OLYMPIAN

Olympian Motors Co. (1917-1920)

Pontiac, Michigan

This is an Olympian radiator emblem (1917-1918)      khec
Size: 59mm wide 53mm high      MM: Bastian Bros

R A Palmer set up Olympian Motors Company in 1916 and bought the old Cartercar plant in Pontiac in early 1917 to produce his 23 hp four-cylinder Olympian, which was initially offered in touring or roadster body styles and in a variety of colors. In August 1917, the Olympian Motors Company announced that maroon, green, gray, blue and red were to be the standard colors for the Olympian touring car, giving the choice of color to the buyer. The Olympic roadster was to be finished in gray with black fenders.

The Olympian was advertised as "The car for the Masses and for the Classes" and emphasized that the car was distinguished by its beauty, speed and strength.

Production of the Olympian was stopped in 1918 due to production for the war effort but continued again in early 1919. However, there were financial and management problems and the Olympian Motors Company was sold to Otis Friend in early 1920. Otis Friend planned to continue to manufacture the Olympian car until his own car was ready. The Friend was introduced at the New York Automobile Show in January 1921.

Total production of the Olympian was about 2070 units with 517 units produced in 1920.

Emblems

All known Olympian radiator emblems displayed a triangle shape as part of the design. 

A booklet advertising the Olympian and aimed at potential stockholders produced by the Olympian Motors Company in 1916 has on its cover a colored illustration of the Olympian trademark, see below:

Olympian car booklet (1916)
worthpoint

Olympian trademark (1916)

This trademark is seen in Olympian advertisements from 1917 to 1919, see examples shown below:

Olympian advertisement with trademark (1917)
The Fort Wayne News & Sentinel

Olympian advertisement with trademark (1919)
The Buffalo News

This trademark is reflected in the elaborate metal Olympian radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Olympian radiator emblem is extremely rare.

This is an Olympian radiator emblem (1917-c1920)  khc
Size: 59mm wide 53mm high    MM: Bastian Bros 

Emblem collectors should beware as there are reproduction metal Olympian emblems but they can be easily identified due to their crude flat design, which lacks any detail in depth, see example below: 

This is a reproduction Olympian emblem       ms

The same radiator emblem is seen on advertising illustrations of Olympian cars in 1917, see examples shown below:

Olympian 5-passenger touring car with rad emblem (1917) shorpy

Olympian 4-passenger roadster with rad emblem (1917)  shorpy

There are also two surviving Olympian cars displayed at the Pontiac Transportation Museum, both believed to be 1917 five-passenger touring models, which also carry this radiator emblem, see photos below:

Olympian Touring Car (1917) 
Pontiac Transportation Museum

Close up showing nickel plated Olympian radiator emblem (1917)

The following original factory photo of a 1918 Olympian also clearly shows the radiator emblem:

Olympian showing radiator emblem (1918)    tcc

Close up showing radiator emblem

It appears, therefore, that the elaborate metal radiator emblem following the design of the Olympian trademark was used from the start of production and may have continued to be used to the end of Olympian production, but I cannot confirm this, as I have not seen any original period photos of Olympian cars showing the radiator emblem after 1918 and Olympian car advertisements after 1918 do not show a radiator emblem on the car illustrations, although the Olympian trademark does appear on an advertisement published in 1919, as shown earlier.

There are also round Olympian emblems finished in colored enamel which have the appearance of original radiator emblems, see below.

This is a white and black enamel Olympian emblem This Olympian emblem is extremely rare.

This is an Olympian emblem (dates unknown)     sam
Size: 60mm diameter    MM: Unknown

This Olympian emblem is also found finished in deep maroon, white and black enamel, see example below. This emblem is also extremely rare and may have been intended for use on Olympian cars finished in maroon color.

This is an Olympian emblem (dates unknown)    dkc
Size: 60mm diameter    MM: Unknown

I can find no evidence to confirm that these Olympic emblems were used as radiator emblems or when they may have been used. It is possible that they were trial emblems rejected in favor of the elaborate Olympian radiator emblem shown earlier above. It is also possible that they were used as Olympian car radiator emblems some time after 1918. If so, the most likely date would be 1920 after Otis Friend had taken over the production of the Olympian, possibly to present the Olympian as a new car with a colorful new emblem. We may never know. 

If you have any information about the dates of use of any of these Olympian emblems, please let me know so that this post can be updated.

I am grateful to the Pontiac Transportation Museum in Pontiac, Michigan for the use of photos from their collection of surviving Olympian cars.