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1932 Marmon HCM V 12 Two Door Sedan Prototype

954 views · Published 25 July 2013 · 3:26 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: Cars & Travels ! - REMROB · 2013 · Autos & Vehicles

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1932 Marmon HCM V-12 Two-Door Sedan Prototype
Sold for $407,000 Including Commission
RM Auction, Amelia Island, Florida 2013
Chassis no. DD609
151 bhp, 368 cu. in. overhead-valve aluminum V-12 engine, three-speed manual transmission, sliding-pillar independent coil-spring front suspension, transverse leaf-spring independent rear suspension, and four-wheel mechanical drum brakes. Wheelbase: 134 in.

•Offered from the Estate of John O'Quinn
•A historic, highly-advanced prototype; the only Marmon V-12 built
•Well-known provenance and ownership history
•Multiple concours award-winner, including 2001 Pebble Beach Best in Class


The winter of 1930--1931 was a bittersweet time for Howard Marmon. His pièce de résistance, the landmark Marmon Sixteen, debuted to great acclaim at the Chicago Auto Salon in November, and the following month, he received a medal for outstanding achievement from the Society of Automotive Engineers. Although a second shift was added to the assembly line when full production began in April, Marmon turned to deficits as the Depression deepened, and two rounds of pay cuts were followed by layoffs for most of the engineering staff. Into this milieu, Mr. Marmon took drastic action, and a revolutionary new model was conceived.

 The new car originated as a sketch created by Howard Marmon after meetings with Fred Moscovics, Marmon's former vice president and general manager who had moved on to Stutz, and Chief Engineer George Freers. The name HCM, derived from Howard Marmon's initials, was applied late in the car's development.

 It was to have a tubular backbone and four-wheel independent suspension, using transverse leaf springs in the front and rear. Two parallel front springs connected to sliding pillars, a concept initiated by Lancia in 1921, were anchored to outriggers from the narrow center chassis. At the rear, four springs, two forward and two aft, mounted to the differential housing, which formed the center of the chassis. The outer ends of the springs supported the wheel hubs. Drive was by swing axles. The result was very low, unsprung weight, but ride quality suffered, so the front springs were changed to coils mounted on the pillars above the steering knuckle, as in Lancia's design.

 The transmission was a three-speed unit mounted rigidly to the tubular backbone, through which the driveshaft ran. Behind the transmission was an epicyclic overdrive, in turn rigidly bolted to the differential housing. Problems with lubrication and the shift linkage caused this arrangement to be abandoned and replaced by a standard Marmon Sixteen transmission mounted directly behind the engine.

 Howard Marmon decided on a V-12 engine, more powerful than an eight but much more economical than his flagship V-16. Engineering was expeditious and based on the V-16, retaining the V-16's bore, stroke, 45-degree cylinder bank angle and wet-liner aluminum construction. It developed 151 brake horsepower at 3,700 rpm, three-quarters of the V-16's output from an engine three-quarters its size. Initial tests at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July of 1932 confirmed acceleration from 10 to 50 mph in a then-remarkable 12.77 seconds, with a 113 mph maximum speed clocked with racing driver Wilbur Shaw at the wheel.

 The HCM's body was similarly radical. It had as its genesis a wooden model made by a college student. In creating the Marmon Sixteen, Howard Marmon had contracted its body design to Walter Dorwin Teague Associates in New York. The firm, which took its name from its founder and principal designer, was responsible for such icons as Kodak's Brownie camera, Steuben glassware, Texaco gas stations, and interiors for several generations of Boeing airliners. Mr. Teague, however, did not like automobiles and did not even drive, so he assigned the Marmon project to his car-crazy son, Walter Dorwin Jr., then an M.I.T. student. The Marmon Sixteen design came together when Teague Jr., known as Dorwin, came home from Boston to work weekends. 

 After his experience with the Sixteen, Dorwin Teague built a model of what he described as "what a car really should look like." His influences were an evocative Renault ad in a French magazine and the enclosed fenders on Frank Lockhart's 1928 Stutz Blackhawk speed record car. The 1/10-scale model, with its long hood, aft-mounted cabin, and truncated luggage compartment, was in the Teague design office when Howard Marmon came to discuss the project. Marmon was captivated, and once back at Indianapolis, he sent Teague a set of chassis drawings to get things started.

More Info Here http://www.rmauctions.com/lots/lot.cfm?lot_id=1057270

Robert Myrick Photography

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