Can you identify this car? -- is it a 1927 Dodge or something else?

A Thanksgiving Road Trip Film: Planes Trains and Automobiles

A 1986 Chrysler Town and Country

Getting home for Thanksgiving, any way one can!  No matter how life is,there is that moment of joy when first getting home for the holidays. Then the joy gets complicated once reality sets in.

One of the funniest depictions of a burned up but somehow running automobile.

Kjell Qvale dies at 94 -- a key individual in bringing the sports car to America! Who is the girl who won the 1974 Jensen Healey?

Photo taken from New York Times Obituary.  Can anyone identify the girl who won this Jensen-Healey in 1974?

Kjell Qvale, who introduced Americans living on the West Coast to the sports car in the years immediately after WWII, died on November 1. A figure as important to the hobby as Max Hoffman was to those living on the East Coast and Chicago, Qvale entered the car business in 1946, investing $8,500 in a Jeep dealership located in Alameda, CA. After taking a trip to New Orleans where he first rode in a MG-TC, he subsequently became an MG dealer and left Jeeps behind.  Qvale's efforts in promoting the MG in Northern California was so significant that in 2005 the Automotive News stated that MG's popularity as the sports car America loved first was "largely because of one man, Kjell Qvale." Later Qvale added other foreign brands, including Aston-Martin, Austin-Healey, Jaguar, Morris, Bentley, Jensen-Healey, Volkswagen and Porsche. By 1970, he operated  more than 100 dealerships. In building this business, Mr. Qvale overcame difficulties in acquiring capital and in developing a parts supply inventory to support his dealerships.

A promoter of sports car racing beginning in 1949, he promoted the first Pebble Beach race in 1950, and then in 1956 the first events at Laguna Seca.

A Select Bibliography of American Road Trip Literature Published before WWII

Bedell, Mary Crehore. Modern Gypsies: The Story of a Twelve Thousand Mile Motor Camping Trip Encircling the United States. New York, 1924.

Copeland, Estella M. Overland by Auto in 1913: Diary of a Family Tour from California to Indiana. Indianapolis, 1913.

Dunn, Edward D. Double-Crossing America by Motor: Routes and Ranches of the West. New York, 1933.

Faris, John T. Roaming American Highways. New York, 1931.

Finger, Charles Joseph. Adventure under Sapphire Skies. New York, 1931.

Gladding, Effie Price. Across the Continent by Lincoln Highway. New York, 1915.

Higner, Dorothy Childs. South to Padre. Boston, 1936.

Hogner, Dorothy Childs. Westward, High, Low and Dry. New York, 1936.

Humphrey, Zephine. Green Mountains to Sierras. New York, 1936.

Post, Emily. By Motor to the Golden Gate. NewYork, 1916.

Stockett, Maria Letitia. America, First, Fast, and Furious. Baltimore, 1930.

Van de Water, Frederic Franklyn. The Family Flivver to Frisco. New York, 1927.

Gail Wise's First Mustang Ever Sold -- and a personal note from Ed Garten

THE FIRST MUSTANG SOLD:  STILL ON THE ROAD

Gail Wise, retired Chicago schoolteacher, on her Mustang�believed to be the first one ever sold�as told to A.J. Baime for the Wall Street Journal (November 13, 2013)

�I bought my Mustang on April 15, 1964, for $3,447.50. I had just graduated from Chicago Teachers College and I told a salesman at Johnson Ford on Cicero Avenue that I wanted a convertible. He had none on the floor, but he invited me into the back room, where he had a baby blue convertible under a tarp. And there it was.

I had never heard of the Mustang. It hadn't been launched yet, but they let me drive it out of the showroom that night. Everyone stared at me. I felt like a movie star! Two days later, Lee Iacocca unveiled the Mustang to the rest of the world at the New York World's Fair.

In 1979, the car's battery got stolen and my husband, Tom, put the Mustang in the garage. It stayed there until 2006, when he fully restored it. A year later, Tom was reading a story about a Mustang purchased the day after I bought mine; that owner claimed to be the first buyer. This summer we brought the Mustang to a car show in Dearborn, Mich., where we met some Ford executives. The car was a hit, and that was the beginning of Ford recognizing us as owners of the first Mustang ever sold.�

Note: A Ford spokesman says Ms. Wise's paperwork convinced the company hers was the first known retail purchase of a Mustang.

