Motor Cities National Heritage

The Gilmore Car Museum received a grant from MotorCities National Heritage Area for the Gilmore Garage Works Program. The Gilmore Garage Works program helps teens learn life lessons as they restore a classic car at the Gilmore Car Museum during an after-school program.

If your school can not come to visit us here at the Gilmore Car Museum all the above programs can visit you. Our educators will visit your classroom and present the program at no charge. Just email us for more information.
http://www.gilmorecarmuseum.org/html/content_page.php?content_id=39&

Designated by U.S. Congress in 1998 to preserve the cultural and historic landscape associated with the automobile in Southeastern and Central Michigan.

The 18th of 49 National Heritage Areas, focused on raising awareness and understanding about the impact of the automobile on this region with emphasis on increasing tourism, expanding education and encouraging revitalization.

Nearly 1200 auto-related resources have been identified in the heritage region; the largest concentration of auto-related sites, attractions and events in the world.

The Walter P. Chrysler Museum received a grant from MotorCities National Heritage Area for the Teachable Moments program. The Walter P. Chrysler Museum education programs are aligned with the Michigan Department of Education Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCEs). Programs for students in grades K-5 emphasize language arts, math, science and social studies concepts while reinforcing skills students need to be more successful on state tests.The middle and high school programs introduce students to engineering, design and related disciplines as they explore Michigan Career Pathways in a changing technological world.
Check it out at http://www.wpchryslermuseum.org/assets/attachments/WPCMEducationProgramsK_1A.pdf

The Motor Cities:
Became the "Silicon Valley" of the early 20th century, marshalling access to natural resources, transportation infrastructure, skilled labor, innovation and ingenuity, and venture capital to become the center of the global automobile industry;

Put the world on wheels by perfecting the assembly line, mass production and vertical integration for vehicle manufacturing;

Created the "five dollar day", the American middle class, the modern labor movement, and numerous wage and benefit advancements

One of the programs that Motor Cities is benefiting is the Polonica Americana Research Institute (PARI) that will guide researchers in completing three components of their history:

1) employment in the auto industry, (as many of the Big 3 were built by Polish-Americans, the unsung line workers employed by the Big Three)

2) documentation of the immigration process;

3) and a description of the economic status of the Polish village they left behind.

Cecile Jensen, Director of PARI, is seeking participants who would like to enroll in the workshops and submit their family histories. Her latest publication—Sto Lat: A Modern Guide to Polish Genealogy—will be the manual for the project. The completed family histories will expand the international knowledge of the Polish experience in the auto industry.

The Michigan State University - Vincent Voice Library received a grant from MotorCities National Heritage Area for their Lansing Auto Town Gallery. The G. Robert Vincent Voice Library is a collection of over 40,000 hours of spoken word recordings, dating back to 1888.

The MotorCities grant will enable the Michigan State University to digitize and catalog analog materials currently held within the Vincent Voice Library. Majority of materials are focused around 122 oral histories of UAW Local 602 and other GM related stories. Once digitized, the materials will be made available via the Michigan State website as "Lansing Auto Town Gallery".

For more info on the programs, grants, and donations see http://www.motorcities.org/

New Snow Cruiser photos and information found

It was built by the Pullman train car company, in Illinois
and in the below full size news article (click on it for full size) it says that it was abandoned in the antarctic due to it's being so heavy (37 tons and 55 feet long) that it immediately was stuck in and ice crevass. It's longest drive was from the factory near Chicago to the shipping docks in Boston... at 55 miles and hour
found on http://www.pullman-museum.org/cgi-bin/pvm/newGetSubjects.pl?subject=The%20Snow%20Cruiser

for more snow cruiser info and the video of it being unloaded and no surprise, it was too heavy fot the unloading ramp http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/12/antarctic-sno-cruiser-was-driven-to.html seems no one was really thinking in terms of how a 37 ton vehicle was to get around in a world not paved in concrete

how / why Craigslist killed off Autotrader

I don't know who the folks at Autotrader.com thought would kick their ass, but it turns out it's a sweet, goateed man with a penchant for berets and sweater vests.

Craig Newmark, creator of Craigslist, puts the capital D in Disintermediation. He is a bold reminder of the greatest fear every company needs to have: someone who thinks completely differently.

