1931 Marmon Model 16 Victoria

Marmon introduced their V-16 at the 1931 New York Auto Show. Howard C. Marmon had been developing a multi-cylinder airplane engine beginning in 1926, which eventually culminated in this 491 cubic inch 45-degree V-16 automobile engine. The engine is all aluminum with case-hardened cylinder sleeves, overhead valves, detachable cylinder heads with bronze valve seats, blade and fork connecting rods, a Stromberg duplex downdraft carburetor, and Delco electrical system. The 930-pound engine produces 200 horsepower giving the engine one of the highest power-to-weight ratios ever generated at that time.

Besides having a very modern engine design, the coachwork produced by LeBaron, from designs by Walter Dorwin Teague with influences from Ray Dietrich and Frank Hershey, was extraordinarily modern and unique. They were aerodynamically engineered to reduce wind resistance to a minimum, with a slanted radiator, windshield, and a curved roof line and shaped rear panel, the flow of air over the body was smooth with few pockets of drag-inducing turbulence.

The Depression hit Marmon very hard and the market for a $5,000 luxury car was very limited, to the degree that only about 390 V-16 Marmons were built between 1931 and 1933 when production ceased.

In 1902, Howard Marmon was only 23 but had already constructed his first automobile. It was an advanced piece of machinery for the time, featuring overhead valves and air cooling. Nine years later, a Marmon was driven to a victory at the inaugural Indianapolis 500 race. The Indianapolis 500 race was much different in 1911 than it is today; instead of just taking three hours to complete, it took all day. The race tested the driver and car's stamina at full speeds for many, many hours. Completing the race was considered an accomplishment, but winning it was the ultimate achievement. Following on the heels of this success, the Marmon cars were driven to over 50 race victories in the following two years.

Marmon automobiles seemed to have to problems winning on the race track, but in the showrooms the cars were less successful. Marmon did offer a road-going version of its Indianapolis 500 Wasp, dubbed the Model 49, but at $5000, this was too high for most individuals.

The company's savior came in the form of World War I, when the engineering talents of the company were commissioned to build 5,000 Liberty aircraft engines. This gave Marmon financial stability.

After WWI, the company resumed production of its Model 34, a car that was introduced in 1916 and included extensive use of aluminum. Many items on this Model 34 were created from aluminum, including the transmission, rear axle, body, fenders, and radiator. Sales were disappointing and when the post-war recession began to show its ugly head, Marmon began feeling the financial pressure. In 1924, Howard's brother resigned the presidency and George M. Williams took over his duties. Williams saw a future in Marmon with a more affordable line of models that would attract more buyers and increase sales. The result of his vision was the Roosevelt Model powered by a straight eight-cylinder engine. The gamble proved to be accurate as sales increased greatly and the company was once again financially sound. By the close of the 1920s, Marmon was building more than 20,000 cars per year.

The financial security allowed Marmon to further pursue his engineering passion and to continue to carve a legacy in the automotive industry, by creating the Marmon Sixteen in 1931. The name 'Model 16' was appropriate as the car was powered by a state-of-the-art sixteen-cylinder, overhead valve engine that displaced nearly 500 cubic inches and produced 200 horsepower. The engine had all-aluminum construction which meant it was both lightweight and strong. Many other areas of the car were also built from aluminum, including many parts of the chassis. The power-to-weight ratio was unmatched by any other marque of the era and the Sixteen was able to achieve 100 mph with very little effort.

The Sixteen had only one flaw - when it was introduced. Cadillac had introduced their sixteen-cylinder car nearly two years before Marmon's was introduced. More importantly was The Great Depression, which was strangling the pockets of potential buyers. By 1933, Marmon found itself out of business.

This Marmon Sixteen Convertible Coupe is one of the few surviving examples in modern times. It has an elegant LeBaron coachbuilt body featuring the legendary LeBaron cowl tags. The design for the vehicle was penned by Walter Dorwin Teague Jr., a student at MIT at the time. His father, Walter Dorwin Teague Sr., had been given the project but had passed it along to his automotive enthusiast son.

This car has been treated to a comprehensive professional restoration that brought it back to better-than-new condition. It is finished in a two-tone paint scheme with a tan convertible top. It earned its CCCA Senior Award status in June 2002.

There were only 22 examples of the convertible coupe constructed with only eight remaining in modern times. Six are in private collections, one is in a museum in the Netherlands, and one is in the process of being restored.

This 1931 Marmon Sixteen Convertible Coupe was offered for sale at the 2007 RM Auctions held at Meadow Brook where it was offered without reserve and estimated to sell for $400,000 - $500,000. It is powered by an overhead valve V16 engine mounted at a 45-degree angle. There is a three-speed manual gearbox and four-wheel servo-assisted mechanical drum brakes. At the auction, the car was sold for an impressive $726,000.

By Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2007