AL HISTORIANS. INC.

September-October 1988 Issue Number 116 ANNOUNCEMENTS & NEWS ITEMS

SAH TO OFFER SEMINARS ultimately led to th e development of subsequent Studebaker AT HERSHEY '88 eighb. By 1929 Studebaker Corporati on had become th e larges t produce r of eights and th e Pres ide nt name was use d SAH office rs and direc tors have been bu sy pl anning for ma ny of Stu debaker's top mode ls. facilities and events for th e annual A A CA Nati onal M eet and Origin ally owned by George K . Schmidt, Controller Flea Market at Hershey, October 6th to 8th 1988. The Soc iety ro r th e city or Chicago. th e Pres ident FA ca rried such gues t will have the usual hospitality tent open for all three days of passe nge rs as Louis Emerso n. govern or of Illinois. and the event in a new Blue Field locati on. spaces BV 43-47. A William Hale Thompso n. mayor of Chicago. It is sa id th at .... . new fea ture thi s year will be two se minars on automoti ve Pres ide nt Franklin D . Roosevelt rode in th e ca r on occa~ i o n history to be held Thursday and Friday aftern oons. for spec ial Chicago res ti vities. Thursday" s sess ion. entitled " Oral History."' w i II con­ The Pr c~ icl e nt w ill be a hi ghl y visible member of th e sider wh at historians as individuals have done and what th ey muse um 's collec ti on as it w ill make appea rances in th e annual should do. what efforts SA H as an orga ni za tion should be '" 500 .. Fes ti va l Parade and oth er M ay event s. pursuing. and relate so me personal ex periences. An added Oth er r c.- t o l ~ti o n proj ec ts underway include th e 1932 fea ture w ill be so me ·· how to·· and ''how not to·· tips from Corel L -29 Ca briolet. anoth er Indiana built automobile. A lso those who have ex perience in recording oral history. keep ing th e R c~ t o r a ti o n Shop busy is th e 8 T F M asc rati. On Friday . '" Fun and Foibles: T he Fasc inations and Thi ~ ~ l ee k automobile i ~ th e sister car of Wilbur Sh aw·s Frustrations of Resea rching A utomoti ve History· · wi ll 1939-40 w inning Boyle Spec ial M asera ti . Muse um officials examine fbe finer points of th e subject we like most , the have been in con tact with the M a ·erati fac tory in M odena. sa t i s facti o ns~ t h at re sult. and touch on orne of th o e a pec ts Ita ly. en listing th eir cxpert i ~c in res toring the car. th at occas ionplly make us tea r our hair and grate our tee th . Both seminars wi ll beg in at 2:00 PM . A ll SAH members are in vited to attend and are encouraged to bring oth ers with an interes t in any as pec t of automoti ve history. EIGHTY YEARS OF SPEED: "RACING ACROSS NEW YORK" FEATURES CLASSIC RACE CARS AT THE 1928 STUDEBAKER ADDED TO IMS NEW YORK STATE MUSE M HALL OF FAME MUSEUM COLLECTION Rac ing ca rs el ating rrom th e ea rl y 1900's to th e Fres hly restored to its original condition, th e 1928 prese nt evoke th e history of th ose stirring mac hines and Pres ident FA touring ca r craft ed by th e Studebaker Corpora­ exc it ing competitions in Rac in o Across New Y ork : Com e­ ti on, South Bend , Indiana, is now on displ ay at th e tition A utomobiles 1903- 1985 at th e ew Y ork State Indianapolis M otor Speedway Muse um along w ith Augie Muse um Novembe r 19. 1988 to M arch 19. 1989. Duese nberg·s perso nal ca r and many oth er cars built in Drawn from collec tions across th e countr . th e 25 Indianapolis. aut omobiles represent th e ka l eiclo~co pi c va ri ety or rac ing This 7-passe nge r car . one of onl y four built. is a events th at have thrilled th e nati on for more th an eighty yea rs. shining example of th e pride taken in Indiana- bu ilt From stock ca r sprints on fai rground tracks to intern ati onal automobiles. The Pres ident FA fea tures a streamlined body road races , from hill c li mb~ to ice ra ces and drags. th ese are des ign, double belt line enclos ing contras ting co lor panel. th e ca rs which ew Yorkers have built. drive n ~ n d watched beaded full crown fenders, double bumper and dual in ac ti on. windshield . The car sport s two-tone reel paint w ith blac k trim . Featured aut os include the 19 17 Cha lme rs which se t natural lea th er interior and a fa bric top. a 24 hour record fo r stock ca rs at th e Sheepshead Bay course The Studebaker Corporati on bega n as a bl ac ksmith in Brooklyn; a 1906 Locomobile whi ch bea t Europea n com­ and wagon building company. It produce d a horse less ca rriage