~:~:i~1:1\.UTOMOTIVE HISTORY SPRING 1985 ISSUE NUMBER 18 REVIEW A PUBLICATION OF THE SOCIETY OF AUTOMOTIVE HISTORIANS, INC. Automotive History Review No. 18 Spring, 1985 ,.p • 2 AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY EDITOR _ISPRIN_G1985-REVIEW Richard B. Brigham ISSUE NUMBER 18 All co"espondence in connection with du Pont Speedster Front Cover Automotive History Review should be This picture was reproduced from a 1920 advertisement. Built in addressed to: Society of Automotive limited quantities on an irregular schedule, these high-quality cars were produced from 1920 to 1932. Only 537 of them were made. Historians, Printing & Publishing Office, 1616 Park Lane, N.E., Marietta, Elmore Prototype 2 Ten ot these '1899 cars were made. Eight were sold, then recalled and Georgia 30066. scrapped because of poor quality. Production resumed In 1901. Gen- eral Motors bought the company in 1909, ended production in 1912. Letters 4 All of the letters in this issue comment on the Dino article In Issue No. 17, and all are favorable. Now we need articles on foreign cars and cars of the 50s and 60s. Get busy, SAH authorsl 1931 du Pont Phaeton 6 Automotive History Review is a This beautiful, award-winning du Pont phaeton is one-of-a-kind; the semi-annual publication of the Society only phaeton that du Pont Motors, Inc., ever built. The car still exists, now owned by SAH member Richard Riegel, Jr. of Automotive Historians, Inc. Type- setting and layout is by Brigham Books, Coxentry's Motor Mills 8 A story about the birthplace and beginnings of the English Daimler in Marietta, Georgia 30066. Printing is 1896, which began as a typical horseless carriage, but grew to become by Brigham Press, Inc., 1950 Canton one of England's finest luxury cars. Road, N.E., Marietta, Georgia 30066. Identification-At Last! 11 A chance seating with Bruce Ledingham, of Delta, B.C., Canada, at the October 1984 SAH annual banquet led to the Identification of a car about which AH R inquired ten years previously (Issue No.2). Foreign-bodied Stutz Cars 12 OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS A photographic trip to Eurqpe to look at cars with special custom bodies, all built in England, France, Belgium and Germany, and all John A. Conde President mounted on Stutz chassis of 1928 to 1933. Walter E. Gosden Vice President Some Cars of the Presidents 14 Charles L. Betts, Jr. Secretary President Theodore Roosevelt was the first U.S. president to ride in a ,government-owned automobile (a White Steamer), but Congress did George B. P. Ward, Jr. Treasurer not pass legislation to eliminate the White House stables until 1951. Through 1985 Willys Station Wagon Prototype 16 Jeffery I. Godshall Designed and built by Ghia to replace the boxy Jeep station wagon, this prototype was never put into production. Willys' management Walter M. McCall said It would cost too much to meet competition. Gerald Perschbacher FWD-The Workhorse of World War I 17 Through 1986 The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, Clintonville, Wisconsin was David L. Lewis rescued from near bankruptcy by World War I orders, and exists today as a builder of multi-wheel drive commercial vehicles. Thomas E. Warth The Road Runner of 1908 R. Perry Zavitz 19 From the Newsletter of the Southern California Chapter, SAH, comes Through 1987 this story by Jim Valentine about the one and only Road Runner pro- totype, made in Los Angeles. Matt L. Joseph Walter E. Wray Book Reviews' 22 Regular contributors Keith Marvin and Griffith Borgeson revi£w l< John R. McAlpine number of interesting books, any or all of which would be a valuable addition to your reference or research library. Factory Photo-1922 Earl Sedan PUBLICA nONS COMMITTEE Earl Motors, Inc., Jackson, Michigan, was organized by Clarence A, Earl, former lI'Jillys-Overland president, to succeed the Briscoe Motor Beverly Rae Kimes, Chairperson Corporation, but even with Its greatly Iimproved appearance only Richard B. Brigham about 2000 Earl cars were made, The company failed in1924. John A. Conde Frederick D. Roe ~ - George B. P. Ward, Jr. Further information about the Society of Automotive Historians, Inc" may be obtained by writing to the Society of Automotive Historians, Inc., c/o National Automotive History Collection, Detroit Public Library, 5201 Woodward A venue, Detroit, Michigan 482~2 © ,Copyright 1985 by the Society of Automotive Historians, Inc. AutomOtive Nisror'y nlJVlew Iva. I Cl Spring, 798b Editorial Comment Letters The request for comments about the Dino article (AHR No. 17) brought several letters, which are published in this issue beginning on this page. This response was not unexpected, from our for readers have commented before on the lack of articles con- cerning sports cars, cars made in the last two or three decades, and cars made outside of the United States. Reams of material could be