Marmon Model 34 History

Launched in 1916, the Model 34 was one of the most technically advanced American cars of its day. It made extensive use of aluminum — in the body, in chassis components, and in its overhead-valve straight-six engine — to cut weight to roughly 3,300 pounds, light for a full-size luxury car of the era.

To showcase its capability, a Model 34 was driven coast to coast in 1916 in under six days, beating the transcontinental record set by Erwin 'Cannonball' Baker by a wide margin — a publicity coup that reinforced Marmon's reputation for engineering. By 1920 more than 11,000 Model 34s had been built.

Its overhead-valve straight-six displaced 340 cubic inches — the source of the '34' name. The long-lived Model 34 (and its revised 34B and 34C versions) carried Marmon through the late 1910s and early 1920s as the marque's mainstay before new models replaced it for 1924.