Marmon 16 Victoria Coupe Sixteen
Hyman Ltd. Classic Cars |
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| drive | | LHD | | type | | Cabrio / Roadster | | year | | 1933 | | price | | 150.589 GBP | | VAT | | No | | city | | St. Louis, Mo. 63146 | | country | |  |
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Howard Marmon is the often-overlooked engineering genius of America s classic decade, a perfectionist whose designs surpassed those of Fred Duesenberg and Cadillac s Owen Nacker (whose first exposure to V-16 engine design came at Marmon.) There was rarely -- if ever -- a compromise in a Howard Marmon-designed automobile, starting from the earliest in 1904, a car that offered its few favored buyers double three-point suspension and a pressure lubricated, air-cooled, V-4 engine. More innovation followed, and never really slackened over the next three decades. In 1930, with the Great Depression just beginning to wreak its economic havoc, Howard Marmon produced his masterpiece, an all-aluminum 491 cubic inch overhead valve 200hp V-16. Marmon turned to pioneer industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague for the Sixteen s coachwork and Teague and his son, then a student at MIT, produced one of the greatest examples of clean, simple, integrated automobile coachwork. Nevertheless Marmon competed against the bottomless pockets of GM s Cadillac, and while the Marmon Sixteen was superior in every respect the conclusion was never in doubt. Only about 365 - 370 Marmon Sixteen s were built before the Marmon Motor Car Company liquidated in 1933, but they are recognized as one of the greatest automobiles of the classic era, or any era for that matter.
Most of the 68 surviving Marmon Sixteens are closed sedans but this 1933 Convertible Sedan is a rare and attractive example of the Teagues design on an open car. Verified by Dyke W. Ridgley and the Marmon Sixteen Roster as one of eleven surviving Convertible Sedans, this car has been, for almost 40 years, part of a well known museum collection where it has been preserved in largely complete, partially restored condition. Carrying Serial Number 16-145-947, equipped with engine number 16-880 and body number 145-506, Mr. Ridgley has authenticated this car as having the highest serial number of the surviving Sixteen s. Being a very late 1933 car, this Marmon has a number of body trim updates unique to the last Sixteen s built at the end of production. Mechanically, the few 1933 models also benefited from vacuum power brakes added for that year, along with brake drums of improved material. Cockpit adjustable rear shock absorbers were also a feature of the last Sixteen s produced.
The straight, solid body has been preserved under black primer. The interior is the original brown leather and it has its top assembly but no fabric. It has wire wheels, dual sidemounts with rings and a large, handsome luggage trunk mated closely to the rear of the body. Due to its preservation, the car is substantially complete including such rare and hard to find items as all its instruments, taillights and the convertible sedan body s removable center posts. The radiator shell, horns, and headlights have been replated. The only items noted to be missing are the left front fender parking light, light switch unit, engine splash pans, left front fender brace, right valence pan, and gas cap. All of these items are available or easily fabricated.
In authenticating this car to have its original engine and bodywork, Mr. Ridgley has been able to trace the history back to the mid-1950 s in Idaho, though a California black license plate indicates it spent much of its life in that benign climate and helps explain its exceptional preservation. Although it has not run in years, the engine is complete with its air filter, distributor and spark plug wire loom indicating that it has not been altered or lost significant components. This is a rare and extremely handsome example of one of the classic era s greatest automobiles, a straightforward restoration project that is sure to be a contender for Best in Show at the most important concours d elegance and a wonderful, fast, silent, 100 mph automobile for touring.
Sold on the 28.02.2013 |
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