Hudson's Blog

Feb 12, 2008 - Car Lore

Cars are stupid. The idea of personal transportation that pollutes and uses a finite fuel makes no sense. That doesn't mean I don't love cars. It just means that I'm a bit insane.

Any person who thinks through the idea of the automobile will agree. But there's just something to the car. Something that makes a car a special consumer product and one that garners a very personal connection and very personal experiences. We love our cars.

And it's not just car people who have these feelings. Almost every American (and many more people around the world) has some story about a car...many have multiple stories. Some of these stories are negative, some are positive, almost all leave an impression forever. Some of these stories even become folk tales.

Years ago, I met a guy who presented a paper on "car lore": tales of the automobile that are passed from person to person and generation to generation. These stories range from the bizarre to the comical. While there are variations in many of these tales, they will have the same basic theme. They're like the urban legends of the automobile.

My favorite of these pieces of "car lore" starts with a man and his Rolls-Royce. On a trip one day, the car stops working and leaves the man stranded. He calls Rolls-Royce for assistance and in a short period of time, a mechanic arrives. The car is repaired and the man sent on his way. Weeks later, the driver still hasn't been billed for his roadside repair, so he contacts Rolls-Royce. When the driver inquires about his bill he is politely told that there must be some mistake, "Rolls-Royces do not break down."

Like urban legends, these stories have some kernel of truth, but are largely fabrications. And there are so many of them. Some of them are so well-known that versions are adapted to each region of the world. Even versions of the above Rolls-Royce tale include a comment that the hoods are actually welded shut at the factory.

Do you know any such tales?

7:33 am | Categories: rolls-royce, car lore, urban legends, tall tales, stories, cars Comments (1) | Permalink | Alert Administrator

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Nov 26, 2007 - It's a Fact...But It's Wrong

Ever have a conversation with someone and they try to impress you with their automotive knowledge? It must happen with every hobby or interest: someone "knows" a fact about a subject and uses it to impress another person who actually lives the subject. Car people have to be among the most vulnerable to this type of confrontation because everybody knows about cars and many people have some hidden "fact" about them.

I use the quotes because many people think they know something about this subject but it usually turns out that someone told them this "fact" and either told it to them wrong or the listener fell prey to the misplaced adjective, thereby invalidating the initial "fact."

It happens all the time to me. I've learned (or tried to) that you need to be careful with the feelings of others in these circumstances. Many people have lived the better parts of their lives knowing something to be fact when it is actually partially true or a complete fabrication. Kids usually start these types of urban myths because they didn't fully appreciate the subtle modifier used when they were first taught the "fact." We've all been a victim of a half-truth.

With automotive knowledge, and especially automotive history knowledge, I become a stickler. I always want to be the teacher (when I know the subject), but I have to limit myself so that I won't become the "know-it-all" that everybody hates. I fear becoming Cliff Clavin from "Cheers." I also worry that kids growing up in the automotive hobby might actually believe some of these half-truths and, as Steve Martin once called them, "made up facts."

Here are some of the "facts" I've been told by various people over the years:

Henry Ford invented the automobile - The first Ford Motor Company car was built in 1903 and the first car built by Henry Ford puttered around the streets of Dearborn in 1896, but most people who claim this "fact" think the Model T was the first car. My first thought is always "why would they start with 'T' and why not start with 'A'?" Of course, the first practical Otto-engined automobile was the 1886 Benz but many historians date the origins of the automobile to the 1769 Cugnot Steam Tractor. Arguments can even be made that Leonardo diVinci designed the first automobile well before that, even though he didn't build one.

Ford invented the assembly line - Henry Ford did much for the automobile industry and for the industrialization of the United States, but many of his triumphs are exaggerated by people who hear half of the actual claims. Henry Ford adapted the moving assembly line to automotive production. His assembly line was developed from the production of guns which used many of the same techniques. Even the claim that the Model T was the first mass produced vehicle is wrong (or depends on your definition of "mass production") since the first mass produced automobile is generally thought to be the 1901 "Curved Dash" Olds.

Volkswagen was the first US transplant - This is actually the claim that got me thinking of this subject. In a recent editorial, a well-respected automotive writer made this statement referring to the 1978 opening of the New Stanton plant in Pennsylvania. Volvo had been producing cars in Canada for years prior to the beginning of Rabbit production, but this claim is for production in the United States. Among the car companies who produced cars in the US prior to the New Stanton plant was Rolls-Royce who produced vehicles in Springfield, Massachusetts, starting in 1919; about 3,000 were produced before the plant shut down during the Great Depression. Various other manufacturers had operations in the US including Benz, Napier, and Fiat prior to World War II.

Chevrolet's first V8 was in 1955 - Everyone knows that the small block Chevrolet V8 started production in 1955. And most GM and Chevrolet aficiandoes will tell you that Chevrolet had no V8 prior to that which is why the first two model years of the Corvette had six-cylinder engines only. But only the best Chevrolet fans will tell you about the 1917 OHV V8 engine that Chevrolet produced. The 288cid OHV Series D V8 engine produced 36hp and about 3,000 were produced between 1917 and 1919. Between 1919 and 1955, Chevrolet sold only four- and six-cylinder cars until the introduction of the famous small block V8.

