compete in the inaugural 500 mile race at the new Indianapolis race track. The yellow race car, called the Marmon Wasp, became the winner of the first Indianapolis 500 race.

In 1916, Marmon introduced a new model called the Model 34. It was powered by a six-cylinder, overhead valve engine. The Model 34 Marmon used aluminum extensively throughout its design. By using aluminum in the body and chassis, the overall weight was greatly reduced, which contributed to the vehicle's performance. The Model 34 became one of the fastest production cars in American and won several racing and endurance competitions in American and abroad.

This rare 1922 Marmon 34B Speedster was discovered in an abandon barn in 1959 near Quebec, Canada. It was fully restored and donated to the Canadian Transportation Museum in Essex, Ontario where it resides today.

The Marmon brand name was manufactured by Nordyke & Marmon Company, located in Indianapolis, Indiana and produced automobiles from 1903 through 1933. The Marmon automobiles are most remembered for their impressive V-16 engine introduced during the early 1930s as well as introducing the rear-view mirror.

The Model 32 featured rear-view mirrors, and was the first vehicle ever with this feature. It is also responsible for the creation of the Wasp, the winner of the first Indianapolis 500 race. The name 'Wasp' was chosen due to its yellow color and pointed tail.

At the 1911 Indianapolis 500 race, the Marmon was the only vehicle equipped with a single seat, rather than the popular two-seat configuration. The first seat was for the driver while the second seat housed the mechanic. Many people were critical of the single seat configuration. They felt it unsafe because the driver would not be aware of other cars overtaking him. A solution was devised by the Marmon crew to install a rear-view mirror on the vehicle, the first of its kind according to many historians.

In 1916 the Marmon 34 was introduced as an evolution of the Model 32. The Model 34B was powered by an overhead-valve six-cylinder engine comprised mostly of aluminum. Aluminum was used throughout many parts of the vehicle including the body, radiator and hood. Its 340 cubic-inch displacement produced 34 horsepower, thus its name - 'the 34'. The Model 34 was available in a variety of body-styles including roadsters, speedsters, touring, and limousine, to name a few. The only wheelbase size available was 136 inches. Weight was in the neighborhood of 3300 pounds. Production of the Model 34 continued until 1924 which it was replaced with the Model 74 and 75.

As a publicity stunt and to gain media attention about the new Model 34, a Marmon 34 was driven across American in under six days. This beat 'Cannonball' Baker's time record.

The transmission is an unsynchronized three-speed manual unit in the H pattern. Mechanical rear brakes provide the stopping power.

Vehicle Spotlight

Other models by Marmon