petition for th e first time ever in th e Vanderbilt Cup race on as early as 1897. elec tric ca rs in 1902 and gas ca rs in 1904. Long Island in 1908 ; and a Lotu s which pa rt icipa ted in th e In 19 15 A lbert Erskine took over as pres ident of the corpora­ first Grand Pri x of th e nitccl States at W atk ins G len in 196 1. tion and ten years later developed th e Pres ident line of Other significa nt ca rs attes t to th e abilities of cw automobiles . Introdu ced in New Y ork at the 1928 Auto Show . Y ork car builders. The innovati ve Ji m Sham pine of Oswego this new automobile added class and sty le to th e company's produced one of th e mos t successful '" supermod ified"" track product line. cars ever built in his 1968 Eight Ba ll . T he at han Hughes The Pres ident sen es is famous for having drags ter fro m Corning i ~ a 1954 pionee r drag rac ing ca r. A nd Studebaker's first eight cylinder engine. This development Continued on next page--"v->- SAH Journal No. 116 September-October 1988

HARRY M. BENNETT, FIRST AMERICAN KAISER-FRASER DEALERSHIP OWNER Harry M. Bennett, 78 , of Westland, Michigan made a little bit of automotive hi story by being the fi rst Kaiser­ The SAH Journal is published six times a year by the Fraser dealer in America. He died of a heart attack August Society of Automotive Historians, Inc. Copyright 19S8. II , 1988. RICHARD D. DIUGI-IAM, EDITOR Unfortunately, Mr. Bennett was unable to do any 1616 Park Lane, N.E., Marietta, Georgia 30066 dealing at the dealership he opened shortly after the end of ROBERT M. HALL Jll World War II in Wayne, Michigan. Chaim1an of Publications "There was a delay in production where the car was EDITORIAL BOARD made at the old bomber plant," hi s son, Gary, recalled. " It Beverly Rae Kimes Robert J. Gary was hard to last just selling used cars, which were hard to George D. P. Ward, Jr. Christopher G . foste r get then if you didn't have new cars to sell to accept trades on. OFFICERS FOR 1988 "He tried to stay open - he had a service department PR.ESIDENT...... Beverly Rae Kimes and a big showroom - but he just couldn' t last. " VICE PRESIDENT ...... Henry Austin Clark, Jr. Mr. Bennett was forced to close his doors without ever having sold a Kaiser or Fraser car. Hi s son said he was SECRETARY ...... Shelby C. Applegate "disappointed'' financially as wel l as personall y - and often TI~EASURE R ...... Robert J. Gary wished he could have been a little luckier. .... BOARD OF DIRECfORS "He kept waiting for the cars, but they never came ." Through 1988 Through 1989 Through 1990 However, Mr. Bennett had a broad reputati on in the Christopher G. Foster Matt L. Joseph William T. Cameron industry as a "good car man," the son said, and went from Thomas E. Bonsall Z. Taylor Vinson Keith Marvin the Wayne misadventure to operating a smaller used car lot with considerably less overhead in Dearborn. Helen J. Earley Jack L. Martin Strother MacMinn He later worked at the Bob Ford and Stark-Hickey L------Ford dealerships. anttfinally opened hi s own Ford dealership in Three Rivers. Michigan in 1955 . He retired in 1975 . "RACING ACROSS NEW YORK" Since Harry H. Bennett, once Henry Ford's right­ continued from previous page hand man, was well-known in car circles, Mr. Bennett had the 1926 podge converted to a track machine is a testament a lot of fun with people who often asked him if he was the to the t a l ~ t of a Dundee blacksmith now known only as same person. The names were almost identical and both were ·'Jackson ."·.. wrrh Ford. Still •other cars document the achievements of New "But he just laughed and denied being anyone except York drivers, like Jim Reed of Peekskill who guided his himself." the son recalled. Chevrolet stock car to victory in the Southern 500 in 1959. Surviving are Mr. Bennett's wife, Margaret; two Others include Richie Evans of Rome, who drove the 1982 sons, Gary and Michael: and three grandchildren. Camaro track car and has been called the finest modified (stock car) driver of all time. Racing Across New York: Competition Auto­ mobiles. 1903-1985 will be on exhibit at the New York State SOURCES and RESOU RCES Museum from November 19 . 1988 to March 19, 1989. Admission is free. Tom Vastine. 