BALBOA

Balboa Motor Car Co. (1924-1925)

Fullerton, California

This is a Balboa radiator nameplate (1924-1925)     mjs
Size: 380mm wide 46mm high     MM: None

A prototype Balboa touring car, a sports brougham and another chassis were exhibited at the California Hotel in Fullerton in March 1924 and at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in August 1924. The Balboa was a smart looking car with a streamlined body and was powered by a supercharged straight-eight 100 hp engine, which had been developed for the Kess-Line car (see Kessler).

The cars were shown again at the Orange County Automobile Show in March 1925 but, by now, the supercharged straight-eight engine had been replaced by a Continental engine. It was planned to produce 1000 Balboa cars in the first year but the Balboa never went into production. The only Balboas built were the two prototype cars and a chassis.

Emblem

The Balboa did not carry a radiator emblem but had the Balboa name and the words "Superline Eight" impressed into the top of the radiator, see example above at the top of this post. This Balboa radiator nameplate is ultra rare.