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October 20, 2017

ARGONNE

Argonne Motor Car Co. (1919-1920)

Jersey City, New Jersey


This is an Argonne radiator emblem (1919-1920)     mjs
Size: 76mm high 50mm wide     MM: Unknown

The Argonne was named after a forest in France which was the scene of a major battle involving American troops in the First World War. The four-cylinder Argonne was advertised in 1919 and was introduced at the Commodore Hotel in New York in January 1920.

The Argonne was built by the Jersey City Machine Company but was introduced just as the post-war recession took hold and did not survive. Argonne production ceased in March 1920 and the Company was out of business by July 1920. It has been estimated that no more than 24 cars had been built. The remaining parts were sold to a garment merchant with a garage in the Bronx who assembled a further 10 Argonne cars.

Emblem 

The Argonne had an impressive v-shaped radiator with a flattened top front similar to the Austro-Daimler radiator and carried a vertical oval shaped radiator emblem, see Argonne brochure illustration shown below:

This is an Argonne Four (1919)   sfam

The Argonne emblem was illustrated on Argonne advertisements, see examples shown below:

Argonne Four advertisement showing Argonne emblem (1919)  ms

Argonne Four advertisement (1919)   sfam

This emblem is the beautiful hand-enameled Argonne radiator emblem depicting a fir tree from the Argonne forest shown above at the top of this post. This Argonne radiator emblem is extremely rare.

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