Argonne

Argonne

Words By:
Dr. Fred Simeone

Why The American Sports Car?

This series intends to bring to light the interesting sports cars, like the Argonne, that American manufacturers proposed in their sales literature, in a failing attempt to interest American buyers. Nevertheless, these stillborn vehicles were of interesting design and their memory should be revived. Fortunately, our library has an extensive collection of sales literature which, besides illustrating the cars and their features, hawk a sporting motoring experience.

Argonne

This firm, based out of Jersey City, New Jersey, survived only 2 years, 1919-1920. Named after the French battlefield, it is assumed, the plans were ambitious. Although Argonne had a full line of conventional cars, they also advertised a sports car having “power and speed, capable of 70 miles an hour.” The Argonne automobiles had an unusual four-speed gearbox which was typical of performance vehicles.

Argonne 3

You will notice in the advertisement below that the radiator is an exact copy of the contemporary Austro-Daimler of which very few were seen in America at the time. Nevertheless, they were proud to be associated with “foreign design”.

Argonne Advertisment

The Argonne Four – Of foreign design with four forward speeds. Warranted to do 70 miles an hour – and 20 miles to the gallon of gasoline.

Argonne Sales Advertisement

Hours and Info

6825 Norwitch Drive
Philadelphia, PA 19153
215-365-7233
Tuesday – Friday 10AM through 6PM
Saturday – Sunday 10AM through 4PM
Closed Mondays and Major Holidays

About the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum

Located in Philadelphia, PA, the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum is one of the world’s greatest collections of racing sports cars. Through our theme, “The Spirit of Competition”, we celebrate the history and evolution of these magnificent machines.

Assembled over 50 years by Dr. Frederick Simeone, the Museum contains over 75 historically significant cars including Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, Mercedes, Jaguar, Bentley, Porsche, Aston Martin, Corvette, Ford, and more.

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