BELL

Bell Motor Car Co. (1916-1922)

York, Pennsylvania

This is a Bell radiator emblem (1916-1922)      mjs
Size: 61mm wide 52mm high    MM: None

The Bell Motor Car Company was established in York, Pennsylvania in 1915. The first Bell car appeared in 1916 and was a 20 hp four-cylinder model available as a five-passenger touring or a two-passenger roadster.

The Bell was an assembled car offered at a moderate price and sold reasonably well. Sales rose each year until 1920 when supply shortages after the First World War took their toll and production was severely affected. A new management took control in 1921 but the problems at Bell continued and, according to the Standard Catalog, it was all over in 1922.

However, newspaper advertisements indicate that some agencies, at least, were promoting a Bell comfort roadster up to early 1923, presumably to use existing unused Bell roadsters, since production had stopped in 1922, see example below:

This is a Bell Comfort Roadster ad (Feb 1923)  star gazette

Strangely, these advertisements refer to a two-passenger comfort roadster but the Standard Catalog states that the last Bell roadsters were four-passenger models. 

Emblems

The Bell motor car carried a blue, white and brown enamel radiator emblem, see example shown above at the top of this post. Original Bell radiator emblems with this design are very rare.

The Bell radiator emblem has a flat back and is usually found in unused, new old stock condition with no maker's mark. I have seen small variations in detailed design on some examples of this emblem, which may be due to different emblem makers being used over time, see examples below.

The first example, shown below, is a Bell radiator emblem from the emblem collection assembled by F. L. W. Combs in the 1930's and later acquired by W. Emmert Swigart. The emblem appears very similar to the emblem at the top of this post but has no blue enamel in the rings at the top of the bell, although this may be due to wear.

This is an original Bell radiator emblem (date unknown)     sam
Size: 61mm wide 52mm high     MM: Unknown

The second example, shown below, is one of several Bell radiator emblems in the main Swigart emblem collection. Unusually, this Bell radiator emblem appears to have been used. It is well worn and seems to have no space for a blue enamel ring at the bottom of the bell and only a hint of blue enamel on the edge of the rings at the top of the bell. 

This is believed to be an original Bell radiator emblem (date unknown)   sam
Size: 61mm wide 52mm high      MM: Unknown

The third example, shown below, is a Bell radiator emblem from the emblem collection assembled by H. E. Sprowls again in the 1930's and also later acquired by W. Emmert Swigart. This emblem is very closely similar to the emblem at the top of this post and does have blue enamel in the rings at the top and bottom of the bell.

This is an original Bell radiator emblem (date unknown)     sam
Size: 61mm wide 52mm high      MM: Unknown

Emblem collectors should beware as there are reproduction Bell radiator emblems, see example shown below:

This is a reproduction Bell radiator emblem   ms

There are also radiator emblems for the Bell Comfort Roadster. Why this model should have had a different radiator emblem is not known and is somewhat strange. The Bell Comfort Roadster emblems I have seen have mostly been unused, new old stock emblems. 

There are at least three known varieties of a Bell Comfort Roadster radiator emblem, which is also very strange given the small numbers of Bell roadsters built.

The following Bell Comfort Roadster emblem is very well made of hard metal with good three dimensional detail and finished in blue enamel. This Bell Comfort Roadster emblem is very rare.

This is a Bell Comfort Roadster radiator emblem (date unknown)    mjs
Size: 70mm diameter     MM: None

Note that there is a reproduction of this Bell Comfort Roadster emblem. It is closely similar to the original but is poorly finished and some differences in the detailed design are evident, see example below:

This is a reproduction Bell Comfort Roadster emblem     ms
Size: 70mm diameter     MM: None

The following Bell Comfort Roadster emblem is very similar to the first Bell Comfort Roadster radiator emblem shown earlier but has a different design of the rings at the bottom of the bell. This Bell Comfort Roadster emblem is believed to be original and is very rare.

This is a Bell Comfort Roadster radiator emblem (date unknown)     sam
Size: 70mm diameter     MM: Unknown

The following Bell Comfort Roadster emblem has a closely similar design but is crudely made using cast pot metal but it does have a Gustav Fox maker's mark.  Why such a crude emblem was ever made and why the Gustav Fox Company put their name on it is a mystery. A more likely explanation is that this cast pot metal emblem is a reproduction with a "Fox" mark added to suggest authenticity. I cannot confirm this, but the "Fox" mark has been used on reproduction emblems elsewhere (see Ruxton). If this Bell Comfort Roadster emblem is indeed original, it would be very rare.

This is a Bell Comfort Roadster radiator emblem (date unknown)    khc
Size: 70mm diameter    MM: Fox