The 1917 White “Sixteen Valve 4”, known as the Model GM by the maker, was the last car model made by the White Motor Company in Cleveland, Ohio. This was an offshoot of the eponymous truck and agricultural tractors maker, soon to become a world giant for trucks. The wartime advertisement shown here was certainly consistent with the name, a white body for a White car with White engine and White carburetter. This make shared with Vauxhall a tapering flute through the radiator and bonnet top. The artist used for this advertisement and others was Earle Grantham Teale who used military and industrial backgrounds for this work. The designer chosen for the nine different bodies offered on the White “Sixteen Valve 4” during 1916-17 was Frenchman Leon Rubay (1870-1937). His styles were very advanced for the time. The four valves per cylinder claim was rare, possibly unique, for a U.S. car of the period but Peugeot in Europe had this feature in 1912.
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