McLAUGHLIN/McLAUGHLIN-BUICK

McLaughlin Motor Car Co. Ltd. (1908-1918)
General Motors of Canada Ltd. (1918-1942)
Oshawa, Ontario

McLaughlin radiator emblem (1915-1922)     mjs
Size: 90mm wide 50mm high    MM: Unknown (some Bastian)

The McLaughlin Carriage Company was founded in 1867 and became Canada's largest and most highly regarded manufacturer of carriages and sleighs. McLaughlin began to investigate the possibility of expanding into the manufacture of motor cars and the McLaughlin Motor Car Company was established in 1907. 

McLaughlin motor cars were introduced in 1908 using Buick engines and other Buick parts under an agreement made with William C. Durant (see Buick). The McLaughlin was sold on the reputation of the McLaughlin carriage and was a successful automobile. The relationship with Buick was strengthened in late 1908 with the formation of a joint venture with General Motors. McLaughlin sales grew each year, except when the name was temporarily changed to Buick and sales fell, so the name was quickly changed back to McLaughlin.

From 1910 until the early 1920's McLaughlin produced a full range of upmarket versions of Buick cars including four-cylinder, light six-cylinder and standard six-cylinder models. In 1918 McLaughlin and General Motors merged and formed General Motors of Canada in 1918, and, in 1923 the name of the car was changed to McLaughlin-Buick, which continued until 1942 when the McLaughlin prefix was dropped.

Emblems

McLaughlin carriages displayed the "McLaughlin" name on a small maker's tag usually mounted at the rear of the vehicle, see example shown below:

This is a McLaughlin carriage tag (c1906)     mjs
Size: 71mm wide 21mm high

The first McLaughlin motor cars from 1908 to 1910 were built using mainly Buick parts. The radiator was embossed with a "Buick" script emblem but the "McLaughlin" name was displayed by a brass script attached to the radiator core, see example shown below:

This is a McLaughlin showing radiator script (c1909)  driving.ca 

From 1911 to 1914, McLaughlin motor cars had the "McLaughlin" name embossed on the radiator shell as a radiator script emblem, see examples shown below:

This is a McLaughlin showing radiator script emblem (1912)  flickr

McLaughlin Model 3 radiator emblem (1914)    hcg
Size: Unknown

The first separate McLaughlin emblem appeared in 1915, see blue and white enamel McLaughlin radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below. This McLaughlin radiator emblem is scarce.

This is a McLaughlin radiator emblem (1915-1922)    mjs
Size: 90mm wide 50mm high    MM: Unknown (some Bastian)

From 1923, McLaughlin cars were called McLaughlin-Buick and carried a new emblem, which combined the diamond shaped McLaughlin emblem and the well known rectangular Buick emblem design, see the blue and white enamel McLaughlin-Buick radiator emblem shown below. This McLaughlin-Buick radiator emblem is scarce.

This is a McLaughlin-Buick radiator emblem (1923-1925)  mjs
Size: 92mm wide 52mm wide    MM: Unknown

From 1926, Buick became the predominant name and the McLaughlin-Buick emblems became the same as the equivalent Buick emblems but inscribed with "McLaughlin Canada".

The following blue and white enamel McLaughlin-Buick radiator emblem shown below was used for 1926 and 1927:

This is a McLaughlin-Buick radiator emblem (1926-1927)  mjs
Size: 49mm wide 38mm high   MM: Unknown

The McLaughlin-Buick increased in size in 1928, see the following blue and white enamel McLaughlin-Buick radiator emblem shown below:

This is a McLaughlin-Buick radiator emblem (1928)    mjs
Size: 61mm wide 48mm high    MM: Unknown

The following is a variation of this McLaughlin-Buick radiator emblem:

This is a McLaughlin-Buick radiator emblem (1928)    mjs
Size: 61mm wide 48mm high   MM: Unknown

In 1929, the McLaughlin-Buick displayed a cast metal headlight bar emblem, see rather poor quality photo shown below:

McLaughlin-Buick headlight bar emblem (1929) 29buickemblems

 

McLaughlin-Buick headlight bar emblem (1929) 

The headlight bar emblem changed slightly for 1930-1932, see example shown below:

McLaughlin-Buick headlight bar emblem (1930-1932)  forums.aaca

For 1933, the McLaughlin-Buick carried a new round emblem on the top of the radiator grille, see blue and white enamel McLaughlin-Buick radiator grille emblem shown below. This McLaughlin-Buick radiator grille emblem is scarce.

This is a McLaughlin-Buick radiator grille emblem (1933)  mjs
Size: 49mm diameter   MM: D L Auld

There was a new radiator grille emblem design for 1934 and 1935. see painted, die-cast McLaughlin-Buick radiator grille emblem shown below:

This is a McLaughlin-Buick radiator grille emblem (1934-1935) ms
Size: 200mm wide   MM: Unknown

The following is a McLaughlin-Buick luggage rack emblem:

This is a McLaughlin-Buick luggage rack emblem (1934-1935)  ms
Size: 193mm wide 45mm high   MM: Unknown

The McLaughlin-Buick emblem changed again in 1936, see the red enamel McLaughlin-Buick radiator grille emblem shown below, which was displayed on the grille:

This is a McLaughlin-Buick radiator grille emblem (1936)   mjs
Size: 62mm wide 61mm high   MM: Unknown (poss Fox)

The following is a McLaughlin-Buick trunk emblem:

This is a McLaughlin-Buick trunk emblem (1936)    mjs
Size: 306mm wide 90mm high     MM: Unknown

McLaughlin-Buick trunk emblem center (1936)    mjs
Size: 61mm high 61mm wide   MM: Unknown

There was a further change in the radiator grille emblem for 1937, see the red and blue enamel McLaughlin-Buick radiator grille emblem shown below:

This is a McLaughlin-Buick radiator grille emblem (1937)   mjs
Size: 79mm wide 72mm high    MM: Unknown

There was also an emblem mounted on the upper center of the radiator grille. This upper center grille emblem was the same as the Buick emblem, see example shown below:

McLaughlin-Buick upper grille emblem (1937)   mjs
Size: 85mm high   MM: AEC

The radiator grille emblem for 1938 was the same as for Buick but was made from solid stainless steel rather than thin pressed metal, see McLaughlin-Buick radiator grille emblem shown below:

McLaughlin-Buick grille emblem (1938) dnc
Size: 133mm high 35mm wide   MM: Unknown

The following is the 1938 McLaughlin-Buick trunk emblem:

This is a McLaughlin-Buick trunk emblem (1938)   dnc
Size: 247mm wide 75mm high   MM: Unknown

The emblems carried by McLaughlin-Buick cars in 1939-1942 were the same as the equivalent Buick emblems and the name "McLaughlin" did not appear in any external identification.