Inside Louis Bill Had Been a Traveling Salesman for H.A
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Theourna Society of Automotive Historians, I nc. Issue 225 November-December 2006 The California Motor-Bicycle a By J o hn Perala n the beginning the motorcycle was hailed as being the poor man's automo bile. It seemed to offer the promise of inexpensive, basic transportation for www.autohistory.org I the masses. In San Francisco two brothers, Louis and John Bill, decided to supply the need for affordable transportati on with their own motorcycle, the California Motor Bicycle. Inside Louis Bill had been a traveling salesman for H.A. Lozier & Company, maker of the Cleveland bicycle in Cleveland, Ohio. Around 1894 Lozier sent Bill to San Francisco to represent the Cleveland in that city. Lo uis was joined by his older Editori al Com ment 2 brother, John, who in 1894 formed a partnership with John W. Leavitt, a bicycle repairman. Leavitt had also recently come from Cleveland, where he had been a President's Perspective 3 foreman in Alexander Winton's bicycle factory. The firm of Leavitt & Bill quickly grew into one of the largest bicycle dealerships in California with branches in sev eral cities. SAH News 4 Mea nwhile Louis Bill turned over the Cleveland factory branch office to continued on page 11 Book Reviews 12 An Historical Who's Who of the Automotive Industry in Europe Richard H. Arbib 1917-1995: Visionary American Designer Over Here: The American Car in England in the 1960s Letters 15 Also Inside S906 CALDF'ORNBA Mcfarland's 2006-2007 fVIotor-Bicycle Headquarters Catalog of Automotive Books ·we b'rought "the tlr£1t motN-hlcyc 1!' Into Cullfornln. and · have pushed l thalr rmle con!'l!lltcntly ever Alnre. Th <> wlclP rxp c rle>nc~ we have had enalJ'Iet i Committee Contacts 'JS ·to !lervo moto ~ -c;·cliRt A m oR t ! n t <" lll ~(.' ntly nnd eronomlcnlly• . !!!loci<. New Ccllfornlil nncl Thor Motors •ll wny~ In _, for 2007 SAH Awards ;,~ ~..:;trt .; b! k, wr,\1 rn.;.t"r·.:.yc:ii &a.c p p ! ~ . ~ .; . >' Seconci-hnnd Aulo m ohll e :~ u nd Motor-cyc les bought on !I 11olil. Deadline for Submissions •.. I ' H~~RRI.SON P. $M~TH. 81-83 South Seaon~ Str,ot. 1 is April 15, 2007 . Successor t ~ l;.ea vltt & Dill. Info on SAH in Paris 2007 From the San jose Herald, San Jose, California, February 25, 1905 Year-End Matters for again providing me with their Design, Passion, by Mick Walker, presentation comments and Susan looks at the histo1y, technology, Davis for her timely deliverance of image and design of motorcyles from the Board minutes. And thank you, the 19th century pioneers to present McFarl and for your year-around sup day manufacturers. A Lap of the port of the j ournal and for making Globe, by Kevin Clemens, puts you your latest catalog ava il able to the behind the wheel of a vintage members in this issue. Mercedes in the world 's longest auto Thomas S. Jakups, Editor Help! Publishers of automotive race. Practical Ca r Restoration, by books are becoming more and more Charles Wilmarth, III, is a restora t seems like yesterday that I was aware of the SAH me mbership and ti on guidebook w ith lessons from a recounting Hershey 2005 on this they are inundating me with books 1930 Franklin rebuild. Automotive I page. Then there was the Auto for review. Right now I need review Websites, by Todd Jensen, is an motive Histo1y Conference in South ers for the fo ll owing books: Tbe expanded and updated guide that Bend and the summer show season Cadillac Tb at Followed Me Home, descri bes and reviews the best and a very quick year. At this year's Hershey A Memoir of a V- 16 Dream Realized, most interesting websites on the net. gathering I most enjoyed the Saturday by Christopher Cummings, tells the Delahaye-S(yling and Design, by car show on grass and under large sto ry of a man's love affair with a Richard Adatto and Diana Meredith, shade trees. The older pre-war cars 1930 Ca dillac V-1 6 Imperial Sedan provides a detailed analysis and race and trucks just seemed to belong in limousine. Tb e Incredible Blitzen history of this grand French marque. this bucoli c setting, much more so Benz, by Karl Ludvigsen, details the Remember, reviews should run than in some paved parking lot. titanic motorcars that were certified 400 to 600 words. I look forward to I want to thank the chairpersons as the fastest cars in the world from hearing from you. of the various AH award committees 1909 to 1919. Motorcycle-Evolution, -Tomj akups Theournal Society of Automotive Historians, Inc. JIssue 225 November-December 2006 Officers Publications Committee SAH Journal (ISSN 1057-1973) Michael