HARROUN

Harroun Motors Corp. (1917-1922)
Wayne, Michigan

This is a reproduction Harroun radiator emblem  thc
Size: Unknown

Ray W. Harroun built his first automobile, a racing car, in 1905 but did not proceed to production. Ray Harroun became a riding mechanic for the Buick racing team, had some success as a race car driver  and later joined Marmon. In 1911, Ray Harroun drove the Marmon Wasp race car to win the first Indianapolis 500 and became a celebrated race car driver.

Harroun designed the car bearing his name, possibly as early as 1915, as it was later claimed that the first Harroun cars, presumably prototype models, were introduced at auto shows in January 1916. However, the Harroun Motors Corporation was not incorporated until September 1917.

The first Harroun Model A-1 was a well-designed, small 43 hp four-cylinder automobile offered in roadster and sedan body styles. 

Production of the Harroun began almost immediately in 1917 and about 500 cars were built by April 1918, when Harroun Motors Corporation received a large government contract to manufacture munitions for the war effort. Some Harroun car production continued with new models introduced in 1919 but a return to full automobile production was delayed because of problems in getting compensation from the US government after the war. 

The consequent lack of working capital and the effects of the post-war depression caused serious problems for Harroun Motors Corporation. An improved Model AA-2 appeared for 1922 but few were built before the company went into receivership in June that year. 

A total of 1135 Harroun cars were produced over the life of the company.

Emblem

The earliest Harroun logo or trademark showed the Harroun name with a larger first letter "H", see 1916 Harroun advertisement and logo shown below:

Harroun advert (Oct 1916)
Detroit Free Press

Harroun logo   ms

The same logo appears on the first Harroun brochure for 1917, see cover shown below:

Harroun 1917 Brochure Cover  ms

This "Harroun" logo continued to be used in advertisements through 1918.

The following Harroun trademark depicting an Arabian horseman was filed in April 1917 with a claim that the trademark was first used in January 1917:

Harroun Trademark (April 1917)   ms

This Harroun trademark was later used in Harroun advertisements but the earliest that I can find is from January 1918, see below:

Harroun ad with logo (Jan 1918)
Detroit Free Press

The earliest original period photo of a Harroun car shows a 1917 Harroun Model A-1 car at the Harroun factory site, see below:

Harroun Model A-1 at factory site (1917)  flp

Close up showing Harroun Model A-1 (1917)

Harroun Model A-1 radiator (1917) 

It can be seen that this Harroun Model A-1 from 1917 carries a radiator emblem with a design that appears to follow the design of the Harroun trademark shown earlier, although the detailed design is unclear. There also appears to be an emblem on the headlight bar, which may also display the "Harroun" name, but this cannot be confirmed. 

There are very few original period photos of Harroun cars and none appear to show the radiator emblem in clear detail. The following photo shows a 1918 Harroun Model A-1 touring car displaying the same radiator emblem:

Harroun Model A-1 Touring (1918)   flp

Harroun model A-1 close up (1918)

Only two examples of the Harroun are known to have survived, one is in storage in pieces, the other, a 1918 sedan Model A-1 has been restored, see below:

Harroun Model A-1 Sedan (1918)   thc

This restored Harroun Model A-1 has been given a reproduction radiator emblem based on the 1917 trademark, see photo at the top of this post and another photo below:

Harroun A-1 Sedan showing repro emblem (1918)  thc

If an original Harroun radiator emblem could be found, it would be extremely rare and likely ultra rare.