Elizabeth was not the only factory where Durant had the Star built. Lansing, Oakland, and Toronto were a few of the other manufacturing factories for the Star. Durant purchased more factories to keep up with demand for the Star.

Durant produced over 100,000 Stars in the first year of production. Even as late as in 1927, Durant reported to have been beating their own sales records, leading them to build more factories around the country. In March of 1928, the Elizabeth plant produced nearly 10,000 cars alone, beating its last record of 8,000 in May of 1923. In the first year of production, more than 60,000 Stars were manufactured and estimates were reaching nearly 20,000 built per month.

Innovation and Model Expansion

Durant would create the first Star Station Wagon; the first mass produced station wagon model on the market. In 1926, the Durant Six, a six cylinder model of the Star, was put on the market, which was only available from 1926 to 1927. The last run of the Star was the Star Four, which ran from 1926 to 1928 and discontinued for the Durant 4.

Decline and Aftermath

Durant Motors ceased operations in 1931 as another casualty of the Great Depression along with many other small American car companies.

The factory that used to be the Durant factory was purchased by the Burry Biscuit Corporation, the manufacturer of Girl Scout Cookies. Burry’s was an Elizabeth based company until they relocated to Saint Charles, Illinois. The factory ceased all operations in 2006. Tragically the building burned down in 2011.