He didn't just kick Autotrader's ass, though. He left them for dead in the ashes of a burned down house in a poverty-stricken neighborhood, nursing a bottle of Clamato.

The worst part: he didn't even do it on purpose.

read the rest of the article: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=151564

Wooden Horse News reports Auto Trader Classics will go out of print after the July issue, and become an online-only brand, according to parent company Cox Enterprises Inc. The website will host all classic car content, photos, features and classified listings at www.AutoTraderClassics.com ...

More cool photos from 21 Stud

Why are these guys playing golf on a dry lake?
It's a right hand drive, US military 1920's car... raises a couple questions to my mind

But Steve did it again! How in the world he worked out that this is a 1915-16 Chalmers Light 6 Roadster... is a mystery! There is nothing to go on! I can't see anthing very distinguishing, but Steve is incredible, and nailed another unidentified car!

Ford made the switch to Left Hand Drive in 1908 with the Model-T, but most companies didn't start making the switch until between 1913 and 1916. Some makers held off until the 1920s - Pierce Arrow in 1921 and Stutz in 1922 for instance. Some firetruck manufacturers continued to fill customer orders for RHD trucks on into the 1930s.


I haven't come across many of the servicars
that is a well packed trunk!
But how many have kids in the trunk... and trust that the stupid kids won't climb over the stuff once they are driving down the road?
getting the street car stripped for the dry lakes racing
for lots more http://21studs.tumblr.com/

the first " " in automotive manufacturing

Driver-aids
First standard rear-view mirror - 1912 Marmon
First power steering - 1951 Imperial
First cruise control - 1957 Imperial
First traction control system/anti slip regulation - 1971 Buick LeSabre (MaxTrac)
First drive-by-wire throttle - 1988 BMW 750iL
First electrochromic rear-view mirror - 1989 Lexus LS
First Rain-Sensing Windshield Wipers - 1984 Nissan 200SX/Nissan Silvia
First dynamic stability control system/Electronic Stability Programme/Vehicle Stability Control - 1995 BMW 7-Series/Mercedes-Benz CL-Class/Toyota Crown Majesta
First adaptive cruise control - 1997 Toyota Celsior
First LED display - 1976 Aston Martin Lagonda instrument cluster
First CRT display - 1984 Aston Martin Lagonda computer controlled instrument cluster
First heads-up display - 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme/1988 Nissan Silvia
First factory GPS navigation - 1990 Mazda Cosmo, 1986 GT Limited Toyota Soarer
First night vision - Mercedes-Benz S Class
First power door locks - 1914 Scripps-Booth
First self parking - 2004 Toyota Prius
First Blind Spot Intervention System - 2009 Ford Escape/Taurus
First Synchronized down shift rev-matching system - 2009 Nissan 370Z/Nissan Fairlady Z

Tires
First use of pneumatic tires - 1895 Peugeot L'Eclair (Michelin)
First standard pneumatic tires - 1896 Bollée Voiturette
First radial-ply tires - 1949 Michelin "X" (patented in 1946)
First self-repairing tires - 1950 Goodyear
First run flat tire - 1974 Mini 1275GT (Dunlop Denovo; optional)

Plus dimensions, performance, sales, engines, bodies, and tons more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_automotive_superlatives

100 years ago Edinburgh Scotland, double decker street cars/trolleys/trams were evolving from horse drawn - to cable cars - to electric

I like the advertising... healthier liver with Andrews salt

the master craftsmen carpenters
the finishing painters and pinstripers
the vehicles used to get the cable installed on lines above the trolley lines
and the new electric vs the old cable car

read about it if you use a translator browser like Google Chrome after this link http://dkphoto.livejournal.com/229482.html which i came across from http://p-d-m.livejournal.com/friends?skip=10

Isle of Man

Not in the European Union, doesn't have the English Prime Minister in charge, and outside the villages... doesn't have a speed limit

Steve has the keenest Checker knowledge I've ever come across! He knew a 1939 Checker Model A from the back window!

