The Marmon Motor Company

 The Marmon Motor Company, formerly the Nordyke and Marmon Company, produced approximately 250,000 vehicles between 1903 and 1933, but they only made one Wasp.

The Wasp race car received its name in the press from its unique shape and color scheme. It was designed for speed in revolutionary ways, and not because of its six-cylinder, 477-cubic-inch engine with a full-pressure oiling system. Ray Harroun designed the car with a distinctive long, pointed tail to reduce drag. It was designed to seat only one, defying the racing norms of the day for a second mechanic seat, but it enhanced its aerodynamics and reduced its weight in doing so. After the safety complaints of other drivers, Harroun installed the first known rearview mirror, an innovation that gave him a sizeable advantage.

In 1910, the Wasp won the Wheeler-Schebler Race, driving at a slower pace to avoid tire blowouts. It was this tactic, combined with Harroun’s design and skills behind the wheel, that surprised the crowd of 80,000 at the first-ever Indianapolis 500 race on May 30, 1911. The Wasp made four pit stops with no blowouts on Firestone tires with an average speed of 74.6mph, while its closest competitor changed 14 tires. Harroun started from position 28 but led for 88 laps and still holds the record - no one has ever come from 28th (or beyond) starting position to win a race. Taking just 6:24:08 to win the 500-mile race, Harroun took $14,250 of the largest racing purse ever offered to that date, $27,550 against 45 other vehicles from around the world. After this victory that helped the success of Marmon’s automobile business, the Marmon Motor Company retired from building race cars to focus on their other vehicles. 50 years later at the age of 79, Ray Harroun would come out of retirement and get behind the wheel once again for the 50th anniversary of the Indianapolis circuit in 1961. Today, the legendary automobile resides in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

Beginning in 1980, craftsmen and designers were given permission to measure, in exact detail, the dimensions of the original Wasp. Taking 19,000 man hours and the fabrication of over 1,500 parts, this recreation pays tribute to the historical feats of Harroun and Marmon. It can reach speeds over 80 mph with its Advanced Six dual-ignition Nash engine paired with its three-speed manual transmission sourced from a 1929 Nash.

• The car rides on a Nash chassis and features leaf springs, radius rods, friction-plate dampers, four-wheel drum brakes, and 21″ wood-spoke wheels with metal covers as well a black vinyl bench seat, dual windscreens, a rearview mirror, brass headlights, turn signals, and an electronic speedometer. 
• Details include a center-hinged hood secured with a leather strap as well as hood side panel vents, brass headlights, dual windscreens, an engine hand crank, and turn signals.
• Wood-spoke wheels with yellow-painted metal covers are mounted with 5.25×21″ Firestone Deluxe Champion tires that show sidewall cracks. Wheelbase: 121 in.
• Front and rear suspension is handled by elliptical leaf springs in conjunction with radius rods and knee-action friction-disc dampers, and braking is provided by drums at all four corners.
• The cockpit features a black vinyl bench seat, black-painted diamond-plate floorboards, a floor shifter, and a grab handle on the right.
• the four-spoke steering wheel for this replica features a brass center cap engraved with “Speedway Special” and “1911”. It fronts a wooden dashboard with brass controls and switches.
• A visored Timewise 825 electronic speedometer, which is manufactured to size and appearance guidelines for use in The Great Race antique vehicle transcontinental rally, is situated beneath a wedge-shaped rearview mirror assembly mounted centrally on the cowl ahead of the dashboard rim. Separate gauges for oil-, air-, and fuel-pressures, along with vacuum and coolant temperature, are mounted on and about the car, the engine, and the carburetor. There is no odometer, and true mileage is unknown.
• The 279ci inline-six comes from a 1929 Nash Advanced Six and features dual ignition with 12 spark plugs—six in the block and six in the cylinder head—as well as overhead valves, seven main bearings, dual fuel pumps, and a Marvel 10-103 carburetor with a heat riser.

Remarkably, it is also street-legal, as it is fitted with lights, turn signals, and a speedometer in order to drive on public roads, and registered in Rhode Island. 

*Winner of the Augie Duesen­berg award at the Auburn-Cord Duesen­berg Festival Concours d'Elegance in Auburn, Indiana.*

VIN: NEBR006393

Title: US

Available for Sale Here.