Described as “The Most Turbulent Tale in Automotive History,” the Ruxton story of America’s first front-drive automobile is a saga worthy of a big-screen production.
The car was launched at the onset of the Great Depression. Author Jeffrey Godshall described the Ruxton as “a brilliant machine that never had a chance.” The Ruxton journey was twisted, as they placed production under a holding company (New Era Motors) in 1929 and moved through a series of financial and legal battles, corporate takeovers and production machinations to get the car built. With the economy in tatters and no market for high-end cars, they filed for bankruptcy in 1930. This car has a well-known history and is Body 11 of the 12 Ruxton roadsters produced — and it is one of seven remaining.
Actress Rita La Roy, standing next to her 1929 Ruxton sedan, a front-wheel drive automobile produced by the New Era Motors Company of New York during 1929 and 1930.
Popularly called the “cat’s eye headlamp,” it was designed by William G. Wood and was officially known as the Woodlite. It was standard equipment on the Ruxton, but often became a replacement part, for purely aesthetic reasons, on other expensive cars of the period. If one drove at night, this was clearly a problem that forced many owners with Woodlites to purchase auxiliary driving lights. As David LaChance wrote for Hemmings Motor News (October, 2008), for nighttime driving, the Woodlite proved “itself inferior to practically every useful factory headlamp that it replaced.”
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