ARGO

Argo Motor Co. (1914-1916)

Hackett Motor Car Co. (1916-1918)

Jackson, Michigan

This is an Argo radiator emblem (1914-c1918)     mjs
Size: 59mm diameter   MM: Unknown

Initially the Argo was a 12 hp four-cylinder cyclecar using wire wheels, which had been called the Ajax in France and which was brought to America in 1914 by Benjamin Briscoe with a changed drive mechanism and a new emblem.

Cyclecars went out of fashion in the US and in 1916 the Argo was changed to a larger, more conventional assembled car. The new Argo was a 22 hp four-cylinder car offered in roadster and touring body styles. The car was sold as the Wego until later in 1916 when Briscoe sold the Company to Mansell Hackett, who reorganized as the Hackett Motor Car Company. Hackett dropped the Wego name and continued the assembly of the Argo from parts on hand until January 1918.

Emblem

The Argo carried a round radiator emblem, as seen in Argo brochure illustrations and on original period photos of Argo cars, see examples shown below:

Argo motor car shown in Argo brochure (c1915)   dpl

Close up showing Argo radiator emblem

Argo cyclecar showing radiator emblem (1915)    shorpy

This is the metal Argo radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Argo radiator emblem is very rare. The Argo radiator emblem may have been painted originally, as suggested in the original Argo photo shown above.

This an Argo radiator emblem (1914-c1918)   mjs
Size: 59mm diameter    MM: Unknown

I suspect that the same Argo radiator emblem continued to be used by Hackett on the Argo cars assembled from parts on hand, although I cannot confirm this. If you have details of an Argo emblem inscribed for the Hackett Motor Car Company or an emblem with the Wego name, please let me know in order to update this post.

Please do not confuse the Argo car with the Argo Electric car made in Saginaw, Michigan, which had different emblems (see Argo Electric).