1938 Graham Model 97

The daring, dramatic, revolutionary, and mold-breaking 1938 Graham was the final creation of designer Amos Northrup whose career included time at the Murray Corporation of America, Hupmobile, American Austin, Wills Sainte Claire, REO, Willys-Overland, Willys-Knight, and Graham-Paige. In 1932 he created the Graham Bluestreak which featured a backward-sloping grille, a radiator cap moved to under the hood, and enclosed fenders.

The Graham-Paige Company was founded in 1927 by brothers Joseph B., Robert C., and Ray A. Graham with production continuing through 1940. The brothers purchased the Paige-Detroit Motor Company in 1927, makers of Paige and Jewett automobiles, and their initial offering was a line of Graham-Paige cars with six- and eight-cylinders. Most of the engines were made by Graham-Paige, as were the bodies, since they had acquired the Wayne Body Company in Wayne, Michigan. Some models were powered by Continental stock engines, although Graham-Paige's own engineering department designed most of the engines used in the Graham-Paige cars.

A new eight-cylinder engine was introduced in the early 1930s, and in 1934, Graham Assistant Chief Engineer Floyd F. Kishline designed a crankshaft-driven supercharger. Initially, the supercharger was only available on the eight-cylinder models, but then the eights were dropped for 1936, the supercharger was adapted to the six. By the time Graham ceased automobile production, they had produced more supercharged cars than any other automobile manufacturer until Buick surpassed them in the 1990s.

The 1938 Graham automobiles were introduced with the slogan 'Spirit of Motion,' as the entire design appeared to be in motion even while standing still. Many European coachbuilders would draw inspiration from Northrup's aerodynamic liens as their muse, including Jacques Saoutchik of Paris. Several 'Sharknose' chassis wore cabriolet coachwork by Saoutchik. Two Saoutchik-bodied Grahams were displayed at the 1938 Paris Salon, with one example having cantilevered doors and a folding windshield. The parallel opening doors were built under the license of its developer, British coachbuilder James Young, Ltd. The unique doors used a double-bar, pivoting swing hinge allowing the doors to open out and back over the rear fenders.

The Northup-designed automobiles were inspirational and unique, but the sales were dismal. Unable to retool, Graham joined resources with the ailing Hupp Motor Company in late 1939. Unfortunately, despite positive public response, the car they built ended up having worse sales for both Graham and Hupmobile than either firm's respective preceding models.

by Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2020