The above was all I had, and I wondered about the taxi, but Steve knew!
Not a good looking front, unique, but not good. The fenders and rear quarters are bad also. I knew I'd posted one years ago http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/06/before-big-boxy-taxi-checker-made-model.html With the flip of a switch, the electrically operated top goes into the trunk
This is the landaulet version of the Checker Model A, which was built from 1939 until Checker switched to war production in 1941. The back top was electrically operated and disappeared into the body. It also had a sun roof. During the war, Checker donated the body dies to be melted down and recycled for the war effort.
This is thought to be the only remaining survivor from the 1939-1941 Model A Checker taxi. Photos were taken at the Checker Car Club of America show in 2002 at the Gilmore Museum

A handful of unusual-looking snouts appeared on American vehicles during the late thirties but none matched the monstrosity that premiered on the 1939 Checker Model A. The equally bizarre Sharknose Graham is the only other vehicle that could hold a candle to the Model A.

Checker designer John H. Tuttle is credited with designing the Model A’s bodywork from the cowl back, but the identity of the person who designed the front end is the subject of much debate. Ray Dietrich served as a consultant to the firm starting in the late 30s, however he emphatically denied any involvement with the firm’s taxi designs rig up until his death.

Tuttle’s name also appears on the patents for the cars optional rear landaulet roof, and it’s probable that he also worked on the front end, however it’s entirely possible a third designer, perhaps even Morris Markin himself, designed the front end, whose main claim to fame was that it is so ugly, you could see it coming from up to half-a-mile away.

The headlights were modern oval units mounted to the front fenders in the typical fashion, however those beams were surrounded by massive chrome-plated art-moderne shields unlike any seen on any other vehicle. Body colored louvered valances provided cooling to the radiator which was hidden behind the solid beak that extender downwards from the center of the hood.
The short wheelbase Model A included a purpose-built 124-inch wheelbase chassis with a traditional solid front and live rear axles supported by longitudinal leaf springs. The independent front suspensions found on other manufacturer’s vehicles were easily knocked out of alignment and were far too fragile for taxicab use.

The Model A included a number of more practical innovations such as an automatic signal that alerted pedestrians when the cab was put into reverse, padded finger guards on the rear door edges and rear seats that were stuffed with synthetic rubber cushions.
The Model A was introduced mid-year and was powered by a Continental Red Seal Six, an engine that would become standard equipment until 1965 when the firm adopted a General Motors powerplant. The John H. Tuttle-designed sunroof and landaulet rear top were optionally available on either of the two available wheelbases.

A period review called the Model A:
"...the most radical innovation of the entire taxicab industry this year. Checker's disappearing top is attracting widespread attention in the larger cities where its Parmelee system fleets operate.... The all-metal landaulet can be opened or closed by the driver in 40 seconds, without moving from his seat...the cab is equipped with a glass roof that can be readily opened or closed by the driver at the will of his fare."

The model A was the last prewar Checker taxicab, and only a single survivor, a long-wheelbase model equipped with the landaulet roof, exists. At the start of the war Markin donated the Model A’s body dies to melted down for the war effort.

Info from and read all about the Check taxi cab manufacturer here http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/c/checker/checker.htm

Quite cool and unusual photos from 21studs.tumblr

The above gave me so many laughs, I've never heard of anyone putting divorce signs on a car to make fun of the "Just married" signs that are common. I wonder what would be proper to drag behind the car... the newlyweds drag tin cans, what would divorced people drag? Lawyers maybe?
I just read an article on this Franklin, I think it was in Hemmings Classic
Well, from the start of Ford to the late 40's anyway

see more at http://21studs.tumblr.com

1934, the all the west coast longshoremen, teamsters, and seamen unions went on strike and the national guard was called in

The nationwide labor upsurge of 1934 reached its peak in San Francisco. On May 9, 1934, leaders of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) called a strike of all West Coast dockworkers, demanding a wage scale of the 6-day, 30-hour week at a minimum rate of $1 per hour, a “closed shop” (union membership as a requirement of employment), and union-administered hiring halls.

On May 15 teamsters, boilermakers and machinists voted a sympathy strike along with sailors and marine firemen’s union, involving 4,000 men, and 700 marine cooks and stewards took similar action the next day. Ferry boatmen, masters, mates and pilots, and marine engineers first struck against several companies for higher wages and a closed-shop contract, and subsequently the entire local was called out in a body. Not a single freighter left a Pacific coast port “for the first time in history.”

