or standard sedan. It was initially priced at $1,595, but by the end of 1929 had become worth $1,695. During his 1930 visit to the United States to attempt a land speed record in the Silver Bullet, British racer Kaye Don used a Viking for casual driving and to test the terrain of his record attempt. A retrospective noted it as a "fine car" that "doubtless...would have survived" but for the Great Depression. After Buick sales had declined in the previous several years and following the successes of Pontiac and LaSalle, Buick introduced Marquette to showrooms on June 1, 1929, for the 1930 model year. Unlike Buick, which was noted for its overhead valve engine, the Marquette had a flathead six-cylinder engine based on Oldsmobile's. A prominent selling point was its fine engineering and craftsmanship; its engineers remarked that one could drive it at without damaging the engine, and one was driven from Death Valley to Pikes Peak without any issues. Other standard features included an air cleaner and a large muffler. Having a wheelbase with its engine making , it was offered as a roadster, phaeton, one of two styles of coupe, or one of two styles of sedan. It possessed distinctive styling, with a portly shape that led to its sobriquet of "the pregnant Buick" and a herringbone radiator, to distinguish it from other GM makes. Demise and legacy The beginning of the Great Depression made the Viking unprofitable for Oldsmobile, which had trouble selling its own models that were just under half the price, and it was discontinued at the end of 1930. Existing parts were assembled into the final Vikings for the 1931 model year. The Depression was similarly unkind to Marquette, which, having failed to resuscitate Buick's sales, was discontinued at the end of the 1930 model year, after about 35,000 units were made and mere months after dealerships had been mailed signs to put up advertising their presence. Two factors working against the Marquette were its flathead engine, which irked fans of Buick's overhead valve philosophy, and its six-cylinder engine, which was incompatible with Buick's decision to offer only eight-cylinder cars for 1931. After its discontinuation, the Marquette's body design was used in Buicks. The production tools for the engine were exported to Germany and used by Opel, GM's European subsidiary, for their Blitz truck. LaSalle fared better; initially selling a quarter of the