BUFFUM

H. H. Buffum Co. (1901-1907)
Abington, Massachusetts

This is a Buffum nameplate (c1905)   mjs
Size: 84mm wide 35mm high

H. H. Buffum was an engineer and an inventor, who began to take an interest in motor cars in the late 1890s. The H. H. Buffum Company built both touring cars and motor boats. A variety of different engine designs were developed and tested. 

The first Buffum car in 1901 was a 20 hp four-cylinder King of Belgium Tonneau, which continued in production into 1903. In 1904, Buffum offered its Model G, the Grayhound race car with a horizontal eight-cylinder 80 hp engine. This was the first eight-cylinder car offered for regular sale in America. In 1906, Buffum introduced a 40 hp V-8 runabout and this may have been the first V-8 in the market in America. Buffum cars were of excellent quality, including the hand-made aluminum bodies. 

Production of the Buffum ceased in 1907.

Emblem

Early Buffum cars did not carry an emblem but would have displayed the "Buffum" name on a small maker's nameplate or serial plate attached to the body or at the rear of the car.

The brass H. H. Buffum nameplate shown above at the top of this post may have been attached to the body of early Buffum cars and may have also been used as a radiator emblem after about 1905. 

The following poor quality original photo of a Buffum car shows a small rectangular emblem on the radiator. It is possible that this is the brass nameplate shown above but I cannot confirm this.

Buffum car showing a radiator nameplate (c1905)    bonhams