Walter Lorenzo Marr was an automotive pioneer and engineer who worked with

David Dunbar Buick David Dunbar Buick (September 17, 1854 – March 5, 1929) was a Scottish-born American Detroit-based inventor, best known for founding the Buick Motor Company. He headed this company and its predecessor from 1899–1906, thereby helping to ...

perfecting the first Buick production automobiles. He worked with Mr. Buick a number of times around the turn of the century, building Buick's first two one-off vehicles. He was the Buick Motor Company's first chief engineer from 1904 through 1918, staying on as consulting engineer until 1923. He was also the founder of the Marr Auto Car CompanyMarr Auto Car Company
/ref> in 1903 which produced the Marr Auto Car. The Marr Auto Car was one of the world's first automobiles with an

overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

(OHC) engine. Possibly his most important achievement was building one of the first

overhead valve engines An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located bel ...

(OHV). This he did in 1898 when he built a trike that weighed 118 pounds, and whose single cylinder had a bore and stroke of 3 inches each. He brought the concept of the overhead valve engine with him to Buick in 1901, where the invention was patented to Buick's chief engineer Eugene Richard in 1904 (applied 1902). Mr. Marr also built a prototype

Cyclecar A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the car. A key ...

in 1915 which was very narrow seating the passenger behind the driver. The car never made it to production, but the original prototype still exists today. His papers are archived at

Kettering University Kettering University is a private university in Flint, Michigan. It offers Bachelor of Science, bachelor of science and master's degree, master’s degrees in Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, STEM (science, technology, engineeri ...

. He had a cottage in

Signal Mountain, Tennessee Signal Mountain is a town in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The town is a suburb of Chattanooga and is located on Walden Ridge. "Signal Mountain" is used as a colloquial name for the part of Walden Ridge close to the town. The tow ...

where he also built a large home in which to retire.

References

External links

SHOW AUTOISTS OVERSPEED.; Bicycle Policemen Capture Three After Long, Hard Chases.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marr, Walter 1865 births 1941 deaths American manufacturing businesspeople American automotive pioneers Buick People from Flint, Michigan People from Lexington, Michigan People from Signal Mountain, Tennessee American automotive engineers American automobile designers