AMERICAN/AMERICAN UNDERSLUNG

American Motor Car Co. (1906-1911)

American Motors Co. (1911-1914)

American Underslung Co. (1914) 

Indianapolis, Indiana

This is a two-piece American radiator emblem (c1911)  mjs
Size: 57mm diameter   MM: Whitehead & Hoag

The American Motor Car Company began production of the American in 1906 and from the start its rakish lines made it appear to be a car built for speed. In 1907, an American was driven a straight mile in 45 seconds. The American is popularly known today as the American Underslung but this description was little used initially and a conventional chassis was offered as well as the underslung model. Fred Tone designed the underslung chassis and Harry Stutz designed the conventional chassis.

The American was initially a four-cylinder car and was offered in a variety of body styles. In 1914 six-cylinder models were added to the line. From 1911, when the company was reorganized as the American Motors Company, the American was offered in higher priced 50 hp and 60 hp versions as "A Car for the Discriminating Few". The American sold well initially but there were not enough wealthy people to buy these expensive cars and by early 1914, after a very brief reorganization as the American Underslung Company, and after making 45,000 cars, the company was out of business.

Emblems

The following American trademark, consisting of an eagle with open wings perched on top of a half globe, was filed in December 1905:

American trademark (1905)    wendel

The  American motor car brochure for 1906, no doubt published before December 1905, does not show this trademark and the front of the American touring car illustrated in the brochure has no emblem or nameplate to indicate the name of the car, see brochure illustration below:

American 1906 brochure front view illustration (1905)  hcfi

However, "THE AMERICAN" name is displayed on a nameplate on the rear frame member, see brochure illustration shown below. This American nameplate, if it could be found, would be extremely rare.

American 1906 brochure rear view illustration (1905)  hcfi

American motor car advertisements published in 1906, however, do show the American trademark filed in 1905 above the words "THE AMERICAN" in capital letters, see example shown below:

American ad with logo (1906) classicspeedsters

This American logo was displayed as a small brass script mounted on the radiator core on at least some of the first American touring cars from 1906, see the original period photo shown below:

American motor car with radiator script (1906)   dpl

This small brass American radiator script is seen in some original period photos of American cars up to 1909 but American advertisements show that a larger version of the brass American radiator script with a slightly different style of the eagle was also used from 1907, probably to make the radiator script more visible, see the example shown below:

American ad with larger radiator script (1907)  ebay

This larger brass American radiator script is seen in the following original photo from 1907:

American motor car with larger radiator script (1907)  autolit

This same larger American radiator script is illustrated in original American car brochures showing the 1909 American Traveler, see example below:

American Traveler illustration showing radiator script (1909) hcfi

However, no radiator script is shown for any of the other American models illustrated in the 1909 brochures, only for the Traveler model. 

The American Traveler brochure for 1910 also shows a brass radiator script but with a slightly smaller and slightly different design, which more closely resembles the 1906 radiator script but with part of the eagle's body open, possibly to allow more cooling air to reach the radiator, see brochure illustration shown below:

American Traveler illustration showing rad script (1910) stanleyregister

American brass radiator scripts are no longer seen in original period photos of American cars from later in 1910 when an American radiator emblem first appeared.

Variations of the American brass radiator script have been used on many surviving American Underslung cars, see example shown below, but most are relatively recent reproductions. Original American brass radiator scripts are rare.

Radiator script on a surviving 1909 American Traveler  sfam

The following advertisement published in October 1908, includes an illustration of an American Traveler, probably a 1909 model, which appears to have some decoration on the side of the battery box on the running board, see rather poor quality illustration below:

American Traveler advertisement (1908)  pittsburgdailypost

The following 1909 American advertisement includes side views of all the American models produced for that year. The battery box decoration is evident but is only seen on the Traveler, Wayfarer and Gadabout models.

