WARREN

Warren Motor Car Co. (1910-1913)

Detroit, Michigan

This is a Warren radiator emblem (1913)       jfec
Size: 66mm wide 63mm high       MM: Robbins

The Warren Motor Car Company was organized in 1909 and the Warren motor car appeared in 1910. The Warren was a 30 hp four-cylinder car initially offered as a runabout or as a demi-tonneau. In 1911 the Warren was available in a wide range of body styles.  

The Warren 30 was initially known as the Warren-Detroit and was successful in race events in 1910 and 1911. The Warren line up kept changing each year with larger engine sizes introduced from 1912 and a six-cylinder seven-passenger touring model called the Warren "Resolute Six" was introduced in 1913. 

But Warren was having financial problems and the company was reorganized in November 1912 with an extension of its credit but, when the contract with the Warren distributor was not renewed, the company could not survive. It was all over for the Warren in August 1913.

Emblems

The Warren-Detroit people, it would appear, were not particularly interested to display the "Warren" name on their cars in a very obvious way. The Warren-Detroit radiator emblem was small and relatively insignificant. Some Warren-Detroit "30" cars did display a radiator script but others did not, even when taking part in competitive events, where most cars used the opportunity to display their name most prominently for publicity purposes. 

The Warren-Detroit radiator emblem was a round, domed plain metal emblem, see example shown below. This Warren-Detroit radiator emblem is very rare.

This is a Warren-Detroit radiator emblem (1910-1912)     mjs
Size: 50mm diameter    MM: None

The Warren-Detroit name also appeared on the hubcaps, see example below:

This is a Warren-Detroit hubcap (1910-1913)    dkc

The Warren-Detroit radiator emblem is shown in some early advertisements and is seen in original photos, see examples below:  

Newspaper ad showing Warren radiator emblem (1910)  twp

This is a Warren-Detroit "30" showing a radiator emblem (1910) dpl

Some, but not all, early Warren cars displayed a Warren "30" script attached to the radiator core, see example below:

This is a Warren "30" displaying a radiator script (1910)   dpl

The following photo shows separate "Warren" and "Detroit" scripts on the radiator of a surviving 1910 Warren-Detroit but I cannot confirm, if these scripts are original:

This shows Warren & Detroit radiator scripts (1910)   khc

The domed shape of the Warren-Detroit radiator emblem shown earlier can be seen on the above photo and on the following original photo from 1911:

 

This is a Warren "30" with radiator emblem & script (1911)  dpl

Close-up showing domed rad emblem & Warren"30" rad script (1911)

I do not have a good photo of an original "Warren "30"" radiator script. If you have a clear photo, please let me know, in order to update this post.

Some later Warren cars displayed a plain "Warren" radiator script, most likely from late 1911 or 1912 when the Warren 30 hp engine was replaced by larger engine sizes, see the following original photo of a Warren car taken at the 1912 Detroit Automobile Show displaying the domed metal radiator emblem and a "Warren" radiator script:  

This is a Warren with a "Warren" radiator script (1912)    dpl

The following is an example of a "Warren" radiator script. Original "Warren" radiator scripts are rare.

This is a Warren radiator script (c1912-1913)    khc
Size: 230mm wide 82mm high

Warren introduced a six-cylinder model in early 1913 called the "Resolute Six" with a new Warren radiator emblem, see the following advertisement:

This is a Warren ad showing a new emblem design (1913) twt

This new Warren radiator emblem is the red and black enamel Warren radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post, which may have appeared in late 1912 or early 1913, just before the Warren company ceased production. This may explain why the only examples of this emblem that I have seen have been unused N.O.S. emblems. This Warren radiator emblem is very rare. A genuine used Warren radiator emblem would be extremely rare.