Graham Paige

US, 1927 – 1941

Graham Paige Motors Corp, Detroit, Mich.

The Graham brothers, Joseph, Robert and Ray, acquired the old Paige concern in 1927. Their Graham Paige cars were conventional machines noted for their internal-expanding hydraulic front wheel brakes and 4-speed ‘twin-top’ gearboxes, and 78.000 Graham Paige cars were sold in their first year of production. The range embraced three sixes and two eights, the biggest of these being the ‘Graham Paige 835’ with an 11ft 5in wheelbase and a 5.3-litre engine. One of these straight-8 Graham Paige cars won the last race ever held on the Brooklands Motor Course in August 1939. The name of the Graham Paige make was simplified to Graham for the 1931 season, though design underwent little alteration until the arrival of the 1932 Graham Blue Streaks, headed by a 4-litre eight which introduced skirted front wings to the American market and was immortalized in the ‘Tootsie Toys’ found in many a nursery of the 1930s. 1934 8-cylinder Graham Paige cars were available with a centrifugal supercharger rotating at 5¾ times the engine speed, which gave them a top speed of 95mph. After 1935 only sixes were made by the Graham Paige car factory, the 3½-litre Graham Cavalier being listed in 80bhp unblown and 112bhp blown versions, both with aluminium cylinder heads – this chassis of this Graham Paige car formed the basis of the Anglo-American Lammas. Despite an attempt to compete in the lowest-priced field with the 2.8-litre Graham Crusader at $595 (it cost less than £300 in England), Graham Paige achieved little beyond three successive outright wins in the Gilmore-Yosemite Ecoonmy Run, though these small Graham Paige sixes were copied by Nissan of Japan. An ugly concave nose and spatted rear wheels characterized the 1938 and 1939 Graham Paige cars, which were 3½-litre Graham cars available with or without superchargers. The Graham Paige company’s final fling was the 1940 Hollywood, which made use of the body dies from Cord’s 810/812 series. Like Hupmobile’s very similar Skylark, this was not a commercial success, and after World War 2 Graham-Paige joined forces with Henry J. Kaiser to build the Kaiser and Frazer cars: the latter were named after Graham-Paige’s President Joseph W. Frazer.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS
The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com