CLEVELAND Motor Car Co. / Cleveland / Ohio (1905 - 1909)
When people talk about CLEVELAND automobiles and their emblems, the first thing that comes to mind is the CLEVELAND Automobile Co., which produced fairly successful small 6-cylinder vehicles from 1919 to 1926. After all, they managed to sell around 50,000 units over the course of those eight years. Here, however, I’m referring to an earlier company that was also based in Cleveland, Ohio, under the name CLEVELAND Motor Car Co.
In fact, the last-mentioned brand was likely the first in the U.S. to install an enameled radiator emblem on a radiator. In any case, there is an advertisement from 1907 that explicitly mentions this (see below). I got this information from Kurt Hohl's excellent book *Marque of the Machine*, page 23.
However, it seems that none of these early enameled emblems have survived, which is why I reconstructed it with a little help from AI:
 |
| Is there still an original emblem? |
Size
| ca. 7.0 cm
|
|---|---|
Year
| ca. 1907 - 1908 |
Estimate for an original
|  |
In the meantime, I was able to conduct further research and found what I was looking for. In 1951, a poster produced by the Eaton Corporation appeared in the U.S., featuring 556 American radiator emblems in black and white. Here is an overview photo.
A detailed analysis revealed that a 1907 CLEVELAND emblem was also included. It had been difficult to identify until now because it does not bear the word “CLEVELAND.” But now that the 1907 emblem is known, it was possible. Here is a close-up photo. Conclusion: a 1907 CLEVELAND emblem existed in a collection at least as early as 1951 and therefore likely still exists today. The concerns exist only because the Templar brand also used such an emblem.
At least one hub cap from the early CLEVELAND Motor Car Co. has been preserved in Dennis Kuhn's collection:
For completeness, here is the rather simple emblem of the other brand, the CLEVELAND Automobile Co.
| Size | 7.2 cm x 3.0 cm |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919- 1926 |
| Estimate |  |
 |
| backside without makers mark |
Finally, I was able to find this round CLEVELAND emblem. I suspect it's a late-model radiator emblem and not a hubcap emblem, since those looked different.
| Size | 6.3 cm |
|---|---|
| Year | ca. 1926 |
| Estimate | |
For more emblems see older posts or top right (list of car makers).
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I’d say that when you mention Cleveland, the first thing that comes to mind is the famous V8 engine that Ford manufactured between 1969 and 1982, commonly known as the “Cleveland engine.” BUT THAT’S EXACTLY what makes this article about one of Cleveland’s earliest car brands all the more interesting! The description of the emblem is, of course, very intriguing. Maybe one will turn up somewhere after all? Thanks to Claus and Kurt Hohl, we now at least know what to look for! Thank you very much for the post. Great work :)
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