Mystery Sedan

[Randy in ca]

This was posted on another forum a couple of days ago and all of the suggestions had all kinds of significant differences.  Anyone any idea?

 

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[58L-Y8]

It's a 1928 Wolverine which was a smaller, lower-priced companion car built by REO Motor Co. of Lansing, Michigan.  Unlike their main Flying Cloud line for which REO built their own six-cylinder engines, the Wolverine was powered by a 199 ci Continental six-cylinder engine.  Many of the latter 1920's companion cars initially promoted as a separate nameplate were folded into the main lines as a model which happened to Wolverine for 1929, becoming REO Flying Cloud Mate.

[TerryB]

Those companion makes sure are interesting in the automobile history world.  I was trying to use the hub cover  to id it but couldn’t find a match.  Of course I never entered Wolverine in my search.  Do you think there are many survivors of that brand?

[58L-Y8]

20 minutes ago, TerryB said:

Those companion makes sure are interesting in the automobile history world.  I was trying to use the hub cover  to id it but couldn’t find a match.  Of course I never entered Wolverine in my search.  Do you think there are many survivors of that brand?

The companion car 'craze' by medium-priced automakers largely seems to have been instigated by the success Hudson was having with Essex and GM introducing the Pontiac to bolster Oakland.  Studebaker jumps in with Erskine and later Rockne, REO with Wolverine, Marmon with Roosevelt, Willys-Overland with both Whippet and Falcon-Knight.   Nash tried Ajax, Chandler fielded Cleveland, Paige gave Jewett a go but ultimately most all were folded into the main nameplate as a model or dropped.  Even GM had to nix both Buick's Marquette and Oldsmobile's Viking due to the Depression taking hold.  Strangest was Pontiac usurping Oakland.  LaSalle ultimately did serve parent Cadillac a very useful role in opening up an avenue for Cadillac to first explore the lower-price segment of the premium market which it could finally occupy without tarnishing its luxury reputation.  

 

As far as Wolverine survivors, maybe a handful, probably owned by REO club members.  No production figures have been reported for its brief existence.

 

Steve

 

[nzcarnerd]

1 hour ago, 58L-Y8 said:

The companion car 'craze' by medium-priced automakers largely seems to have been instigated by the success Hudson was having with Essex and GM introducing the Pontiac to bolster Oakland.  Studebaker jumps in with Erskine and later Rockne, REO with Wolverine, Marmon with Roosevelt, Willys-Overland with both Whippet and Falcon-Knight.   Nash tried Ajax, Chandler fielded Cleveland, Paige gave Jewett a go but ultimately most all were folded into the main nameplate as a model or dropped.  Even GM had to nix both Buick's Marquette and Oldsmobile's Viking due to the Depression taking hold.  Strangest was Pontiac usurping Oakland.  LaSalle ultimately did serve parent Cadillac a very useful role in opening up an avenue for Cadillac to first explore the lower-price segment of the premium market which it could finally occupy without tarnishing its luxury reputation.  

 

As far as Wolverine survivors, maybe a handful, probably owned by REO club members.  No production figures have been reported for its brief existence.

 

Steve

 

Regarding Wolverine production figures, the Serial Number Book for US cars suggests 14,299.

 

This Wolverine in NZ was restored in the 1980s by a previous owner, built as a boattail roadster presumably because the original sedan body rotted away. It has the later 215 cid Continental 16E engine, compared with the 199cid 15E engine fitted to most of them. 

 

 

Until this year it was on wood wheels but the current owner has found some wires to fit. I am not sure what from but I see that Ford hubcaps fit. He has put Michelin radial tyres on.

 

 

The last photo is a Reo Mate in NZ when new in early 1929. I am guessing that not very many of these were imported.

 

 

 

[Randy in ca]

5 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

It's a 1928 Wolverine which was a smaller, lower-priced companion car built by REO Motor Co. of Lansing, Michigan.  Unlike their main Flying Cloud line for which REO built their own six-cylinder engines, the Wolverine was powered by a 199 ci Continental six-cylinder engine.  Many of the latter 1920's companion cars initially promoted as a separate nameplate were folded into the main lines as a model which happened to Wolverine for 1929, becoming REO Flying Cloud Mate.

Thanks for the ID Steve and all for all the other good information.  Looks like the 2 main body features that differentiate this Wolverine from other models were the windshield visor and the shape of the Belt Line on the rear Quarter Panel.  Obviously a very rare model - I could only find 2 pictures online showing the two features mentioned.  One picture was denoted as a 1928 and the other a 1929.  Neither picture is from a good angle to show the belt line difference, but looking close I think it's there on both. 

[nzcarnerd]

16 minutes ago, Randy in ca said:

Thanks for the ID Steve and all for all the other good information.  Looks like the 2 main body features that differentiate this Wolverine from other models were the windshield visor and the shape of the Belt Line on the rear Quarter Panel.  Obviously a very rare model - I could only find 2 pictures online showing the two features mentioned.  One picture was denoted as a 1928 and the other a 1929.  Neither picture is from a good angle to show the belt line difference, but looking close I think it's there on both. 

The Standard Catalog says there was only ever one model of the Wolverine. It initially appeared in Spring 1927 as a two door brougham at $1195, and a sedan at $1295 was added in July 1928. Its replacement, the Mate, was introduced in December 1928. Funnily enough the body side moulding is similar to that seen on Studebakers for a few months in 1928.  

 

 

[Gunsmoke]

The horizontal hood louvres are a unique identifier as well.

[58L-Y8]

Thanks, nzcarnerd and Randy in ca for filling out the details, photos of other survivors and the production numbers.  Many times, a few details stick in one's mind to identify makes of obscure cars.  In the case of the Wolverine, REO resolved their belt-line molding with the curved ends to form a panel that could be painted to highlight it, similar to Studebaker but just enough different.  

 

The other Wolverine feature that stuck with me were the horizontal hood louvres as Gunsmoke points out.  But they strike me as so plain and generic, they could have been lifted off a furnace or some other utility cabinet vent panel...

 

[Oldtech]

26 minutes ago, 58L-Y8 said:

 

 

The other Wolverine feature that stuck with me were the horizontal hood louvres as Gunsmoke points out.  But they strike me as so plain and generic, they could have been lifted off a furnace or some other utility cabinet vent panel...

 

They fixed that with the "Mate" and the swoopy line on the hood.

[nzcarnerd]

1 hour ago, 58L-Y8 said:

Thanks, nzcarnerd and Randy in ca for filling out the details, photos of other survivors and the production numbers.  Many times, a few details stick in one's mind to identify makes of obscure cars.  In the case of the Wolverine, REO resolved their belt-line molding with the curved ends to form a panel that could be painted to highlight it, similar to Studebaker but just enough different.  

 

The other Wolverine feature that stuck with me were the horizontal hood louvres as Gunsmoke points out.  But they strike me as so plain and generic, they could have been lifted off a furnace or some other utility cabinet vent panel...

 

Several other makers went with horizontal louvres for 1929, including Marmon, Peerless, Stutz and Jordan.

 

Standard was one UK make that used them in the early 1930s - Standard 1933 (classiccarcatalogue.com)

[CHuDWah]

13 hours ago, nzcarnerd said:

Several other makers went with horizontal louvres for 1929, including Marmon, Peerless, Stutz and Jordan.

 

Standard was one UK make that used them in the early 1930s - Standard 1933 (classiccarcatalogue.com)

 

Just my taste, but vertical louvers look better than horizontal - I really like the curved panel on the Mate.