315 N. Yale. Apt. IG , Vi lla Park , IL 60181 offers information on Indianapolis 500 Speedway drivers , cars and races. etc. and also on the Tucker Torpedo manufactured in Chicago by Preston Tucker. A movie came out recently on Tucker and his car. CANADIAN AUTOMOTIVE HISTORIANS HOSTED WHILE ATTENDING MEADOWBROOK CONCOURS Again the warmth and friendliness across the US­ Canadian border was evident when 31 members of the Canadian Automotive Historians (CAH) traveled from various Ontario cities to view the automotive treasures displayed at the Meadowbrook Concours held on the campus of Oakland Un iversity on Sunday August 7th. George and Stacey Hanley hosted the visitors to a continental breakfast before the show and to a back yard picnic buffet after, at their home in Rochester Hills. George is a member of the CAH and Stacey is an alumna of Oakland University. Both are members of the THE LOCATION OF THE SAH TENT Leland Chapter of the Society of Automotive Historians. Don Warren. Chairman. Dundas Ontario, and Warren Hastings. AT HERSHEY, OCTOBER 6-7-8, 1988, Past-chairman, Stratford Ontario, and their wives were among WILL BE: ROW BV, NOS. 43-47. the guests. 2 SAH Journal No. 116 September-October 1988 Cars 16r ALBRIGHT Reprinted from November 1962 The Road to Yesterday. There were a number of auto builders in Anders on, Indiana , during the earli er days of the automobile, and th ey made such cars as th e De Tamble, the Madiso n, the Lambert , the C-F, and the Rider-Lewis. ow there is but one builder who makes a car from engine to complete assembl y. Frederic E. Albright of Anderson has a unique coll ecti on of eight handbuilt roadsters and speedster made to scale, but his cars do not appear in a salesroom. In fact. he has declin ed offers for two of hi s miniatures. th e Stutz Bearcat and the Buick . which were more th an equi va lent to th e pri ce of a full size modern car. The Albright models are complete even to such detai ls as worm and gear steerin g. water pumps and function­ in g radi ators. These cars ac tu all y run. The onl y deviations from the ori gin als are: igniti on is supp li ed by fla shli gh t batteri es: and transmi ss ions have onl y one speed (direct dri ve). Mr . Albri ght woul d like to build transmi ss ions in complete detail. b~ll he cann ot find suitable gears. When hi s hobby began. it was a sleek 1950 Triumph sport s roadster whi ch se rved as the in spiration. During the Frederic E. Albright and his Buick interve ning twe lve yea r ~ he has produced mainl y antiques and class ics. There are eight cars completed: the 1950 whi ch u~ c d to be sn.. 1Ji cnt iful in his state. He has worked at Triumph. a 1904 Lambert. a 1905 Maxwel l. a 1906 Pope­ th e Marm on. Du e~c nb e rg. and Stutz fac tori e~ in In dianapolis. Toledo. a 1909 Bui ck racer. a 19 10 Bu ick. a 19 11 Ameri can at th e Ma xwe ll plant in ew Ca~ tlc . and at the Buick plant Underslung and an earl y Stutz roadster with dual igniti on. in Flint. Mi ch igan. He h a~ also made some model engines. all of whi ch He h a~ been we ll acq uainted with automobi les fro m run . The ~ incl ude a two cylinder Maxwell. a four cylinder hi~ early day~ a~ hi~ father wa~ one of the pioneer aut o dealer~ Marmon. and a Du senberg. Like the engi nes in th e model in Indiana. and had an agency at Crawford~vi ll e fo r yea r ~. cars. th ey c~m operate on r~g ul ar gaso lin ~. Eac h engine has Later Albri ght test drove ca r~ for a number of automoti ve o il and wa t e 1 ~ pumps. co n ce rn ~ and abo parti cipated in va ri ous rac in g event s and Model e n g in e~ he has bee n buil ding since 1945 . hill c li mb~. However. th e first comp lete model car was th e Triumph . It Hi s memory of the car~ he worked on in the past we ighed one hundred and fifty pounds. but later ones arc h a~ helped many tim e~ to suppl y dctaib needed in maki ng about half th at - be twee n sixty and sevent y-five pounds. Eac h hi ~ model ca r ~. To be ~u r e the replica~ arc as near to th e repli ca i ~ one- fourth or one-fifth th e size of th e ori gin al car. original a~ po~~ibl e. Albright ~ludic~ pictures and draw ings For th e skil l needed to build th ese scale modeb and l i~ t ~ of specifications. th en chccb thi ~ informat ion with Albright draw~ on years of ex perience in the aut omobil e pl a nt~ hi ~ memory. Continued on next page-'1,+

1910 BUICK POPE-TOLEDO MAXWELL LAMBERT AMERICAN UNDERSLUNG BUICK RACER STUTZ Above model cars and engines built by Frederic E. Albright of And erson , Indiana. Th ey were displayed in a window of the Sears Roebuck store in Anderson . Mr. Albright is a retired Sears employee. 3 SAH Journal No. 116 September-October 1988