Enraged employers, backed by a sympathetic mayor and police chief, used every means available to open the waterfront and protect strikebreakers, whom they imported in large numbers. Working closely with local politicians and the press, the employers set out to convince the public that the strike was controlled by “Reds” intent on overthrowing the government.

These scare tactics led to an investigation of employer actions by a Senate subcommittee. The flagrant destruction of many of the records of the Industrial Association, described in this report, effectively prevented the Committee from obtaining full documentary evidence on the activities of the association. Violations of Free Speech and Rights of Labor, the subcommittee’s 1942 report, described the concerted efforts of the Industrial Association, the newspapers, and the San Francisco police to discredit the strike.

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5134/ for the entire report

Didn't see that in your American History book did you. Just one case in a long history of corporate greed versus workers and unions, and just one example of the people with the money fdoing anything at all to make more money and the people with power abusing it. Both the money and the power calling the shots and forcing the cops and national guard to shoot the strikers. No kidding.
Photos from http://www.johngutmann.org/

Ford dumped toxic sludge in Ringwood New Jersey, into mines and the watershed, never cleaned it up

In the late 1960s, Ford used the Ringwood site as a dumping ground for paint sludge and industrial waste generated by a manufacturing plant it operated at the time in Mahwah. During that period, the factory produced millions of gallons of paint sludge.

Four times the federal Environmental Protection Agency ordered a cleanup, and four times the community was told their land was clean. Each time, residents found paint sludge — gooey waste that weathered into gray slabs — in parkland, in their hunting grounds or in yards.

Ford has removed nearly five times the amount of pollution it hauled out in previous cleanups of its old dumpsite. But despite government assurances that the work will finally be done right, Ford may once again be allowed to leave contamination in an area that serves as the watershed for 2.5 million North Jersey residents.

In one place in particular, the abandoned iron mines that honeycomb the area, it appears that the government may allow contamination to remain without ever determining the extent of the paint sludge that was dumped there.

In the last six years, Ford contractors removed more than 47,000 tons of paint sludge and tainted soil.

Realize that 47 thousand tons is not the total they dumped into the area, illegally, immorally, and obscenely... it's just how much they've been forced to clean up in the last 6 years. A lot remains in the abandoned iron mines Ford used to dump the millions of gallons mentioned in the article. A million gallons weighs 8 million pounds, is 4000 tons. Check all the math to see that 47k tons is 94 million gallons.

94 million gallons has been removed, and they aren't finished. The area is a cancer causing mess due to Ford dumping paint sludge into a residential area, not a hazardous material toxic treatment facility.

information found on http://www.northjersey.com/recap/121210ringwoodrevisited.html from an article at http://lostinjersey.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/ford-payouts-dont-make-up-for-the-damage-they-inflicted/
and Lost in New Jersey was found from a favorite non automotive blog I'm addicted to reading http://www.scoutingny.com

Power in reserve

This is the gauge in the 8 yr old Rolls that moves counterclockwise from 100 to 0, the percent of what is left is the flip side of the RPM.

learned while watching Top Gear Season 2 Episode 2

Barracuda trivia stats, for the most desireable optioned ones, shaker hood, convertible, billboard stripes, 4 speed stick shift

in 1970 there were 29 convertibles with the 440 six pack, and 8 had the shaker hoodscoop
in 1971 there were 11 Hemi Cuda convertibles, and 5 had 4 speeds

the authentication sources online to get the nitty gritty down low on your muscle car

From Musclecar Review, May 2011 issue. Like I've said about this and other magazines I subscribe to, you need them, they are fan damn tastic, and incredible resources

Click on image for full size

Darrell Davis, the guru of the Max Wedge 416 and 413

If there is anything you need to learn, know, or research about the Max Wedge motors, you just need to buy the right book that Darrell has written. you can find them at http://www.kramerauto.com/products.asp?cat=9 and they are very limited print runs, the Max Wedge cars by serial numbers book had only 200 copies printed

Lots of data and cross referencing, like the number of Max Wedge Polaras, number of MW Polara 500 Convertibles, or MW Polara 330 station wagons. Just one.

least known way to score a Ferrari engine

Buy a Lancia Stratos. It had a 2.4 liter V6 Ferrari engine. Bertone coachbuilt the bodies.