L. Berger President Christopher C. Foster, Chair is published six times a year by the Darwyn H. Lumley Vice President Taylor Vinson Society of Automotive Historians, Inc. Susan S. Davis Secretary Thomas S. Jakups Christopher C. Foster Treasurer Michael lamm Subscription is by membership Beverly Rae Kimes in the Society. Board of Directors Through October 2007 Membership dues are $40 per year. Michael Bromley Paul N. Lashbrook Past Editors Send dues, membership inquiries Stanton A. lyman Richard B. Brigham and changes of address to Joseph S. Freeman, ex officio Issues 1-29 Sept. 1969-(undated) 1973 Society of Automotive Historians, Inc. Through October 2008 C. Marshall Naul 1102 long Cove Road John A. Marino Arthur W. Jones 30-50 Ju ly 1973-Dec. 1976 Cales Ferry, CT 06335-1812 USA Joseph R. Malaney John Peckham Through October 2009 51-59 Feb. 1977-)uly 1978 ©2006 Robert R. Ebert J. Douglas leighton The Society of Automotive Historians, Inc. Steve Wilson Walter Cosden 60-87 Nov. 1978-Dec. 1983 Find the Society of Automotive Historians SAH Journal Richard B. Brigham on the web at www.autohistory.org. Thomas S. Jakups, Editor, Adv. Mgr. 88-117 )an.jFeb. 1983-Nov.jDec. 1988 37 Wyndwood Road Christopher C. Foster West Hartford, CT 06107 USA 118-157 )an.jFeb. 1989-)ulyjAug. 1995 Copy Deadline for fourna/226 860-233-5973 Fax 860-232-0468 December 31st [email protected] Samuel V. Fiorani [email protected] 158-194 Sept.jOct. 1995-Sept.jOct. 2001 2 SAH)ouma1No.225 Fully Loaded edgeable readers would disagree over pliers. While unbundled manufacturing the veracity of the "a nswers" given may possibly be another instance of or, indeed, the question itself. In any the cyclica lity that sometimes appears case, the point of citing these two in the auto industry, there is a decided newspaper articles is to note the his difference here. Today, it is not a toric and ongoing fascination with car question of the ability of an automo options and their apparent impor tive company to master all the tech tance to car sales. nologies necessary to build a complete One of the reasons that I think automobile, but rather the contempo such options are a signifi cant factor in rary economics of doing so. Maxton consumer purchasing preferences is and Wormald be li eve that it makes Michael l. Berger, President that the general public does not fully much more sense to all ow specialized understand the nature of more funda suppliers to develop expertise in the ast August, newspaper colum mental technical/mechanical differ production and/ or assembly of a par nist Jennifer Saranow described ences. For example, they seem to ticular pa1t, to pass on to them the L one of the latest developments assume that because company A costs of research and development, to in car technology--cup holder with offers all-wheel drive (AWD) on its all ow them to compete among them the abili ty to heat or cool drinks. SUV's that it will work as well and selves in such a manner that the prod Apparently, the 2007 Chrysler Sebring will require as few repairs as the uct gets better and the cost lower and has a holder ca pable of heating bever all -wheel drive option offered by then have the marque manufacturer ages to 140 degrees Fahrenheit and company B. In other words, they buy what it needs, when it needs it, cooling them to a near freezing 35 erroneously beli eve that AWD is AWD from whomever it wants . Those of you degrees. Why? Because according to regardless of how it is engineered and who foll ow developments in the elec market research, "58 percent of car install ed. (Advertising firms are well tronics industJy will recognize that this buyers now say cup holders are some aware of this belief and play off of it is the approach used by several con what or extremely important, up from in many of their car ads.) temporary computer makers, most about 14% in 1990" ( Wall Street Which bring me to a considera notably Dell. j ournal, August 10, 2006, p. D2). tion of one of the more interesting If Maxton and Wormald are cor Seeing that article reminded me (and controversial) recent books on rect, what may emerge is a new defi of a "pop qui z" that appeared earli er the auto industry, Graeme P. Maxton nition of car options. Options, indeed in the year in the Philadelphia Inquirer. and John Wormald's Time for a Model entire sub-assembli es, may, as the Using Ford's announcement that it was Change: Re-Engineering the Global unsuspecting American public now cutting jobs and closing manufacturing Automotive Industry (Cambridge Uni beli eves, actually become inter plants as a springboard to recovery, it ver ity Press, 2004).