CARS BY ALBRIGHT Levavasseur. Hi vision was so far ahead of the competition, continued from previous page with their sputterin g devices, that the neglect hi s story has o far received is one of the great crimes of technical archaeology . Hi s story is so very important that I can onl y beg someone with access to European document fil es to speed to the task of writing the Levavasseur story. In 1902 Mon . Levavasseur in ven ted and patented the 90 degree vee eight engine. This became the very ce le­ brated Antoi nette av iati on engi ne. It was so ld to the general publi c as a 50 hp V-8, weighin g 2.2 lbs /hp and it fea tu red a good form of fuel injection . This was accompli shed at first by a tin y injecti on pump for each cylinder, later by one hi gh pressure pum p and a di stributor system. The injectors we re placed over the inlet va lves in the inl et ai r manifold and were not direct cylinder inj ec ti on. We now know thi s arrangeme nt as port inj ect ion. Fuel injection wou ld have been chosen for the excel­ lent reason of eliminatin g multiple carburetors on the V-8 and V - 16 aircraft engines, plus the we ight reducti on of th e mass ive inlet ma ni folds. The most sound reason wou ld be .... th at of getting even mixture distribution. Flyin g in those days was enough of a hazard without addi ng to th e already frag ile Buick 1910 made by Albright nature of the engine. The next step in turning out a new mode l Albright Owing to th e diabolical nat ure of carburetors of that car is the drawing up of plans for the eng ine. chass is and era, the Antoinett e engines had a good advantage over the body. Patterns arc designed from which castings can be made. competition. The plvral is used because Levavasseur offered In hi ~ garage workshop he has eq uipment for machining th e not on ly the V -8 engine: but a developed V- 16. The engines part~. also found great use in racing boats and the fina l offering Each model tak e~ a long time to perfect. and Mr. was an a toni hing V -32 een at the Paris Salon de 1· Auto in Albri gh t spends ma ny hours in hi s work shop. The Triumph 1906. The engine is supposed to have been ··u nreliable"'! took ovc\ two and a half year: to bui ld. One can onl y guess th at torsional wi ndup of the crank shaft S~Qce rh ar fir~t car. the models have gone fa~ter. must have been of a horrifying nature. Now he doe.\ not wait until one is finished before starting on Griff Borgeson gives a bri ef glimpse of th ese engines the next one. He has several to work on at present. One is a in hi s story of the early history of the Vee type engine in Re ve re car with a Roc hester-Duese nberg engine. A miniature A utomobile Quarterly. Vol. 21. #3. of th e Marmon Wasp which Ray Harroun drove at Other use of fuel injection in th at era was in both l ndianapoli~ in 191 I wa~ a project of thi s past yea r. the tru e Diesel engine . then being introduced and the hot bulb Frederic E. Albright can te ll us much about the ea rl y oil engines. in use since about 1885 . James D. Crank, ca r ~ . particularly those built in hi s state. With hi s good 1621 Palm Ave. , Redwood City, CA 94061. memory. ~killed hand~ and unlimited patie nce he has brought (~~ back ~omc of the prime exam pl es of that earl ier period in ~ th c~c unique. rrcci~ion-bui lt mode l ~. PROFESSOR ENRICO BERNARDI Regarding your request for information on Prof. LETTERS FROM Enrico Bernardi: Issue #3. 1984 of La Manovella. the ~ ~~- . magazi ne of the Au tomotoclub Storico It aliano. is dedicated • '< to the li fe of Enrico Bernardi . That iss ue also covers events ' OUR READERS celebrating the centenary of his invention of the first self-pro­ pelled vehic le powered by a gasoline engine in 1884. The renewed interest in Prof. Bernardi. I feel. is due to controversy over who reall y did "invent" the automobile: that is. was it FUEL INJECTION AIRSHIP ENGINE in Ge rm any in 1886') Bernardi patented his lightweight ··Pia" The new issue arrived wi th the interesting arti cle engine (named after hi s daughter) on August 22. 1882. some about an early fuel injection automobil e, described in the two months before Karl Benz (Oct. 25. 