Bour-Davis Motor Car Co. (1916-1917)
Detroit, Michigan
Shadbourne Bros. Co. (1918)
Frankfort, Indiana
Louisiana Motor Car Co. (1919-1922)
Shreveport. Louisiana
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| This is a Bour-Davis radiator emblem (1916-1917) sam Size: 98mm wide 32mm high MM: Unknown |
The Bour-Davis was an assembled car using a six-cylinder Continental engine with a distinctive appearance resulting from a radiator slanting at the same angle as the windshield and the rear of the body. The Bour-Davis was first built in Detroit but by 1918 the Shadbourne Brothers Company had taken over the Bour-Davis business (see Shad-Wyck) and a few were built in their Frankfort plant in Indiana.
In 1919 the Bour-Davis became part of the Louisiana Motor Car Company with a factory in Cedar Grove. The Bour-Davis now had its radiator placed slightly ahead of the front axle and a higher hood but was otherwise the same car as before. Production of the Bour-Davis was underway again in 1920 with plans for expansion but the postwar recession hit the industry hard and the Bour-Davis was finished by 1922.
Emblems
Bour-Davis advertisements for 1916 show a wide emblem design with a hyphen between "Bour" and "Davis". There is also an illustration of a Bour-Davis car, which appears to show a very wide radiator emblem, presumably the emblem shown on the advertisement, although the detail is not clear enough to confirm this, see example below:
However, I have never seen such a wide Bour-Davis radiator emblem and the same wide emblem design appears on a 1922 promotional booklet for a Bour-Davis Model 21S, which actually carried a different emblem. I suspect that the wide Bour-Davis emblem design was used as a logo design but may not have been used on a Bour-Davis car. If, however, you have details of a wide Bour-Davis radiator emblem, please let me know, in order to update this post.
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| This is a Bour-Davis ad showing a wide emblem (1916) ms |
However, I have never seen such a wide Bour-Davis radiator emblem and the same wide emblem design appears on a 1922 promotional booklet for a Bour-Davis Model 21S, which actually carried a different emblem. I suspect that the wide Bour-Davis emblem design was used as a logo design but may not have been used on a Bour-Davis car. If, however, you have details of a wide Bour-Davis radiator emblem, please let me know, in order to update this post.
The Bour-Davis radiator emblem shown below is an original emblem used on one of only eighteen Bour-Davis cars built by the Shadbourne Brothers in Frankfort, Indiana in 1918. This emblem is ultra rare.
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| This is a radiator emblem for a Bour-Davis built in Frankfort (1918) mjs Size: 102mm wide 37mm high MM: Unknown |
This Bour-Davis radiator emblem does not show a hyphen between "Bour" and "Davis" and appears to shows an earlier emblem design in the center surrounded by a red enamel band showing the Frankfort, Indiana factory location.
For this reason, I suspect that the red and white enamel radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post is the emblem used for the Bour-Davis built in Detroit before the move to Frankfort. This Bour-Davis radiator emblem does not have a hyphen between "Bour" and "Davis" and is very rare.
The red and white enamel Bour-Davis with a hyphen between "Bour" and "Davis" shown below is believed to have been used after 1918, when the factory was moved to Shreveport in Louisiana. This Bour-Davis radiator emblem is rare.
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| This is a Bour-Davis radiator emblem (1919-1922) mjs Size: 98mm wide 33mm high MM: None |
I do not know the dates of use of the unusual blue and white enamel Bour-Davis radiator emblem shown below, which has the hyphen in the name. This Bour-Davis radiator emblem is very rare. If you have further details, please let me know, in order to update this post.
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| This is a Bour-Davis radiator emblem (dates unknown, probably after 1918) sam Size: 90mm wide 33mm high MM: Unknown |
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