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Now for some history tidbits Tid Bit of Auto History By Norm Miller Memories of out first antique car meet at Credit Island in 1950 before the Region was formed. Edna & I attended the meet, but we didn’t have a car old enough to enter. Cars had to be a classic or at least 25 years old. Our car, which we depended on for every day transportation, was only 23 years old and not a classic it was a 1927 Willys Knight 4 door sedan. Jack Dorman’s 1902 Hupmobile was his first antique car and the one he got married in. he later sold it to Art Hoard. Vern Betz’s 1902 Holsman was a rotted out basket case when he found it abandoned on an old farm. It had a rope drive to the rear wheels and got lots of laughs at the time. I remember my good friend George Gripp and his 1916 Detroit Electric he had at the time. I was sitting with him in the car and a group of people gathered around it to have a look. A couple of guys with the crowed were talking about it. One said to the other, “Boy, I want to hear this one start up.” The other guy said, “Yes, I’ll bet it’s a noisy old thing. “George moved the leaver and we glided away like a ghost. You should have seen their surprised faces. The first real AACA meet we went to was Chicago for the meet. We still had the Willys Knight, but we didn’t drive it because we thought it would take too long to get there in it. On the way up, followed and old blue touring car for several miles. I passed it once, but couldn’t make out the make. Finally, it stopped for gas at a station and I hurried over to look at it. An old man was driving it. It turned out to be a 1924 Delta car. A prototype and the only one built. A few years ago I wrote Keith Marvin about it. He had heard of it and sent me some pictures of it but we don’t know what ever happened to it. When we got there the first car I saw from the rear was a huge white Roadster with double spare tires. It turned out to be the 1927 Bugatti Royal which is now in the museum at Greenfield Village. At that time it belonged to Charles Chayne, who found it in a junkyard and restored it. I talked to him about the car and he told me all about it. He was a very nice man and seemed to be glad to talk to me. I was just a kid at the time. I found out later that I was talking to the head engineer at General Motors, Buick Division, and the man who developed the Dynaflow Transmission for Buick. I still have pictures of the Bugatti, it was so long I had to take two pictures with my little brownie camera to get it all in. I still have several other pictures I took at that meet. One is of me standing beside a 1909 Ford, Edna sitting in a 1901 Waverly Electric, me by a 1910 I.H.C., an American Underslung, and Cameron Peck’s 1910 Fiat Touring, I met him too and he was very nice and one of our first antique car collectors. I also got to meet James Melton, another early car collector. On the way back our little Ford broke a piston, but we made it home on seven cylinders. Norm
The Citroen Story The year was 1959. My friend George Gripp and I were enjoying the Old Car Hobby. George and a Sampson Truck and a 1916 Detroit Electric car which he enjoyed driving. One day he called me and said he had found the remains of a little French car in a junk yard. He told me that he had brought it home because it was a roadster with front wheel drive and a rumble seat. Unusual mechanical features always intrigued me. So I went out to Gorge’s place to take a look at it. It was all apart. The front fenders grill, radiator, and hood were off, engine and transmission out and not front wheels, but I could imagine what a cute little car it would be all fixed up. George said it was taking up some space he need and if I could get it out of his garage, I could have it. So I said, “Sure, I’ll take it.” I went home and rigged up a Model T front axel and wheels and borrowed Vernon Betz’s trailer and hauled it to my rented garage on Oak Street in Davenport. Model T wheels and axle to hold up the font end. When I got around to it and started sorting out the pars, I was dismayed to find the aluminum transmission case was split in half and several of the gears were missing. I found out there is a Citroen Club that put out a little newsletter, so I subscribed to it, hoping to find the missing parts. I found out that my car was 1937 model built in Paris and was called the Traction Model. I didn’t have any luck finding the parts, so I advertised it for sale. I sold it to a man in Indiana and that’s the last I heard of it, until one day I got a letter from him with two pictures of it restored and running. He had found a sedan and used it to fix up the roadster. A couple of years ago, some of our AACA members made a bus trip to LaPort, Indiana and I saw a 1937 Citroen Roadster that they have. I told the curator that I had had one just like it and showed him the pictures I have. He said they had bought this one from a man in Indiana. He had died and they had bought it from his widow. He said, “I have some paper that we got with it and I’ll show them to you.” he did, and they were the same papers or newsletter that I had subscribed to with my name and address on them when I was looking for parts, and had given to the man who bought my car. Then there was not doubt about it. This same care was my little Citroen. All spiffed up in the museum. I’m so glad I saved it and it got a good home. Sincerely, Norm
Smooth tapered Rear Drive Axles by John Brewer
When servicing this type of rear axle it is important to understand its design requirements. The alloy rear axle is required to transmit power to the separately produced wheel hub so the two parts work as one. They are mated together thru the use of a selflocking taper which is any taper angle under 7 degrees. Additionally there is a key along with a fine thread nut and these are used to prevent the self locking taper from being dislodged. The main principal is when the self locking taper is seated properly with both pieces having a true mating surface the axle will snap in two before the taper would ever be dislodged. The taper can be dislodged by a rapid shock load from the road so that is why the nut and key are used to prevent any movement. Other torquing of this nut is not important in maintaining this principal of locking the axle to the hub. If the nut is tightened too much the slight taper on the axle will act like a log splitter, distorting the hub and may split thru the key way. So over the years of trial an error and listening to others I approach this type of rear axle as follows:
One additional benefit to leaving the axle nut on is that when the hub finally breads loose it will be contained on the axle end. I have seen the results of a puller and hub exiting thru a wall of a garage when it finally broke loose!!! The anti-seize will not make the hub come off any easier. It only prevents corrosion. This “Morse” taper is the same as on a large drill press and locks the large drills in place just by rapidly moving them up in the spindle. They are removed by shock wedging the upper end and can only slip if the mating surfaces are not true. One of he most important tools in this procedure is the proper hub puller. Do not use an axle puller! Some may try to just hit the end of the axle with a sledge alone to quickly move and shock the axle before the hub can move but this will cause damage to the bearing on the other side. Unless it is a Dusenburg …… John Brewer
The Regal Story Another sorry about old cars occurred in the early fifties while we were living in Pleasant Valley and I was working at Emies Electrical Service which is still on Iowa Street here in Davenport. A couple guys came into the shop with a 1937 Plymouth Coupe and wanted a tune up and a generator overhaul. I was known as the “Kid” in those days and since George & Red were busy on other jobs, they said, “Oh, it’s an easy one, let the kid do it.” Well, while working on their car, they noticed my 1927 Will Knight parked outside and we got to talking about old cars. One fellow asked the other one, “Say, does old Rudy Brockman out in Eldridge still have that old Regal?” Why yes, I believe he does”, says the other guy. Well, I was all ears and couldn’t help asking them about it. The next Saturday Edna and I drove to Eldridge to look up Rudy Brockman. We talked awhile and kinda got acquainted and them I mentioned the Regal. “Why, yes he said, I still have it. It was good car. I hauled every stick of wood to build this house with it. Its out here in the shed, but I haven’t been in there for awhile.” We went out to the shed and sure enough, there was a tree about 6” in diameter growing up in front of the door. Rudy went and got a saw and sawed down the tree and pried open the door. Instantly a big pile of high button shoes and miscellaneous junk feel out on the ground. As soon as my eyes got used to the bark shed, I could make out a 1912 Regal Underslung. But, boy was it messed up. It had been a touring, but a homemade pickup box was on the back, and Rudy had made a wooden cab to keep himself out of the cold. It looked like he used the old outhouse for a model. The roof had leaked in one spot so long it rusted a hole right through the hood. To top it all off, there was no wheels. I said, “Rudy, what happened to the wheels?” he said, “Well, they wanted the whole car for the scrap drive during the war and said I was unpatriotic because I wouldn’t give it to’em, so I gave them the wheels and tires so they would leave me alone.” I asked the price and Rudy said that he really hated to part with it, but he would let it go for $150. That stopped Edna right in her tracks. As soon as she got back in the car, she convinced me that it was much better to put $150 on a new sofa and chair than that pile of junk. Even then I realized that a Regal Underslung was a very rare car. (To explain to those unfamiliar, Underslung meant that the frame was upside down and the springs were also upside down with the axles between them, which gave the car a low-slung racy look and a low center of gravity). It could have been restored and should have been, but $150 and no wheels were a big problem, so we bought the new sofa and chair instead. I later learned that Rudy had a nice 1922 Dodge Brothers touring in another shed, but he didn’t tell me about it and sold it to Hans Goettech in Bettendorf. And I believe he still has the car the last I heard of the Regal was that a man in Decatur bought it for a parts car for another one he was restoring. Norm
