June 14, 2025

WILCO SIX

Willys Corporation (1919-1920)
Elizabeth, New Jersey


This is a Wilco radiator emblem (c1919-1920)    sam
Size: Unknown    MM: Unknowm

The Willys Corporation was formed in 1917 to act as the holding company for the companies acquired by John Willys.

The Willys Six, introduced in 1916, was built by the Willys-Overland Company at Toledo, Ohio and continued in production into 1919 (see Willys), by which time a completely new Willys Six was under design and prototype testing at the newly acquired Duesenberg Motors Company plant at Elizabeth, New Jersey. This new Willys Six was called the Wilco Six

It was planned to build this Wilco Six in a large new plant acquired by John Willys in Indianapolis, Indiana but Willys had over extended his automotive business, which could not withstand the effects of the post World War Depression. The Willys bankers stepped in and hired Walter Chrysler to sort out the mess that had been created. The first model to go was the Wilco Six and the Elizabeth, New Jersey plant was sold to Walter Durant.  

Walter Chrysler was so impressed with the Wilco Six under development that he subsequently hired the designers and had them develop their design, which was introduced in January 1924 as the Chrysler Six (see Chrysler).

Emblem

The Wilco Six did not go into production. However, a red, white and blue enamel radiator emblem inscribed "Willys Corporation" and "Elizabeth, New Jersey" was made for the Wilco Six, see example shown above at the top of this post, and was likely to have been used on the prototype models. This Wilco Six radiator emblem is extremely rare and possibly ultra rare.






 

TEMPLE-WESTCOTT

Bela Body Co. (1921-1922)
Framingham, Massachusetts


This is a Temple-Westcott radiator emblem (1921-1922)  alt
Size: Unknown    MM: Unknown

Very little is known about the Temple-Westcott, which was an assembled six-cylinder medium priced automobile built in small numbers in the Bela Body Company workshop in Framingham, Massachusetts. The people behind the Temple-Westcott are unknown.

From 1916, the Bela Body Company built high quality full-custom bodies for Boston auto dealers on a wide range of automobile chassis, specializing in high grade closed bodies. In 1918, the Bela Body Company was bought by shoe manufacturer, Richard H. Long.  The Bela Body Company was reorganized in 1921 as the Richard H. Long Company, which handled all auto body manufacture thereafter. However, there are no known records regarding the Temple-Westcott. 

It has been reported that total production of the Temple-Westcott was about 10 to 20 cars but this too is not confirmed.

Emblem

There are at least two versions of a Temple-Westcott radiator emblem each showing what is assumed to be a Temple-Westcott car sitting above a classical temple building. Interestingly, both emblems show the Temple-Westcott with an open body, not the closed body style that the Bela Body Company had seen as their speciality.

The multi colored enamel Temple-Westcott radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post was included in the Al Thurn emblem collection and is believed to have preceded the manufacture of a Pulfer reproduction Temple-Westcott emblem. This version of the Temple-Westcott radiator emblem is extremely rare. This emblem may be an original Temple-Westcott radiator emblem. However, this emblem was clearly not produced by one of the major emblem makers, as the design of the temple building is unsymmetrical, and, therefore, cannot be confirmed as original.

The Pulfer reproduction emblem, see example below, also has an unsymmetrical temple building but the Temple-Westcott car has a slightly different rear end and does not have the folded roof seen in the emblem shown at the top of this post. The outer border of the emblem is also in a different color.

This is a reproduction Temple-Westcott radiator emblem   chw
Size: 58mm diameter

If you have better or other details of Temple-Westcott emblems, please let me know, in order to update this post.



PARKER

Parker Motor Truck Co. (1918-1924)
Parker Truck Co., Inc. (1924-c1933)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin


This is a Parker truck emblem (1918-1933)    mjs
Size: 254mm wide 51mm high

The Parker was an assembled conventional truck, initially made in 2-ton, 3-1/2-ton and 5-ton capacity sizes. The Parker truck, it was claimed, used passenger car track dimensions to allow the truck to follow the ruts of a country road. The Parker truck used solid rubber tires as standard but pneumatic tires were optional.

The Parker truck survived the postwar recession but, in 1924, a new ownership changed the company name to the Parker Truck Company. A 1-ton capacity model was introduced and the 5-ton capacity truck model was discontinued. After 1924, only 1-ton to 3-1/2-ton capacity trucks were offered, as the company gradually faded away. Parker trucks appear to have ceased production altogether by 1933.

