DA VINCI

James Scripps-Booth (1925)

Indianapolis, Indiana

This is a Da Vinci radiator emblem (1925)     mjs
Size: 57mm diameter   MM: Fox

Following the collapse of the Scripps-Booth Company in 1922 (see Scripps-Booth), James Scripps-Booth came up with a completely new automobile called the Da Vinci which had many innovative features. He was unable to interest any automobile manufacturers in his ideas, so, at his own expense, he had a prototype Da Vinci built in 1925 at Louis Chevrolet's factory in Indianapolis. The body was designed by Scripps-Booth and built by Fleetwood.

Scripps-Booth tried to sell his Da Vinci design to a variety of automobile manufacturers but again found no interest, although one of the companies he approached, Stutz, took some of his ideas and copied them in one of their own automobiles. In 1930, Scripps-Booth developed a tandem two-seater cyclecar variation of the Da Vinci, which he called the Pup.

The prototype Da Vinci is still extant.

Emblem

The multi-color enamel Da Vinci radiator emblem shown above is ultra rare.