Gardner started by building new Chevrolet bodies in 1915. Then in 1919 the first Gardner automobile was produced by The Gardner Motor Co.

RAISE a hand if you have ever heard of Russell E. Gardner.

Okay, raise a hand if you have ever seen a Gardner. No, again? Such is often the legacy of the independent thinker.

When Russell Gardner left his native Tennessee in 1879, he was so broke that if steamboats were selling for 10 cents apiece the best he could have done was run up and down the bank yelling about how cheap they were. He arrived in St. Louis with less than one dollar to his name.

He found work at a wagon manufacturing facility. He was a hard worker and soon had the position of shop supervisor. He was smart and learned every aspect of the business. He was shrewd, thrifty, and frugal, and within a decade owned the company.

Shortly after the turn of the century, when other wagon manufacturing companies were transitioning to automobile production, Gardner stayed on course. But he diversified and began manufacturing auto bodies for several St. Louis based companies.

In 1915, with initiation of Chevrolet production in St. Louis, Gardner hit pay dirt with a contract that gave him exclusive rights to body production for that company. The following year he was contracted to assembly the entire car for Chevrolet. And the next year after his sons that were partners in the business joined the navy, Gardner sold his manufacturing facility to General Motors. Gardner was now a very wealthy man.

With the signing of the WWI armistice, the Gardner’s, Russell, Russell Jr., and Fred, utilized the proceeds of this sale to establish the Gardner Motor Company, a manufacturer of assembled cars. The company quickly developed a reputation in the St. Louis area as the Gardener was built with an attention to detail from carefully selected components. From the sale of the first car in 1919 the Lycoming powered Gardner sold briskly.

The roadster here was for the 1927 production year.

For 1921, sales topped 3800 units and the following year production surpassed the 9000-vehicle mark. To meet the escalating demand production facilities underwent a dramatic expansion. There was also a vigorous expansion of the national dealer network and establishment of an export division to test viability of international sales. This was a short lived venture as sales in Australia and Canada were anemic.

For a brief period, the from Ford and Chevrolet, Gardner was the top selling car in the St. Louis metropolitan area. And that was before legendary driver Cannonball Baker gave the Gardner national recognition with a stunning mid-winter transcontinental record of seven days, seven hours and eighteen minutes from New York City to Los Angeles in 1924!

The Gardener marketing office deftly capitalized on Cannonball Baker’s exploits. Sales soared in 1925 and nearly 40,000 cars rolled from the factory. As it turned out this was the company’s high point.

Innovative promotion and marketing continued through the 1920s. In 1928 the company authorized construction of a racing balloon as the St. Louis entry for the James Gordon Bennett Cup races. Gardner eight-cylinder cars were also entered in several prestigious races.

Unfortunately, the era of small independent automobile manufacturers was drawing to a close. The dawning of the Great Depression dramatically escalated the demise of these companies.

Sales had been sliding for several years. So, to curb expenditures the company abandoned its eight-cylinder models and focused exclusively on development of six-cylinder engines.

From its inception as a manufacturer of wagons, the Gardner companies had operated from a cautious, conservative position. In 1930, as the company was facing potential financial collapse it came as a surprise to learn that there was to be a radical departure from that conservative stance. A press release in January announced that Gardner was developing a technologically advanced front-wheel drive model.

The 1930 car was really a 1928 model … either way, this was Gardner’s final product.

The car with a stylish Baker-Raulang body on a 133-inch wheelbase would be low slung. It would also feature four-wheel Lockheed hydraulic brakes, two-way hydraulic shock absorbers, and an array of innovations. Only two prototypes were built as the company was hemorrhaging cash.

But before the company closed its doors there were two more interesting chapters in the Gardner story. In late 1929, Gardner made headlines with the announcement of two new contracts. The first contract was to build a mail order automobile for Sears, Roebuck, & Company.

The second contract was a complicated one. It involved Archie Andrews; a swashbuckling entrepreneur cut from the cloth of William Durant but without the business savvy. He had recently acquired Moon and leveraged that company to fund establishment of New Era Motors to produce the front wheel drive Ruxton. These cars were to be built along side the Gardner front wheel drive models.

In October 1930, a hard economic lurch changed everything in the blink of an eye. Within just thirty days Sears canceled its contract and New Era Motors imploded leaving Gardner with an empty bag. The only bright spot for Gardner was styling of the 1928 models were so advanced minimum change enabled them to be sold as 1930 models.

In mid-1931, with little fanfare, Russell Gardner Jr. solicited permission from stockholders to cease manufacture of automobiles. With even less fanfare the Gardner, a monument to independent thinking, became a footnote to the colorful history of the American automotive industry.

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica.com