DEERE

Deere-Clark Motor Car Co. (1906-1907)
Moline, Illinois

This is a Deere radiator script (1907)    mjs
Size:240mm wide

W. E. Clark built a single-cylinder air-cooled car in 1897 and in 1903 he briefly manufactured a car called the Blackhawk. In late 1905 W. E. Clark persuaded the John Deere company to provide finance for his next automotive venture and the Deere-Clark Motor Car Company was formed in 1906. A few Deere-Clark four-cylinder water-cooled automobiles and a 2-1/2-ton truck were produced in 1906.

The name changed to Deere in 1907 but the John Deere people were not satisfied with either the automobile or the truck and decided to pull out. A total of about 200 cars and some trucks had been built. The company was reorganized to produce another car called the Midland (see Midland).

Emblem

There are very few original period photos of Deere automobiles and none of those that I have seen show an emblem, see example photo below:

Deere motor car (1907)   dpl

However, Deere advertisements include representations of a Deere logo, which has been found in the form of a radiator script, see example shown below:

Deere motor car advertisement (1907)  ebay

It is believed that the "Deere" name was displayed on a brass script mounted on the radiator core but this may have been an optional accessory rather than attached at the factory. An example of a brass Deere script is shown above at the top of this post. Original Deere radiator scripts are rare.