1882) and well before ·'A utomotive Oddities'' department. Gottlieb Daimler (Dec. 16, 1883) had patents on their similar Your question at the end. aski ng about the earl y devices. In 1884. the Pia engi ne was fitted to a simple tricycle ai rship engine that used fuel injecti on, is not too hard to that Bernardi had built for hi s son Lauro. thi s becoming the answer. Actuall y, the term "airship" is a bit misleading first ve hi cle powered by a gasoline engine. Lauro Bernardi. because the engine in question was used primarily fo r heavier then only about 5 years old. drove the littl e trike around the th an air flyin g machines. It is most probable that some found streets of Quinzano. a suburb of Verona. through 1884-85 . their way into the earl y gasbags: but tru e aircraft were the predatin g the Benz and Daimler tests of 1886. prime market. Of more commercial interest was a Pia-powered sew­ One of the most neglected early pioneers of motor ing machine presented at th e Turin Exposition of 1884 earni ng development was the bri II iant Parisian engineer, Leon Continued on next page-f\rt" 4 SAH Journal No. 116 September-October 1988

PROFESSOR ENRICO BERNARDI CHAPTER DOINGS continued from previous page

Prof. Bern ardi the go ld medal. the hi ghest award in the "Motors" division. There was genuine interest in a compact, economical power source fo r small industri es. so the Pia engine was put into producti on at the Rocchetti Cast Iro n Works and at the Veneta Industri es and Publ ic Works Co . in Padua. The Pia motor featured a single horizontal cylinder in a cast iron block with a double wall water jacket. With a bore and stroke of 44mm x 80.5mm. it di spl aced 122.5cc and developed 0.024 hp at 200 rpm with 4kg/m of torque. The unit weighed approximately I 0 kg with its 200cc fue l tank. A new. more powerful and hi gher revving engine. call ed the "Lauro ... was developed in 1889. This was the one th at was hitched behind a bicycle in 1893 (see A HR #21) becoming th e firs t motorcycle or scooter. Prof. Bernardi bui lt Italy's firs t car. a three-wheeler. in 1894. Two years later. Mi ari & Giu sti & Co. were manufacturing the 3 1/~ HP Bernardi car along with chassis and motors. The Societa It ali ana Tons of auto books. periodicals. toy and model cars, owners and service Bernardi pu rchased Mi ari & Giusti in 1899 but the whole manuals, old photos. color posters. paintings and a wide variety of small ve nture failed in 1901 . During th e five years of production. collectibles in Automotive Motif could be found at the Southern California some I 00 three- and four-wheeled ve hi cles had been built. Chapter's annual Fa ir in Pasadena. CA. As F. K. Brown noted in the Journ al #108. Prof. (Photo by Bobbie'dine Rodda. Glendale. CA ) Bernardi was responsible for a number of technical innova­ ti ons . The catalogue of th e Turin Automobile Museum ( M useo Dell' Au tomobil e Carlo B iscarett i di Ruffia ) states th at the 3 1/~ HP car was powered by an engine with a single horizo nt al cy linder. 85mm x I IOmm. displacing 624cc and de ve l op i ~ 2.5 hp at 800 rpm. The cylinder head wa~ detach­ able wi th l')lec hani call operated valves with · centrifuga l regul ator on he intake va lve. It had a constant level carburetor w~h a float ' and helicoidal atom izer. air and fuel filters. platinum sponge ignition . automatic lubrication . water cooled block with th e water circul ated by blowing in exhaust gase~. a honeycomb radiator. an exhaust and muffler system. weather-tight cas in g~ around the va l ve~ and moving pan~. a coni cal clut ch spiral wou nd wi th a metal cable. "correct steer­ ing... and ba ll bearing~ in th e three-~peed-pl us - r everse gearb ox. in the transmission and on th e whee b. The ac tu al prototype of the first Bernardi car. which Bernardi himse lf drove fo r a number of years. still ex ists and is kept by th e Au to Clu b of Verona. The example on di~play at th e Biscaretti Neatly arranged vendor stalls were in abundance at the Southern Califor­ Mu se um is a "production .. model built in 1896. nia Chapter's annual Literature Fair in Pasadena, "Spring '88". A~ pan of the ce ntenary of Bernardi's ~elf- prop e ll e d (Photo by Bobbie 'dine Rodda. Glendale. CA) trike. th e members of Verona ·~ local vintage car club. the Veteran Car Club Enrico Bern ardi. con~truc t e d a full -s ize repl ica of th e toy three-wheeler. Young Lauro Bernardi grew up to become an engineer and before his death in 1935 he SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER was ab le to provide historian Carlo Bi~ ca r e tti di Ruffia wi th LITERATU RE FA IR OF 1988 precise tech ni