Back in the late fifties, while working at Bendix Aviation Corp., I got acquainted with a guard named Grant Caldwalder. Grant’s interest in old cars was mainly monitory but he really knew how to find them. Our favorite hunting ground was in southern Wisconsin, up around Fennimore. It was good “Model T” country because of the dairy and cheese industry there. The farmers favorite vehicle for carrying cream to town was the Model T Ford. They would simply remove the back seat or turtle deck, install one of the many pickup boxes available and “presto” a light delivery truck that could negotiate the dirt and mud roads in the area. While Grant and I were on one of our trips in that area, we made the acquaintance of a rural mail carrier named Howard Edge. I liked Howard at once and told him I was looking for a Model T Roadster. He said he was sure he could find one for me. Sure enough, about a week later, I got a letter from Howard, stating that he had located a Model T Roadster and would take me to it. After meeting him in Fennimore, we drove away out in the boon docks, over dirt and gravel roads, to a farm house away out in the hill. Howard introduced me to the farmer and we talked about corn and hogs for while, and then I told him that Howard had told me that there was an old Model T on the farm. He said, oh yes, it’s out behind the barn, but it doesn’t run anymore. The wheels, hood and turtle deck are in the hay mow. We were going to grind the valves, but decided it was too much work.” I hurried out behind the barn to have a look, while Howard kept talking to the farmer. Sure enough, there sat a 1924 Roaster. The top was gone, but the bows were there and in good shape. The hood, wheels and turtle deck were off of it, but it was all there and in pretty good shape. I could see it hadn’t been there very long. I hurried back and told the farmer, “Well, it’s pretty rough, but I believe I can fix it up. How much do you want for it?” He rolled a corn cob around with his foot while he was thinking it over and I was anxiously waiting. Pretty soon he said, “Well, is $5 too much?” I about broke my arm reaching for my wallet and handed him a $5 bill. I told him I would be up to get it on the weekend. The next week end, my wife and I borrowed Vern Betz’s trailer and went up to get it. He had gotten the other parts down out of the hay mow and had them ready for us. The tires all held air and the turtle deck looked like new. We jacked it up and put the wheels on it. We then winced it up on the trailer and drove home. I didn’t have a garage then or a place to keep it in town, so I took it out to Grant’s house in Bettendorf, where I kept other cars from time to time. He was so impressed with it that he offered me $65 for it right there on the spot. Since I had just located a 1930 Model A Roadster in good riving condition for $60, right there in town, we quickly made a deal. Grant handed me $65 in cash and I drove right back to town and bought the Model A. About a week later, Grant sold the Model T to a man in Moline who was just getting started with old cars. His name is Johnny Resetich, and he restored the car and still owns it. It is one of his favorite cars and he has won many awards at car shows and meets. P.S. I later sent Howard a $ bill as a finders feePart two When I got the engine reassembled and back in the car, I had a box of spare parts left over. My girlfriend and her sister were sure it would never run when they saw all the leftovers. And when the big moment came to turn over the motor, they were correct, it didn’t run. Even though we pulled it all over, all it did was backfire and pop through the carburetor. Thoroughly discouraged, I checked with several garages who wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole. The local Willy-Overland dealer was polite and sympathetic, but really didn’t want the job. However, they gave me the name of an old Frenchman who ran a service station and knew a lot about Knight Motors. I towed the car to his place where he removed the radiator and timing chain cover. When I assembled the engine I had been unable to find any marks on the timing or exocentric gear, as it was called. I had worked out the sleeve timing to where I thought I had it right. He cleaned the gear a little more thoroughly and the marks appeared. I was on tooth off, after assembling the chain and retiming the sleeves; the engine started on the first turn and ran on all six. I was delighted. If it wouldn’t have been for him, the car would surely gone to the junkyard. My joy was short lived, because even though the engine ran smooth and oil consumption was greatly reduced, it just didn’t have any power or speed. I worked with the carburetion and ignition all in vain. I became disgusted again and tried to sell the car. No one even answered the ad. Finally, I vowed to drive it until it dropped, no matter how it ran. But it surprised me. The more the carbon accumulated inside, the more the power and speed came back. Soon it was it old self again. And old mechanic told me years later that I made my big mistake when I cleaned all the carbon from behind the rings. In May 1946 I was discharged from the Navy and my girl became my wife. We drove the old W-K on our honeymoon and never had a bit of trouble. In fact, it was very dependable and I had become quite fond of it. We decided to move to Iowa, but my wife’s parents insisted we take the train. They had visions of the W-K breaking down on some lonely road in the middle of the night. So I sorted the car and two months later, went back to New Orleans to drive it to Iowa. Just to be on the safe side, I went to the junkyard again and scrounged all the good parts off the 3 motors for spares. I could have saved myself the trouble though, because the old W-K comes right on up to Iowa with no trouble at all. We continued to drive the car and went to Chicago, Des Moines, IA and Decatur, IL and all around. When I enrolled in Business College, we drove it three to four hundred miles a week. During Iowa winters it would get extremely stiff, but if the starter wouldn’t turn it over, we just pushed it down the big hill where we lived. It always started then. The engine never required any attention except and occasional tune up. It would sing along at 40 &45 mph all day. In June 1947 my wife’s sister was getting married, so we decided to drive the W-K back to New Orleans. It took us three days and we averaged 21 miles on a gallon of gas and about 75 miles on a quart of oil. When my father-in-law saw the W-k turn in his driveway, he just about flipped. I’ll never forget how he patted the fender and said, “Norman, this sure is a good car.” On the way back to Iowa, we encountered serve thunderstorms in Mississippi with water up to the running boar5ds, but the W-K came through it all, while many a newer car became stalled at the edge of the road. We continued to drive the W-K for several years, but the oil bills were getting extremely high again. We always had a blue fog behind us. But after all, the odometer was in its second trip around and crowding 140,000 miles. We purchased a 1937 Ford coupe and the W-K went into semi-retirement. Also about this time our daughter Debbie was born and realizing we needed baby things worse then the W-K, we decided to sell it. The engine had become extremely sluggish and would start popping back through the crab at anything over 40 mph. remembering what the old Frenchman had told me, I removed the intake manifold and sure enough the intake ports were completely clogged with carbon. A simple cleaning job gave it a new lease on life and it would go right on up to 70 mph again. I cleaned and painted the engine and gave the car it third coat of paint and advertised it in the Antique Auto magazine, but got on response. It wasn’t old enough at the time to be of antique value. An ad in the local paper finally did the job and I sold it to two fellows from Cordova, IL. For $150.00 on the condition that they would give it good care. They were member soothe American Legion and said they only wanted to drive it to a big Legion an Legion Ceremony in Chicago. I didn’t see the car until about 6 months later as I was passing a junk yard in Cordova. I spotted a familiar looking radiator, so I investigated and sure enough it was our old Willys Knight. I hardly recognized it the body had been torn off from the cow on back and in its place was a platform with railing around it and a couple of bus seats. A hug school bell was attached in front of th3e radiator with a string going back to the driver’s seat. The hood was yellow, fenders, red, and the wheels the color of the rainbow. The junk dealer told me that he bought it from the American Legion after it had served its purpose in Chicago. They told him that that made the trip in record time, driving 65 & 70 mph, and even 75 downhill. How those sleeves and rods ever stayed in it under that kind of punishment, is a mystery to me to this day, but they did. I still feel bad when I think of the sad fate this faithful old car met, but I guess that happened to a lot of these cars and that’s why there are so few of them today.
