Gardner -- Towards the End

Gardner (Wikipedia entry here) was a moderately successful 1920s American brand that became unprofitable by 1927 and ceased production in the 1931 model year.   The company was based in St. Louis, far from Detroit, and seems to have been an "assembled" car using mostly parts acquired from various suppliers.

The present post deals with some 1927 through 1930 model year cars that were attractive for their time.  But body designs probably did not benefit much or at all from professional stylists, a category that in those days was involved with custom body building and at General Motors' new styling group.

A surprise awaits at the end of the Gallery section below.

Gallery

A 1927 Gardner sedan.  A trim design typical of the times with a trunk to help balance it visually.

Roadster from 1927.  Most Gardners seem to have had two-tone paint schemes.  This one is simple, but elaborations appeared the following year.

Another roadster, probably a 1928 model photographed in San Francisco by a newspaper photographer.

Another 1928 Gardiner Model 75 Roadster.  This image is from a publication, possibly Automobile Quarterly.  The small, rectangular panel on the door has the main body color here, but was of the second tone in the the case of the image above.

Catalog side view of a 1928 Model 85 Sport Roadster.  Its two-tone scheme is more elaborate than on Model 75s.

Bob Gardner photo of his 1928 Model 85 Sport Roadster.

Factory image of a 1929 Model 130 four-door sedan.  Attractive for its time.

Clip from the February 1930 MoToR magazine showing a front-wheel drive Gardner displayed at the New York Auto Show.

Catalog side view of the front-wheel drive Gardiner.  I did not know that Gardner built front-wheel drive cars, but a few prototypes existed.  This was because Gardner was involved with the Ruxton project, and the body and running gear were that of the latter brand.  The hood, grille, headlights, fender-running boards and some trim differed.  Compare to the image below.

1930-vintage front-wheel drive Ruxton four-door sedan, Barrett-Jackson auction photo.  Ruxtons seem to have had longer wheelbases.