"The Wayne" and "the Huffman": two marques that do not verify

Claimed for the brass era; tested 2026

The claim: A Cliff Richards column in the Journal Gazette, preserved by local historian Bob DeVinney and quoted in the News-Sentinel's 2000 history of the period, names the Economy "along with the two other makes of cars once built in Fort Wayne, the Wayne and the Huffman." If true, Fort Wayne built three marques. DeVinney's own verdict follows in the same breath: "But I couldn't find anything about them."

The test: No Fort Wayne directory listing, trade-press notice, or marque catalog reached for this section records an automobile called the Wayne or the Huffman built in Fort Wayne. The Waynes the record does hold are other cities': the Wayne Automobile Company of Detroit (1904–08) and the Wayne Works of Richmond, Indiana (1904–17), builders of the Richmond. The documented Huffman is Huffman Brothers of Elkhart, Indiana (1918–24). A Fort Wayne columnist's recollection, unseconded by any directory or trade source and expressly unverified by the local historian who preserved it, is not enough to print two more Fort Wayne marques into existence. They are recorded here as an unattributed claim that testing does not sustain — and as the reason the count in this section stands at two Fort Wayne marques, not four.

Sources:

1. Cliff Richards column, Journal Gazette, quoted in Connie Haas Zuber, News-Sentinel (2000) — the "Wayne" and "Huffman" names, with Bob DeVinney's "But I couldn't find anything about them."
2. Standard marque registers for the Wayne Automobile Company (Detroit, 1904–08), the Wayne Works (Richmond, Indiana, 1904–17), and Huffman Brothers (Elkhart, Indiana, 1918–24) — the documented homes of both names.