DERBY

Derby Motor Cars Ltd. 
Winnipeg, Manitoba (1924)
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (1924-1927)

This is a Derby radiator emblem (1924-1927)    sam
Size: 75mm wide 39mm high   MM: Unknown

When the Winnipeg Motor Cars Limited company failed in the fall of 1923, vice-president Louis Arsenault decided to try again with another automobile venture. He established Derby Motor Cars Limited and opened an office in Winnipeg in early 1924. 

The last Winnipeg cars had been Davis cars from Richmond, Indiana assembled in Winnipeg with new radiators and a Winnipeg emblem. The Davis relationship was continued for the Derby, which was a six-cylinder motor car available in four different models; tourer, roadster, sedan and coupe.  

Later in 1924, Arsenault moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and took over a vacant tractor plant. He tried to raise capital by selling stock to finance the assembly of Davis parts. However, Arsenault was unable to raise the money required to go into production. Instead, he simply imported complete Davis cars and changed the radiator emblems and hubcaps.

The Derby plant and offices were abandoned sometime in 1927. Arsenault and his stock salesmen disappeared and left the plant and offices unattended. Some curious school boys entered the building and found stacks of business papers neatly placed around the board room table, including letters from people, who had invested in the company and were awaiting news about their savings.

A company record book showed that a total of only 31 Derby cars had been sold.

Emblem

The Derby carried an oval shaped radiator emblem, as indicated in the following Derby advertisement:

Derby ad showing an emblem (c1924)  robert collins

This is the blue and white enamel Derby radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post. This Derby radiator emblem has been used on one of the very few Derby cars made and is extremely rare. 

The following shows a black and white enamel variation of this Derby radiator emblem. This Derby radiator emblem is also extremely rare.

This is a Derby radiator emblem (1924-1927)    cwc
Size: 75mm wide 39mm high   MM: Unknown

I do not know, if there ever was a Derby radiator emblem inscribed with the Saskatoon factory location. If you have details of such an emblem, please let me know, in order to update this post.