Marquette was an American

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...

manufacturer established by General Motors in 1909 after the purchase of the Rainier Motor Car Company. The Marquette Company did not last long and in 1912 GM announced the company would be closed. The Marquette

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...

had been used before by the Berwick Auto Car Company in 1904, and then by the Buick division of GM for a car series released in 1929. The Marquette brand was then discontinued by GM and has not been used since.

History

Company

The name ''Marquette'' was first used for an automobile when the Berwick Auto Car Company of Grand Rapids,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, frequently took it as a model designation for their electric car in 1904. One of the General Motors founders, William Durant, bought the Rainier Motor Car Company in May 1909. Rainier was in severe financial trouble at the moment of the purchase. Following that, a new company, the Marquette Motor Company was established in

Saginaw Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

, Michigan, to continue production of the luxurious 'Rainier' motor car until 1911. They manufactured parts for another luxury make belonging to General Motors, the Welch Motor Car Company (1903–1911), and its lower-priced sister car, the Welch-Detroit (1910–1911). Management was controlled by Buick officers. After Durant left GM for the first time in September 1910, it was tried to make both the Rainier and the Welch profitable with the Marquette, a new make was introduced. It produced two car lines, both with huge 4-cylinder engines. The 40 hp line, essentially an improved and elongated Rainier (122 instead of 120 in. wheelbase), was available in four open body styles: *Model 22 2-passenger runabout *Model 24 4-passenger tourabout *Model 25 5-passenger touring *Model 27 7-passenger touring The chassis had a wheelbase of 122 inches. Each sold for US$3,000. ($ in dollars ) The 45 hp line consisted of one model only, the Model 28 7-passenger touring. It had a wheelbase of 119 inches, and sold for $4,000. ($ in dollars This reorganization was not successful, as GM announced the end of the Marquette still in 1912. Probably, some of the last Marquettes were labeled as "Peninsular". THe plant then closed in 1913. During World War I, the plant was reopened and used to manufacture mortar shells for the US Ordnance Corps, then was repurposed for engine block casting when operations at Northway Motor and Manufacturing Division ended in 1925. The factory was repurposed as Chevrolet Saginaw Parts Plant which made many different types of parts and closed in 1983 and was demolished in 1984. Located on corner of 6th & Washington Avenues.

Buick brand

The ''Marquette'' nameplate was revived when the Buick

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of General Motors launched their junior brand for model year 1930. Along with

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

, LaSalle, and Pontiac, the ''Marquette'' was conceived to span a price gap in General Motors' market segmentation plan, and shared the

GM B platform The B platform (also known as the B body) is a full-size rear-wheel drive car platform that was produced by General Motors (GM) from 1926 to 1996. Originally made for Oldsmobile and Buick, all of General Motors's five main makes would use it at ...

with the Buick Standard Six and Buick Master Six. ''Marquette'' was placed below Buick, but above ''Viking'' which was to be sold in

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it pro ...

dealerships. The ''Marquette'' arrived in dealer showrooms on June 1, 1929. The ''Marquette'' line rode on an wheelbase and was powered by an

L-head A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, as ...

straight six producing which was uncharacteristic of Buick products using overhead valves. ''Marquette'' was built to sell in the $1,000 range, and was available in a single car range. This Series 30 consisted of six body styles: *Model 30 Two-Door Sedan *Model 34 Sport Roadster *Model 35 Phaeton *Model 36 Business Coupe (2 pass.) *Model 36S Special Coupe (2/4 pass.) *Model 37 Sedan The ''Marquette's'' most distinctive styling feature was its herringbone grille. Reviewers at the time described it either looking like a small Oldsmobile or small Cadillac. Compared to Oldsmobile's ''Viking,'' which enjoyed a total production run of only 7,224 over three model years (1929, 1930, 1931) ''Marquette'' produced 35,007 vehicles in the U.S. during its brief one year life span; additionally, GM Canada turned out another 6,535 ''Marquettes.'' Despite its promising first year sales, two factors worked against the ''Marquette''. The first involved Oldsmobile, which lost sales to ''Marquette''; the second was that Buick executives did not feel that enough ''Marquettes'' were sold to warrant the extra burden on the bottom line given the state of the economy. Buick gave no advance warning of the termination of the ''Marquette;'' just four months before the shutdown, 4,000 ''Marquette'' signs were shipped to dealers in the hope of better days ahead. The entry-level position held by ''Marquette'' was replaced by the new entry-level Buick Special. After the shutdown of Marquette, the engine production tools were shipped to Germany, where it was used to power the original Opel Blitz. This was the first link between Opel and Buick, a sporadic tie-up which was to last until General Motors finally severed ties with Opel in the 21st century.

References

External links

Photo of restored 1930 Model 34 Sport Roadster
{{Automotive industry in the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Michigan Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States General Motors marques Buick Defunct brands Defunct manufacturing companies based in Michigan Companies based in Flint, Michigan 1909 establishments in Michigan 1930 disestablishments in Michigan Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1909 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1912 ategory:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1929 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1930 Brass Era vehicles Vintage vehicles Pre-war vehicles 1910s cars 1920s cars 1930s cars Cars introduced in 1909 Cars introduced in 1929