1931 Marmon Model 16 Convertible Sedan

Introduced in 1931, the Marmon Sixteen featured beautiful styling, power, and technology. The LeBaron Convertible Sedan body is painted in its original color scheme of black with an orange body molding and maroon leather. The original price for this car was $5,420.

Production ended in 1933 with only 390 in all body styles having been produced. Just 70 examples of the Marmon Sixteen are known to have survived.

The Marmon Sixteen's engine is made almost entirely of aluminum and produces two-hundred horsepower. Unfortunately for Marmon, Cadillac had beaten them to market with a sixteen-cylinder nearly two years earlier. As the Great Depression deepened, there were fewer people who could afford to travel in such opulent style.

This example was one of the first Sixteens to receive a modern concours restoration, and over its extensive show career on both sides of the coast, has become one of the most famous examples.

The original owner was Dr. G.H.A. Clowes, a resident of Marmon's hometown of Indianapolis. The car was well-equipped, being outfitted with factory radio and front and rear heaters.

Throughout the next two decades, the car enjoyed a number of other short-term owners in Indiana, including Indianapolis collector John Hoggat. It was later owned and restored by Richard Askren, with the engine reportedly rebuilt and tested by the Perfect Circle Piston Ring Company. After the work was completed, it was sold in 1972 to Briggs Cunningham. During his ownership, the car was given the current engine, number 16860. After the sale of the Cunningham Collection to Miles Collier, the car was purchased by Indiana collector S. Ray Miller. Between 1988 and 1989, it was restored by Eric and Vivian LaVine to the highest of standards. As part of this flawless restoration, the car was refinished in a correct Marmon color scheme, Black with Menelaus Orange moldings, a dark red interior, and a black cloth top.

After the restoration, it embarked on a modern concours career, including its CCCA Primary Fist (with 100 points in its first showing), followed by a Senior First and the AACA's President's Cup. In 1989, it was shown at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, winning 2nd in Class, followed by Best Prewar Open Car at Meadow Brook and Best in Class at Indianapolis in 1990.

The current owner purchased the Marmon when the Miller collection was dispersed in 2004. It was then put on display at the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana, followed by an extended display in the Gallery of Classics at the ACD Automobile Museum in Auburn, Indiana.

By Daniel Vaughan | May 2016