Power Wagon By John Brewer Edited by Jan Brewer
Thirty tree years ago, I bought my firs Dodge Power Wagon WM-300 truck from a man who purchased it a year earlier from the Davenport Transit Bus Barn who originally purchased it new in 1952. I had seen it another one on rare occasions around town and since they were so unique looking I had an interest in them. They used the truck to retrieve buses that became stuck in the winter and for towing disabled buses back to the Barn thru the use of a draw tube that would fasten to the front of the buses. The 1-ton civilian (old style) Power Wagons were built from 1945-1965 for world distribution, including right hand drive versions, and continued production into the 70’s for export only. They remained unchanged for all those years and featured a 230 CI flat head six with 7 main bearings, 5.83 axle gear ratios, 4 speed unsynchronized transmission, 2 speed transfer case and of course 4-wheel drive thru 36” tall tires. About the only option available was an oil filter and it did not share parts with its ever changing “standard” Dodge truck cousin. Soon after I had purchased the truck, I saw an advertisement for a 4-wheel drive pull contest at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds. I entered the truck in the 5,000 lb. stock class and the only thing that I did to prepare it was to lower the tire pressure to 20lbs. after weighing the truck in, I waited my turn and watched as shiny Chevy and Ford trucks were hooked to the sled and then spinning their tires wildly as they struggled towards the 300 foot finished mark. As the truck proceeded down the track the mechanical sled they were pulling would have more pressure applied to the drag sled with each foot advancement and it was stopping them all shy of the 300’ mark. So their distances were recorded and the shortest distance to the finish would win. I had never been in a pull before and did not know what gear combination to use. It was now my turn. As I backed the truck to the sled, they hooked it up and I decided to just use granny low and be on the low side of the transfer case. When the starting flag was lowered, the 82 horse engine took up the slack and the truck started moving slowly down the track. I looked in the rear view mirror only to see people at the starting line shaking their heads, knowing in their own minds that this rusty old under-powered truck was not going to get very far. But as I crammed the gas petal thru the floor the long stroke engine torque away. The truck slowly progressed down the track dragging the sled which was getting heavier as it went along. With the sled chasing it, the Power Wagon crossed the 300’ finish line and kept on going till the flag man frantically waved it off. They unhooked the sled and as I circled back to the start line area I saw the same people were still shaking their heads, but now in disbelief of what they had witnessed. This truck was the only one to cross the finish line that day and won first place. I was in a 4-wheel drive club at the time and the truck’s PTO winch saw a lot of use when others could not make it up the slippery side of a mountain trail. I once hauled 7,000 lbs. of brick in one trip with this truck. I also mounted a bump frame under the original bed. One time I was driving the truck way too fast across the Twin Bridges when I heard a single pop sound. After that, every time I pushed in the clutch there would be a scraping sound and I continued to drive it that whole next week. That Saturday morning I pulled the motor out and removed all the pistons. Finding nothing wrong I proceeded to remove the main caps starting in front. As I progressed toward the rear I was still finding nothing wrong. As the last cap was removed the end of the crank fell to the floor!!! The crank had been completely broken thru at an angle and the rear main, which is also the thrust main, had held the two broken halves together. When the clutch was depressed the flywheel would move some and scrape on the back of the engine block!!! Another notable experience was the time I got a call around 9pm from another member of our club. It had been snowing and we were up to 21 inches so far and it was letting up but still blowing. He had driven around the closed I-80 signs at Iowa City in his Toyota Land Cruiser and drifted off into the median due to the blowing snow. He asked if I could come out and get him pulled out. Well, my new Chevy truck that I had built with locking differentials and large tires had a broken off front axle due to a 4 wheel off road event that it was in. And the Power Wagon had been running around in front wheel drive because the rear ring gear had worn from all the years of use and there was too much backlash and it had broken so I had pulled the inner axle shafts and drive shaft so it could just trail along. He was not aware of the sad state of the Doge until he called me and he thought I was crazy when I told him I would still meet him at the motel where he and his wife had walked to. I though it would be an interest8ing opportunity, so I put a set of chains on the front tires and met up with him. As we headed west down the deserted interstate, we came upon his snow covered Toyota heading into the ditch on the east bound side. I pointed the Power Wagon at an angle to the median and the two front tires plowed thru the 2-3 foot of snow and drifts and make it to the east bound side. Tugging him out with a stretch recovery strap was then easy and we headed back. I still have this truck along with a 1947, which was the other one in town, and they are both waiting in the “future project” category. I also have a 1973 W-600 2-ton Power Wagon that was built in the Doge-Desoto-Fargo Works in Canada. This is one of the three plants that the Graham Brothers built to start producing Dodge Truck vehicles for Chrysler. This dump truck has hauled up to 18,000 lbs. at once. This Doge trucks certainly deserve the POWER WAGON title.
