May 26, 2023

LITTLE

Little Motor Car Co.
Detroit, Michigan (1911)
Flint, Michigan (1912-1913)
Republic Motor Co. (1913)
New York City, New York


This is a Little radiator emblem (dates unknown)   sam
Size: 45mm diameter  MM: Unknown

The Little was one of the cars that Billy Durant decided to build after he was pushed out of General Motors. 

Durant wanted to make a light car of "French type" to be sold at popular prices. He engaged Louis Chevrolet, who knew what a "French type" car was,  and who wanted to build a car. The Chevrolet name was also very well known in the US. Durant set up a number of companies to start his new auto empire, the Chevrolet Motor Company in Detroit, the Little Motor Car Company in Flint, Michigan, the Mason Motor Company, also in Flint, to build engines and the Republic Motor Company to handle the marketing and sales of Chevrolet and Little cars. He also set up large facilities for the Republic Motor Company in New York City for use as an auxiliary assembly plant.

Production of the Little began in January 1912 at the Flint Wagon Works, which had previously produced the Whiting. The first Flint built Little Four appeared in April 1912 and was essentially a re-badged Whiting Model 22. The Little Four body was restyled soon after the first few Little Fours had been built. 

The Little Four was a relatively low-priced 20 hp four-cylinder roadster. The Little sold well but was not a well made car, whereas the Chevrolet Classic Six, being developed in Detroit, was well made but was too big and expensive to sell well and was not the simple "French type" car that Durant had wanted. As the Chevrolet Classic Six was not yet ready, Durant decided to bring out a smaller 26 hp Little Six touring car, which appeared later in 1912 for the 1913 model year, but Durant did not need to produce two cars. Durant decided to combine the best features of the Little and the Chevrolet into what eventually became the Chevrolet Light Six (see Chevrolet) and to reorganize his companies under the Chevrolet banner. 

The Little was discontinued in May 1913. A total of about 3,500 Little units were built, including 249 units built in New York City by the Republic Motor Company in the period April 1913 to end June 1913.

Emblems

There were four different versions of the script style used for the "Little" name and at least six different Little radiator emblems are known to exist but it is difficult to determine the dates of use of these scripts and emblems with certainty. There are no original period photos of any Little cars showing the radiator and Little automobile advertisements do not show the emblems. 

The earliest original period photo of a Little automobile that I can find is a side view, which shows a "Little" script mounted on the sides of the fuel tank, see below:

Little Four showing fuel tank script (c1911)   dpl

Close-up showing the Little Four fuel tank script

I have not seen this specific Little script design elsewhere on period photos or on any surviving Little scripts or emblems. This factory photo is annotated "c1911" and may show a very early prototype Little Four with a fuel tank script that was changed before full production began. Little scripts with this design would be extremely rare.

The Advance Circular announcing the Little Four in 1912 had an illustration of what appears to be a Little emblem on the cover sheet, see below:

Little Four Advance Circular (1912)  sfam

Little Four emblem on Advance Circular cover (1912)

The same emblem appears on the cover of the Little Four Operating and Maintenance Instructions book and on the Little Four parts lists, see example shown below:

Little Four Operating Instructions book (1912)  acc

It would be reasonable to assume that this illustration depicted the Little Four radiator emblem in 1912 and such an emblem does exist.

This is the red and white enamel Little radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Little radiator emblem is extremely rare.

This is a Little radiator emblem (dates unknown)   sam
Size: 45mm diameter   MM: Unknown

However, this Little radiator emblem is a mystery, as it does not appear inside the Advance Circular announcing the Little Four, and I can find find no photos or illustrations of any Little Four roadsters or, indeed, any other Little cars showing a radiator emblem with this design. It is possible that this Little radiator emblem was used for the very first Little Four roadsters using the Whiting chassis but I cannot confirm this.

If you have details of the use of this Little radiator emblem, please let me know, in order to update this post.

The illustrations of the Little Four Roadster within the Advance Circular introducing the 1912 Little Four show a very different script style for the "Little" name, see the fuel tank script emblems shown below:

Little Four illustration showing fuel tank side script (1912)

Little Four illustration showing fuel tank rear script (1912)

This style of the "Little" script is seen more clearly on the fuel tanks on some of the restored surviving Little Four roadsters, see example photos shown below:

Little Four Roadster fuel tank scripts (1912)  proxibid

Little Four Roadster fuel tank side script (1912)   conceptcarz

This is the small brass Little script, which was originally nickel plated. Original "Little" scripts of this design are rare.

