Gray-Dort Memorabilia

A photograph showing detail of a brass desk ornament that belonged to William M. Gray, Vice-President Gray-Dort Motors Ltd. and son of Robert Gray, founder of Gray-Dort Motors. The ornament has the logo of the Lycoming Motors Corporation and is engraved with the name William M. Gray. Lycoming was the manufacturer of the four-cylinder engine used in most Gray-Dort automobiles. Some later models were equipped with a six-cylinder Falls engine. The following information was obtained from a press release on the web site of Lycoming Textron.
The Lycoming Story. Begun in 1845 as a company that produced sewing machines, bicycles, typewriters, duplicators, gas irons and printing presses, the company evolved into the Lycoming Foundry and Machine Company in Williamsport, PA in 1908. By 1910 they produced their first automobile engine. Over the next 25 years, Lycoming produced 57 different engines models powering over 250 different automobiles, including the famous Cord, Auburn, Duesenberg, and Checker, along with thousands of truck engines. In 1928, Lycoming started production of its famous marine racing engines that won many Gold Cups and powered the famous Guy Lombardo racing team. In 1929, Lycoming developed a 9-cylinder radial piston engine for aircraft and over 25,000 were built. In 1938 they developed the GO-145 opposed cylinder engine that was used by Igor Sikorsky in the first successful helicopter. In the years since, Lycoming has produced more than 300,000 opposed piston aircraft engines and powers more than half of the piston powered aircraft in the world. Today, Lycoming is a unit of the giant Textron Corporation. Further information is available at http://www.lycoming.textron.com/
Story by Ronald Gray, William M. Gray's son