A Personal Note from Ed Garten: In May of 1964, my stepfather�s sister purchased an early 1964 Mustang coupe in light blue.  In backwoods West Virginia where we lived the car was the talk of the town and everyone wanted a ride in it.  This was one of the last cars purchased from the Ford dealership owned by my grandfather Garten since in late 1964 he sold the small dealership and retired to Florida.  My late uncle told me that the dealership sold only two Mustangs that first year

Bambi Airstream Trailer pulled by 1957 Buick Caballero Wagon

Ed Garten has pointed out that the 1957 Caballero wagon was a very rare car, a station wagon hardtop! What a cool combination. Anyone know how many of these wagons were made and possibly survive?

The 1958 Packard

This photo was taken by Jenny Wright for the Detroit News Auto Insider at the August, 2013 Auburn In Auction.

The above two photos are of Bob Ebert's 1958 Packard

Cover and Contents for my forthcoming book Stealing Cars: Technology and Society from the Model T to the Gran Torino

Contents

vii     Acknowledgments

  1        INTRODUCTION: Park at Your Own Risk

  7        CHAPTER 1. �Stop, Thief!�

 36       CHAPTER 2. Juvenile Delinquents, Hardened Criminals, and Ineffectual Technological Solutions (1941�1980)

 68       CHAPTER 3. From the Personal Garage to the Surveillance Society

 87       CHAPTER 4. Car Theft in the Electronic and Digital Age (1970s�Present)

115     CHAPTER 5. Mexico, the United States, and International Auto Theft

144     CHAPTER 6. The Recent Past?

157     CONCLUSION: Stealing the American Dream

161    Appendix. Tables Summarizing Various U.S. Automobile Theft Crime Reports and Surveys, 1924�2010

179    Notes?

205    Essay on Sources

211    Index 

Photos of Pink Cadillacs: Mary Kay Cars and Others

The 2013 Society of Automotive Historians' Bradley Award goes to the International Motor Racing Research Center, Watkins Glen, NY.

Ed Garten presenting the Society of Automotive Historians� Bradley Distinguished Service Award to the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen, NY, at the Society�s Annual Meeting held at the Hershey County Club,  Hershey, PA, in early October.  Receiving the award on behalf of the Center was Mr. J. C. Argetsinger, Center President.

The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC) was founded in 1998 with a vision to be the world-class leader in the collection of materials representing the documentary heritage of amateur and professional motor racing, highlighting Sports Car, Formula 1, NASCAR, and vintage and historic racing.  In just fifteen years of existence, it has met that goal.  It has garnered a well-deserved reputation for providing excellent reference service.  Its website is a model�it is easy to use and navigate and provides a wealth of information.  The IMRRC has also partnered with the Southern Tier Library System (of New York State) to make its book catalog available through STARcat, its online catalog.  In-person reference service is equally benchmark.  One writer described the IMRRC as a �people�s research center� that treats everyone with respect.  The IMRRC is an important community resource for both the racing and local Watkins Glen community.  The IMRRC hosts �Center Conversations,� a free series of talks that �take listeners behind the scenes of motorsports.�  The website provides audio downloads of some of the talks.  The IMRRC has done an excellent job in gaining the support of the racecar community.  Some of the members of its Drivers Council include Mario Andretti, Hurley Haywood, Sir Jackie Stewart, and Rusty Wallace.  The IMRRC has a devoted following and from the beginning, it has been enthusiastically supported by racecar drivers, racing fans, journalists, and authors. 

The Society of Automotive Historians was founded in Hershey, Pennsylvania in 1969. The Society is an international organization with nearly 1,000 members around the globe. The Society is an eclectic but serious community of historians that includes academic scholars, automotive journalists, publishers, museum and library professionals, educational and cultural organizations, automotive collectors, automotive restorers and other enthusiasts who may not be automotive professionals.

The membership of the Society encourages research into any aspect of automotive history. The Society actively supports the compilation and preservation of papers, organizational records, print, ephemera and images to safeguard, broaden and deepen the understanding of motorized, wheeled land transportation through the modern age and into the future. The Society promotes and supports the publishing of research findings to reveal automotive history in books, journals and conference papers. The Society supports the efforts of educators to teach college level academic courses and of those who introduce K-12 students to the panorama of automotive history.

