The Lost Marques: Names that faded with the years
Read the article this discussion is about
- jerrib
- dancooper
- Dan_Ellsworth
- dancooper
- Dan_Ellsworth
- dancooper
- Dan_Ellsworth
- dancooper
- Dan_Ellsworth
- dancooper
This archived discussion is "read only".
« Previous 1 2 3 4 Next »
» jerrib - Re: Re: Enjoyed
In response to Re: Enjoyed posted by dancooper:You're welcome. Always enjoy your articles. My Dad is a great historian of cars, in his own right. We traveled a lot when I was a kid and I was always in awe of how much he knew about cars.
-- posted by jerrib
» dancooper - Re: Re: Re: Enjoyed
In response to Re: Re: Enjoyed posted by jerrib:Hi Jerri,
Hey, thanks for bringing the thread back to the topic. I was not only beginning to worry about where this was going, I was also beginning to sound like a political hack, or something. Hmmm… Never mind. Thanks for rescuing me.
You know, when my dad rattled off those names, it happened mostly in connection with a game we played. It was usually while we were in the car, traveling, and needed a mental diversion. The diversion, as I remember it, was to start with the letter “A,” and work through the alphabet, taking turns naming all the cars we could whose names began with that letter.
The idea was perhaps a bit too competitive, as we were prompted to name one or “lose the round,” as it were. But I learned a lot in those games. I guess I learned enough to ignite the spark that grew into my current interest in old cars.
How neat life is in its lessons, its examples, and its family experiences! Thanks, again, for bringing me back, so to speak!
-- posted by dancooper
» Dan_Ellsworth - ...about a hundred days later ...
In response to Re: Enjoyed/Overland posted by dancooper:After your kind words of February 3, I guess it's not too hasty to come in, read the discussion, subscribe, and thank you.
At one time (and I haven't seen a picture lately), if I were asked, What car would you like, if money weren't a limiting thing?, I would have picked the Stutz Bearcat. Some of those "roadsters" were pretty sweet.
-- posted by Dan_Ellsworth
» dancooper - Re: ...about a hundred days later ...
In response to ...about a hundred days later ... posted by Dan_Ellsworth:Yes, I can remember the very same fascination with the Stutz Bearcat. It was a truly beautiful design. But I think my fascination in this case may be tied, as much if not more, to the name than the actual physical appearance of the car. Although it was an exciting design, especially in its day, that name is magically endowed with a poetic and powerfully symbolic combination of sounds and images.
At the time there were others, which were much like the Bearcat. But neither the Mercer nor the earlier Stoddard-Dayton, nor any other contemporary alternative, for that matter, can match the magnetic interest level the Stutz managed to elicit from me, when I first saw its photograph and mouthed those words.
For me, we would have to go all the way to the Jaguar SS-100 (1935) to best that feeling of exemplifying what sports cars and high performance cars are “supposed to look like.” Truly beautiful cars are works of art, and should be appreciated as such in addition to their more mundane and functional qualities.
Dan
-- posted by dancooper
» Dan_Ellsworth - Re: Re: ...about a hundred days later ...
In response to Re: ...about a hundred days later ... posted by dancooper:I like your last sentence (and all the rest, too), and consider that some of the great instances of automotive art were done before W. W. II , especially with a front fender smoothly becoming a running board, in a single sweep that helped the whole car express the IDEAS of motion, speed, and freedom even if it wasn't moving.
What percentage of the vast labor of redesigning auto exteriors is true *advance*? Maybe not very much, and some of those old cars had a flair seldom approached today.
I live about a hundred miles from Auburn, Indiana, where a major museum has some of those old cars. Do you have places you can go see some of the "oldies"?
-- posted by Dan_Ellsworth
» dancooper - Re: Re: Re: ...about a hundred days later ...
In response to Re: Re: ...about a hundred days later ... posted by Dan_Ellsworth:As chance would have it, I live in what is in large part referenced as a retirement community, having a number of local residents who own antique and classic cars. And there is a local museum here, but it is no longer open to the public. I had planned on doing an article on the owner’s very nice collection, but that may not come to pass now.
I actually had four pretty neat “oldies,” which were inherited from my father’s estate. My Wicked Step Mother took all the money, so we three siblings couldn’t afford to keep the cars, but they were exceptional examples. You can still view them, I think, at this site. The Pierce-Arrow was the only one that had been restored to “car show” condition, and it had a coachwork styling that you would probably like quite a bit.
The styling of that car in particular, was very interesting because, as you noted, at one end the front fender gracefully became the running board. And at the other end, it just as gracefully became a headlight. Nobody did that quite like Pierce-Arrow. The tooling and craftsmanship necessary to execute those headlights, emerging as they did in a graceful sweep, out of the advancing forward slope of the fenders, was extraordinary.
I know I would really enjoy the Auburn museum. I have completely neglected museums at my topic, and would like to make up for that fact, if I can find the time. Thanks for the post.
Dan
-- posted by dancooper
» Dan_Ellsworth - Re4: ... later ...
In response to Re: Re: Re: ...about a hundred days later ... posted by dancooper:I took a few minutes, an online mini-vacation, enjoying the sleek and colorful Pierce-Arrow.
The museum, in northeastern Indiana, is the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum. The Studebaker museum in South Bend, Indiana, is very informative too.
-- posted by Dan_Ellsworth
» dancooper - Museums and Topic images
In response to Re4: ... later ... posted by Dan_Ellsworth:My father was born and raised in South Bend, and I grew up in northern Illinois, not too far from there. But I never got to either museum, ACD or Studebaker, before moving to Texas a couple decades ago. Maybe next year. I hope to get up there for a class reunion.
Concerning the Pierce-Arrow, I knew from your earlier comments that you would enjoy the body style of the Club Brougham. I took the photos, and they actually do not do the car justice. Those particular photos were chosen for the site because they were judged to best convey the car’s “total message.” The detail shots were more fun to shoot. I don’t have them posted anywhere on the Web. But that does raise an interesting question.
At one time I considered posting one such photo on my Topic Welcome page, in a manner similar to what some others have done with their topics. I never figured out just how to post the image. Do you know how, and can you let me in on the secret formula for posting images in place of the generic “Hundreds of Topics at Suite101” box? The only html I found anywhere (graphics, which might be altered) was after the welcome message. I doubt anyone would be too happy with me putting it there.
Dan
-- posted by dancooper
» Dan_Ellsworth - Re: Museums and Topic images
In response to Museums and Topic images posted by dancooper:Years ago, when Suite101.com's home office had more people and I didn't mind approaching one by e-mail, somebody told me how to do it, and a man who frequented my topic sent me a graphic which I applied and enjoyed using in the Christian Humor topic. Then I forgot how, though I could use a graphic someday for my current "portfolio". We used to have Managing Editors, and maybe now it's your Community Manager whom you could ask about it. Maybe you'll be referred to somebody else who knows but I'm guessing somebody still knows.
I don't know about Texas automotive museums, but I imagine they are around.
-- posted by Dan_Ellsworth
» dancooper - Posting images
In response to Re: Museums and Topic images posted by Dan_Ellsworth:
Yeah, sorry I dumped that question on you like I did. It just sort of fell into place there, and I couldn’t keep it from happening. I will definitely contact somebody in an “official” capacity when I have the time to look into posting that image.
Thanks,
Dan
-- posted by dancooper
« Previous 1 2 3 4 Next »
Please follow the guidelines set forth in the Suite101 Posting Etiquette when adding to the discussion.