Tid Bit of Auto History By Norm Miller
A Willys Knight played such and important part in my life that I couldn’t resist writing about it. It all began back in 1944. I was stationed at the Naval Repair Base in New Orleans, Louisiana. Whenever I had liberty I always had to ride a bus or street car, which I disliked. I yearned for a car of my own, but for a sailor with limited funds, the chances of finding something dependable and cheap in those days was quite remote. I had just about given up hope when one night while crossing on the ferry to the Naval Base, I spotted an old car drive aboard. Although I had never seen a Willys Knight before, I knew that’s what is was, as I had saved some magazine advertisements of them. I want down and talked with the owner, a Mr. Gustave Chauvin, and he told me it was a 1927 Model 70A sedan. To my surprise, he said he would sell the car as he was having trouble getting the 19” tires, and he would take $60.00 for it. I hurried back to the base and got my buddy out of bed to tell him about my find. He was enthusiastic also, and we spent the nest three days trying to scrounge up the $60.00. We finally come up with $30.00 a piece and on the weekend I eagerly hurried out to Mr. Chauvin’s home and bought the car. We were soon driving it all over New Orleans and we were very proud of out purchases. Especially the way it ran. It was extremely smooth and quite and at the stop sign, all you could hear was the hiss of the carburetor. It would poke along in high so slow that you could get out and walk beside it. Which we occasionally did to show off, or it would accelerate smoothly up to 70mph. it used a little oil but we expected that. After all the speedometer showed 60,000 miles and the engine had never been done. About this time I started dating my wife and I soon persuaded her father to let me use his garage to install a new set for rings. In the meantime, my partner, Mr. Bill Holt of Rockford, IL. Was forced to sell out his interest to me. He became involved in a tight poker game and needed some instant cash. After some searching, I obtained a se of rings from a local parts jobber and started my overhaul job. I knew the engine was different I didn’t know until I got the pan off. When I looked up and saw all those little connecting rods that operate the sleeves and the husky 7 main bearing crankshaft, I was really surprised. I had several old Chevrolets apart before, but never anything like this. I decided to learn about Knight engines as I would have to take this one completely apart. I took the engine out of the car and sat it on the garage floor and soon had pistons, crankshaft, sleeves and 6 little cylinder heads laying all over the place. My future father-in-law was quite disturbed when he came home that evening to find this mess in his garage. Right then and there he became firmly convinced that the W-K would never run again. I wasn’t too sure myself, but my girl had faith in me, so I kept busy. I had to make all my own gaskets. Some heavy asbestos material was cut out for the 6 cylinder heads, and some revamped Plymouth exhaust flange gaskets worked for the intake and exhaust manifolds. The water jacket cover gasket was a real stinker, but I solved this problem by splitting a 2 wire 110 volts light cord down the middle and this worked perfectly. The cylinder heads extended several inches down into the inner sleeve and each had a small compression ring and a large one called the Junk ring. I carefully removed these and cleaned out all the carbon. The sleeves had holes drilled around the radius and grooves for the oil to flow into. I also cleaned these. It soon became apparent that I needed more parts, so I found a junkyard that had 3 W-JK engines, there were tow 1927’s and a 1929. The man was very happy to sell me parts. In fact, he hadn’t had such a rush on W-K parts for years. When I got the engine reassembled and back in the car, I had a box of spare parts left over. My girlfriend and her sisters were sure it would never run when they saw all the leftovers. And when the big moment come to turn over the motor, (Continued)
I Drive A Duesenberg By Norm Miller
Back in the fifties when Herman Anderson and I were buying and selling antique cars we got to know a Mr. Paul Grouting who lived in Polo IL. He had a Chrysler Plymouth Dealership there and would make frequent trips back East to get cars. However he liked the classics and would usually bring one or two back when he came home. He especially liked Duesenberg. One day he called Herman and said he had a Duesenberg and would Herman and I like to come up and see it. Ti was a big Bohman & Swartz sedan. We got our wives, Edan & Betty and drove to Plol. He also had another Duesenberg that was disassembled. He had just spent $1500 on the engine on it. It was a Murphy Convertible. We decided to take a ride in the big sedan. As we turned out of the driveway a light come on, on the dash. Herman said,” What’s that light for?’ Paul said, “That light tells that it is oiling itself.” Soon we turned on to straight blacktop road and Paul asked me if I wanted to drive it. I said “You bet, I do.” As I started out very slowly, shifting into each gear, I noticed that the stroke on the shifting lever was very short. About that time Paul said, “Step on it, you are going too slowly.” I had just shifted into second gear. All of a sudden the radiator cap blew off and skidded across the hood and landed in the ditch. We quickly stopped and went back and found it. Then Paul drove it back. When we got back Paul said that the piece was $2000/ we thought that was an awful lot of money and Herman said we would have to think it over. Just as we were leaving Paul said, “Would you give $1800?” well we talked about it on the way home. Betty thought it would be too much money for Herman to borrow and Edan thought it would be pretty risky to make any money on it, plus we didn’t have any place to keep it. So, we passed it up. The bargain of a lifetime and we didn’t know it. Later on Floyd Duvall bought this car brought it to Davenport. Sincerely, Norm
How it all started for me by Bob Kerr I was sucked into the automobile universe by some crafty marketer’s busing the tried and true method: promote the product through various forms of media or products. This article will cover one of earliest releases of the object called the Promotional Model car.
Just what is promotional model car some may ask? Well, it is usually a scale down version of the real thing. Usually 1/25 scale, but other scales have been used, like 1/18, or 1/35, or 1/64, etc. there are many sizes but my favorite is the 1/25. As history goes, the firs plastic promotional model car in 1/25 scale was produced in 1949 by a company in Chicago, Cruver Plastics. They were noted for their experience in making scale models of enemy aircraft. These were used for identification and training purposes for out troops so they could shoot down the right plane. The models were painted black, giving the proper silhouette as seen from the ground. These models are sought after for historical significances as well as great examples of aircraft. Unfortunately like all things they did have problems. Plastic in those days was an unstable product, not in a couple of years, but by 60 plus years. Hey, who would have seen into the future that someone out there saved all this and later sold the items on the famous EBay site? Back to the plastic problem, they warped and warped and warped. Nothing last forever, right? Zip to 1948, there was quite a pent up demand for automobiles. The new models restyled and updated. Wow. How better to sell more automobiles then to use a scale model of the real thing, especially when a whining kid wants one and will not quite until Dad and Mom goes to the dealership and test drives the new model and the kid gets the “real” thing in a box, more on that story in the future. Back to Cruver Manufacturing, Chicago. They made many plastic products. But for me, the Holy Grail of plastic Promos is the 1949 Oldsmobile 98 Sedan. It was produced in various colors and super detailed. They had superior box art for the time. This model was assembled from 22 parts; 21 of which was laboriously hand glued to the body. (Note: upon pulling my model out of the box most likely less than five times in it life, the rear bumper promptly detached it self from the body, HELP!) Hand me the Tester’s model cement!) The model, as toy prices go, was expensive in 1949 dollars. Dealer cost was $1.95 each, and then you can add in the markup if sold individually. Some dealer’s sold them directly to parents with whining kids. Some were most likely given out free as a sales tool to close the deal or as a form to keeping the kid quiet while Dad negotiated the best deal. Hence the beginning of the use of the plastic promotional model car to advertise the real car and maybe make one child really happy. Collectible Comments By Bob Kerr Last month I discussed the “first” plastic promotional model car by Cruver of Chicago, Illinois. This time the story will start close to the beginning of the metal Promotionals. In 1933 the World’s Fair in Chicago was the big news. So were the buildings, some of which still survive today as do the models. Studebaker, long time manufacturer of automobiles and in their early years the wagons that hauled settlers to the west, requested National Products of Chicago to make a metal replica of their 1934 President sedan. With this model, the start of the “pot metal” promotional model cars was born. Other car manufacturers jumped on the wagon so to speak and models were made for Chrysler, Graham, Hudson and International for example. Later in the 40’s, mainly after WW2, Ford and Packard got into the promotional model game. The metal of choice on some was aluminum, mainly because after the war their were tons of the metal left from scrapping the war machine America produced and no longer required. AMT was one of the new entrants in this model production, the letters designating Aluminum Model Toys. By this time all the big names were in like Chevrolet and Pontiac. Later, National Products was brought out by Banthrico. The name alone gives one the hint of the focus of this manufacturer and the models they made. Can you guess it? Well, scratch the old noodle. Got it yet? What do most Americans not do enough of? You number crunchers should have this by now. SAVE. Yes, these models were designed with a coin slot in the base, so one could “save” extra change towards the purchase of their new car. In time, one could open up the locked sheet metal base and deposit the contents in a real bank. I remember these in my youth, not big enough to reach the counter, but eyes on the prize of the model perched on the top of the teller’s partitions. Upon seeing these beauties I squawked enough to last hold it and check it out. Alas, I never did get the model but it left a deep impression in my mind. I think they were a whopping $1.50 each or something around that. Banks at the time used it to encourage the young ones to start saving and also “real” customers to save money at their bank. If I remember right, the one that I fingerprinted had the bank name on the roof “First National Bank of Midland, Michigan”. Major vehicle manufacturers also had “bank” cars, some were metal and later early plastic versions were produced with coin slots, Chevrolet being the most prolific. Great slogans were on the roofs. Some of which, as expected, were to direct the recipient to save for their new Chevrolet. Great marketing guys. Next time, I would like to share the history of my first personal and up close experience of these great promotional items. Till then; collect like there is no tomorrow.
