Is anybody here a fan of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries. If so, to you remember the brand name of his automobile (I'm pretty sure it was a fictional brand.) I could, of course, go read all hundred (or however many there were) of those books in search for the answer, but I thought I'd try here first.
Googled for Nero Wolfe car.
https://www.nerowolfe.org/htm/tidbits/tidbits.htm
As many of us know, there was never a Heron automobile. A fan from Germany, Lutz-R ü diger Busse, has a credible theory on the origin of the naming of Mr. Wolfe's vehicle. An early engineer from Alexandria, Heron, is credited with inventing the first steam powered automobile. More information can be found on Wikipedia. See Lutz-R's Gazette site (in German) for a LOT of Wolfean information.
Cadillac Hood Ornament 1930-1932 Heron hood ornament
Breck Swords submits the following theory, which has additional credence given that in some later books Archie chauffeurs Mr. Wolfe in Wolfe's Cadillac:
From 1930 to 1932, when Stout began writing the Wolfe novels, the hood ornament on the Cadillac and LaSalle cars was a stylized heron, as noted on several Cadillac history web sites.
For additional images, just search Google or Bing images for "Cadillac Heron Hood Ornament," using the quotation marks to narrow the search.
Rex Stout owned and drove Cadillacs.
there was never a Heron automobile
Oddly enough, IIRC, there used to be a UK company called Heron. And there are personnel links through to the company developing a Land Rover competitor, the Ineos Grenadier.
AJ
Herons were mostly kit cars out of New Zealand
IIRC, the Heron I was thinking off was a multi-dealership chain based in the UK's North East.
So you've just found a third 'Heron' with car associations ;-)
AJ
From Wikipedia:
The books frequently mention brands that do not exist: for instance, Wolfe owns a Heron automobile, which Archie drives, and Wethersill automobiles are also mentioned.