The Mercedes Benz 600

Mercedes-Benz 600 (W 100, 1963 to 1981), Pullman Saloon (4-door). Interior with fine wood folding tables and radio.

Mercedes-Benz 600 (W 100, 1963 to 1981), Pullman Landaulet. Center console with tape deck (Pioneer) � including �Saturday Night Fever, Original Movie Soundtrack� cassette � and telephone receiver.

Well folks, this car is a bit out of my price range and class. The ultimate luxury ride for the rich famous want-to-be famous around the world. Here is some text from M-B:

 First presented at the IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt in 1963, the new �Grand Mercedes� is a prestigious, distinguished vehicle � luminaries from around the globe, representing the fields of politics, business and entertainment, used this car to make their big entrance. In terms of technology, the �600� set new standards too, boasting a 6.3-litre V8-engine, air suspension and a novel hydraulic comfort system. The hydraulics enabled not only automatic adjustment of the front and rear seats, but also handled the opening and closing of the car doors, the luggage compartment, the side windows, and the optional sliding sunroof.The five-/six-seater configuration on a standard wheelbase was mostly purchased by highly discerning private customers, whereas the seven-/eight-seater long-wheelbase Pullman and the Landaulet were primarily used as limousines for state dignitaries and other VIPs. Every single one of the 2,677 individually manufactured Mercedes-Benz 600s is unique.

Mercedes-Benz Model 600 (model series W 100, 1964 to 1981). Examples of luxurious travel comfort in 1963: a Lufthansa Convair 340 and the Mercedes-Benz Model 600

Society of Automotive Historians Book Signing, October 11, 2013, in the tent at the A.A.C.A. Meeting

2013 SAH Book Signing; Paul Lashbrook

2013 SAH Book Signing Doug Leighton, left; James Hinchliffe, center; Annabelle Sleigh, right

2013 SAH Book Signing; Bob Ebert, left; Kit Foster, center, Harriet Foster, right.

Hi folks -- I just got these photos yesterday and decided to post them. Friday was a brutal day weather-wise, with a driving rain much of the day.  I was scheduled to sign books at the tent, but decided otherwise, a good idea given the fact that I was coming down what later blossomed into viral pneumonia. But the ahrdy did come and enjoy a remarkable couple of hours of fellowship.Our kudos go to Paul Lashbrook, above all, and then to those who provided support for the event and attended. Next year will give us another opportunity to gather under the tend and sign books -- my Stealing Cars should be there as well as The Automobile and American Life.

Special thanks go to Paul Lashbrook for his vision and energy in making all this happen -- this was done despite some serious health issues.

Society of Automotive Historians needs a Webpage Editor

Society of Automotive Historians  needs a webpage editor for its website, www.autohistory.org. The editor's primary responsibility would be reaching out and being a conduit to the membership for SAH related news, events, deadlines, classifieds, as well as encouraging members to become actively involved in the site by submitting articles, photos and artwork. The editor would also be charged with setting up a forum page where members could exchange information.  He or she would be responsible for working with webmaster William Howell on the design of the website. This is an volunteer position. To apply or for more information, contact Tom Jakups (tjakups@ymail.com).

A Review of Christopher Wells' Car Country (University of Washington Press, 2012)

Christopher W. Wells, Car Country: An Environmental History. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-295-99215-0.

Christopher Wells' environmental history of the automobile in America to 1960 fills an important gap concerning our knowledge of the complex relationship that evolved between the adoption of the car and changes in the land.  Indeed, both rural and urban use in the U.S. experienced a profound transition during the first half of the twentieth century, much of it due to the widespread diffusion of the automobile. But it was not a one way street, so to speak, as landscape changes did much to prepare the way for the automobile to be at the center of American life. As highways and byways were constructed in response to the needs of numerous constituencies and resulting traffic, the nation became covered with concrete and asphalt, its nonrenewable energy reserves depleted, and its air fouled. Concurrently, however, in the trade-off, Americans reaped the benefit of sustained economic growth, flexibility and freedom for the constraints of space, a psychological obsession with speed, and the conveniences associated with a savings of time.