American motor car ad showing all models (1909)  countrylifeinamerica

This battery box decoration is hardly visible in the advertisement and is clearly not intended to attract attention but is seen on all advertisements, brochures, factory photos and original period photos of the Traveler, Wayfarer and Gadabout models for 1909, see examples shown below:

The American Traveler advertisement showing battery box decoration (1909)   motorage

American Gadabout brochure illustration showing battery box decoration (1909)     hcfi

The Advance Announcement for the 1909 American Traveler model has an illustration showing that the battery box decoration was the same design as the radiator emblem with the eagle with open wings perched on a half globe above "THE AMERICAN" in capital letters, see below:

American Traveler Advance Announcement (1909)   hcfi 

Detail showing intended battery box decoration (1909)

However, the final 1909 American brochure shows a different battery box decoration for the American Traveler model, which has "The American" in script style at an angle across the half globe, see brochure illustrations shown below:

American Traveler brochure illustrations (1909)   nypl

Detail showing actual battery box decoration (1909) 

This battery box decoration is also clearly seen in the following original photo of a 1909 American Traveler:

American Traveler with battery box decoration (1909)  vanderbiltcupraces

Close up showing the battery box decoration (1909)

The 1909 American Gadabout brochure illustration shown earlier above shows the same battery box decoration, which is seen on the following original photo of an American Gadabout:

American Gadabout showing battery box (1909)  classiccars

The Advance Announcement for the American Wayfarer has an illustration showing the same decoration on the passenger door, see below:

American Wayfarer Advance Announcement (1909)  hcfi

Detail showing American Wayfarer door decoration (1909)

However, the final American brochure shows the decoration had moved from the passenger door to the battery box, see below:

American Wayfarer brochure illustration (1909)   nypl

The American battery box decoration is seen to consist of the eagle with open wings standing on top of the half globe but with "The American" in script style at an angle across the half globe. Why this decoration should be different from the brass American logo script, which was mounted on the radiator core on some 1909 models, is unknown. It is also a mystery why this battery box decoration was used in 1909 only and on only three of the seven American models made in 1909. No original examples of this battery box decoration are known to have survived.

The detail of the decoration and the fact that it appears to be very faint on some original 1909 photos strongly suggests that the decoration was in the form of a decal. 

Other battery box decorations are seen on a number of surviving American motor cars, not only from 1909, see examples shown below:

Restored 1907 American  conceptcarz

Restored 1913 American Model 22-B Scout Roadster  rmsothebys

Close up showing American logo plate mounted on the toolbox  tcc

None of these battery box emblems are the same as the battery box decorations seen on original 1909 photos and brochure illustrations and all were made much more recently purely for decorative purposes. There is no evidence that these particular decorations were ever used by American motor cars at the time of manufacture.

The "American" name was also displayed on the hubcaps, see hub emblem example shown below. This American hub emblem is very rare.

This is an American Motor Car Co. hub emblem (1906-1911) mjs
Size: 54mm diameter   MM: None

The American began to use an enameled radiator emblem showing the same basic design as the American trademark from about mid 1910. The first American enameled radiator emblems were multi-piece emblems. Two different versions are known to exist.

I am not sure of the actual dates of use of these enameled radiator emblems, but, on the assumption that the emblems started with the most complex design and became simpler over time, the first version was most likely the four-piece red, white and blue enamel emblem with the eagle, wings and globe as separate pieces attached to a base emblem shown below:

This is a four-piece American radiator emblem (c1910)    mjs
Size: 57mm diameter  MM: Whitehead & Hoag

The second version of the enamel radiator emblem is closer in design to the large brass radiator emblem and is a two-piece emblem in the same colors with the whole eagle as a separate piece attached to a base emblem which includes the half globe, see example shown above at the top of this post and again below: 

This is a two-piece American radiator emblem (c1911)    mjs
Size: 57mm diameter   MM: Whitehead & Hoag

Both versions of the American enameled radiator emblem used by the American Motor Car Company shown above are extremely rare.

After the reorganization of the company as the American Motors Company in 1911, the American radiator emblem was simplified to a single-piece red, white and blue enamel emblem, which is very rare, see below:

This is a single-piece American radiator emblem (c1911-1914)    mjs
Size: 57mm diameter  MM: Whitehead & Hoag

It is unlikely, but there may have been a different radiator emblem when the company was reorganized as the American Underslung Company in 1914 but I cannot confirm this. Please send details, if you have this emblem, in order to update this post.

As noted earlier, the American Underslung did not display brass radiator scripts after radiator emblems were introduced in 1910. However, original photos from 1911 only show that some American car models also displayed the "AMERICAN" name on a nameplate mounted on the front of the dash under the windshield, see examples shown below:

American Traveler showing dash nameplate (1911)   motor world

American motor car showing dash nameplate (1911)   dpl

This 1911 American dash nameplate, if it could be found, would be very rare.

The "American" name was also displayed on the serial plate mounted on the inside of the dash or under the driver's seat, see example shown below. This American serial plate is rare.

This is an American serial plate (c1911)   mjs
Size: 90mm wide 45mm high