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. 

SOUTHERN (2)

Southern Fire Apparatus Co. (1926-1937)

Dallas, Texas

This is a Southern Fire Apparatus emblem (1926-1937)  tcc
Size: 102mm wide 71mm high    MM: Fox

The Southern Fire Apparatus Company was established in 1926. The Southern was built on commercial chassis and some assembled custom-chassis fire apparatus.

The Southern fire apparatus using commercial chassis were mainly built on Ford Model T, Ford Model A and Reo truck chassis. The Southern fire apparatus using custom-built chassis were equipped with Northern 500-600 gallon-per-minute pumps and had rounded engine hood and flat radiators

It is estimated that about 40 Southern Fire Apparatus units were built, one of which survives in the Texas Fire Museum in Dallas.

Emblem

The diamond-shaped, deep maroon and white enamel Southern emblem shown above is extremely rare. 

This emblem was used on the radiator and on the step plates of Southern custom built chassis models. The same emblem was located on the hood sides on commercial chassis models, see examples shown below:

Southern chassis pumper showing rad emblem (1912)  wmcc

Southern pumper on Ford chassis with hood side emblem (1928)  wmcc

TEXAN

Texas Motor Car Association (1918-1921)

Fort Worth, Texas

This is a Texan radiator emblem (1920-1922)     mjs
Size: 70mm high 65mm wide     MM: None

The Texas Motor Car Association was formed in December 1917 to build motor cars, trucks and tractors. It was a cooperative venture with stockholders limited to a maximum holding of $500.

The first Texan motor car advertised in 1918 was a modified Elcar. Production of the real Texan motor car was delayed by the First World War. The Texan appeared in 1920 and was a 35 hp four-cylinder assembled car, offered as a five-passenger touring or as a two-passenger roadster. Unfortunately, the Association was soon in serious financial difficulties and was in receivership by October 1920. An attempt was made by stockholders to reorganize the Association in 1921 but this failed. The Moco Monkey Grip Rubber Company bought the Fort Worth plant in April 1922 and offered the remaining Texan cars for sale at a large discount.

The total production of the Texan motor car was less than 200 units.

The Texan motor truck began production in small numbers in 1918. The first Texan trucks were the Model A-36 Light Delivery and Oil Field Special trucks. There was also a Texan Model TK 1-ton capacity truck. How many Texan trucks were built is unknown.

Emblem

The Texan logo was a star over a wheel, see below. This logo was used for the Texan motor car radiator emblem.

Texan logo

The following photo shows a surviving 1920 Texan displaying a radiator emblem:

Texan motor car (1920)       hometownbyhandlebar

This emblem is the blue and white enamel Texan radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post. This Texan radiator emblem is very rare.

The Texas Motor Car Association also built some motor trucks and tractors. I can find no photos of Texan trucks. However, the following Texas Motor Car Association advertisement from 1918 includes an illustration of a Texan truck: 

Texan Motor Car & Truck ad showing Texan truck (1918)   ebay

The illustration is small and does not show the front of the radiator but the truck does appear to carry the Texan logo on the side panel under the driver's seat, possibly in the form of a decal.

The following illustration of a 1-ton capacity Model TK Texan truck shows a star on the truck body side panel and a radiator emblem. The radiator emblem is not the same as the Texan motor car radiator emblem. It appears larger and more rectangular. If this is an accurate representation of the Texan truck radiator emblem, it may be a cast plate displaying the "Texan" name but I cannot confirm this. If you have better information regarding the nameplates used on Texan trucks, please let me know, in order to update this post.

Texan Model TK truck showing rad emblem & body side nameplate (1919)   mroz

RANGER

Southern Motors Manufacturing Association, Ltd. (1920-1923)

Houston, Texas

This is a Ranger radiator emblem (1920-1922)     sam
Size: 88mm wide  MM: Unknown

The Southern Motors Manufacturing Association, Ltd. was established for the manufacture of trucks, tractors and an automobile called the Ranger. The Ranger announced in September 1920 was a rakish-looking car with a 31 hp four-cylinder engine and offered in touring and roadster body styles. A 57 hp six-cylinder model was announced in 1921 but Southern Motors was in receivership in late 1922 followed by a merger with National Motors Corporation.

In 1924 a number of people associated with Southern Motors and National Motors were indicted for fraud. It was alleged that the six-cylinder Ranger had not been built at all and that only a few of the four-cylinder Rangers had actually been built and were mainly used to help defraud investors. The same few cars were apparently moved back and forth between the company's showrooms in downtown Houston and the factory, which was little more than an elaborate stage set on the edge of town. The same cars were effectively being driven out of the factory and then back again at the rear to start all over again, thereby making it appear that sales of the Ranger were good and that there was a steady production of new cars.

The few cars that were produced were mostly sold to stockholders. Ranger did offer a 2-ton truck with a smaller 1-1/2-ton model advertised in 1923. How many, if any, were actually built is not known.

The Emblems

The enamel Ranger radiator emblem shown above is very rare. 

The Ranger emblem shown below is a two piece enamel emblem and is extremely rare. The precise use of this emblem is unknown. The design of the emblem is exactly like the central motive on the above radiator emblem. It is possible that this was an early Ranger radiator emblem, which was then replaced by a less expensive emblem design.

This is a two-piece enamel Ranger emblem (dates unknown)     mjs
Size: 75mm wide tip to tip  MM: Unknown