Beginning with a survey of transportation during the late 19 century and ending with the emergence of a full blown automobile-dependent Car Country in 1960, Wells takes us on a rather relaxed journey that centers on the built environment, arguing that the evolving constructed environment resulted in an America where for most individuals, cars became indispensable to everyday living.  Thus what we are left with is a classic case of path dependency. Yet imbalance rather than authentic flexibility was the dominating characteristic inherent to American transportation options by mid-twentieth century. And in attempting to understand how and why this happened, Wells subsequently pursued a line of scholarship that takes us to this book.

Divided into four sections and held together with a chronological thread, the author's main argument is that land use in America was the key to determining American driving patterns. Land was set aside for various types of thoroughfares (the infrastructure), and traffic laws, policies, and practices were negotiated amongst a group of technical specialists, urban planners, business interests, politicians, and the public. What ultimately emerged was a monoculture "that sacrifices environmental resiliency and complexity," and that this "lost complexity is not just ecological, but social, technological, and economic as well." (p. 289). The spirit of this book, then, borrows much from Jane Jacobs The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) and Jane Holtz Kay's Asphalt Nation (1998), without being nearly as shrill as the latter.

While much of the contents of this book contained no real surprises, two ancillary topics were of particular interest to this reader.  First, and drawing on the perceptive work of Peter Norton, Wells raises an important question concerning the viability of what might be called the "love-affair" thesis associated with automobility in America. And here he is right on in characterizing this interpretation as being on thin ice. More likely the love affair with the automobile reflected the thoughts of only a small minority of American car owners at any one time in history, and was perhaps the product of Detroit Three publicists and their journalist followers. This is definitely an area that needs careful fleshing out, but it is safe to say that for many Americans the automobile was always a contrivance to take them from one place to another, and nothing more.  Secondly, in his discussion of the Ford Model T, Wells claims that "The American environment -- and especially poor American roads -- thus had a direct and profound impact on how automotive technology evolved in the United States." (p.44). Again, the author is on to something important conceptually, but he does not follow this up with much of an historical analysis beyond the coming of the closed car in the 1920s. To examine the changing environment in the post-World War II era and engineering and design seems to be a logical follow up, with perhaps fruitful consequences in terms of the history of technology. Such an approach may well begin to explain Detroit excesses during the 1950s and 1960s.

In sum, Wells' monograph is a thoroughly researched and extremely well documented study. The attached bibliography is of real value to anyone interested in transportation history.  I will assign this book in my car culture courses, as it is exemplary of excellent scholarship.

John Heitmann

Department of History

University of Dayton

Dayton, Ohio 

GM, the U.S. Treasury, and China

Taken from http://washingtonexaminer.com/examiner-editorial-gm-got-bailout-now-ships-jobs-to-china/article/2537323

Saving General Motors from bankruptcy was among President Obama�s most frequently cited achievements when he ran for re-election last year. Democrats everywhere touted the company�s revival as proof of the 2009 bailout�s wisdom. That was then. Now, Obama has quietly released the auto manufacturer from a bailout requirement that it increase its production in the U.S. Instead, GM is spending billions of dollars building up its production capacity in ... China.

This is happening despite the fact that the Treasury Department has to date recovered just $36 billion of its original $51 billion loan to GM. By most analysts� predictions, American taxpayers will be out approximately $10 billion when the remaining stock is sold off. Which is a long way of saying that it now appears that taxpayers paid $10 billion to make it easier for GM to accelerate its foreign outsourcing and send more manufacturing jobs to China.

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Here�s what happened: In exchange for the bailout in 2009, GM promised to meet certain domestic car production targets over the next four years. The obvious point of this stipulation was to ensure that GM jobs remained here at home and weren't shipped overseas. The production targets started at 1.8 million in 2010 and were supposed to rise to 2.26 million by 2014. GM repeatedly missed the targets, beginning with an 81,000-unit shortfall the first year. Production increased thereafter, but never quite enough to meet the targets. Last year, GM fell about 13,000 cars short of its 2 million target.

