DUROCAR

Durocar Manufacturing Co. (1906-1911)

Los Angeles, California

Amalgamated Motors Co. (1912-1916)

Alhambra, California

This is a Durocar radiator script (1907-1911)     mjs
Size: 305mm wide

In 1906 Watt Moreland and William M. Varney decided to begin an automobile company. The Durocar was designed by Watt Moreland and was a 26 hp water-cooled, two-cylinder runabout, which was also available as a touring or a landalet. The car was introduced at the Los Angeles Automobile Show in January 1907 and production began. 

All seemed to go well for the Durocar, or Duro as it was also called. The Durocar achieved good publicity through success in races, even against four-cylinder competitors. However, all was not well at Durocar and, following disagreements with the Durocar board, Watt Moreland resigned in late 1908 and eventually moved to Burbank to produce the Moreland truck. Durocar production continued and four-cylinder Durocar models were introduced for the 1910 model year and were available in two engine sizes, 35 hp and 45 hp. Durocar also produced a delivery truck based on the Durocar passenger chassis.

Production of the Durocar ceased sometime in 1911 and William Varney reorganized the company as Amalgamated Motors Company and planned to resume production of the Durocar in 1912 but this did not happen. The only Durocar vehicles that followed were 1/2-ton trucks using the same four-cylinder engine as the passenger car. Durocar truck production ceased in 1916. 

Emblems

The Durocar displayed a large cast brass "Duro" script attached to the radiator core, see original Durocar photo below:

This is a Durocar showing the radiator script (1908)   sdhs

Original brass "Duro" radiator scripts as shown above at the top of this post are rare but, beware, there are reproduction cast brass Duro scripts.

The following Durocar emblem is made of brass and is most likely a hub emblem but I cannot confirm this. This Durocar emblem is rare.

This is believed to be a Durocar hub emblem (1907-1911)    mjs
Size: 54mm diameter    MM: None