Two off-beat makes

at the Automobile Driving Museum

 

 

In addition examples of such luxurious brands as Packard Stutz and Pierce Arrow the Automobile Driving Museum (ADM) in El Segundo California, the museum has some off-beat makes, such as this first example, a 1914 Saxon 2-passenger convertible roadster one of 4125 built that model year which sold for $395.

 

 

 

The following year, the Saxon Motor Car Company moved up-market as they added a line of six-cylinder powered vehicles. Sales soared to nearly 30,000 units in 1917 but the company ran into financial troubles and returned to four-cylinder powerplants in 1920, but it was not enough as the company ceased business in 1922.

 

Check out the 85-cubic inch 10-horsepower four-cylinder engine

and the precision steering gear in the foreground.

Another unique make displayed at the ADM is this 1929 Durant 6-cylinder Sport Coupe with a rumble seat. Durant Motors was the comeback of William Durant the founder of General Motors (GM) who had been forced out of GM in 1920 by the two major stockholders.

 

 

 

 

Durant still had empire building in mind and after founding Durant Motors in 1922 began buying up companies that included the low-cost Star and the high-end Locomobile as part of a plant to offer as many as seven different nameplates under one umbrella.

 

William Durant’s son Cliff was involved in American Automobile Association (AAA) racing and Cliff's racing entries during the 1922 1923, and 1924 seasons carried the Durant Motors name. Alas, William Durant's second empire was crippled by the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and Durant finally closed in 1933.

 

The example at ADM is powered by a 65-horsepower

6-cylinder engine and fitted with many optional parts

 



All photographs by the author