Ford's first Model A was introduced after the Model T - This is one of those trick questions that automotive historians like. When production of the Model T ended in 1927, Henry Ford introduced his next model and instead of calling it the Model U, he decided to call it the Model A. But this wasn't the first time that name had been used. The first Ford production introduced in 1903 was also called the Model A. Of course the Model A was followed by the Model B and Model C and various other letters before reaching the world-famous Model T in 1908. More than 15 million cars were built by Ford between the first Model A and the 1927 Model A.

5:56 am | Categories: automotive history, ford, chevrolet, volkswagen, benz, napier, fiat, model a, model t, oldsmobile, henry ford, cugnot, rolls-royce Comments (2) | Permalink | Alert Administrator

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Jul 31, 2007 - Oh, the People You Will Meet!

The September issue of Car and Driver arrived the other day and one particular road test gave me a flashback.

I’ve been working in and around the automotive industry for a number of years and it always amazes me that there is such a wide variety of abilities in the people who are supposed to be the face to the public and the media. There are people who you will go out of your way to see at every event and there are people you will avoid as if your life (and more importantly, your sanity) depended on it. I remember a woman who worked at Honda that everyone spoke of in only the most glowing terms and there were similar people Subaru and Ford. But unfortunately, it’s the people on the other end of the spectrum who you tend to remember the most.

This particular issue of Car and Driver features a test of a Slovakian kit car that looks quite exotic. So exotic, in fact, that I went out of my way to catch a look at one a snap a picture or two.

I was walking around a car show where the K1 Attack was shown. As I walked over, I noticed that someone was being interviewed just in front of the car. The videographer was setting up so I quickly snapped a picture before they were ready for the camera to roll.

As I walked away, the interviewer tried to impress his interviewee by making some disparaging remark about any shmo with a camera, obviously trying to put himself on a plane higher than me. He was obviously younger than me so I was to assume that, unless he had being interviewing people since he was in diapers, I had more experience than him. But because I didn’t have an entourage or a broadcast-quality video camera, I must be one of the unwashed masses. I felt secure enough that I didn’t have to flash the media credentials in my pocket just to make myself feel important.

And because I’m a nice person, I didn’t embarrass this cub reporter in front of his “big interview.”

Now, as I’m reading what I’ve written, I feel like you, the reader, are going to get the wrong idea of me. I love working in this industry. Aside from that rare person, I’ve enjoyed the company of most automotive people (media, PR, and others) that I’ve met along the way. I do not, in any way, want you to think that I think highly of myself, because I don’t.

But when others put me down, I will get a bit defensive.

There’s a pecking order in this industry, and you’re made aware of it quite often. There are precious few people you must bow down to, but you also know that your experience and stature places you on a certain rung of the ladder. Just because you have a cameraman with you doesn’t put you near the top and just because you carry a lowly digital camera doesn’t mean you’re on the ground floor.

If I were to run into you at a car show, I would treat you just as you would treat me. If you’re taking a picture, I will step back and help prevent others from stepping into your frame. But I would hope to have you treat me just the same. When someone acts as if they’re more important than anyone else around them, they’re not going to get any special treatment from me.

I’ve been surprised by the people who are nice to me and sometimes equally surprised by the people who weren’t.

There was a gentleman from a Washington DC TV station. You wouldn’t know him to see him, but if you lived in the area, you would know his voice. We ran into each other a few times and each time he would re-introduce himself as having “an old car and a young wife,” and then proceed to show me a picture of his ’59 Rolls-Royce.

Another car show, another DC personality. I was fighting through a crowd at the New York Auto Show, looking down and trying my best not to step on anyone’s feet, when I caught a glimpse of a name tag. I read “John Harter” and I immediately remembered that I watched his on-air road tests on WJLA. I told him that I watched him every week and he replied by joking that he thought only his mother watched.

I was reporting on an awards ceremony where a rather famous and prolific automotive writer was honored. After I took his picture, I told him that he had authored the first automotive book I was ever given. He is quite the writer so he started to name off some of his most important works, but I just answered no. When I named the book, he laughed and said, “the funny thing is, I don’t remember writing that one.” Apparently, the book had been culled together from various pieces he wrote so he never specifically sat down to write that book, but we had a laugh about it.

These are the people you want to meet. These are the people who make the automotive industry so dynamic and interesting. From the most experienced CEO to most-knowledgeable historian to the private car collector to the budding enthusiast, there’s nothing quite like the automotive world.

I wish I could introduce you to some of the people I’ve met along the way. Some are funny (intentionally or not), some are scholarly, many are respectful, and all add some color to the world. And you can meet some of them on your own; just visit a local car show or cruise night. You’re bound to find some colorful people there. And then you’ll have a few stories of your own to share. I’d love to hear them!

5:54 pm | Categories: cars, car people, people, automobiles, car show, auto show, automotive industry, media, public relations, ford, k1 attack, new york auto show, nyias, john harter, wjla, honda, car and driver, rolls-royce Comments (2) | Permalink | Alert Administrator

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