By Norm Miller
Sometimes, I actually believe Model “T” have souls and personalities. Some can be real docile and contented like my 1923 Roadster. It is always ready to go whenever I am and I believe it likes me. We get along fine. On the other hand, some can be downright stubborn and cantankerous. One such Model T was a 19165 Touring card that Herman Anderson and I bought for resale. It absolutely refused to start unless you jacked up the rear wheel. The it would grudgingly start if you could get from the crank to the spark lever in time. I advertised it in Hemmings and a man came to Davenport to see it. Before he got here I went down to my garage where I had it stored and jacked up the rear wheel. After much choking and spinning on the crank and calling it bad names, it finally started. I let it run and warm up good and then went home. Soon the man came and we went down to the garage. I thought to myself, how in the world I was going to get this stubborn thing started for him? Well, I adjusted the spark and throttle levers and gave the crank a quarter turn and low and behold it started and ran good. The man bought the car on the spot. I still believe it just didn’t like me and just wanted to get out of town. Model T’s had good and bad habits too, just like people. A good example of this was Old Henry’s Model T a 1017 Touring. I heard about this car being on a farm out near Dixon, IA. The story was that it couldn’t be bought. They said that the old farmer that owned it had turned down many offers. Well I went out to look at it anyway, and sure enough there it sat in the grainery. A real straight old T, even the tires were up. The upholstery was good too, except where Old Henry sat. his suspenders had worn holes thru the upholstery. The top was up and intact too except where it had been torn and Henry had patched it with a pair of old overhalls. Even time you looked up there was a pair of old overalls looking down at you. well that day I found out that Old Henry had gone to a nursing home so the next day I went down to talk to him. He seemed like a real nice old gentleman and we talked about corn and hogs for awhile and then I finally got around to talking about the Model T. he said “You mean you want to buy that old car?” and I said “Yes Sir, I do”, “My goodness, nobody ever asked me that before.” I started out with my usual $50 offer but he thought it should be worth at least $100. I quickly got my billfold out and paid him on the spot. I went to pick it up with a good battery, 4 good hot coils, and some gasoline. After changing the essentials, one turn of the crank and it started right off. I was very proud of my purchase. I drove out of the grainery and started down the road. It was hitting on all four and funning smoothly but just had no power at all. I had booth ears on the steering column (spark and throttle) clear down and could only make 25 mph, even a swift kick to the coil box didn’t help. When I got home I started checking around to see what the problem was. I removed the carburetor and found it half full of shelled corn. I think only a Model T would still run with the carburetor half full of shelled corn. Getting back to habits, this car had a bad one. Every time it started it wanted to creep forward. One mice summer day I wanted to drive it. I had it stored in a rented garage. I adjusted the levers, stepped around in front and gave the crank a spin and it started right away, but WOW! It wanted to go right away and promptly pinned me right up against the wall. I’m sure the Lord was protecting me, because with an amazing flash of action in an emergency, I reached and grabbed the choke wire. After that, I was afraid it might fun over me someday and go on down the road by itself, so I sold it. I guess it didn’t like me too well either.
Tib Bit of Auto History By Norm Miller In the process of organizing and indexing my automotive literature collection, I have been amazed at the different innovations that have been tried on automobiles in the past. About the only thing I can say is really new is the computerized electronic system that we have on today’s cars. Practically everything else has been tried at one time or another.
For example, many of today’s smaller cars have the engine sitting crosswise and have front wheel drive. George B Selden, a smart patent attorney, built a motorized buggy in 1877 in which the engine seat crosswise and drove the front wheels. However, the car was impractical and only ran for enough for him to obtain a patent on the automobile. Another car to use this system of front wheel drive and a cross mounted engine was the front drive Christie. This was said to be the worlds first practical front drive car. Built in 1904 by Water Christie, it was a racing car with a huge V4 engine mounted transversely. The crankshaft took the place of the front axle. The front wheels were driven directly off the crankshaft’s double flywheels, coupled by leather faced clutches and telescoping universal joints. This car was raced at Daytona and Ormond Beach Florida in 1904 and 1906. It was driven by Barney Oldfield. They say that it was the worst car ever built to steer and handle and Barney was the only man known who could hold it on the road in a race.
The first Franklin built in 1902, also used a cross mounted engine, but this one drove the rear wheels thru a planetary transmission. The overhead valve a4 cylinder engine was cooled by air, the forward motion of the car blowing air over the finned cylinders. In fact, Franklin never built a car with a radiator. They were all air cooled from 1902 to 1934. Franklin also used a lauansted wood frame up until 1928. They also had full ellipitic springs with a gave a very soft ride and good tire mileage. The Brush car, 1907 to 1911, also used a wood frame.
Howard Marmon was a brilliant automotive engineer and in 1904 developed a double 3 point suspension system that we have today. The Marmon actually had 2 frames, one carrying the body and the other carrying the engine and drive train. The firs Marmon in 1902 had a 90 degree V2 air cooled engine. In 1902 the V2 was replaced with a v4, which also used a shaft drive. He was, as far as I know, the first to use a V8 engine which he built in 1905, and in 1906 he built probably the very first V8 which developed 65 Horsepower and was also air cooled. This car was priced too high to sell, so it was never put into production. In 1911 a six cylinder Marmon with an in line overhead valve water cooled engine won the first Indy 500 mile race. Aluminum cylinder blocks and heads are also not new. In 1916 the Marmon Model 34 used an aluminum cylinder block with cast iron cylinder liners, and overhead valves with an aluminum head and even aluminum push rods. Much later in 1932 when the last Marmons were built they used a V16 engine with aluminum block and cylinder heads.
Undoubtedly the car with the most innovations and radical ideas produced in 1920 was the PARNTI. It was named after Joseph Parnti, an Italian who had decided to build cars in the USA. In fact it had so many radical innovations that probably lead to its demise in 1922 after only 18 cars were built. One thing that it had and it was probably the first to have was a unitized body and frame construction. The only thing wrong with that was that it was all made of wood. Haskelite Plywood at that! It should have been named the Termites Delight. It even had disc wheels made out of plywood; the suspension system was really strange. The car had no axles. There were two transverse springs in front and three in the rear which took the place axles. The car rode on a 10 point suspension system. The 3rd spring in the rear comes into action only on very rough roads. It was actually an overload spring. The wheel hubs were attached to the outer ends of these springs. The differential gears, brakes and drive shafts are carried on the body as sprung weight being attached to the 4 spring hangers and thus retain a fixed relation to the engine. The drive was carried from the differential gears to the rear wheels by two short drive shafts with flexible disc joints on either end thus allowing the wheels to rise and fall freely and independently. The entire frame and body weighed less the 100 pounds. The engine was an air cooled V8. No details were available fro the direct blast air cooled V8 as they called it. However in 1921 the V8 was replaced with a six cylinder Cameron engine and in 1922 a Falls overhead valve six was used. As if all this wasn’t enough to attract attention, the cars were painted bright orange, purple and yellow. In 1922 the company was broke and its assets sold to the Hanover Motor Car Co of Pennsylvania. A total of $225,000 was realized in the sale, less than half of the claims filed against the company. The people that invested their money didn’t receive a cent.