written about such automobiles, and there is room readers for a lot of it in the pages of the SAH publications-IF a few of our members who own such cars, or who are knowledgeable about them, would take the time to write them. RESPONSE TO THE DINO ARTICLE (AHR No. 17) The same could be said about other types of automotive vehicles, both antique and modern. In these pages the trucks, From Ken Browning, P. O. Box 543, Tillsonburg, Ontario, the electric cars, the steam cars, the high-wheelers and the Canada N4G 411:- A marvelous package, containing a copy cycle cars have hardly been mentioned. Very little material has of AHR No. 17, my photos and material for the Dino article, been contributed concerning racing and racing cars, both early has been received. I must say the Dino piece was very profes- and recent. sionally presented with just one glaring typo: the first sentence At the turn of the twentieth century, no one could be on page 6 should have read, "Whether by design or by chance, sure which form of motive power for road vehicles would the wheel does complement the car." Oh, well-. become dominant. The steam engine had been around for Your editorial expressed things well. While I find little of well over a century, and for automotive use it offered smooth, personal interest in the Society's publications, I am an auto- reliable performance with unlimited cruising range so long as motive historian, if only on an amateur basis. My specialty it was supplied with fuel and water, which were both readily just happens to be Lamborghini, which was founded in 1963. available. But it required a great deal of attention to keep its Until very recently the factory had no sense of history and, boiler and other accessories in working order; daily start-up with the many turnovers in staff and management, early could take as much as 20 or 30 minutes; and the hazard of photographs, literature, etc., have simply vanished through fire was ever-present. neglect. I've located a lot of this early material myself and, if The electric motor was already well known for its reliabil- I don't have a particular item, I know who does. ity and silence, and electrically powered cars could be depended I finally got a chance to make use of this hobby by upon to start easily in any weather, and to require very little in writing the history of Lamborghini for Automobile Quarterly. the way of maintenance other than recharging of batteries It was very satisfying to piece it together over a period of every 30 to 75 miles-a process requiring several hours. This, several months and contact some of the people originally plus the high cost of periodic battery replacement, eventually involved. It will be in Volume 23, Number 1 and, approaching doomed the electric car to extinction, although such cars were 8,000 words, may be among the longest articles they've ever made for more than 30 years. published. I really did it as much for the factory as for myself. The internal-combustion engine, in the early days of the Anyway, I have no doubt that your courageous use of my automobile, had one distinct advantage over its two compet- Dino article will cause a bit of controversy, and I look forward itors. Although none too reliable, it could usually be started to reading the letters. For one thing, I especially appreciated easily by means of a hand-crank (which could, and frequently the well-written captions on the photos. I once had an article did, break the arm of the cranker), and, once running, gave the ruined by the editor's captions. automobile unlimited range. By 1911, however, reliability had been greatly improved and the self-starter had been invented. ********* The race was ending, and the gasoline car was to be the undis- From Matthew C. Sonfield, 20 Hilltop Drive, Syosset, New puted winner, not necessarily because of its advantages, but York 11791:- I strongly agree with both ideas: (I) more rather for its fewer disadvantages. recent automobiles (2) non-American cars. Automotive There are other auto-related subjects which could also History should focus on all aspects of the subject. provide interesting articles for the pages of the SAH publica- ********* tions. The great factories in which automobiles have been From Michael Samuel Aurelius, 1435 Melbrook Drive, Munster, built and the companies that operated them would be good Indiana 46321:- As a recent member of the SAH, I received subject matter, and so would stories of the men who designed my first copy of Automotive History Review (Fall 1984). the cars and established the factories. An account of the dev- In it you invited members' opinions regarding the publication elopment of our magnificent highway system, which, only a of articles discussing recently manufactured automobiles in few decades ago, was a sea of mud in wet weather, and was general, and automobiles manufactured outside of the U.S.A.