REGAL

Regal Motor Car Co. (1908-1918)

Detroit, Michigan

This is a Regal radiator emblem (1914-1918)   tcc
Size: 76mm wide 38mm high     MM: Unknown

The Regal introduced in 1908 was a 25 hp four-cylinder car offered in five-passenger and three-passenger runabout body styles. The Regal Thirty was introduced in 1909 and a Forty model joined the line in 1910. The Regal gained wide publicity after a Thirty model was driven from New York to San Francisco in the summer of 1909 and then crossed the country five more times before returning to Detroit a year later after a journey of about 22,000 miles.

The Regal was popular and sales grew each year from 425 in 1908 to a peak of 8,227 in 1915.  By 1913 Regal cars was also being sold overseas with a particularly good export trade in the United Kingdom, where export models were called Seabrook-R.M.C. For 1915 a 40 hp V-8 and a 20 hp light four-cylinder model were introduced.

But Regal suffered financial problems partly due to material shortages related to the First World War and was in receivership in February 1918. The last Regal car appeared in 1918.

Emblems

I have not seen original photos of the 1908 Regal Twenty-Five. It is possible that the first Regal cars in 1908 displayed a "Regal" script on the radiator grille but I cannot confirm this. However, early Regal cars did carry the "Regal" name on small nameplates, serial plates and hub caps, see examples below:

This is an early Regal nameplate (date unknown)      mjs
Size: 50mm wide 17mm high

This is an early Regal serial plate (1908)      mjs
Size: 76mm wide 26mm high

This is an early Regal hub face (date unknown)     mjs
Size: 42mm high 42mm wide

The Regal Thirty that appeared in 1909 carried a small "Regal" script emblem soldered or impressed onto the top of the radiator tank and a slightly larger "Regal" script displayed on the radiator grille, see example below:

This is a Regal Thirty taking part at the 1909 Glidden Tour      dpl

Close up showing the radiator tank top Regal emblem (1909)    dpl

Original examples of the small radiator tank top emblem would be extremely rare, while original examples of the radiator grille script are rare, see below:

This is a Regal radiator grille script (c1909)       mjs
Size: 147mm wide

The first Regal enamel radiator emblem appeared on the Regal Thirty in 1910, see example below:

This is a Regal 30 taking part in the Munsey Historic Tour (Aug 1910)     dpl

However, advertisements in January 1910 show a Regal "30" radiator grille script detail but not a radiator emblem, which suggests that the first Regal Thirty cars did not carry a radiator emblem, see examples below:

This is a "Regal 30" ad showing the radiator grille script (January 1910)    ms

Original Regal Thirty radiator scripts, as shown below, are rare:

This is a Regal Thirty radiator script (1909-1913)       mjs
Size: 298mm wide

Later in 1910, Regal advertisements did show a radiator emblem for the Regal Thirty, see example shown below:

This is a Regal "30" ad showing the radiator emblem (Sept 1910)     ms

This is the blue and white enamel Regal Thirty radiator emblem. This Regal Thirty radiator emblem is very rare.

This is a Regal Thirty radiator emblem (1910-c1912)  tcc
Size: 76mm wide 53mm high    MM: None

The Regal Forty also appeared in 1910 and Regal advertisements show a radiator emblem for the Regal Forty, see example shown below:

This is a Regal "40" ad showing the radiator emblem (1910)     ms

It is possible that the first Regal Forty cars displayed a brass "Regal 40" radiator script but I cannot confirm this. If an original "Regal 40" radiator script indeed exists it would be extremely rare.

This is the blue and white enamel Regal Forty radiator emblem. This Regal Forty radiator emblem is extremely rare.

This is a Regal Forty radiator emblem (1910-c1912)   tcc
Size: 76mm wide 53mm high     MM: None

Regal advertisements for 1910 also show a radiator emblem for the Regal Twenty, although the Regal Twenty did not appear until the 1911 model year, see example below:

This is a Regal "20" ad showing the radiator emblem (1910)    ms 

The Regal Twenty also displayed a radiator script, see example below. Original Regal Twenty radiator scripts are very rare.

This is a Regal Twenty radiator grille script (1911)    ms

The original blue and white enamel Regal Twenty radiator emblem shown below is extremely rare:

This is a Regal Twenty radiator emblem (1911)     mjs
Size: 76mm wide 53mm high    MM: Whitehead & Hoag

From 1912, there were a number of new Regal models. Not all of these models carried a radiator emblem with a specific model designation but, instead, carried a Regal radiator emblem of the same design as shown above but with the word "Regal" only, see blue and white enamel example shown below. This type of Regal radiator emblem is very rare.

This is a Regal radiator emblem with no model designation (1912-1913)     mjs
Size: 76mm wide 53mm high     MM: Whitehead & Hoag

However, if you look carefully in the area just right of center under the word "Regal" in the emblem shown above, it will be seen that the surface of the emblem has been ground flat. From my observations of many Regal cars using this type of radiator emblem, this area of surface grinding is always there, see clearer example below:

This is a Regal radiator showing the almost ground-out model designation (1913)     ms

This close-up shows the earlier model designation that has been ground out (1913)

In the close-up photo shown above, part of the original Regal model designation can be seen. It is a "20" or a "30". It appears that Regal decided to drop the model designations from their radiator emblems after 1911 and used their surplus stock of earlier Regal emblems for this purpose, presumably to reduce costs.

In 1914, there was a complete change of radiator design, see examples shown below and above at the top of this post. These blue and white enamel Regal radiator emblems are very rare. 

This is a Regal radiator emblem (1914-1918)     mjs
Size: 76mm wide 36mm high     MM: Unknown

The Regal radiator emblem shown below is a variation showing a slightly different design of some of the letters in the word "Regal".

This is a Regal radiator emblem (1914-1918)      mjs
Size: 74mm wide 38mm high     MM: None

There was a special radiator emblem in 1915 for the new Regal Eight, see example shown below. This Regal Eight radiator emblem is extremely rare.

This is a Regal Eight radiator emblem (1915-1917)      sam
Size: 78mm high 77mm wide     MM: Unknown

The following emblem is a Seabrook-R.M.C. radiator emblem, which was used on a Regal model exported to the UK during the period of the First World War most likely in 1914-1915. This Seabrook-R.M.C. radiator emblem is extremely rare.

This is a Seabrook-R.M.C. radiator emblem (c1914-1915)     mjs
Size: 78mm wide 41mm high      MM: Unknown