cal detaib. From Biscarctti-~ subsequent draw­ The 6th annual SAH Southern California Chapter­ ings. whi ch were stored in the museum . the VCC En ri co ~pon~ore d Automotive Lit erature Fair and Exc hange he ld on Bernardi we re ab le to create an exact copy of the first the gro und~ of Pa~adena C it y Colle ge in June was a great "automobil e ... Other ··centenni al .. events in 1984 included day for e nthu~ia ~h. collector~ and social vi~i tor s alik e. displays in gall eries and museums in Milan and Verona and Shirting the eve nt from its u~ual fall period to spring a four-d ay rall y of pre- 19 18 cars. A commemorative plaque in order to better retain the excellent ~ ite for future Fairs. was unveiled on the newly restored villa in Quinzano where ~eemed to ha ve little ad verse effect upon the turn-o ut. Si xty­ Prof. Bernardi lived and worked . Richard Di ve r, 28 Oak­ four ve ndors spread tons of neat Iy organized mat eria I spanning wood Ave., N # 4, Mississauga, Ont. LSG 3L7. eight decade~ of automotive history and trade was brisk throughtout th e day. A number of beautifully restored old cars were on hand to enhance th e mood . The weather was perfect and th e day seemed to pass a ll too quidly. Bill Lewis. l?cscrvntions Chnirman 5 SAH Journal No . 116 September-October 1988

continuati on, 1922-1937. After WWII the organi zati on of the Tour de France was taken up by the Automobile C lub of Nice lj, THE BILLBOARD in coll aboration with the sporting paper I'Eq uipe and a series of events we most commonl y recognize as the 'Tour de France 0 Automobil e' was run from 195 1 through 1964. Finally , after languishing a few years, the Tour was revived again in 1969 Advertising in this column is offered free to SAH members on a space available basis. Ads for information, historical automotive under the aegis of the Federation Fran~aise de Sport books and literature, photographs, drawings, etc., are acceptable, both Automobile and the Automobile C lub of Nice. Thus, with for sale and wanted. Ads for automobiles or parts are not acceptable these five parts, Louche has covered a series of related events which slice through the entire hi story of competition for sport/ touring automobiles, from the very earliest days to the present . Winton Literature for Trade - for Ford Times 1908-1 9 17 Each of the 50 events is described in detail with both and/ or Ford News 1920-1 942. text and photos. Furthermore, the book contain s over 40 MAGAZINES: pages of tabul ated results of the events covered , a complete The A uto Era - very good condition (staples rusty). index of the photographs of the various marques participating 19 11: April , June , July, Aug. , Sept. , Oct. , Nov. , Dec. w ith an index of the sources for al l photos. This appe nded 19 12: Jan .. Feb. , Marc h , April , May, July, Aug., Sept. material w ill all ow the reader, for instance, to locate the more Oct. , Nov. , Dec. than 100 photos of Ferrari automobiles (one mode l of which 19 13: Feb. , March. April, June. July , Oct. , ov., Dec. took its name from this event) or the even greater number of 1914: Jan .. March (2) pi ctures of Porsche automobiles w hi ch have participated . ., .. 19 17: April As with Louche's previous book on Mont Yentoux , PAMPHLET: LE TOUR DE FRANCE AUTOMOBILE 1899- 1986 Manufactu red vs. Assembled Motor Ca rs. 15 pages is a top-quality producti on and , while it may seem a bit costl y , A paper read before The Agate C lub of C hi cago there w i II be no reason to buy another book on the subject. Monday, ovember 3, 19 13 by C. W. Means, advertising Frederick A. Us her manager, Winton Motor Car Company. * MONT VENTOUX., 75 ans de sport s merchaniques. 1902-1976 PACKET: (publ. 1984) ' Book of suggestions presented to the owner of the 191 I Winton Six. 33 papers and booklets. Packet cover dog­ chewed in corner, interior material fine. Bob Lem, 2406 Easy Street , San Leandro, CA 94578. (415) 278-l934. THE B S WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BUSES, by Ed Stauss. 186 pages. 381 B& W illustrations. Softbound. 8 '/:? ., x 5 '/:? ... ISBN 0-9619830-0-0. Stauss Publica tions. Available from Motorbooks Intern ational. P. 0. Box 2. Osceola. W I 54020 (I -800-826-6600). One thing in which automotive hi story lacks is a suffic ie nt supply of materi al on non-automotive subjects such as professional vehi cles and public transportation (much more popular abroad th an stateside). T hese categori es in clu de such things as off-road vehicles, ambul ances, hearses, fire apparatu s and , in particular, buses , one of th e most important LE TOUR DE FRANCE AUTOMOBILE 1899-1986 aspects of our everyday li fe . (50 Editions) by Maurice Louche. 