In the teens and 1920s, the Locomobile 48 was a mighty road giant, a car of top quality, built to last. There were lesser models of the Locomobile as well, offered during the mid-’20s when Billy Durant and Durant Motors had control of the company. But the 48 and nearly as big 90 were the stars of the Locomobile galaxy.

The 48 was so good, in fact, that the corporate heads decided to continue it, virtually unchanged, from the teens right up to the last of the 1929 Locomobiles.

When I was a kid in Oakland, Calif., I was really quite interested in old cars, and carefully read the Tribune auto classified ads — even at age 10 — looking for an occasional old car offered for sale. One day I saw a Locomobile in the classifieds. The odd name intrigued me: Was it half-locomotive and half-car?

It was the first time I’d heard of one, and I asked Mom if she would drive me over to see it. She didn’t, but she did allow me to go to see a yellow and black ‘37 Cord Coupe (a rare body type — only two coupes were built). I went there, sat on the curb near the two-of-a-kind Cord and drew a picture of it (which I colored in with crayon after I got back home).

As for Locomobiles, no others popped up in the classifieds, and I never knew what that mysterious marquee looked like until a few years later when I began collecting old-car advertisements.

Until you saw this picture and story, had YOU heard of a Locomobile? Old cars can be very interesting!

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