In 1911, Ray Harroun drove a specially prepared Marmon to victory in the first Indianapolis 500-mile race.
The Pick of the Day is a 1915 Marmon 41 being advertised for sale on ClassicCars.com by a specialist dealership located in Orange, Connecticut.
“There were around 2,500 different automotive companies that came and went in the early days of motoring between 1900 and 1929, and the Marmon Motor Car company is one of the few early automotive companies to leave a mark in automotive history that separates them from all the rest,” the dealer notes.
“Early on, the Marmon brothers experimented with exotically designed engines for their cars which included a 20-horsepower overhead-valve air-cooled V4 engine, a V6 engine, and an experimental 75-horsepower V8 engine in 1907.
“Finally settling for an inline six-cylinder design, dubbed the Model 32, in 1908 which was made famous three years later with a Model 32 based race car called “The Wasp,” winning the very first Indianapolis 500 race in 1911 driven by famous race driver Ray Harroun.”
The dealer points out that to uphold its fame, Indianapolis-based Marmon introduced the Model 41 in 1913, “featuring a massive L-Head six-cylinder engine with a three-speed transmission making over 70 Horsepower.
“With a fully pressurized oil system and a 7 main bearing crankcase, the Model 41 is not only powerful, but unbreakable. Marmons were a very upscale expensive car when they were new, the Model 41 being $3,500 dollars. For perspective, a brand-new Cadillac in 1913 was around $1,800 dollars and a new Ford was only $525 dollars.
“Model 41 production continued through 1915 and today there are less than a handful that exist. Every car that was produced was test driven around the Indianapolis 500 race track at over 80 miles per hour before being shipped to their dealer.”
The dealer says the Model 41 on offer is “most likely the finest early Marmon to exist today,” noting that the car has been owned by the same family since it was purchased from Frank E. Wing Motorcars in 1915, and is the only Model 41 “Club Roadster” surviving – it has a 3-seat cloverleaf body.
The car comes with original owner’s manual, service records, even the original owner’s driver’s license and registrations from 1915 through the late 1920s, “when the car was taken off the road and stored away.”
“It wasn’t seen again until the late 1950s when it was taken out of the original owner’s garage and used briefly,” before being put away again until the 1980s.
The car is preserved in original condition and has had a mechanical “going over” that involved replacing some engine components, a new shaft for the water pump, flushing fuel and cooling systems, and new tires. The dealer says the car was driven 100 miles on its first test day after that work.
No price is quoted in the advertisement, but you can view this listing at ClassicCars.com.
"The car has been owned by the same family since it was purchased from Frank E. Wing Motorcars in 1915" Amazing.
While I thoroughly enjoy your picks, I suggest ALWAYS including a price. Nice read but does no good placing the car in current perspective on affordability. Generally, a dealer unwilling to post a price has it out of the park, and out of the market. Why reward that behavior . . .?
Yep, I agree. Really Great Car! But posting anything for sale with no price… May as well be not for sale. I applaud websites that do not accept posting without price listed. Waste of time for some. Sellers do your homework, check out the market. Understand the values, decide what you are willing to take, leave room to negotiate if you must or just state that you will not negotiate and be firm. It is OK to say so! But just get to the point!
Just a note to say that my Paternal grandfather traveled the country as a trouble shooter for the Marmon motor car company!! When the dealer couldn’t fix it, they called in for reinforcements!!
Indianapolis, born & bred.
That’s the coolest old Marmon I’ve ever seen, and I watch.
Put a Wasp tail & fin on it, drive the bejesus out of it- they’re only original once, and sitting in a museum isn’t what they want.
Machines denied their purpose are as sad as abused children. For the former, there’s every reason to flog; for the latter, there was never any reason.
So many brilliant examples of automotive engineering sit, because somehow they became "too valuable" to drive. Um, what exactly was their purpose? I was privileged to have seen the Harroun Wasp drive the Indy oval… Awesome. Old dudes, on the ball. The Speedway Museum is full of things you’d never expect to run, but all the cars AJ Foyt donated can run in race trim… as is everything you see there.
Isn’t it time to let ’em run? I had an unbroken 17 year record for attendance at Indy, starting in 1969. I was a Scout in Harvey Gill’s Boy Scout Band, began at snare, ended at 1st/cymbals, blah blah blah. The Indy 500 was the highlight of my lil boy life, as it is, spec race crap now.
Came here following a link in a comment posted about this car on Daily Turismo. It’s buried in a long thread about a Honda N600. Your “drive the bejeesus out of it” attitude would fit right in with our grumpy yet unabashed driving enthusiasm. Come on by sometime. You too, Larry. Cheers.