Puzzle #128 - Marmon 12 HCM

[Otto Puzzell]

Know what it is?

Please, respond below and let us know what make and model you think you see here.


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Thanks!

[SeaLion]

Is it a Pierce-Arrow "something"?

[Otto Puzzell]

Not a Pierce-Arrow

[MG]

Looks German.   

[Otto Puzzell]

Nope.

[Tifosi]

British?  An Armstrong-Siddley, perhaps?



Dan

[Otto Puzzell]

Not British

[cheater]

Marmon HCM, the last Marmon made . . .

[Otto Puzzell]

Well done! And welcome! 

The 1932 Marmon V12 - AKA the HCM - was the only V12 Marmon ever built. The car was built for the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress show (along with other cars like the Duesenberg SJ Arlington Torpedo Sedan, and the Pierce Arrow Silver Arrow). Unlike other cars that came to the show, it was original from the ground up. It can largely be considered the first "dream car." The car was a vision of Howard C Marmon's, the founder of Marmon. He funded the project and assisted with the engineering design work. Walter Dorwin Teague Jr. completed the style for the car. Teague was no stranger to Marmon, having designed much of the Marmon Sixteen.

Originally, the HCM had inboard headlights mounted on either side of the grille, but laws in various states specifying that the width between the headlights be a certain length killed the proposal. The car has many modern features. For one, the entire body, chassis, and engine is aluminum (the only other company to try making an aluminum car was Peerless with is 1932 Peerless V16 Prototype). Furthermore, the wheels are made of magnesium, and such modern mechanicals are used, including a torque tube rear axle, independent suspension, and inboard brakes (like a Hummer H1). Marmon went out of business shortly after displaying the prototype, however. The car cost an estimated $300,000 to design and build in 1932. Howard Marmon kept the car until his death. After Mamon's death, it came under the stewardship of Fred Moscovics (former-President of Stutz and Marmon), followed by John and Alan Floyd (of the A.O. Smith Corporation), then Brooks Stevens (legendary industrial/automotive designer), and has been in the collection of Ed and Judy Schoenthaler since 1999.