Argonaut (automobile)

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The Argonaut was an American automobile manufactured from 1959 to 1963.... or at least the company is listed as being in existence during those years. Called the Argonaut Corp., or possibly the Argonaut Motor Machine Corp., it was based in Cleveland, Ohio. The company's president was Richard S. Luntz.

The company announced its production plans for a U.S.-made luxury car in September 1958. This line of vehicles was planned as the finest and most luxurious in the world. The prices quoted ranged from a low of $26,800 to a high of $36,000; a variety of stainless and other special steels were proposed for the car's manufacture. A supercharged V-12 ohc aluminum air-cooled engine developing some 1010 bhp was designed for the Argonaut, and all cars were to carry a four-year guarantee. The company claimed, in its catalogue, that two of its models (the "Smoke" and the "Raceaway") had maximum speeds approaching 240 mph.

A news article about the Argonaut announcement appeared in "The Washington Post" on Sept. 14, 1958, and "Popular Science" magazine published an article with several illustrations in the January 1959 issue, including a photo of a chassis and engine. Cursory research of periodical indexes does not turn up further news stories, or road tests or photos of any completed Argonaut models, leaving open the question of whether the company succeeded in getting its cars to market.

One Argonaut is known to have come into private hands: a prototype consisting of a Chrysler marine V-8 engine mounted in a custom-built rolling chassis, but without any body.

A number of high tech (for the time) features were claimed including special tires with interwoven strands of steel to withstand sustained speeds of 200 mph.