This is a Little Four fuel tank script (1912-1913)   mjs
Size: 100mm wide 65mm high

This "Little" script is also shown on illustrations of the chassis and engine within the Advance Circular alongside an illustration showing the front of a Little Four with a relatively large diameter round radiator emblem, see below:

Little Four Advance Circular (1912)

Little Four Advance Circular illustration showing rad emblem (1912)

The detailed design of this large round Little Four radiator emblem cannot be seen from this illustration but is most likely to follow the "Little" script design shown on all the other illustrations in the Advance Circular and not the design shown on the Advance Circular cover sheet. 

There are some restored 1912 Little Four Roadsters, which carry a large diameter radiator emblem with a design based on the Advance Circular cover illustration but these emblems are clearly reproduction emblems made as part of the restoration work, see example shown below:

Restored Little Four Roadster with large rad emblem (1912)  proxibid

Reproduction Little Four radiator emblem  proxibid

However, the majority of the surviving 1912 Little Four Roadsters carry a smaller diameter radiator emblem finished in red and white enamel, including the quite original example shown below:

Little Four Roadster showing radiator emblem (1912)  mecum

Little Four Roadster radiator emblem (1912)   mecum

This is the red and white enamel Little Four radiator emblem. This Little radiator emblem is rare.

This is a Little Four radiator emblem (1912-1913)   sam
Size: 45mm diameter   MM: Unknown

The following is a blue and red enamel color variation of this Little Four radiator emblem, which may have been a trial emblem. This Little emblem is believed to be original and is extremely rare.

This may be a trial Little radiator emblem (c1912)    sam
Size: 45mm diameter    MM: Unknown

The following red, white and black enamel variation of the Little radiator emblem has a shorter style of lettering for the "Little" name. This Little emblem is original and is also extremely rare:

This is a Little radiator emblem (c1912)    kmc
Size: 45mm diameter   MM: Childs

I can find no examples of Little Four roadsters made in 1912 showing an original larger diameter emblem as was shown in the 1912 Little Four Advance Circular shown earlier above.

However, the following restored 1913 Little Four roadster found in Australia does carry a large diameter radiator emblem:

Little Four Roadster with large diameter rad emblem (1913) couriermail

Little Four radiator emblem (1913)    couriermail
Size: 62mm diameter   MM: Unknown

Alan Carpenter, the present (2023) owner of this Little Four, has provided detailed information based on research into Little Four production numbers, which shows that the Flint built Little Four reached 3000 units by end April 1913 when Flint production ceased, with a further 249 units assembled in New York City by the Republic Motor Company, comprising 100 units in April 1913, 100 units in May 1913 and the final 49 units in June 1913. The Little Four shown above has the engine number 3007, which strongly suggests that this Little Four was most likely assembled in New York City in April 1913 and exported to Australia. 

The Little Four was being offered for sale in Australia up to about 1919, which suggests that a significant number of Little Four cars were exported to Australia before all Little Four sales ended. At least 40 Little Four cars were still registered in Australia in 1919, although details of the radiator emblems used on these cars are not known. However, at least two of the large blue and white enamel Little radiator emblems have been found in Australia and one other, see below, which now resides in the US, was found in Canada. These are the only examples known at this time. 

The lack of any evidence of the use of this large diameter Little radiator emblem elsewhere in the US strongly suggests that this emblem was used on the final Little Four units assembled in New York City in the period April to June 1913 many of which may have been exported. This Little Four radiator emblem is extremely rare.

This is a Little Four radiator emblem (1913)   tcc
Size: 62mm diameter    MM: Unknown

If you have details of any other examples of this Little radiator emblem, please let me know, in order to update this post.

The same "Little" script style seen above was also used on the Little Four hubcaps, see example shown below:

Little Four Roadster hubcap (1912-1913)   mecum

Some surviving Little Four roadsters display a larger sized "Little" script mounted on the radiator core, see example shown below, although it is possible that these scripts were not original but may have been added later during restoration.

Little Four showing radiator script (1912)   wiki

The following relatively large "Little" radiator script with a different design has several fixing holes to allow the script to be securely attached to the radiator core:

This is a Little radiator script (c1912)   mjs
Size: 365mm wide

The Republic Motor Company catalog for the Little Six, which was hurriedly introduced for the 1913 model year, shows a "Little" script design similar to the script shown on the cover of the 1912 Little Four Advance Circular, see Little Six catalog page shown below:

Little Six Catalog page (1913)  ms

Little Six Chassis showing "Little" script (1913)

The Little Six catalog illustration of the front of the Little Six shows this same "Little" script logo in the form of a small script emblem mounted on the top of the radiator shell, see below. Original Little radiator script emblems with this design would be extremely rare.

