H.C.S.

H.C.S. Motor Car Co. (1920-1924)
H.C.S. Cab Manufacturing Co. (1924-1927)

Indianapolis, Indiana

This is an H.C.S. Special radiator emblem (1920-1922)    mjs
Size: 121mm wide 28mm high    MM: Unknown

Harry C. Stutz left the Stutz Motor Car Company in 1919 and set up the H.C.S. Motor Car Company to produce a new car named with his initials. The first H.C.S. Special cars appeared in May 1920. The H.C.S. was an expensive, sporty motor car similar to the Stutz. The first H.C.S. car was a 50 hp four-cylinder model offered in touring and roadster body styles, with an 80 hp six-cylinder model introduced in 1923. An H.C.S. Special was driven to victory by Tommy Milton in the Indianapolis 500 in May 1923 and provided great publicity for the H.C.S.

The H.C.S. was popular and sales were growing but there were serious financial difficulties. In a surprising change in direction, Harry Stutz announced in October 1924 that he would henceforth concentrate on building taxi cabs and established the H.C.S. Cab Manufacturing Company. But this decision proved a disaster. The last H.C.S. cars were built in 1924 and the taxicab company was finished by 1927. 

Emblems

The H.C.S. Special radiator emblem was designed by C. Zwick in late 1919 and appeared in H.C.S. advertisements in early 1920, see examples below:

This is an HCS Special ad (1920)    ms

This is an HCS Special ad (1920)   ms

The H.C.S. emblem shown in these advertisements is the white, blue and red enamel H.C.S. Special radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post and is rare.

There was a second H.C.S. radiator emblem without the "Special" inscription that appeared in 1923. 

This change to a new emblem must have been before the Indy 500 race held on May 30, because the winning H.C.S. Special that won the race carried the new H.C.S. emblem, which was also shown in a large decal on the side of the car, see original photo shown below:

H.C.S. Special Indy 500 Winner (May 1923)    kmc

Close-up showing the new H.C.S. emblem design (May 1923)

This is the red, white and blue enamel H.C.S. radiator emblem shown below. This H.C.S. radiator emblem is also rare.

This is an H.C.S. radiator emblem (1923-1924)     mjs
Size: 121mm wide 28mm high    MM: Unknown

The following H.C.S. emblem is often labeled as a radiator emblem but it is a hub emblem. This H.C.S. hub emblem is scarce.

This is an H.C.S. hub emblem (1920-1924)     ms
Size: 42mm diameter     MM: None