PREMIER

Premier Motor Manufacturing Co. (1903-1915)

Premier Motor Car Company (1915-1916)

Premier Motor Corp. (1916-1921)

Premier Motor Car Corp. (1921-1923)

Premier Motors, Inc. (1923-1926)

Indianapolis, Indiana

This is a Premier radiator emblem (1915-1923)      mjs
Size: 55mm diameter    MM: None

The Premier Motor Manufacturing Company was organized in 1903 and the first Premier was a 16 hp four-cylinder runabout of which 25 were built. Production had increased to 200 cars by 1906 and 1,000 by 1910. Six-cylinder models had been introduced in 1908 and by 1910 the Premier had performed well in three Glidden Tours. But there were financial problems and the company was in receivership in October 1914.

In 1915 the company was sold and reorganized as the Premier Motor Car Company. But Premier never recovered, sales continued to fall and the company went through a series of short-lived new owners and reorganizations. Despite all this, the Premier remained a highly regarded automobile until late in 1924 when it was decided that automobile production would cease. The last Premier automobile appeared for the 1925 model year.

An order for 1,000 Premier taxicabs had been received in 1923 and production of these continued until 1926.

Emblems

The Premier Motor Manufacturing Company claimed to have used a "Premier" script as a trademark since 1903. The "Premier" script appeared in early Premier advertisements, see example below:

This is an ad showing the Premier script logo (1905)    ms

The earliest Premier motor cars did not display an emblem or a radiator script but may have shown the Premier name on the hub caps, although I cannot confirm this. See example Premier hub below showing the "Premier" script:

This is a hub cap showing the Premier script logo (c1908)     mjs

The Premier radiator script, see example shown below, is seen on advertisements from about 1909 but may have been available as an accessory from about 1907, although I cannot confirm this date. Original Premier radiator scripts as shown below are rare. 

This is a Premier radiator script (c1910)    mjs
Size: 250mm wide

Premier claimed that its radiator emblem was the first use of an emblem as an automobile trademark. Although not actually the first use of an emblem on an automobile, an original photograph from the 1908 Glidden Tour, see below, shows a Premier car with an oak leaf radiator emblem. The Premier is one of the earliest confirmed examples of an enamel radiator emblem used on an American motor vehicle.

This advertisement shows a Premier car in the 1908 Glidden Tour (1909)   ms 

Close up showing the Premier radiator emblem (1908)    ms

The following photo from the 1908 Glidden Tour shows the Premier radiator emblem more clearly:

This is a Premier with rad emblem on the Glidden tour (1908) dpl

This first Premier radiator emblem has an enameled green oak leaf on a metal background and is extremely rare, see example below:

This is a Premier radiator emblem (1908-1910)     sam
Size: 76mm diameter    MM: Whitehead & Hoag

This Premier radiator emblem can also be seen in photos from the 1909 Glidden Tour and appears on Premier advertisements up to 1910, see examples below:

This is a Premier taking part in the Glidden Tour (1909)     dpl

Close up showing the radiator emblem and script (1909)

This ad shows the first Premier radiator emblem (1910)    ms

The Premier radiator emblem was changed in 1911 to a fully enameled emblem with a green oak leaf, white background and a black border incorporating the words "Quality Car", see example below. This Premier radiator emblem is rare.

This is a Premier radiator emblem (1911-c1915)     mjs
Size: 68mm diameter     MM: Unknown (some Childs)

This Premier radiator emblem is seen on a 1911 advertisement along with a "Premier" radiator script, see below:

This is part of a Premier ad showing the radiator emblem and script (1911)   ms

There is also a color variation of this emblem with a red enamel background and an orange border, see example below. This Premier radiator emblem is extremely rare.

This is a Premier radiator emblem (c1912)     mjs
Size: 70mm diameter     MM: Unknown

I do not know the dates of use of the Premier radiator emblem shown above. If you have details, please let me know in order to update this post.

In 1915, the Premier radiator emblem was changed to a smaller circular metal emblem with a side view of a radiator appearing as the number "1" finished in white enamel and with the "Premier" script in blue enamel, see example above at the top of this post. This Premier radiator emblem is scarce.

The company was reorganized as Premier Motors, Inc. in 1923 and a new Premier radiator emblem appeared. It was a circular metal emblem depicting a native American warrior within a red enamel border and with the "Premier" script in white enamel, see example below. This Premier radiator emblem was used for about a year and is very rare. There is also a similar emblem with the "Premier" script in blue enamel. This Premier radiator emblem is also very rare.

This is a Premier radiator emblem (1923-1924)    mjs
Size: 58mm diameter   MM: Fox

The emblem shown above was the final Premier motor car radiator emblem.

Premier produced taxicabs only from 1924 until 1926. I do not have any photos of Premier taxicab emblems but the following illustrations are the registered trademarks for the Premier Taxicab and the Penn Taxicab both made by Premier Motors, Inc.:

This is the Premier taxicab trademark (March 1924)    ms

This is the Penn taxicab trademark (November 1924)    ms

These taxi trademarks were displayed on the rear doors of the taxi cab.

If you have photos or better details of Premier or Penn taxicab emblems, please let me know in order to up date this post.