High-Tech Features Came to the Classic Car First
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THE 2018 CCCA ANNUAL MEETING that warrant further investigation discussed HIGH-TECH WEALTHY FOLK ALWAYS OWNED among attendees. Hold to tradition or BY ROBERT expand our scope? The pros and cons of L. “BOB” THE HOUSE WITH GAS WHEN each will be a hot topic down the road and I BURCHETT suggest proceeding cautiously and listening OTHERS WERE COOKING ON to all points of view. My solution would FEATURES WOOD STOVES, THEY HAD GAS satisfy everyone but requires heavy lifting CAME TO THE and lots of “worker bees.” LIGHTING WHEN THE REST USED The Branson Hilton is a large property KEROSENE LAMPS, THEY BROUGHT that includes the Convention Center, where Classics were displayed Saturday morning. CLASSIC CAR FIRST IN ELECTRICITY WHEN THE CREDENTIALS: NOT WELL KNOWN, BUT OWNER OF NEARLY EVERY NON-CLASSIC CAR EVER MADE Rarely seen marques included Daniels (one Classics on display at the Awards Banquet. NEIGHBORS WERE STILL LIGHTING of seven in the Club), a very original Horch (one of eight) and a Brewster (one of 12). GASLIGHTS AND SO THE STORY The cars moved to the banquet room for the dinner that evening with Steve GOES, RIGHT OUT TO THE GARAGE Plaster’s 1937 Packard Twelve Coupe WHERE THE NEW CAR WAS Roadster winning the Warshawsky Best of Show award, scoring 99.75 pionts. Along PARKED. IF THE GUY NEXT DOOR with other car judging results, the winner of HAD AN OPEN TOP CAR THE RICH the Katie Robbins Award was Ed Gunther of San Jose, recognized for his numerous FELLOW HAD ROLL-UP WINDOWS, contributions to the Club ranging from IF HIS NEIGHBOR HAD OIL OR Annual Meeting coordinator to CARavan coordinator (on more than one occasion). CARBIDE LAMPS THE WELL OFF Ed still contributes . he’s co-coordinating a tour in Northern California and Oregon this HAD EDISON ELECTRIC LIGHTS AND coming September. AS TIME WENT ALONG THE LATEST- Next year, the Annual Meeting moves to Scottsdale, Arizona in mid-January, just AND-GREATEST GADGETRY AND preceding the auto auctions. Look for INVENTIONS WERE ALWAYS registration information about the 2019 event in the August Bulletin. York style Rolls Royce Phantom I PRESENT IN THE NICEST CARS AT THE ANNUAL AUTOMOBILE SHOWS WORLDWIDE. THIS IS THE STORY OF HOW TECHNOLOGY ARRIVED IN THE CLASSICS FIRST. >>> < EDISON AUTO LAMPS Sixteen and eight cylinder Cadillacs Packard Light Eight and Darrin 24 | SIDE MOUNT MIRROR Issue Two | 2018 | www.socalccca.org www.socalccca.org | 2018 | SIDE MOUNT MIRROR Issue Two | 25 HIGH-TECH DETECTIVE DICTOGRAPH CIRCA 1908 FEATURES FOUND IN A CANADIAN HOME IN THE CAME TO ThE CLASSIC CAR FIRST ATTIC WIRED INTO THE LIVING ROOM! Case in point: by now most everyone knows Trafficators were a cool invention mounted shifter. The flashing signals about Willis Carrier inventing refrigeration common mostly in Europe and you didn’t only operated on the rear lights. in 1902 which dehumidified air and have to own an expensive car to have Power door locks which are so stopped food from spoiling, but it took them; just be able to install the cables to ubiquitous today that we don’t even Packard in 1939 to move the compressor SIMLER’S HANDMADE MULTI-FUNCTIONAL pull them with or install the pneumatic think about them started early on something they didn’t? Right on queue in to the engine compartment to make it SIGNAL. lines to activate them, so you can imagine in Detroit with the Scripps-Booth comes the Motor Dictograph to save the commercially available in automobiles for how few car owners wanted to go through Car Company in 1914 as standard day! Thomas Edison had his device called the 1940 model year. Now you practically that headache in the days before auto equipment. They were electrically Braking Alert Lights or Stop Light(s) were the Dictaphone which was an office machine can’t buy a car without it even in cold electricity. activated “door latches” and in Motor not common at all in the early years; the lack used to record and playback speech via climates. Score a big one for the Classic The author’s 1953 Mercedes-Benz Age Magazine November 1914 they of electricity to power them and kerosene wax cylinders so to escape pesky patent car owner way ahead of the outsiders. Their 170Da was supposed to have them reported the coupe, roadster and (or carbide) wasn’t able to be adapted, of issues. Kelly Munroe Turner named his the Bishop and Babcock Weather Conditioner according to the wiring diagrams but cabriolet came with them. There was Dictograph but it wasn’t originally slated for course. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford were 1930 DMV BOOK HAS ONLY 12 PAGES. was a major hit that year at the Chicago the car got cute little British-made turn a button on the outside of the car to push notorious pals and when Henry presented the automobile; it too was for the office—as Auto Show. The cooling coils (evaporator) indicator lamps instead possibly while since you no longer needed door handles Tom with a Model T along with a mechanic an intercom system. To make it work he located behind the back seat along with visiting the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth Patterned after the Royal Bavarian Railway to activate the lock since it was done to keep it running, Tom reciprocated with had to also invent a sensitive microphone the fan moved the cool air to the en route to America. signal arms from the 1890s, they claim first with a magnetic latch. Quite a remarkable electric lighting, batteries and more. In the (he called a Metrophone) and that led to its passengers first. auto use in 1902 but had to wait until 1908 advancement for that period of time. early 1920s the use in his Acousticon branded hearing aids, An early attempt at turn signals was this for Barrachini in Rome to add electric lighting They don’t elaborate on how you get in Philadelphia Storage microphones for radios, broadcasting and 1909 effort by P.S. Douglas-Hamilton. to them. Volkswagen and many other cars with a dead battery and while they stopped use Battery Company (aka; more also under the “Turner” brand. Edison’s also had them and they were the butt of jokes of them pretty quickly, that left the opportunity Philco) made good microphone was a lousy acoustic horn affair. in Hollywood escapades knocking pedestri- door open to Packard to reintroduce them to EARLY PATENT OF TURN SIGNALS. vehicle batteries and In 1907 Turner patented his Detective ans off of sidewalks and the like but fell into the luxury car market in 1956. companies like Atwater Dictograph listening device essentially disfavor with the gendarmerie over not being Kent made ignition built of the Acousticon components and in all that visible and were often supplemented Since all that stuff previously discussed and other items plus 1910 it was successfully used by the Burns with other signals to be allowed just to keep became standard equipment at some point switches that would Detective Agency to secure high-profile them on the car as “original equipment.” in time, what was left to be the exclusive permit sensing of the convictions of graft and other nefarious The fact that by 1928 only 11 states had property of the poor rich dude who paid brake pedal movement activities with the information obtained by vehicle code requirements for stop lights way more for his ride so he could have >>> so we were on the way the machine being declared admissible in made these somewhat slow to be adopted to making something but the venerable hand-signals persist to this to warn the tailgater we KELLY TURNER POSES WITH HIS OFFICE DICTOGRAPH WHICH YOU CAN SEE IN THE AUTHOR’S MUSEUM. day regardless of the weather. Who knew were slamming on the NOTE THE HORN SPEAKER. they would still be mandatory on driving tests binders. Now things started 90 years later? Cars have evolved but the to move fast and Edgar Walz patented a ORIGINAL SET OF TRICO RETROFIT-TYPE DMV apparently never did. turning signal consisting of a light with two TRAFFICATORS IN THE AUTHOR’S MUSEUM arrows and a brake light in 1925. This was PROUDLY SAY ‘BRITISH MADE.’ Buick was the first U.S. automaker to quickly followed by Oscar Simler in 1929 offer factory-installed flashing turn signals. who patented a similar device. Introduced in 1939 as a safety feature, the Joseph Bell in the late ‘30s made it flash new-fangled gadget was advertised as the and finally it was Buick who made them a “Flash-Way Directional Signal” operated from standard feature in 1939. a switch on the new “Handi-shift” column- 26 | SIDE MOUNT MIRROR Issue Two | 2018 | www.socalccca.org www.socalccca.org | 2018 | SIDE MOUNT MIRROR Issue Two | 27 HIGH-TECH FEATURES CAME TO THE CLASSIC CAR FIRST court as evidence. This Now that you can talk from the back to in 1940 when they offered combination seems to be the first use the front, what about music? In 1928 the electric/hydraulic window lifts on the 180 of electronic surveillance, Galvin Brothers formed a company just to and that was furiously followed by Ford to also known as bugging or a give motorcars broadcast music since by install them in 1941 on the Lincoln Custom wiretap. that time it was being transmitted in many and 7-passenger limousine models only. By this time Turner was so major cities. This was in response to classy Cadillac ran to catch up with the driver- well known that Dr.