In the last issue I didn’t get all the slogans in so I’m completing them now. This includes the make of the car and the approximate year the slogan was used.
Doble 1918, The Best Steam Car in America Commonwealth 1920, The Car with the Foundation Klin-Kar 1920, A Standard Six of a Better Class Texan 1920, Built for the Texas Oil Fields Hanson 1920, Tested and Proven in the South Skelton 1920, The Improved Air Cooled Car Courier 1923, The Most Completely and Conveniently Lubricated Car in America Erskine 1926, A Entirely New Type of Car Glide 1910, When you Ride, Ride a Glide REO 1911, You Can Do It with a REO Mitchell 1916, There’s a Mitchell Dealer in Your Town Marion-Handley 1917, The Six Pre-eminent Paige 1926, The Most Beautiful Car in American Kissell-Kar 1919, Every Inch a Car Apperson 1915, The Eight with Eighty Less Parts Crow-Elkhart 1917, The Multi-Powered Car Chalmer 1919, With Hot Spot and Rams Horn Brisco 1919, the Car with the Half Million Dollar Motor Halladay 1920, America Car Superlative Dixie-Flyer1920, The Car That Brings you Bank Always Chandle 1920, Famous for its Marvelous Motor Davis 1921, Built of the Best Anderson 1920, A Little Higher in Price but Made in Dixie Stevens-Duryea 1918, Three Point Suspension Unit Power Plant Peerless 1918, The Two Power Range Eight Walter 1907,The Aristocrat of American Motordom Auburn 1907, The Most for the Money Pullman 1910, When You Ride, Ride Pullman Austin 1908, The America Favorite Mason 1908, Thje Swiftest and Strongest 2 Cylinder Car in America Marathon 1910, The Car with the Long Strenuous Service Handerson 1913, The Underpriced Luxury Car Huffman 1916, The Car the Sells It’s Self Case 1918, The All Satisfying Car Templer 1918, The Superfine Small Car Dort 1919, The Quality Goes Clear Through Stephens 1919, With the Perfected Overhead Valve Engine Cleveland 1921, Wins Distinction by it’s Better Quality Dusenberg 1921,The ULT Ament in Motor Car Design Noma 1922, A Distinctive Car
This completes the slogans, Hope you enjoyed them. Next time I plan to write about a very strange and unusual car called the PARIENTI. Norm
Through out the history of the Automobile, believe it or not, there is one thing that has never changed. That thing is SLOGANS. From the very first early days until the present time we still have them, for example, just the other day, I heard these on TV. Ford Trucks- Built Ford Tough; Chevrolet Silverado –An American Revolution; Dodge Trucks- Grab Life by the Horns. Following are some slogans that are still remembered today and some that heave been forgotten many many years ago. Also listed is the approximate year the slogans were used. Some were used for many years, some for only one year. In fact some of the cars only lasted one year. Ford 1910- The Universal Car; Ford 1949- There’s a Ford in your Future;- Chevrolet 1925- Ecomonical Transportation; Transportation; Chevrolet 1929- A Six fro the Price of a Four; Buick 1936-When Better Automobiles are Built Buick will Build Them ; Oldsmobile 1901- Nothing to Watch but the Road; Pontiac 1929- Chief of the Sixes; Cadillac 1925- The Standardized Car; Packard 1904- Ask the Man Who Owns One.; Bush 1910- Everyman’s Car; Rickenbaker 1925-A Car Worth of It’s Name; Severin 1922-Faithful to the End of the Road; Bates 1907-Buy a Bates and Keep Your Dates; Jackson 1915-No Hill Too Steep, No Sand Too Deep; Elcar 1926 A Well Built Car; Star 1926-More Power and Superior Quality; Durant 1925- Just a Real Good Car; Pilot 1918-The Car Ahead; Peerless 1918-The Two Power RangeEight; Empire 1910- The Little Aristocrat; Oakland 1912-Sturdy as the Oak; Stutz 1914-The Car that Made Good in a Day; Haynes 1915-America’s first Car; Metz 1914-The Gearless Car; Marmon 1908- The Easiest Riding Car in the World; Oakland 1916-The Car with a Conscience; Saxon 1916-Strength Economy and Service: Sterans 1912-The Ultimate Car; Darracq 1903- The Car That Leads them All; Royal Tourist 1904- The Pink of Perfection; Cartercar 1909-The Auto with the Trouble Left Out; Acme 1910-Justify It’s Name; Abbott Detroit 1925-The Up to the Minute Car; Detroit Electric 1919- The cosmopolitan Car; Vulcan 1915-A Wuality Car at a Quanity Price; Lewis VI- Monarch of the Sixes; Jewett 1925- A Thrifty Six Built by Paige; Ajax 1925-Nash Built; Willys Knight 1927-The Engine that Improves with Use; St Louis 1906- Rigs that Ran; Elmore 1907-The Car That Has No Valves; Reid 1906-simplicity, Well That’s our Watchword; Holsman 1908-Rides Like a Carriage; Schacht 1910-The Invincible Car; Firestone Columbus 1908-The Car Complete; Correja 1910-Takes Every Hill and Always Will; Patterson 1922-Your Idea of a Beautiful Car; Starin 1901-The Acme of Auto Perfection; Sandusky 1901-The Business Man’s Friend; De Motte 1904-With Quaker Staunchness and French Perfection; Santos Dumont 1903-This One Flys But Never Falters; Knox 1905-The Waterless Car; Dolson 1907- The Car John Dolson Built; Wolfe 1907-The Car form the Northwest; B.l.M. 1908-Built to Sell on it’s Merits; Springfield 1910-The Made to Order Car; Owen 1911-Two Years Ahead of It’s Time; Reo 1912-The Car that Marks My Limit, R.E.Olds; Vulcan 1913-The World’s Greatest Little Car; Leanox 1913-The Quality of a Master; Scripps Booth 1914-Luxuriors Light Cars; Pratt 1915-Backed by Seven Years of Wuality, Drexel1918-The Car with the 16 Valve Motor; Pan American 1917-The American Beauty Car; and Standard 1917-The Emblem of Success. To quote Norm, there’s more fro a later issue but this will have to do for now. I hope you all remember there may be a quiz later.