Little Six showing radiator script emblem (1913)

I can find no other illustrations or photos showing the radiator of the Little Six, so I cannot confirm if this radiator script emblem was ever used on the Little Six before it became the Chevrolet Light Six.





MADISON

Madison Motor Co. (1915)

Madison Motors Corp. (1916-1919)

Anderson, Indiana


This is a Madison Six radiator emblem (1916-1919)     mjs
Size: 47mm diameter    MM: Unknown

Henry Nyberg had built the Nyberg automobile in Anderson, Indiana until that venture failed in 1913 (see Nyberg). Nyberg decided to try again in the same factory in 1915 with the newly established Madison Motor Company. The new 22hp six-cylinder car was initially called the Dolly Madison but the name was shortened to Madison in 1916 and the company was reorganized as Madison Motors Corporation later that year.

Financial problems resulted in an inability to secure parts, so that by 1918 production had ceased. Madison was taken over by the Bull Tractor Company in the early spring of 1919, when the final three Madison cars were produced. Total Madison production was only 453 cars.

Emblems

The painted metal Madison Six radiator emblem shown above is rare.

I do not know if there was a different radiator emblem for the Dolly Madison produced by the Madison Motor Company in 1915. If such an emblem exists, it would be extremely rare. If you have details of such an emblem, please let me know, in order to update this post.



OHIO CAR

Jewel Carriage Co. (1909) 
Ohio Motor Car Co. (1909-1912)
Carthage/Cincinnati, Ohio


This is an Ohio Model 40A serial plate (1909)   mjs
Size: 56mm wide 32mm high

The Jewel Carriage Company established the Ohio Motor Car Company in Cincinnati in January 1909 and it is reported that construction of the four-cylinder Ohio Forty began almost immediately in Carthage, Ohio with the first Ohio Model 40A touring car delivered in May 1909. For 1910, there were six Ohio Forty models available and a wide range of models were offered through 1912, although it is not clear that all these models were actually built. In fact, it is not known how many Ohio cars were built. The OhiO seems to have been a well made capable motor car but production numbers are likely to have been modest. The company made a point in its advertisements that it did not go in for high volume production but preferred to make a smaller number of cars which were checked thoroughly for quality before being sold.

The Jewel Carriage Company was in financial trouble early in 1910 and was in receivership by June 1910. The company came out of receivership by early 1911 but financial problems continued and the company was reorganized in 1912 using the Ohio Motor Car Company as the new parent company. This did not help and in December 1912, the company was sold and reorganized again with new ownership as the Crescent Motor Car Company. Production continued at the Carthage factory but the car was now called the Crescent. The "Ohio" name was retained simply as a model of the new Crescent motor car.

Emblems

The Ohio was often advertised as the "OhiO" with smaller letters for the central "hi" in the name. However, the use of logos or trademarks in Ohio advertising is confusing and inconsistent. 

The first Ohio motor car advertisements in 1909 did not use a logo, see example shown below, which declares that the Ohio was "Made in Cincinnati", although the factory was actually in Carthage:

Ohio Model 40 advertisement (1909)  cincinnati enquirer

However, the "OhiO" logo appeared later in 1909 and continued after the Jewel Carriage Company name was replaced in advertisements by the Ohio Motor Car Company name, see examples shown below:

OhiO motor car advertisement (1909)  ebay

OhiO Forty advert (1909)  everybody's magazine

This "OhiO" logo is also shown on the cover of the 1910 Ohio catalog, see below:

Ohio catalog cover showing logo (1910)  worthpoint

Original period Ohio car photos from 1909 and 1910 generally do not clearly show the radiator, although an Ohio car taking part in the Munsey Historic Tour in 1910 had the "Ohio" name stencilled on the radiator grille for publicity purposes, see example shown below:

Ohio car taking part in the Munsey Historic Tour (1910)   dpl

Some OhiO motor car advertisements include an illustration of the front of an OhiO Forty showing that there was no radiator emblem but a brass "OhiO" script was mounted on the radiator core, see example shown below:

OhiO Model 40A showing radiator script (1910)   ebay

The brass "OhiO" radiator script certainly continued in use on at least some models through 1911, see original photos shown below:

OhiO motor car with radiator script & no emblem at trade show (c1911)    dpl

OhiO race car with radiator script and no emblem (1911)    dpl

I do not have a good close up photo of the brass "OhiO" radiator script. If you have this script, please let me know, in order to update this post. Original "OhiO" radiator scripts with this design are extremely rare.

