1934 Reo Royale engine size and MFG.

[alsfarms]

Could a Reo enthusiast reading here please share some information on the 1932-33 Royale model, both for the short wheelbase and the long wheelbase cars. Engine MFG and hp as well as comparison with the next size down Reo product.

Al

[alsancle]

359 Cubic Inch straight eight cast in Nickel Alloy.  Rated at 125HP.  Manufactured by REO.  I know nothing about the cars further down the line up.

[alsfarms]

Did all Royales use the same engine size. Did Reo offer an 8 in any of the lesser lines? How did the wheelbase's evolve?

Al

[alsancle]

4 minutes ago, alsfarms said:

Did all Royales use the same engine size. Did Reo offer an 8 in any of the lesser lines? How did the wheelbase's evolve?

Al

Post some pictures and I'll tell you what the car is.   I believe they had a smaller eight but I'm not sure.  Wheelbases were all over the place 124 to 152.

[alsfarms]

Do most of the Royale series cars have a typical low speed rear end gear ratio? What can be said of the new auto shift transmission technology?

Al

[alsancle]

1 hour ago, alsfarms said:

Do most of the Royale series cars have a typical low speed rear end gear ratio? What can be said of the new auto shift transmission technology?

Al

Depends on the chassis length and body.  The Convertible Coupes had a higher speed ratios than the sedans.   I know nothing about the automatic transmission cars.    Supposedly a Royale was good for 90mph.   I wouldn't know as I have driven my car a total of 1/4 of mile in 10 years.

[58L-Y8]

On 4/1/2024 at 7:21 PM, alsfarms said:

Did all Royales use the same engine size. Did Reo offer an 8 in any of the lesser lines? How did the wheelbase's evolve?

Al

Al:

As A.J. detailed, the REO Royale 358 ci straight eight was designed, engineered and manufactured by REO Motor Company.  The REO models power by that engine were the following:

The timeline:
September 1930: The 1931 Model 8-30 Flying Cloud, 130" wb and 8-35 Royale 135" wb. were both introduced   The Model 8-30 Flying Cloud shared the three closed Royale body types on the 130"wb chassis with hood louvers and a conventional radiator shell.  Prices were $1,995 for the sedan, victoria and coupe, a Sport version of each for $2,080.  Royale prices were $2,485 for each of the three body styles, no convertible coupe yet.

April 1931: The Model 8-30 Flying Cloud, 130" wb is superseded by the Model 8-31 Royale, 131" wb, same body and trim levels as the Model 30 Flying Cloud less $10.  Hood louvers but a painted Royale radiator shell.  The Royale 8-35 continues as is, gains a convertible coupe and eventually joined by a 152" 8-52 limousine.  The model line-up continues through 1934 for both with 131"wb designed N-1, the 135" wb as N-2.

To address your question: "Did Reo offer an 8 in any of the lesser lines?"  Yes.

REO for the 1931 model year had been fielding their 268 ci 6-cylinder Flying Clouds Model 20 and 25 on 120" and 125" wb respectively. Come May 1931, the 6-cylinder Flying Cloud 120" wb becomes Model 6-21 121" wb and is joined by a 268 ci 8-cylinder Model 8-21. During June 1931, the 268 ci 6-cylinder Flying Clouds Model 25 is joined by a 268 ci 8-cylinder Model 8-25.  This continued for the 1932 model year.  All these cars were in the ~$1,200-$1,600 price spread.

So, what was the source of the 268 ci 8-cylinder engines that suddenly appeared?  As might be expected, Continental whom REO had sourced the 199 ci 6-cylinder engine for the Flying Cloud companion car 1927-'28 Wolverine and 214 ci six for the 1929-'30 Flying Cloud Mate.  A Continental R-800 Special 3" X 4.75" bore & stroke 268 ci 8-cylinder was based on a stock Continental design marketed as Models 9K, 14S, 15S, 16S, 18S and 21S.  Various of those engine models had been supplied to Davis, Jordan, Kleiber, Meteor, Ruxton, S&S and Windsor during 1928-'32 model years.  Continental customized their stock engine designs to client spec's, assigned numbers to keep track of what version went to what maker.  

For 1933, the 8-21 and 8-25 models were dropped, likely because of low sales.  But some indication of how poorly these cars may have sold is found in a 1936 Chilton Flat Rate Manual which happens to list serial number for these models:
1931: 8-21: 8B-1 to 8B-743; 8-25: 8C-1 to 8C-73
1932: 8-21: 8B-744 to 8B-1066; 8-25: 8C-74 to 8C-494.

Whether all those 1,560 serial numbers actually were attached to a car that was built is unknown but apparently it wasn't enough to continue the effort.  A number of the smaller manufactures during 1930-'33 sliced and diced models in a vain attempt garner sales.uof 

It took a while, but I think I finally found the answer.
Steve
 

[alsfarms]

Steve,

Thanks for taking the time to school me on the chronologically of REO during their last years building automobiles. It is interesting to me that in an attempt to gain market share the lesser lines of REO outsourced 8 cylinder engines while building the engines for the Royale, top of the REO line in house. Undoubtedly, this was a good attempt to find market share against other makes who were investing in the 8 cylinder market such as Studebaker, Nash, Locomobile and Pierce-Arrow. If a REO Royale finds its way into my possession, sometime in the future, I now at least have a basic knowledge of the REO brand. I am certain other readers here also appreciate your your time to make this posting.

Al

[58L-Y8]

12 minutes ago, alsfarms said:

Steve,

Thanks for taking the time to school me on the chronologically of REO during their last years building automobiles. It is interesting to me that in an attempt to gain market share the lesser lines of REO outsourced 8 cylinder engines while building the engines for the Royale, top of the REO line in house. Undoubtedly, this was a good attempt to find market share against other makes who were investing in the 8 cylinder market such as Studebaker, Nash, Locomobile and Pierce-Arrow. If a REO Royale finds its way into my possession, sometime in the future, I now at least have a basic knowledge of the REO brand. I am certain other readers here also appreciate your your time to make this posting.

Al

Al:

You are welcome, I have been curious about these 1931-'32 REO Flying Cloud 8-21 and 8-25 models and how they came to be.  All manufacturers in the early Depression years were so desperate to generate sales by any method possible, if the addition of an 8-cylinder model they could slot into a price range they thought showed promise then they did it.   REO had developed their own 358 ci straight eight during the heady days of the late 1920's to get a piece of the $2K-$3K segment that was so lucrative for Packard with their Six/Standard Eight. The Royale was ready right as the Depression took hold, unfortunate timing.  Otherwise, they concentrated on their 6-cylinder Flying Cloud series even as 8-cylinder competitors were popping up all around in their medium-priced segment ($1K-$2K), therefore had no smaller 8-cylinder of their own on which to quickly base a new model. 

Their major development funds by 1931-'32 were going into Self-Shifter automatic transmission which they hoped to use as a sales boost for their own cars as well as shop to other carmakers.  With no additional funds to develop a smaller 8-cylinder, they turned to Continental which they had before as I mentioned for the Wolverine and Mate.  After I posted my tome last evening, I recalled that Stutz had sourced an L-head 8-cylinder for their short-lived 1929-'30 Blackhawk which was the same Continental 16S 268 ci as the unit REO employed, so good company.  Desperate times called for desperate measures, that's how the REO Flying Cloud 8-21 and 8-25 came about, not that it did much good.  If you can find a good example of either they would be a real rarity and great addition to your collection.

Steve