Tid Bit of Auto History By Norm Miller
We just happened to be talking the other day about some unusual cars built in the past and the first one that comes to mind was the Adams Farwell. These cars were built in Dubuque, IA from 1904 to 1913. The 1904 Brougham had a most unusual body style. It had room for two passengers inside a coupe enclosure with huge glass windows. The driver sat out in front ahead of the windshield and steered with a tiller. In front of him was a large scoop like device that dropped down so he could enter the car. The engine was in the rear. Ah yes, the engine, what a strange design. Instead of the crankshaft rotating and the engine remaining stationary, the crankshaft was fixed and the engine rotated. It was called a rotary engine. This engine had five air cooled cylinders that spun around horizontally in a circular enclosure under the back seat. Throwing oil was a bit of a problem, but since the cylinders spun rapidly no radiator was needed. Their slogan was “THE ADAMS FARWELL, IT SPINS LIKE A TOP”. There were other unusual features as well. It had foot pedals and steering controls which could be removed from the font seat and inserted in slots in the floor of the rear compartment so the motorist could actually become a backseat driver. Also, there was sliding steering wheel in later models that could be moved to change the car from right hand to left hand drive. The car had a double clutch which allowed forward and backward motion without shifting gears. It had a chain drive to the rear wheels. The car weighed 2900 lbs on only an 84” wheel base. Price was $2500 including lamps and tools. No doubt, plenty of tools were needed. Only 52 Adams Farwell were ever built and only one is still in existence. It was owned and restored by Bill Harrah and is a 1906 Touring car. The last I heard of the car it was owned by the Imperial Palace Museum. I had a personal experience with this car. Many years ago, Br Ralph Duweedie was the curator for Bill Harrah’s Museum in Reno, NV. He bought the car back to its home in Dubuque, IA. There was an antique auto meet there at the time and we drove up in our 1920 Studebaker seven passenger touring. Naturally everyone gathered around the Adams Farwell so Ralph could show us how it ran. He lifted the rear deck, which was like a trunk lid, turned on the gas and spark and gave the cylinders a pull. With a cloud of smoke the engine the engine coughed to life and started spinning, just like a top. The whole car stated weaving back and forth like a hula dancer, making a loud whirring noise. He did not drive it anywhere because, I think he was afraid to, but it was an experience just to here it run.
Tidbits of Automotive History by Norm Miller Installment Three- The Eddie Rickenbaker Story By Norm Miller
Taken from his autobiography, Rickenbaker by Eddie Rickenbaker himself in his own words why the Frickenbaker car failed.
The Rickenbaker car had many improvements which were ahead of it’s time. Most notable was its four wheel brakes. It’s ironic that this was what actually brought about its downfall. From the very beginning the car sold good. At one time they had 1200 dealers in the United States and 300 throughout the world. The company was doing so well that Captain Eddie got married. His story after that time is as follows: “In early 1924, I determined that the time had arrived to bring out the worlds first production passenger car equipped with four wheel brakes. Its difficult today to explain the pandemonium that the introduction of this eminently sensible braking system caused, in the auto industry at the time. I had driven racing cars with four wheel brakes and had personal proof of their superiority. To me it was a simple matter of arithmetic. Four is greater than 2. We secretly devised and built a four wheel brake system, mechanically rather then hydraulic and tested and improved it until it was as dependable a system as we could build at the time. When we had a stock of autos equipped with four wheel brakes on hand, we broke the news in full page ads all over the United States and in foreign countries. It was the automotive sensation of the year.
What I did not realize in my bullheaded determination to bring the superiority of four wheel brakes to the nation, the other auto companies could not afford to be taken unaware. The other auto companies had millions of dollars worth of autos with two wheel brakes in inventory or in production. To sell those cars the entire auto industry had to convince the public that the four wheel brakes were inferior, even unsafe. The Studebaker Company took out full page ads attacking the four wheel brake system as extremely dangerous. All over the country other dealers and salesman ganged up on the Rickenbaker car and its four wheel brakes. Some said the car would turn over in a curve when the brakes were applied. Others said all four wheels would skid rather than grip and some said the car would stop to quick and throw the occupants against the dashboard and injure them. This adverse publicity really hurt out sales. We could not return to the two wheel brakes. Other companies were feverishly retooling to bring out four wheel brakes anyway. The only thing we could do was to stick it out and try to sell the cars we had. On top of every things else the country entered a recession in 1925 and sales in general went down. Other dealers were not selling cars and going broke and our stock was going down, then Walter Flanders was killed in an accident and his loss was felt immediately. The only hope I could see for the company was for me to resign. Maybe a miracle would happen but it didn’t. the company went into bankruptcy in 1927. I put all the money I had in the company and when it was gone, I went out and borrowed more. When I resigned I was flat broke, unemployed and $240,000 in debt.”
It was then that Captain Eddie got the change to buy the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for $700,000. A banker friend of his had so much faith in him that he loaned him the money even though he was deeply in debt. The Speedway was such a success that Captain Eddie paid off his debts and became solvent again. The speed way was to be broken up into home and lots. Captain Eddie Rickenbaker saved it so we have it today.
Norm has been digging into his archives of articles, books, and newspaper articles to bring us Tidbits of history. Here’s another installment from Norm. This has some quotes from the book Rickenbacker, by Eddie Rickenbacker himself. Part II I wish to quote some more from Eddie Rickenbacker book about his life and his car. After the war ended in 1918 he had often thought about building a car of his own, using the ideas that he had acquired in aviation and on the race tracks. If would have to have a high speed six cylinder engine, low center of gravity, and it would have to have four wheel brakes. Eddie had found four wheel brakes to be greatly superior on the race tracks and they had been used successfully in Europe for some time. Eddie went to Detroit where he met an old racing buddy named Harry Cunningham. Harry had the agency for the E.M.F. car. From him he met Barney Everitt, Walter Flanders and William Metzgar. Flanders was a production genius, Everett’s interest was in auto body’s and Cunningham was an engineer. Metzgar was partially retired but still had an interest in autos. These men would be Eddie’s partners in building the Rickenbacker. Two prototype cars were built, practically by hand, in 1920. Eddie drove one of the cars himself. He said “I test drove the Rickenbacker car myself for many thousands of miles on the hot plains of Texas, on gumbo roads in Nebraska and Iowa and trough the snow in Minnesota and it stood up very well”. In 1920 and 1921 there was a depression, not a good time to introduce a new automo9bile. They wisely wanted until 1922 and showed the first three cars at the New York Auto Show, a touring car, a coupe, and sedan. By using aviation to introduce the new cars the same way he did the Shariden cars, he got great publicity. The cars began to sell immediately. The first two years they sold 50,000 cars. The cars sold so well that for the first time, Eddie began to think about having a wife and family. He married Adelaide Frost Durant on September 16th, 1925 and a son William was born March 16th 1928. On the new 1923 Models Eddie determined it was time to introduce four wheel brakes. It was one of the greatest sensations for the auto industry that year. Only two other production cars had them, the Dusenburg, introduced in 1922 and the expensive Kenworth built in California in 1923. On the very firs Rickenbacker, Eddie developed and used what was called the tandem flywheel. This acted as harmonic balancer to minimize engine vibrations. Also introduced in 1923 was a carburetor air cleaner, and a built in transmission lock. In 1924 Balloon tires were introduced. So you see it was not only a car worthy of it name but in many ways far ahead of it’s time. More about the Rickenbacker and why they failed in the next issue! Sheridan- Although the Sheridan was only built for two years, 1920-1921, it played an important role in Automotive History. The Sheridan was produced in Muncie, Indiana by none other than General Motors. In 1920 Billy Durant was running G.M. To the dissatisfaction of his stock holders, he was buying up a lot of small companies. The Sheridan was one of them. At the same time, over in Detroit, Captain Edward V. Rickenbacker was back home from the war and thinking about building his own car. He had Barney Everett and Walter Flanders of E.M.F. fame and Harry Cunningham design a car to his specifications. He put Walter Flanders in charge as president and he took the job as sales manager. Capt. Eddie knew he needed experience in this line of work so he applied for the California agency for the Sheridan car and got it. Rickenbacker worked out a plan to sell Sheridan by using aviation. He was the first sales manager to cover his area by plane. He would fly into a California community, land in a cow pasture near town, and be met by the Sheridan dealer driving a new Sheridan. Of course he got big write up in the paper in big black letters saying Sheridan is coming. Then everyone would be asking, “Who is Sheridan?” He would then take out a full page ad announcing that Sheridan is here, with a picture of the car. In a year Rickenbacker built up an organization of 27 dealers and sold more than 700 Sheridan. In 1922 Rickenbacker left Sheridan and went back to Detroit to build his own car, The RICKENBACKER SIX, A CAR WORTHY OF IT’S NAME. Meanwhile Durant got ousted from G.M. for over expansion. He wanted to build a car using his own name and G.M. was anxious to sell the Sheridan plant. Durant bought the plant and produced his own car, the DURANT SIX. Of course that was the end of the Sheridan car. As far as I know only three still exist. I feel lucky to have a radiator emblem from a Sheridan. Tidbits of Automotive History by Norm Miller
Norm has been digging into his archives of articles, books, and newspaper articles to bring us Tid Bits of History. Here’s another installment from Norm. This has some quotes from the book Rickenbacker, by Eddie Rickenbacker himself.