Emblem

The following photo shows an early Parker 3-1/2-ton chassis with a heavy ribbed radiator, which carries a painted metal radiator emblem:

Parker 3-1/2-ton truck chassis with the radiator emblem (1919) mroz

Parker truck advertisements for 1920 show a heavy duty Parker truck model with a more steeply pointed ribbed radiator tank top with no emblem displayed but the advertisement does include a "Parker Trucks" logo, see example shown below:

Parker truck ad showing logo (1920)  ebay

Detail showing radiator & logo (1920)

It is likely that the Parker truck from 1920 did have a radiator emblem possibly cast in the radiator tank top as was common at that time, but I cannot confirm this.

The same 1920 radiator is apparent in the following blue print drawing of a Parker Model J-9 3-1/2-ton truck:

Parker Model J-9 3-1/2-ton truck drawing (c1920)   fandom

This Parker truck engineering drawing shows "Parker" nameplates mounted on the step plates to the driver's cab and a "Parker" hood side nameplate, which appears similar to the painted Parker nameplate shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Parker hood side nameplate is very rare.

This is a Parker nameplate (1918-1933)   mjs
Size: 254mm wide 51mm high






AEROCAR (2)

Aerocar Co. (1929-1938)

Detroit, Michigan

Curtiss Aerocar Co. (1929-1942)
Opa-locka, Florida

This is an Aerocar emblem (1929)      mjs
Size: 90mm high 68mm wide    MM: None

This enameled emblem appears in several early collections of auto radiator emblems but it is not from a motor car. It was made for the Curtiss Aerocar travel trailer built by the Aerocar Company of Detroit and the Curtiss Aerocar Company of Opa-locka, Florida. The Aerocar travel trailer was designed by Glenn Curtiss in 1927, with the first prototype built in the spring of 1928, and was one of a number of designs produced by Curtiss using aircraft design principles. 

The Curtiss Aerocar travel trailer was designed to be hitched to the rear of the towing vehicle by a special Glenn Curtiss Aero Coupler, consisting of a horizontally mounted airplane wheel and tire to provide protection against impact. About 300 Curtiss Aerocar trailers were built.

Glenn Curtiss also built the Curtiss Autoplane, the first flying car, which was shown at the New York Pan American Aeronautic Exposition in 1917 but did not go into production. He also built the Curtiss roadster car in the early 1920's

Emblem

The black enamel Aerocar emblem shown above is scarce.

The following are examples of unused Aerocar serial plates:

This is an Aerocar serial plate (1930's)    sam

This is an Aerocar serial plate (1930's)    sam






WAYNE WORKS

Wayne Works (1914-1992)
Richmond, Indiana


This is a Wayne Works emblem (c1950)   mjs
Size: 179mm wide 102mm high

Wayne began as the Wayne Agricultural Works in 1837 and was incorporated as Wayne Works in 1868. Wayne Works moved to Richmond, Indiana in 1876. By 1886 Wayne Works was known to be manufacturing horse-drawn school carriages or "kid hacks", which was to become the main business of Wayne Works in later years.

Wayne Works produced a few gasoline motor cars around 1901-1902 and in 1904 began production of the Richmond automobile, which ceased in 1917 (see Richmond). In 1914, Wayne Works mounted a wooden "kid hack" wagon body on an automotive chassis to create the first modern motor school bus and by 1927 Wayne Works was building all-steel bus bodies.

During World War II Wayne Works produced military ambulance bodies in large numbers as well as some other vehicle bodies. Wayne Works acquired the Meteor Motor Car Company to build ambulances and hearses. In 1957 Wayne merged with Miller Company to form the Miller-Wayne division of Wayne Works. That year Wayne Works was bought by Divco and became Divco-Wayne Corporation (see Divco). Several ownership changes followed until 1992 when bankruptcy brought Wayne Works production to an end.

Emblems

The following round logo was used by Wayne Works as an emblem from around 1939:

This is a Wayne Works emblem (c1939)    coachbuilt

The same Wayne logo appears in the following painted Wayne Works serial plate. This Wayne Works serial plate is scarce.

This is a Wayne Works serial plate (c1940's)    mjs
Size: 83mm diameter

There was a new Wayne logo and emblem from about 1950, see the following Wayne Works bus advertisement:

Wayne Works ad showing logo (1956) coachbuilt

This is the Wayne Works emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Wayne Works emblem is scarce.