The "OhiO" name was also displayed on the hubcaps, see the extremely rare example shown below:

This is an OhiO hubcap (dates uncertain)   the hubcapper

I can find no photos or illustrations showing the "OhiO" script shown above after 1911, even as a logo, although a logo with "OHIO" in capital letters with the central "HI" in smaller size letters is seen in some advertisements in 1912, see example shown below:

OHIO motor car advertisement showing logo (1912)  ma

It might be expected to see the "OhiO" logo script represented on the Ohio serial plates, although I have not seen this style of Ohio serial plate. If you have such an Ohio serial plate, please let me know, in order to update this post.

The Ohio serial plate shown above at the top of this post and again below uses a completely different script style for the "Ohio" name. This Ohio serial plate was made for an Ohio Model 40A built in 1909 and 1910. My guess is that this serial plate was used early in 1909 before the introduction of the "OhiO" script, although I cannot confirm this absolutely. This Ohio serial plate is extremely rare.

This is an Ohio Model 40A serial plate (c1909)   mjs
Size: 56mm wide 32mm high

This style of "Ohio" script is not seen in Ohio motor car advertisements but has been seen on the extremely rare Ohio hubcap shown below. I assume that this hubcap was used at the same time as the Ohio serial plate shown above, possibly early in 1909, although I cannot confirm this.

This is an Ohio hubcap (c1909)   dkc

The confusion regarding the "OhiO" script continued after the Ohio Motor Car Company was sold and reorganized as the Crescent Motor Company. The Ohio production line was continued but the new car was the Crescent with the Ohio name retained as a model of the Crescent, see Crescent advertisement shown below: 

Crescent Motor Company ad (1914)    ebay

However, some Crescent Motor Company advertisements make it appear that the "OhiO" motor car had continued under new ownership, see example shown below:

Crescent "OhiO" ad (1913 for 1914)  ebay







DUAL-GHIA

Dual Motors Corp. (1955-1958)
Detroit, Michigan


This is a Dual-Ghia hood emblem (date uncertain)   mjs
Size: 65mm diameter    MM: None

Chrysler engaged the Italian coachbuilder, Ghia, in the early 1950's to produce some Dodge based concept car designs using the design skills of Virgil Exner and Luigi Segre. The result was the Firearrow concept supercar prototypes produced in 1954. However, Chrysler decided not to put the Firearrow into production. 

Eugene Casaroll, who operated a car delivery service for Chrysler and had a specialist car manufacturing company called Dual Motors, secured the rights to the Firearrow designs and engaged Paul Farago of Ghia to develop the Firearrow design into a production friendly automobile. The first prototype was shown at the Grosse-Pointe Yacht Club in Detroit in June 1955 under the Firebomb name. The final refined version was the superbly styled Dual-Ghia, which was introduced at the International Automobile Show in New York in 1956.

The Dual-Ghia was a four-passenger convertible, although at least one coupe model was also built, and was powered by a Dodge V8 engine. The Dual-Ghia was a very expensive automobile and was mainly bought by celebrities. Eugene Casaroll was losing money on each Dual-Ghia sold and decided to cease production. The plan was to build 150 Dual-Ghia cars a year but, in the event, only 99 cars were built over the two years 1957-1958 before production was halted.

Ghia in Italy later decided to produce a second generation Dual-Ghia 6.4L using a Chrysler V8 engine, but only 26 new Dual-Ghia 6.4L cars were built between 1961 and 1964.

Emblems

The Dual Ghia displayed a round emblem showing the crossed flags of Italy and the USA mounted on the hood.

There were some variations in the Dual-Ghia hood emblem through the various development and production stages. The gold finished multi-colored enamel Dual-Ghia hood emblem shown above at the top of this post may have been used on a development model but I cannot confirm this. This Dual-Ghia hood emblem is extremely rare.

The following is a slightly different Dual-Ghia hood emblem seen on a surviving production model, which would also be extremely rare:

This is a Dual-Ghia hood emblem (1958)   mycarquest
Size: Unknown

The "Dual-Ghia" name was also displayed on the sill plates and hubcaps, see examples shown below:

This is a Dual-Ghia sill plate (1958)   bonhams

This is a Dual-Ghia hubcap (1958)    bonhams