9 !/.J' ' x If". hardbound, THE BUS WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF 450 pp .. approx. 1000 illustrations (over 100 in color). maps BUSES ni cely fills the void surrounding conte mporary and tables. French lang uage. published by Maurice Louche. examples of the vehi cles used on the streets of the United Campagne Cambronne. 13980 A lleins. France. 1987, 450 States and Canada and produced in both countries, as well Francs (a pprox. $75.00). ISBN 2-95-9500738- 1-6. as those built abroad and imported for use here and ranging Having, in 1984, produced the exceptional and de­ from jitneys to the huge double-unit articulated types in many finitive book on the 75 years of hillc lim b events at Mont cities today. It also includes electri call y powered trolley­ Ventoux *, Maurice Louche must have immediate ly plunged buses, which have gained conside rabl e popularity over the to work on another monumental project the results of whi c h last few decades since the ra il ed tro ll ey fe ll into disfavor a nd are equa ll y impressive. if not more so. was graduall y abandoned, an action we have lived to regret As it s title indicates. Le Tow· de France Automobile. in the current fuel shortage. 1899- 1986 chronicles the long seri es of automoti ve compe­ The pictures are good and the text explain s anything tition e've nts whi ch may be grouped under the in clu sive title you'd want to know, with production figures li sted in most "Tour de France." The first Tour was organi zed in 1899 by cases. One can learn muc h of interest in thi s work and I the newspaper Le Ma rin under the sponsorship of the learned to my surprise that the articulated buses running in Automobile C lub of France. It consisted of a roughly circular my own community are built in Hungary. course totaling about 1350 miles through the French coun­ There are also examples of earli er models still ope ra­ tryside , beginning a nd ending in Paris. Louche devotes 10 ti ve in vari ous communities to g ive the reader an idea of what pages to thi s important earl y event , including superb reproduc­ can happe n when well -made vehic les are bought in any sort ti ons of period photographs. of numbe r and then maintained with care. The fo ll owin g Tours are subdivided fi rst w ith the This is an excell ent survey at a very good price and se ri es ·La G rand Promenade' 1906- 19 14. the n it s post-WWI I recommend it. Keith Marvin 6 SAH Journal No. 116 September-October 1988

LAND-ROVER 1948-1988: (A COLLECTOR'S GUIDE), e.g. Silver Wraith , Silver Daw n, Phantoms IV , V and VI , by James L. Taylor. 144 pages. 161 B&W illustrations. Hard Silver Clouds I, II and III , Silver Shadow and Corniche. By covers. 7W ' x 9W'. ISBN 0-947981-15-X. Motor Racing then , nearly all of the custom shops had closed their doors Publications, Ltd., Croydon, England, and available in the and such work was being relegated to H.J. Mulliner, Park US from Motorbooks fnternational, P. 0 . Box 2, Osceola. Ward , which had been absorbed by Roll s- Royce itself. Also, Wis., 54020 ( 1-800-826-6600). $29.95. with the advent of the Sil ver Dawn and Silver Cloud the The average automotive enthusiast or hi storian has, lion's share of such cars were being equipped with some;hing I th in k, a pretty good idea of what the Jeep was , is, and its new- fac tory coachwork , although thi s never came to the place in the pattern of the automoti ve world from its concep­ Silver Wraith fo r which we may be thankful. tiOn by American Bantam into its Ford (for awhile) and In thi s third vo lume. Dr. Dalton has advanced hi s Willys-Overland periods, to Kaiser-Frazer, Ameri can Motors talents in bringing the custom-built cars up to the prese nt and, fin ally (or at least up to now) Chrysler. Confusing? You time and since Silver Wraith onl y appeared in chassis form, bet, but we know about it . the greater ponion of the book is dedicated to that beautiful What, then, do we know about its English counter­ car, production of which was concluded in 195 9. All told , pan , the Land-Rover, whi ch, just now , is taking a rather something over I ,900 Silver Wraiths, considered by man