Locomobile Company of America - Model 48 and The Durant Years

Model 48 and The Durant Years

The most important model for the marque became the impressive Model 48. Introduced in 1919, it had a very conservative, perhaps dated, concept. It had a conventional but huge chassis with a wheelbase of 142 in. Its engine was a straight-six with side valves; cylinders were still cast in pairs and it featured a non-removable cylinder head. Displacement was 525 c.i., giving it a 48.6 H.P. tax rating by North American Chamber of Commerce (N.A.C.C.). Quality of materials and workmanship were impeccable and among the best in the world. Such was its pricing: A typical open-bodied cost about $10,000 when the average Model T Ford Phaeton cost about $300.

In 1922 Locomobile was acquired by Durant Motors, which not only continued using the Locomobile brand name for their top-of-the-line autos until 1929 but still produced the Model 48 until the demise in 1929. Until the mid-twenties, this car was Locomobile's only offering. In 1925, the marque brought out their first new model, the 8-66 Junior Eight, with a more contemporary straight-eight-cylinder engine - and, above all, more modestly priced at $1,785.

1926 saw the introduction of an even smaller Junior Six, but this car stayed only for one model year. The larger model 90 that appeared in the same year was produced until 1929.

With the 8-70, Locomobile added one more eight-cylinder car. In the following year, the Junior Eight 8-66 was phased out.

For 1929, a new 8-86 and 8-88 came out but it was too late so save the company. Locomobile died when its parent company, Durant Motors, failed. Production of the volume cars Durant and Rugby lasted until 1933 but that did not help Locomobile.