CN
III ARCHIVES
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
E
ven without the 1929 Stock Market collapse
and the subsequent Depression, the American
motorcycle industry was in trouble. Indian, the
venerable Springfield, Massachusetts-based man-
ufacturer, was down to producing a scant 5000
motorcycles per year. There was a skeleton crew
at the factory and financially it was looking bleak.
The company's original founders, George Hendee
and Oscar Hedstrom, had been gone for over a
decade. By the late 1920s Indian was run by a
board of finance men who were more interested in
squeezing every dollar out of the company rather
than producing a quality motorcycle.
The board was also big into diversifying by ac-
quiring often questionable non-motorcycling com-
panies. One of those acquisitions was DuPont
Motors, a luxury auto maker founded by members
of the duPont family. It was another one of those
dubious acquisitions by Indian, but along with the
takeover came a board seat with Indian for the car
company's E. Paul duPont.
From his position as a Director E. Paul began to
examine the inner workings of Indian. Worse than
the incompetent company management, duPont
found insider trading and possible stock manipu-
lation. With this information he forced Indian's
leadership out and took control of the company.
With the help of trusted associate Loren "Joe"
Hosley, duPont began to slash overhead and
divest Indian of unprofitable product lines. He
refocused the company on its core business
of building motorcycles and slowly, but surely
Indian once again began to thrive.
E. Paul duPont ran the Indian Motocycle
Company from 1930 to 1945. He took over the
reins of the struggling firm in the early part of the
Great Depression, yet managed to put Indian on
better financial footing by the end of the 1930s.
Under his guidance, Indian set the standard
for motorcycle design, introducing the popular
streamlined art-deco style with the Indian Chief
that many other manufacturers copy to this day.
Under duPont, Indian was also the leading fac-
tory in early AMA Class C racing competition
with rider Ed Kretz becoming Class C racing's
first big star.
Eleuthere Paul duPont was born on April 24,
1887 into the renowned duPont family, which
controlled an industrial empire. DuPont was
interested in all things mechanical from a young
age. As a teenager, he built his own engine that
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