y prominent place in that same off-road vehicle li st which was to be the most beautiful of all Roll s-Royces, were completed Jeep's almost exclusive province not too long ago? Answer ­ and more than 300 excell ent photograph s give the reader a very little. pretty good idea of what was accomplished with thi s model Land-Rover began fo ur decades ago as a son of alone, although the others aforementioned, when not clothed stopgap. fo ll owing World War II when the British automoti ve in factory garb , are also shown, as are those which came ...:· industry was ha ving difficulty re-entrenching itself into a after 197 1 such as the Silver Wraith II , Silver Shadow 1! , passe nger car market. dormant since 1939. Some of the pre­ Camargue. Si lver Spirit and Si lve r Spur. War cars didn 't make it back into producti on at all and /or One of the biggest plu ses in thi s is ampl e coverage some whi ch did or we re new including Allard , Bristol and regarding those custom bu ilt cars as to numerous detail s Lea-Francis. ultimately paid the price of being too small to including the original owners who ranged the gamut from make it in th e marketplace. Her Majesty the Qu es:n to lesser roya lt y. nobi Iit y, other heads And Rover mi ght have been another except for the of state . the afflu en t and prominent and a goodl y smatt erin g Land-Rover which kept the fac tory go ing and the empl oyees from vanous Eas tern potentates such as Indian princes and workin g wh il e top brass designed and wo rk ed out detail s for the sultans of Malaya. plu s cars so ld to corporati ons in stead a bra nd new passenge r- car. of indi vidu als. a move whi ch made it possible after a whil e Erut it was not to be onl y a stopgap and today is a for top corporation officials to obtain their own perso nal Roll s­ --..,;. ,J'l.~Ri , exa rl 0 ha eenti f!Li ed ~nteFes t , design and - Royce · a · those cars were rep laced by new ones. yes - demano - has done fo r the Land-Rover. The Roll s- Royce has now exceeded th e I 00 ,000 Mr. Taylor has written other books on va ri ous as pec ts fi gure in c~ r s prod uced over the last 83 + years. They are of th e Ro ve r's wo rkh orse before thi s. but here he takes a still mag llltl cent beasts in their own ri ght and stand for quality pretty stra ight course on the basic hi story and line of the and perform ance. Other ca rs ha ve enviable past hi stori es and bread-and-butter product. dev iatin g now and then where and rep ut ati ons as we ll but it is doubtful th at any mak e has been when he fee ls it necessary to point out the " mi oht-have­ as close ly recorded and th eir details on indi vidual chas sis beens." off-the-beaten-track specials, and two ~tim a t e l y maint ain ed over the yea r ~ as close ly as the cars from Derb y. abon1ve att empts to produce Land-Rovers in Germany and Springfield and Crewe. Keith Marvin Bel gium (the latter carrying the Minerva in signe) , plus the h1 ghl y-s uccessfu l Santana in Spai n, which. Land-Rover it may be. is built in Ibe ri a from th e ground up with the blessing if nothing more th an its British parent , and with a whopping ex port mark et as we ll . If you wa nt to get a better grasp on the hi story of the Land -Rover. thi s is the ideal plac e to start. Keith Marvin

ROLLS-ROYCE: THE CLASSIC ELEGANCE, by Lawrence Dalton. 328 pp. More than 500 B& W if/us .. Hardbound. 8 Y2 .. x 9 W'. ISBN 0-90 1564 -28- 1. Dalton Watson Pic .. London. and available in th e US from Motor­ books International. P 0. Box 2. Osceola. Wf 54020 (1-800- 826-6600). $79. 95. In 1967. Lawrence Dalton published a book , Those Elegant Rolls-Royce, an illustrated hi story of custom coachwork on Roll s- Royce chass is from the earli es t days through 1939, representing the combined talent and imag in a­ ti on of some 55 speciali sts in thi s field in Great Britain , the Continent and the United States. This was fo ll owed up in 197 1 by a companion vo lume, The Elegance Continues, in which he fo ll owed wi th coachwork dressing the later chassis; THE ANNUAL MEETING AND BANQUET 7 'W '

TilE EPITOM E OF LUX URJO US MOTORJ G IN 1915: TilE PI ERCE-ARROW MODEL 38-C4 BROUGHAM. Factory photo from R. B. Brigham Collection.

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FIRST CLASS Richard B. Brigham, Editor Editorial Office: 1616 Park Lane, N.E. Marietta, Georgia 30066 U.S .A. September-October 1988 Issue No. I 16 FI RST CLASS MAIL