It won the World Rally Championship 3 times.

They only made 500 for public sale

The Lancia 037 won the World Rally Championship, beating the Audi Quattro, and was the last 2 wheel drive to win the championship

The Lancia Fima 8.32 had the Ferrari V8 from the Ferrari Mondail and 308 . It was a 3.0 liter though, and he body was by PininFarina

Or if someone should stumble over a lost ASA 1000 Gt. Not going to happen, they were very very rare and were only built from 1963 to 1966. They cost 40% more than the nearest competitive car, the Alfa Giulia Sprint

A deep south speedtrap so bad, it was national news, and the state govenor had warning signs installed on the town limits, Ludowici Georgia

TWO large roadside billboards just inside the county lines north and south of town used to guard the approach to Ludowici. Placed there by Governor Lester Maddox, they warned approaching motorists of "speed traps" and "clip joints" in large black letters on a white background

The county seat, and location of all three of the county's newspapers. It was also one of the best-known little nowheres in the country. Sitting astride the junction of federal highways 301, 25 and 82, Ludowici commanded the traditional north-south highway to Florida; 1,000,000 motorists drive through town each year. But in 1975 the Interstate 95 diverted traffic around it.

During the '50s it became known as the site of a treacherous stop light that trapped motorists by changing from green to red without warning, after which the travelers were ticketed by a waiting policeman. Since 1960 when the light was replaced, Ludowici's speed traps have bilked motorists of a rumored $100,000 annually. Said Governor Maddox: "The place is lousy, rotten, corrupt, nasty and no good."

Ludowici has nevertheless defied the efforts of three Governors to shut down the speed traps. For years some of the local gas stations also conducted a profitable con game. When an unsuspecting motorist stopped to have his oil checked, the attendant would disable the car by tinkering with the generator or pouring water in the crankcase oil, then suggest that the customer move his crippled vehicle to a nearby garage for repair. Fittingly enough, the repair shop was called "Billy Swindel's."

The man behind the speed trap, and behind everything else in Ludowici, was the county's colorful political boss, Ralph Dawson, a back-country lawyer who ran Long County since 1932, he headed a political machine that never lost an election at the county or city level.

from a Time magazine article in 1970
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,909123,00.html

Harley CEO gave himself a 6.4 million dollar bonus, for the worst sales year in 12 years

Harley Davidson Inc. CEO, Keith Wandell is paying himself a $6.4 million bonus for Harley’s worst sales year since 1999.

It was also disclosed that HD accepted a secret $2.3 billion bailout in 2008. Harley reported a $146.5 million profit in 2010, compared with a $55.1 million loss in 2009.

In 2010, new union contracts saw a total of 2,300 job cuts in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin plus reduced wages and benefits for the remaining union employees, for a total cost saving that will eventually add up to $50 million annually

Totally copied from http://goawaygarage.blogspot.com but what is there to do when coming across this info? Not remark on it?

Finland

More rally champs (7) than any other country

more Formula One champions per capita than any other country
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/mar/10/formulaone17 and Top Gear Episode 74

same number of champions as Brazil, which has a population 40 times bigger. Even the UK, with eight champions, is four times less successful than Finland given its size

( Blue star mother / war mother ) flags proudly displayed by a Navy mom

I didn't know what it was for sure, but remember seeing something similar in old movies, so I looked it up to verify what I thought the blue star flag meant.

It's flown over the capitol building every Veterans day, and displayed in home front windows, and each blue star represents that a son or daughter is serving the country in the US military.

It was made during World War 1, and used a lot during WW2, but Korea and Vietnam weren't felt to be patriotic wars, and nothing military was quite as popular to associate with when the US went to war in foreign countries we hadn't been attacked by, so the flag became historic through disuse. Things change and public perception to the military reverted to patriotic after New York City was targetted on Sept 11th, 2001.

For history and more info on the blue star flag: http://www.homeofheroes.com/hallofheroes/1st_floor/flag/1bfb_disp9b.html