The year was 1906, the place, Columbus, Ohio. Lee Frayer and William Miller had been building cars for two years. But this year was special because they were building three racers to enter in the Vanderbilt Cup races that year. From the start, all of their cars were air cooled. A big rotary blower in front of the engine forced a blast of air thru aluminum jackets around the cylinders. This special car they were working on had a 50 H.P. engine, a lot of power and very fast for its day. It was called the Frayer Miller car.
A young boy had been hanging around the garage watching everything that was going on. Lee Frayer asked him what he wanted and he said he wanted a job and to help them build automobiles. Mr. Frayer said “Sorry Kid, but we are real busy here; there isn’t anything you can do. The boy looked around and saw the shop was in a mess. The next morning at 7 a.m. sharp the boy was there and cleaned up the shop. When Mr., Frayer came in, he was amazed to see everything so tidy. He looked at the boy and asked “What’s you name Son?” The boy answered “Edward V. Rickenbacker Sir.” Mr. Frayer said “Well, Eddie you got a job.” At first Eddie worked in the carburetor department with an old German tool maker named Schwartz, a genius at this trade. Then he” was promoted to the engine bearing department, then the engine assembly department, all the while studying and auto and mechanical engineering course from the International Correspondence Schools. Mr. Frayer then promoted Eddie to the engineering department. Mr. Frayer took three of the cars to Long Island, New York to test them for the race and he took young Eddie with him. In fact he gave Eddie a pair of goggles and said, “You are going to be my riding mechanic.” Norm has found this account in Eddie Rickenbacker’s own words.
“Here’s what happened On our firs practice run everything was going smoothly. Frayer was feeling his way around the course while I was sitting in the bucket seat. As we careened around the curves with the wind hitting my face I was exulting in the joy of motion. Suddenly we were coming to a curve and I knew we were going too fast. We were not slowing down at all. I looked over at Mr. Frayer. His right foot was holding the brake pedal flat on the floor. We had no brakes. “Hold ON!” Mr. Frayer shouted. He didn’t have to tell me. The road curved but we dept going right on straight. We went down into a ditch and up out of it. A sand dune loomed ahead of us. Frayer fried to steer around it but we were going to fast. The wheels dug into the sand and we turned over, I flew out, soared thru the air, and skidded to a stop in the sand. Mr.’ Frayer was also thrown out but was only scratched and bruised. The car still ran and we limped back to the shop.”
The nest day they took the car out again. This time on the Jericho Turnpike. This time the brakes held. Again I quote Eddie Rickenbacker’s own words, “We spun around a sharp curve at 50 m.p.h. Frayer jammed the accelerator down to the floor for a straight stretch ahead and we must have exceeded 65 or 70 m.p.h. The sensation of speed brought intense exhilaration to me.
Suddenly in front of us a guinea fowl with an unfortunate sense of timing led his flock of hens across the road. We plowed right thru them. Guineas and bit of guineas and guinea feather flew in the air. One bird was sucked up into the blower in front. Our air cooled Frayer Miller picked him up, killed him, feathered him, broiled him, and carved him up, all in a split second. What a mess? What a stench? The shop said they smelled us coming. The combination of guinea grease, meat, and feathers covered the entire engine. Every square inch of surface had to be scraped and cleaned.
40 Years Ago Director Stu Smith Ass't Dir Jack Hoffman Sec Treas Chuck Hoaglund Board Joe Beldin, Ed Briggs, Bill Dunsworth, Al Zimmer, Bob Sheets Autograf Bill Dunsworth January Meeting at WOC attended by 25 members 1 guest slides of the 1965 AACA national at Deer in Moline February Meeting at WOC slides of Harrah's Automobile Collection were shown by Al Zimmer March discussed bus trip to Fagen's Museum in Markham, IL $5.00 per person. Spring Banquet to be at Marando;s Larry Seefeldt in charge Chunk Hoaglund reported on the AACA National Meeting in Philadelphia. Autograf received the Award of Merit. Committee set up to write a History of Quad City Automobiles: Jack Hoffman, Al Zimmer, Bill Dunsworth, Chuck Hoaglund, Stu Smith. Buttons & Bows. Pres. Arlen King, V. Pres Dixie Smith, Sec Treas Barb Dunsworth. 30 Years ago 1976 Director Bud Nelsen Ass't Dir Dave Swanson Sec Treas John Lindblad Board Roland Bessant, Fred Leonhart, Dick Olofson, Otto Patting Autograf Bud Nelsen January Meeting at the Flamingo in Silvis was attended by 44 members. the program was a mini swap meet. March Meeting was held at the Rock Island Bank Drive up Building. new member Marlin Weakly. The 3rd annual swap meet at Perry Snower Buick Pontiac netted a Profit of $796.99. Art and Bert Rose celebrated their 25th anniversary. Carrol Rursch retied from Deer after 39 years. 20 Years ago 1986 Director Ray Benfield Ass't Dir Jerry Wolking Sec Treas Barb Dusworth Board Burt Gibney, Ron Phillips, Ivan Owens, Dick Shutt, Gary Gleason, Dave Krupke Autograf Barb Benfield January Meeting was Show & Tell at the Choice Smorgasboard. February Meeting was attended by 51 people at the Deer-Wiman House. new members Bob and Dawn Bartel, Dr. John Davies March Meeting was at El Rancho in Bettendorf. Attended by 76 people. New members Buck Wendt, Robert Hannah, Jack Drews 10 years ago 1996 Director Don Mitchell Ass't Dir Jim Scott Sec Dawn Bartel Treas Mel Knollman Board Cy Galley, Tim Mattee, Cliff Howell, Tom Fey, Don Hoover, Dick Shutt Autograf Joyce Danley January Meeting was Show & tell at Butterworth Center 20 people attended. new members Harry Hart, Mike & Audrey Birmingham, Dick Perry. February Meeting was at the R&V Knight factory in East Moline. Cy Galley presented a program on the world wide web. March Meeting at the Butterworth Center was a presentation on Cars used in Railroading.
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