The Gardner Auto Company made cars for 11 years beginning in 1920. Russel Gardner got into the auto business in St. Louis when he contracted with Chevrolet in 1914 to build their car bodies. Later, his factory began assembling complete Chevrolet cars.
In 1919, Gardner sold his assembly business to General Motors to move on to building cars under his own name. He did quite well. The first cars were equipped with Lycoming 4-cylinder engines. Later, the Company produced its own 6-cylinder and finally a V-8. Russel Gardner was in contract negotiations in 1929 with the Sears Company to build cars for Sears catalog orders. But fate had other plans. The Great Depression gripped the US. Sears withdrew. The Gardner Company limped along until 1931. Ultimately, another fine auto company had to close its doors.