1930 Marmon Big 8

The Marmon Big Eight was introduced for the 1930 model year. The company also introduced a sixteen-cylinder motorcar in November of 1930. Both cars remained in production until the company closed its doors in 1933.

The Big 8 allowed Marmon to re-enter the high-priced luxury car market, and it offered an advanced straight-eight engine that offered 125 horsepower from 315 cubic inches. The gearbox had four speeds, and the suspension was provided by semi-elliptic springs in both the front and the rear. The brakes were a Bendix four-wheel mechanical system linked to a booster. Most of the bodies for the Big 8 were designed by LeBaron.

According to the current owner, this Marmon was sold new by George Marquette Motor Sales of Chicago to a Chicago owner who ordered the crystal eagle that sits atop the radiator shell as well as the running board-mounted spotlight. He traded in a Packard 443 roadster for the Marmon.

The Nordyke & Marmon Company of Indianapolis, soon to be renamed the Marmon Motor Car Company, produced its first experimental car in 1902. The Marmon Big Eight was introduced in November 1930, a year before the company's famous 16-cylinder car, and both cars remained in production until the company closed its doors in 1933. Howard C. Marmon was a mechanical genius and the Marmon marque was known as one of the best-riding and best-performing luxury cars of that era. Five different Big Eight models appeared in the Marmon catalogue for 1930, including this seven-passenger sedan. This 1930 Marmon is one of four known to survive with this coachwork designed by Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky and built by the Hayes Body Company.