Marquette (automobile)
Encyclopedia
Berwick (automobile)
The Berwick was an electric car manufactured in Grand Rapids, Michigan, by the Berwick Auto Car Company in 1904. The Berwick was an electric two-seater runabout selling for $750. It had three speed positions, was tiller operated, and had a top speed of ....
of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, frequently took it as a model designation for their electric car in 1904.
For General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
, William Durant
William C. Durant
William Crapo "Billy" Durant was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry, the founder of General Motors and Chevrolet who created the system of multi-brand holding companies with different lines of cars....
bought in May, 1909 the Rainier Motor Car Company, which was in severe financial trouble. A new company, the Marquette Motor Company was established in Saginaw, Michigan to continue production of the luxurious Rainier motor car until 1911. Further, they manufactured parts for another luxury make belonging to General Motors, the Welch (1903–1911), and its cheaper sister car, the Welch-Detroit (1910–1911). Management was controlled by Buick
Buick
Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
officers. After Durant left GM for the first time in September 1910, it was tried to make both the Rainier and the Welch profitable. Therefore, with the Marquette, a new make was introduced. It produced two car lines, both with huge 4 cylinder engines. The 40 hp line, basically an improved and elongated Rainier (122 instead of 120 in. wheelbase), was available in four open body styles:
Model 22 2-passenger runabout
Model 24 4-passenger tourabout
Model 25 5-passenger touring
Model 27 7-passenger touring
The chassis had a wheelbase of 122 in. Each sold for $3,000.
The 45 hp line consisted of one model only, the Model 28 7-passenger touring. It had a wheelbase of 119 in, and sold for $4,000.
It seems that this reorganisation was not successful, as GM announced the end of the Marquette still in 1912. Probably, some of the last Marquettes were labeled as Peninsular
The Marquette nameplate was revived when Buick
Buick
Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
Division of General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
launched their own sister make for model year 1930. Along with Pontiac
Pontiac
Pontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...
, Viking
Viking automobile
Viking was an automobile manufactured by General Motors' Oldsmobile division for model years 1929 to 1931.Viking was part of Alfred Sloan's companion make program introduced to help span gaps in General Motors’ pricing structure, and was marketed through GM's Oldsmobile division...
and LaSalle, the Marquette was conceived to span a price gap in General Motors' market segmentation plan
General Motors Companion Make Program
General Motors pioneered the idea that consumers would aspire to buy up an automotive product ladder if a company met certain price points. As General Motors entered the 1920s, the product ladder started with the price leading Chevrolet marque, and then progressed upward in price, power and...
. Marquette was placed below Buick, but above Viking which was to be sold in Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
dealerships. The Marquette "arrived" in dealer showrooms on June 1, 1929.
The Marquette line rode on an 114 in (2,896 mm) wheelbase and was powered by an "L" head six 212.8 cu in (3.5 l) producing 67 hp. Marquette was built to sell in the $1,000 range, and was available in a single car range. This Series 30 consisted of six body styles:
Model 30 Two-Door Sedan
Model 34 Sport Roadster
Model 35 Phaeton
Model 36 Business Coupe (2 pass.)
Model 36S Special Coupe (2/4 pass.)
Model 37 Sedan
Unlike Harley Earl's total LaSalle design, the Marquette's most unusual styling feature was its herring-bone patterned grille. Reviewers at the time the car was released described it either looking like a small Oldsmobile or small Cadillac.
Compared to Oldsmobile's Viking, which only enjoyed a total production run of 7,224 over three model years (1929, 1930, 1931) Marquette produced 35,007 vehicles in the U.S. during its brief one year life span; additionally, GM Canada turned out another 6,535 Marquettes.
Despite its promising first year sales, two factors worked against the Marquette. The first involved Oldsmobile, which lost sales to Marquette; the second was that Buick executives didn't feel that enough Marquettes were sold to warrant the extra burden on the bottom line given the state of the economy. Buick gave no advance warning of the termination of the Marquette; just four months before the shut down 4,000 Marquette signs were shipped to dealers in the hope of better days ahead.