Marmon Sixteen Overhead Views

Photos of car designs from an overhead perspective can be interesting.  I find this particularly so for cars of the 1930s.  That's because body elements such as hoods and fenders had not yet become integrated with the main body.

The subject of this post is the 16-cylinder Marmon produced 1931-1933.  They were styled by pioneer industrail designer Walter Dorwin Teague.  LeBaron built nearly all of the bodies, but apparently did not do design work on most of its Marmon Sixteens.

I previousy wrote about Marmon Sixteens here.

Images below are via Mecum Auctions.

Gallery

1931 Marmon Sixteen Convertible Coupe
V-16 and inline-8 motors required longer hoods than did V-12s and inline sixes and fours.  Though the needed additional length wasn't very great.  The hood seen here and some other V-16s and I-8s is longer  than absolutely necessary, being more of a style or marketing feature.  Note the hood's aft cutline and the locations of the side air vents, indicating where the motor most likely was.

That long hood is complemented by a long section abaft of the passenger compartment.  This car has a rumble seat, as evidenced by the step near the right taillight.

1931 Marmon Sixteen Victoria Coupe
Teague's design is simpler, more austere than usual for the very early 1930s.  The grille seems rather architectural, perhaps because because some early car stylists and industrial designers had training in architecture, or like Teague, had a youthful interest in the subject.

The Victoria Coupe was rated as a five-passenger car, so there was no need for a rumble seat.  Built-in trunks, as seen here, were rare on multi-passenger cars in those days.