How did it do this year? GM refuses to say. But in February, GM announced in its annual report to shareholders that Treasury had agreed to �irrevocably waive certain of its rights� regarding the federal loan. These included �certain manufacturing volume requirements.� Guess what happened next? GM announced in June that it would stop releasing its North American production figures altogether. Its spokesman tried to justify this move with Orwellian doublespeak about how providing more information would result in �an incomplete data set to look at.�

The same month, GM announced it would boost its output from its China plants by 70 percent. It is not just selling Chinese-made cars to the Chinese, either. GM is nearly doubling its export production capacity there from 77,000 units to 130,000. It doesn�t take a Ph.D. in economics to see what is really going on. GM cannot make the domestic production targets and still turn a profit. It wants to be spared the embarrassment of having everyone know that. Obama, who is in this as deep as anyone can be, doesn�t want the embarrassment, either. So both buried the news.

It is yet more proof that Mitt Romney was right in the 2012 presidential campaign: GM should have gone through a traditional bankruptcy instead of the politicized farce of a taxpayer-funded bailout and government managed �bankruptcy.� The TARP funds involved could have instead been used to provide liquidity for a managed sale to a private buyer that minimized the opportunities for political interference in the new GM�s operations.

Society of Automotive Historians' Friend of Automotive History Award for 2013 -- Dr. Fred Simeone

Well me presenting the award Plaque to Dr. Simeone. My head must be moving -- it looks like xome sort of face of an alien that you see when watching "Outer Limits."

Taken from a nomination letter for Dr. Simeone:

Dr. Fred Simeone is a highly accomplished American neurosurgeon. He won numerous accolades in medicine in addition to saving countless lives. Fred has over the years developed interests in many other endeavors. These have included music, the arts, and a general attraction to all manner of civic-minded activities in his native Philadelphia. That is not by itself unusual. Many people who are accomplished in the upper echelons of intellectually and physically demanding disciplines find solace in disparate but equally challenging avocations. But few have transformed what was once a pastime into a full-fledged second career and then become as successful with that as with the first.

Fred Simeone�s passion for fine automobiles is not new. He is a second generation �car guy� and parlayed his boyhood delights into a systematic approach to collecting. Surgery requires thoughtful research on each individual case followed by precise and decisive action. Dr. Simeone has approached automobile history from a similar depth. He has championed the notion that the automotive collector and museum community primary role is the stewardship of this important artifact and that future generations will assess how well that task has been accomplished. Through the words of his books and articles on the subject and such deeds as the establishment of the Simeone Foundation Automotive he has eloquently set the community on the proper path. The award winning museum has rapidly become a nexus for creating dialogue between the machines and the people behind them on the one hand and the broader society on the other. Fred is guiding this along with the same devotion as he provided to his many patients. Thanks to him, the field of automotive history is in goods hands. 

Radiator Mascots

A.A.C.A. Meeting at Hershey, October 9-11,2013 -- Images

This fellow was proud about his roller gas can. He paid $250 for it.

Pat the witch from Long Island!  She was selling her father's memorabilia. A very nice person.  

Folks like this are often seen with signs attached looking for specific and odd parts.

A cigar smoker enjoying the scene.

Car Corral. Most of these cars are overpriced -- many you couldn't give me.

Body parts and Detroit iron galore.

A very wet end of the week in Hershey, PA -- It was supposed to be sunny!  These photos were taken Thursday while it was still drizzling.  But this morning and last night it is raining like hell.

More on African-Americans and Cadillacs

Some reflections after reading several years of the Los Angeles Tribune, an African-American Newspaper. First, the color of the Cadillac was almost always mentioned in the articles and entries.  It could be as simple as white(which is mentioned more than any other color by far!), or as colorful as robin-egg blue, pink, or lavender. Often it was mentioned in news about performers,whether it be Sam Cooke, Sammy Davis, Jr,. Eartha Kit, or Duke Ellington. Other owners included ministers, funeral home directors, bookies, pimps, drug dealers, lawyers, or those with underworld connections. Several times, notorious black traffic offenders or those wanted for other crimes were in the company of white women.
In the breezy social columns prominent African-Americans were sometimes listed as traveling in their Cadillacs, or enjoying their new Cadillac.

No other car is given such media attention in the Tribune, although The Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln Continental is mentioned in passing.

