Grandpa's Marmon, Where Are You?

[Guest Taminie]

I am on a quest to locate my grandfathers 1932 Marmon, just to preserve a bit of family history and satisfy our curiosity as to where it might be.

My grandfather was Norman F. Beck from Anderson, IN. He was involved in the Antique Car Club from 1960 to 1980-ish.

Here's what I know about the car:

It was a 1932 16 cylinder Marmon Victoria Coupe, black and originally owned by the Eli Lily family. My grandfather bought it in the thirties and sold it just before his death in 1982. The gentleman who bought it was a doctor from Saint Louis who owned several other Marmons. The family story is that the doctor's wife did not know of his Marmon habbit; he had them stored in a warehouse. He paid cash.

The doctor arrived with a mechanic and a semi to haul the car and all the parts and tooling my grandfather had made for the car. My grandfather was a tool and die maker.

I am new to this process of "posting" etc. but willing to learn. I would love to hear from anyone who knew my grandfather, or knows has any memory or history of his last Marmon, he owned several in his life time, along with many others. Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

[Guest Indianfour]

I was a member of the Classic Car Club of America in the mid sixties as well as being a member of the Indiana Region of the same Club. Norman Beck was a member during those same years and he would drive his Marmon down to Indianapolis whenever we had exhibitions to do; either at Shopping Malls or any other car shows. I am sure that he attended the Grand Classic judging shows that were held every July at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on several occasions.

Who could forget the body lines on that car! There is not many closed cars that are attractive as far as body lines are concerned but this car was an exception! With that lllooonnnggg hood and rather small body, it really stood out!

Most of all, it was a joy to talk to Norman about his experiences with the car, especially during World War 11 when gasoline was rationed. Somehow, he dropped eight cylinders and ran the car on the other eight! He was quite an innovator and he was surely a joy to talk to!

I had to drop out of the Classic Car Club but I have often wondered what happened to that beautiful-bodied car and to Norman. I am sure that other members of the Indiana Region Club could surely tell you more about this Indiana built car and its former owner. Don Knight of Edinburg

[ronbarn]

Taminie, We (members of The Marmon Club) have had some success with searches like this one. I am the editor for our newsletter and will be happy to place an item in the next issue. Contact me at ronbarn@otelco.net

[Guest p38nut]

I remember that this car showed up at one of our Model A club monthly drives. As I remember it was black or dark blue. It was in original unrestored condition. I also remember him telling me the story about WWII. I believe that he removed one of the distributers and block off the intake manifold to 8 of the cylinders. This man loved to talk. This would have been approx. 1974-75 as best I can recollect. Good Hunting.