The fascinating history of American cars . . .one story at a time.
In the early days of the automobile industry there was some disagreement concerning what the new contraptions should be called. The Chicago Times-Herald even held a contest to name them and the winner was Moto Cycle! That is a lot easier to say than this early attempt from the Dutch-speaking people of Flanders as reported in a 1911 newspaper:
I found this “helpful hint” in a 1931 newspaper:
There must have been a number of people taking this questionable advice, because Ford added this warning to the 1946 Service Manual:
Crazy!
One of the truck companies that appeared on the long list of truck manufacturers in 1917 is the Federal Motor Truck Company, a Detroit-based independent truck maker that was founded in 1910. It is not very common to see survivors, but the picture above shows a 1920 Federal truck located near me at the Nebraska Prairie Museum in Holdrege.
Shortly after the company’s inception, a Federal truck won a 1911 Tour called the Chicago Reliability Run. Twenty-eight trucks competed in the 937-mile race from Chicago to Detroit and back. The race took nine days to complete and it rained for four of those days which made many of the roads nearly impossible to travel. One 26-mile stretch in Michigan was virtually impassable and ended the race for many of the trucks. The Federal powered through, taking 7.5 hours to do so. Other companies entered multiple trucks, but Federal entered a single 1-ton truck and it won carrying a load of 2,650 pounds, an overload of 650 pounds above its rated capacity. It also made the entire trip under its own power, the only truck in its class to do so.
Another story from 1917 described Federal’s efficient parts department. The company kept bins full of parts that were monitored so that they never ran out, and dealers were also required to fully stock replacement parts at all times. A complete parts book was given to each purchaser and a record was kept of every truck leaving the factory so that orders could be filled quickly while reducing the possibility of error. This system enabled the company to fill an incredible ninety percent of orders on the same day they were received.
The competitive environment of the 1950s were the end of many car and truck companies, and so it was with Federal. The company was purchased by Northwestern Auto Parts Co. (NAPCO) in 1954. At that time it was reported that there were 50,000 Federal trucks in use worldwide and 300 franchised dealers. Napco moved Federal operations to Minneapolis, but the division lost money and no trucks were manufactured after 1959.
Sources:
Advertisement. Cartinhour-Bowman Co. The Indianapolis News, 12 April 1919, p. 11.
Advertisment. Standard Motor Car Company. Oakland Tribune, 10 September 1911, p. 36.
“Federal Company Assures Service.” The Honolulu Advertiser, 3 June 1917, p. 6.
“Federal Truck Fleet Grows.” Los Angeles Sunday Times, 18 March 1917, p. VI-7.
“Made in Minneapolis.” Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, 8 January 1956, p. 6C.
Paul, Herb. “City Men Buy Out Detroit Truck Maker.” The Minneapolis Star, 14 September 1954, p. 23.
I found this very long list of “Trucks and Delivery Cars Manufactured in the United States” in an old book published in 1917. Those listed have four cylinders unless otherwise stated and the prices were accurate as of April 1st of that year. How many names do you recognize?
My family loves watching old black and white television shows, especially anything by Alfred Hitchcock. Besides being great entertainment, it is fun to see all the classic cars filling the roads and lining the streets. In one episode of the Alfred Hitchcock Hour called “Who Needs An Enemy”, a man was stealing money from his business partner and used part of the proceeds to buy this new convertible:
While I definitely don’t condone embezzling, I can’t fault the thief for his taste in automobiles since he used some of his ill-gotten gains to buy a gorgeous 1963 Thunderbird.
Although Ford called the ’63 Thunderbird the most changed for 1963 with 2,500 engineering and design modifications, most of the visible changes were small ones.
Both the ’61 and ’62 had horizontal lines in their grilles, but the ’63 had only vertical bars:
The side mouldings also differed from the two previous years as did the tail light retainers which featured a new sunburst design.
The standard engine was a 300-hp 390 V8, but there was a 340-hp high-performance V8 option with three two-barrel Holley carburetors. The transmission was a 3-speed Cruise-O-Matic automatic.
The ’63 was available in four models, Landau, hardtop, convertible and sports roadster:
The 1961-63 Thunderbirds are called “Bullet Birds” due to the body shape, and that makes them the perfect choice for a Hitchcock production.
In the pretelevision decade of the 1920s, companies looked for more imaginative ways of garnering publicity for their products. New world records and other assorted publicity stunts were common ways of drawing attention, and car dealerships were no exception. When GM introduced the Pontiac in 1926, a “Master of Endurance” by the name of Rosser J. Newman publicly tested the brand new automobile at dealerships around the country.
You may be wondering how someone earns the title “Master of Endurance”. Apparently Newman did it by setting records in both marathon dancing (217 hours) and roller skating (72 hours). Once he was something of a household name, the automobile industry began hiring him. “Master of Publicity” might have been a more suitable moniker since he was able to draw both sponsors and crowds everywhere he performed his endurance test.
It was the same story in every town. Newman was a one-man publicity machine and large crowds would gather to watch him get handcuffed to the steering wheel of a car that he would then drive for up to 8 days (100-200 hours) without sleep. Since he was driving on public roads, surely law enforcement considered that a public safety issue, right? Wrong. In most towns it was the police chief himself who joined the festivities by cuffing Newman to the steering wheel.
It was supposed to be an endurance test for the car, so the car’s engine (a straight-six with 186.5 cubic inches) had to run continuously for the entire length of the test. It was also set to high gear with the shift lever removed, and the hood (and sometimes the crankcase) was sealed so no oil could be added.
