To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' Hershey
event, 10 - 11 October 2019.
Estimate:
$15,000 - $25,000
- Buick's companion make
- One-year-only model; one of 889
- High-quality restoration
The so-called "companion makes" were children of the 1920s, models
re-branded to sell in a different market segment. The most famous
is Oakland's less-expensive Pontiac, which was so successful that
it overtook its parent. Most, however, were transitory, like
Paige's Jewett in 1922, the first of the genre; Edsel might be
considered the last, the spawn of both Ford and Mercury.
Buick was late to the companion game and embraced it only
tentatively and briefly. Introduced on 1 June 1929 as a 1930 model,
the Marquette was smaller and less expensive than the entry-level
Series 40 Buick. It eschewed the parent's hallmark valve-in-head
engine for an L-head six of 213 cubic inches and 67 bhp, and it
rode a very un-Buick-like 114-inch wheelbase. Priced at $990 to
$1,060, it was hardly an economy car by that year's standards. With
barely 35,000 sold in that season, Buick pulled the plug. There
would not be another "small" Buick until the "senior compact"
Special in 1961.
This Model 35 Marquette was purchased by the Merrick Auto Museum in
2012. Painted tan with black fenders, it has brown body moldings
with black pinstriping. Varnished wood artillery wheels carry 28 �
5.50 wide whitewall tires on demountable rims, and dual side-mount
spares sport chrome tread covers with mirrors. The upholstery is
wide-pleated tan leather; the tan canvas top has natural wood bows.
Other accessories include etched-pattern wind wings, a MotoMeter on
the radiator cap, and an adjustable steering column.
With so few Marquettes built, survivors are necessarily rare. The
phaeton, with 889 built, must be the rarest of the rare, and it is
certainly the best one available today.To view this car and others
currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/hf19.
