1926 Gardner Six Sedan, 2nd Series 🇺🇸

Russel Garnder got into the business of manufacturing buggies in the St. Louis area in the late 1800s. When the automobile appeared on the scene he quickly deduced that this was the future. He transitioned his business from buggies to manufacturing bodies for Chevrolet, which was not yet part of General Motors.

By 1915, Gardner, along with his sons, Russell Jr and Fred, were manufacturing complete cars for Chevrolet and controlled the distribution of the cars in the Mississippi Valley. When World War I broke out, both sons joined the Navy and Russel sr sold the business to General Motors.

After the Armistice,  Russell Jr and Fred founded the Gardner Motor Company, installing their father as Chairman of the board. They would build an assembled car using Lycoming engines and bodies of their own design from outside suppliers. Introduced in 1919 as a 1920 model, the Garner was aimed squarely at the middle market.

Unlike many other car companies, Gardner saw steady growth of sales while others struggled with the deep recession that hit in 1920-21. Gardner actually saw their best sales in the early 1920s, with a peak of 6,373 cars in 1921. By 1924, sales had fallen below 4500 cars and would never recover. Despite relatively small sales, the company was profitable through the 1927 model year.

Gardener was in talks with Sears, Roebuck and company about building a car for them to be sold through their catalogs when the stock market crash ended all conversation. Gardner even proposed a front wheel drive car with six- cylinder engine and four wheel hydraulic brakes for 1930, but this would never get past the prototype phase.

In 1931 Russel Gardner Jr, asked stockholders for permission to abandon the automobile business. By doing a self liquidation of the company, the Russels actually made money on their exit from the industry, a rarity amongst their peers.