Every advertising avenue was exploited. The car itself was covered with advertisements:
Whichever food and beverage companies sponsored the event were given credit for getting Newman through the grueling ordeal. In Springfield, Missouri, it was Banquet Ice Cream and Big Boy Bread. In Louisiana it was Saints Coffee. In Oklahoma, Coca Cola got the credit and in Nebraska, those honors went to South Side Milk and Collins Ice Cream. Even Dutch Masters cigars got in on the act in St. Jo, Missouri.
Gas and oil companies like Karetex, Red Seal and Penreco also sponsored the tests as did tire companies like US Tires, Michelin and The General.
Other businesses were eager to get in on the action, too. In Springfield, it was advertised that Newman, the marathon dancer, would be un-handcuffed at the Half-A-Hill Dance Hall so that he could dance with the girls. Since the car had to remain running and was locked into high gear, I can only assume someone had to be there to hold in the clutch while Newman was off tripping the light fantastic.
Working every angle, the public was even invited to come to the showroom and watch an exhausted Newman sleep at the end of the test:
The Pontiac, of course, became a success. It was economically priced, and that fact helped it survive the depression that proved the death knell for so many other car companies. I’m not sure how much credit should go to Newman, but the smart marketing strategies certainly didn’t hurt. Pontiac offered a V-8 in ’32 and then went with straight-eights for ’33 but, until then, Pontiac was the “Chief of the Sixes”.
Sources:
Bruce Motor Car Company. Advertisement. The Nebraska State Journal, 4 August, 1926, p. 7.
“City Dads Start 100 Hour Driver.” The Lincoln Sunday Star, 1 August 1926, p. 3.
Coca-Cola. Advertisement. The Daily Oklahoman, March 18, 1926, p. 13.
Cuban Coffee Mills. Advertisement. The Shreveport Journal, 9 April 1927, p. 15.
F.S. Edwards Tobacco Co. Advertisement. St. Joseph Gazette, 21 July 1926, p. 9.
F.W. Speed & Son. Advertisement. The Corsicana Daily Sun, 27 February 1926, p. 4.
Half-A-Hill. Advertisement. The Springfield Leader, 9 November 1926, p. 8.
Karchmer Oil. Advertisement. The Springfield Leader, 6 November 1926, p. 12.
McCutcheon Bros. Motor Co. Advertisement. The Springfield Leader, 9 November 1926, p. 8.
“Newman Drives Gamely On To A World’s Endurance Record.” The Springfield Leader, 9 November 1926, p. 1.
“Newman Is Off Today at Noon!” The Daily Oklahoman, March 18, 1926, p. 13.
“Newman on Eighth Day of His World Record Endurance Test.” The Springfield Leader, 12 November, 1926, p. 1.
“Pontiac Establishes Word’s Record.” The Daily Oklahoman, 27 March, 1926, p. 3.
Rudd Motor Co., Inc. Advertisement. The Shreveport Journal, 9 April 1927, p. 15.
Springfield Creamery Co. Advertisement. The Springfield Leader, 6 November 1926, p. 12.
“Turning Back The Pages.” St. Joseph Gazette, 13 July 1966.
“200-Hour Drive Starts Today.” The Springfield Leader, 5 November 1926, p. 1.
Can you name the car that these tail lights belongs to? Scroll down for the answer . . .
. . . . . . 1965 Chevy!
My husband and I took a drive to hit an estate sale the other day. We were hoping to find some cool old stuff, but we were not expecting to find cool old car and truck stuff. Imagine our joy when we pulled into the yard and found it full of Studebaker trucks. The bunch included a couple of 1949-53 2R-series trucks which could look like this one if restored. There were also a couple of the older M-series trucks and what looks to me like a 1954. They were not part of the estate sale that day and will instead be part of an auction in April. I know where we’ll be on April 11th!
Haven’t done Tail Light Tuesday in awhile. Do you recognize this one? Scroll down for the answer . . . .
. . . .1952 Studebaker!
This particular car is a ’52 Commander State Starliner Hardtop Coupe and it’s part of the new Studebaker exhibit at the Classic Car Collection in Kearney, Nebraska.
This 1963 Studebaker Avanti was part of a car show we attended last summer:
It was a gorgeous car with original paint, and it had this sticker in its window:
“Hill Holder” was a solution to the problem of stopping on an incline in a car with a manual transmission. One Studebaker dealer described the “nerve-tingling experience of being obliged to come to a full stop on a sharp upgrade . . . the necessity for more or less simultaneous manipulation of emergency brake, foot brake, accelerator, clutch pedal and gear shift lever when restarting the car.” Hill Holder did just that; it held the car stationary when stopped on a hill. It engaged automatically by depressing the clutch pedal while the brakes were on. A valve held the brake pressure until the clutch was released, leaving the driver’s right foot free to step on the gas.
The mechanism was introduced by Studebaker in 1936:
Hill Holder and Avanti . . . two more examples of Studebaker being ahead of its time.
Sources:
Studebaker. Advertisement. Arizona Republic, 12 May 1936, p. 1.
Studebaker. Advertisement. St. Joseph Gazette, 19 Dec. 1935, p. 3.
“Demonstrate Hill Holding Studebakers.” The Capital Journal [Salem, Oregon] , 8 February 1936, p. 5.
“Studebaker Offers ‘Hill Holder’ As Exclusive Feature.” The Coos Bay Times, 13 March 1936, p. 5.