Cadillacs and African-Americans

Hi folks --  the content for this post was taken directly from the link below, a blog on politcs and other matters.
http://blackdaffodill.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/nicholas-dreystadt-and-gm-cadillacs-and-african-americans/

I am currently advising an African - American student in an independent study and am casting around for a topic.  After reading former stduent Peter Cajka's article that was published in the Automotive History Review in 2009 I thought of the possibilities of a paper on African Americans and Cadillacs. I started looking through a number of African American newspapers and then found this remarkable post on the Internet. I knew of Dreystadt and included him in my The Automobile and American Life, but did not use this remarkable story.

Nick Dreystadt

Nicholas Dreystadt and GM, Cadillacs and African-Americans

So. I have always vaguely wondered about the rather unique love-affair between African-Americans and the Cadillac. I stumbled across this story in a book called The Chrome Colossus by Ed Cray, while doing some research for my dissertation�

It is 1932, and GM is actually at the point of abandoning the Cadillac forever�what was on the cutting board? This beauty of an automobile:

Nicholas Dreystadt, head of the Cadillac division, breaks into the meeting

As Cadillac service manager, Dreystadt had earlier discovered that the car was very popular with the small black bourgeoisie of successful entertainers, doctors and ghetto businessmen. A surprising number brought Cadillacs in for service�surprising because corporate policy was not to sell Cadillacs to blacks at all; the Cadillac was reserved for the white prestige market. �But the wealthy Negro,� business critic Peter F. Drucker recalled, �wanted a Cadillac so badly that he paid a substantial premium to a white man to front for him in buying one. Dreystadt had investigated this unexpected phenomenon and found that a Cadillac was the only success symbol the affluent black could buy; he had no access to good housing, to luxury resorts, or to any other of the outward signs of worldly success.�

Overwhelmed by Dreystadt�s audacity and bemused by his proposal, the committee gave him eighteen months in which to develop the Negro market. By the end of 1934, Derystadt had the Cadillac division breaking even, and by 1940 had multplied sales tenfold� (Cray 279)

It is one side of the story to be sure, a comfortable retelling of an atrocious racism prevalent in this most American of institutions. And all of America. There must be so much more to it of course, but what a fascinating glimpse from a very corporate angle. Turned around, in spite of the fury it inspires, it seems to say that African-Americans saved the Cadillac from extinction. What did they save again?

God damn. I know it�s conspicuous consumption, but I continue utterly smitten with the craftsmanship and beauty of something such as this.

But there is more. I continue reading and 50 pages later I find this story from the WWII years:

Dreystadt had accepted a contract to produce delicate aircraft gyroscopes. despite mutterings on the fourteenth floor that the job was a killer and needed skilled hands unavailable. The dissent turned to outrage when Dreystadt and his personnel manager, Jim Roche, hired 2,000 overage black prostitutes from Paradise Valley�uneducated, untrained, but willing workers. Dreystadt hired the madams too, blithely explaining, �They know how to manage the women.�

Dreystadt himself machined a dozen gyroscopes, then produced a training film detailing the step-by-step assembly process. Within weeks the women were surpassing quotas, and the outrage turned to chagrin on West Grand Boulevard. Jokes about Cadillac�s �red-light district� angered Dreystadt. �These women are my fellow workers, and yours,� he insisted. �They do a good job and respect their work. Whatever their past, they are entitled to the same respect as any one of our associates.�

Dreystadt knew he would have to replace these women at war�s end�returning veterans had job preference, and the United Auto Workers, heavily white male with a southern-states orientation, wanted the women out of the plant. �Nigger-lover� and �whore-monger� Dreystadt fought to keep some, pleading, �For the first time in their lives, these poor wretches are paid decently, work in decent conditions, and have some rights. And for the first time they have some dignity and self-respect. It�s our duty to save them from being again rejected and despised.� The union stood adamant.

When the women were laid off, a number committed suicide  rather than return to the streets. Nick Dreystadt grieved, �God forgive me. I have failed these poor souls.� (Cray 318-319)

Again, only one side and a highly problematic retelling of what is truly a remarkable story by any measure. And again, racism in bucketfuls. But who was this Nick Dreystadt really? And where are the other sides of this story to be found? I shall be looking, no fear