STEPHENS

Moline Plow Co. (1916-1922)
Stephens Motor Car Co. (1922-1924)
Freeport, Illinois

This is a Stephens radiator emblem (1922-1924)   mjs
Size: 77mm high 55mm wide   MM: Childs

The Moline Plow Company was organized in 1870 to build buggies and farm vehicles and had acquired other smaller buggy companies over the years. By 1916 the company was suffering a decline in orders, so it decided to enter the automotive field with the Stephens car. The first Stephens cars were built in 1916 for the 1917 model year and were 25.35 hp six-cylinder automobiles offered as five-passenger touring or three-passenger roadster models. The Stephens became a 57 hp model in 1920 and was called the Salient Six until 1923.

John North Willys acquired a controlling interest in the Moline Plow Company in 1919 but the company remained a separate entity from his Willys-Overland business. Serious losses arising from the farm implement business resulted in the Stephens motor department being reorganized as the Stephens Motor Car Company in 1922. In 1923 two attractively restyled six-cylinder model lines were offered on two separate chassis and the Salient Six name was dropped. Production of the Stephens ceased in the summer of 1924.

Emblems

The first Stephens Salient Six cars built in 1916 and early 1917 carried a simple rectangular radiator emblem, as seen in the 1917 Stephens advertisement and surviving 1917 Stephens model shown below:

Stephens advertisement (1917)   ebay

Close-up showing radiator emblem (1917)

Stephens Salient Six with rectangular radiator emblem (1917) hemmings

This emblem is the red and white enamel, rectangular Stephens radiator emblem shown below. This Stephens radiator emblem is extremely rare.

This is a Stephens radiator emblem (1916-1917)
Size: 90mm wide 22mm high    MM: Unknown

By August 1917, Stephens advertisements show a new circular radiator emblem, see below:

Stephens ad showing a new emblem (1917) ebay

This is the blue and white enamel Stephens radiator emblem shown below. This Stephens radiator emblem is rare.

This is a Stephens radiator emblem (1917-1922)    mjs
Size: 51mm diameter    MM: Bastian

The Stephens radiator emblem was changed after the reorganization to the Stephens Motor Car Company, as shown on the cover of the 1922 Stephens sales brochure, see below:

Stephens sales brochure (1922)  autopaper 

This is the red, orange, black and white enamel Stephens radiator emblem shown below. This Stephens radiator emblem is very rare.

This is a Stephens radiator emblem (1922-1924)    mjs
Size: 77mm high 55mm wide   MM: Childs