February 11, 2020

AIROMOBILE

Lewis-American Airways Inc. (1937)

Syracuse, New York


This is an Airomobile emblem (1937)     mjs
Size: 162mm wide 32mm high     MM: None

Paul M Lewis from Denver, Colorado set up Lewis-American Airways, Inc. in 1935 and decided to produce a streamlined, three-wheel motor car to be called the Airomobile. He engaged two engineers, Carl Doman and Ed Marks, both previously engineers with Franklin, who had prototype production facilities in Syracuse, to build the Airomobile. 

A 60 hp four-cylinder air-cooled prototype Airomobile was built and was road tested on 19 April 1937. But sufficient finance could not be found and full production of the Airomobile was never established. A prototype Airomobile car is (in 2017) in the National Automobile Museum in Reno.

Emblems

The Airomobile emblem shown above at the top of this post is ultra rare. It clearly appears to be from an Airomobile and has the date "July 3-37" inscribed on the back but is not the same as the hood emblem on the prototype Airomobile in the National Automobile Museum, which is also ultra rare, see photo below:

This is an Airomobile emblem (1937)      nam
Size: 105mm high  73mm wide     MM: Unknown

The Airomobile emblem shown at the top of this post is not found anywhere on the Airomobile at the National Automobile Museum. However, an advertisement in Antique Automobile in 1967 for the sale of  the only Airomobile in existence, which was partly disassembled and which is presumably the car now on display in the National Automobile Museum, also says "six produced, one remaining", see below:

Advertisement from Antique Automobile (1967)    hperc

It seems most likely that the Airomobile emblem shown at the top of this post was used on one of the other Airomobile prototypes produced by Paul Lewis before he abandoned his venture.









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