This is a Wayne Works emblem (c1950)   mjs
Size: 179mm wide 102mm high

The following shows the front of a 1961 Wayne coach which displays a Wayne emblem:

Wayne coach with emblem (1961)  coachbuilt

This is a similar Wayne coach emblem and is rare:

This is a Wayne coach emblem (1960s)   coachbuilt




June 03, 2025

WHARTON

Wharton Motors Co. (1922-1923)

Dallas, Texas


This is a Wharton radiator emblem (1922-1923)   sam
Size: 64mm wide 35mm high    MM: Unknown

The Wharton Motors Company was organized in 1920 by Thomas Wharton and a group of Dallas businessmen. with plans to manufacture motor trucks, tractors and automobiles. 

The Wharton motor car was announced as a 104 hp automobile powered by a Curtiss-OX-5 aero engine and was to be offered in seven body types. Lower cost four-cylinder and six-cylinder models were also announced by Wharton. In March 1922, Wharton Motors Company announced the start of production in Dallas and plans for an additional plant in Pennsylvania. However, the very limited production of the Wharton took place only in Dallas.  

Total production of the Wharton is not known and the Standard Catalog of American Cars suggests that Wharton production may have been limited to the only single OX-5 roadster known to have been built. However, Wharton newspaper advertisements, which include photos of Wharton motor cars, show at least four different models, the Wharton Eight De Luxe two-passenger roadster, the Wharton Eight four-passenger roadster, the Wharton Eight four-passenger sports and the Wharton De Luxe Twin Six. Some of these Wharton cars may have been prototype models.
 
In March 1924, some Wharton stockholders filed suit against the company and requested receivership. It was all over for the Wharton.

Emblems

I can find no photos of Wharton motor cars clearly showing the radiator but Wharton radiator emblems do exist. 

There is the rectangular gold, red and black enamel Wharton radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post. This Wharton radiator emblem is extremely rare.

There is also a round Wharton radiator emblem, see below. This Wharton radiator emblem is also extremely rare.

This is a Wharton radiator emblem (1922-1923)   chw
Size: 66mm diameter    MM: Unknown

The following Wharton nickel plated emblem has the same design as the Wharton radiator emblem shown immediately above but is smaller and fully plated. This Wharton emblem is believed to be a Wharton hub emblem and is also extremely rare:

This is a Wharton hub emblem (1922-1923)       mjs
Size: 54mm diameter     MM: Unknown
 
It is possible that the two very different Wharton radiator emblems shown above were used on different Wharton models or, perhaps, the rectangular emblem was changed to the round emblem for the production Wharton models, as the company details are more clearly seen. 




ARBENZ

Scioto Car Co. (1911-1912)
ArBenz Car Co. (1912-1916)
National United Service Co. (1916-1918)
Chillicothe, Ohio 


This is an ArBenz radiator script (c1912)   khc
Size: 245mm wide

The ArBenz was named after Fred C. Arbenz and his son Nand James Arbenz, who designed their car. They initially set up the Scioto Car Company to produce the ArBenz but in August 1911 it was announced that the company name would change to the ArBenz Car Company.

The ArBenz was initially a 30/40 hp four-cylinder car offered in four models in the mid-price range until 1914. For 1914, the engine size was reduced to 27 hp but increased to 40 hp again for 1915 and then available in roadster or touring body styles. A much smaller 17 hp Model 25 five passenger touring was the only ArBenz offering from 1916 to the end of production.

In March 1916, the company was taken over by the National United Service Company but ArBenz production did not continue beyond late 1917. By 1918, only a few ArBenz cars were being produced from parts on hand.

Emblem

From the start, Scioto Car Company advertisements spelled the name of their car as the "ArBenZ" to suggest an association with Barney Oldfield and the Blitzen Benz race car, which Barney Oldfield used in 1910 to break land speed records thereby creating great public interest.  

ArBenZ car adv (1911)    catj

ArBenZ cars did not have a radiator emblem but did display the "ArBenZ" name using a plated brass script mounted on the radiator core, as seen in ArBenZ advertisements and original period photos, see examples shown below: 

ArBenZ car ad (1912)
The Dayton Herald

Detail showing "ArBenz" radiator script (1912)

ArBenZ motor car showing radiator script (c1911)    rosscountyhistoricalsociety

ArBenZ motor car showing radiator script (1912)    rosscountyhistoricalsociety


This is the ArBenZ radiator script shown above at the top of this post and again below. Original ArBenZ radiator scripts are very rare.

This is an ArBenZ radiator script (c1912)   khc
Size: 245mm wide