DORT

Dort Motor Car Co. (1915-1924)

Flint, Michigan

This is a Dort radiator emblem (c1916-1924)     mjs
Size: 50mm diameter    MM: Unknown

Josiah Dallas Dort and William Crapo Durant had established the Flint Road Cart Company in 1886, which became the Durant-Dort Carriage Company. When William Durant went off to set up Buick, General Motors and Chevrolet, Josiah Dort stayed with the carriage business. However, in 1915 Dort entered the automobile business with the Dort Motor Car Company. 

The Dort was a well made small car and "Quality Goes Clear Through" was a company slogan. The first Dort was a 17 hp four-cylinder five-passenger touring car and was well received with nearly 9,000 units built in the first year. A wider range of body styles was offered from 1917. Sales increased and reached in excess of 30,000 in 1920. The post First World War recession resulted in falling sales thereafter. A 45 hp six-cylinder model was introduced in 1923 and was the only model offered in 1924, the last year of Dort production.

The Dort was also assembled in Canada by William Gray, under the name Gray Dort (see Gray Dort).

Emblem

The following well used tag comes from one of the many carriages or wagons built by the highly successful Durant-Dort Carriage Company, which was a fore-runner of the Dort Motor Car Company.

This is a Durant-Dort carriage tag (c1900)      mjs
Size: 68mm wide 16mm high

The Dort automobile carried a round, blue and white enamel radiator emblem. The first version of the Dort radiator emblem is shown below. This Dort radiator emblem is rare.

This is a Dort radiator emblem (1915) yourinternetauctionstore
Size: 50mm diameter    MM: Unknown

The following is a restored example of this first Dort radiator emblem:

This is a Dort radiator emblem (1915)    kmc
Size: 50mm diameter    MM: Unknown

When the "Dort" name was registered as a trademark, the Dort radiator emblem was inscribed "Trademark Registered" and the stop after the word "Michigan" on the border was removed, see final version of the Dort radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post.