Read About the Early Cars of the 1900s. Our Articles Tell of the Car Culture of the 1920s.
Pictured is the attached advertisement is the Harley-Davidson Two-Speed Twin of 1914, which featured the patented Step-Starter and the expanding rear brake.
A New Kind of Motorcycle (Magazine Advertisement, 1914) Read More »
A magazine article which examines the automotive upholstery styles of cars that were made for the general public (stock cars) and those other cars that were custom made and likely to be furnished with Dictaphones and vanity cases.
As for materials, it may be said that most of the custom-built cars are upholstered in broadcloth or whipcord, whereas the stock cars show prevailingly velours, mohair velvet and the textile known as automobile cloth.
Upholstery in the Finest Luxury Cars of 1920 (Vogue Magazine, 1920) Read More »
In our era we think nothing of bookmobiles and bloodmobiles or any number of other converted trucks and vans that are fashioned for various unique uses; this link will enable you to learn about a Catholic chapel-on-wheels (a.k.a. the Jesus-Jalopy, the Nun-Truck, the Pope Pick-Up, the Bishop-Bus) from 1913, that very well might have served as the inspiration for them all.
A Church on Wheels (Literary Digest, 1913) Read More »
An informative look at the rising number of cars and the decreasing amount of horses that were put to use in Britain, France and the United States.
In the American confederation it is estimated that there are more than 130,000 automobiles, besides some 35,000 motor trucks, delivery wagons, etc., and 150,000 motor cycles and tricycles. Eight years ago the number of automobiles in the United States did not exceed 6,000.
A Dramatic Growth in the Number of Cars (Review of Reviews, 1910) Read More »
An article that your gadget-loving, audiophile pals will probably not enjoy from the days before woofers and tweeters. Will wonders never cease? A radio IN THE CAR and an antenna that looks like a luggage rack, for heavens sake…
The First Car Radio (Literary Digest, 1922) Read More »
[The] First models of the Tucker ’48, [the] only really revolutionary postwar car so far, should be ready for public showing in New York, Chicago, and on the West Coast within 60 days…
The 1948 Tucker (Pathfinder Magazine, 1947) Read More »
J.M Studebaker (1833 – 1917) was a pioneer in vehicle building and lived to see the change in locomotion from oxcarts to automobiles. He had been engaged
in the manufacture of vehicles for sixty-five years.
This is a very quick and interesting read, highlighting the key events in the life of this automotive engineer whose name is so readily recognized some eighty-five years after his death.
The Obituary of J.M. Studebaker (The Atlanta Georgian, 1917) Read More »
An efficient coal-based fuel has never really been the reality, however the French would make advancements with the technology in the early forties. The accompanying photograph depicts one of the earliest methods for the creation of a coal and gas blended fuel source that was created as a result of the World War I gas rationing in Britain.
Coal-Based Fuel Introduced During Gas Rationing (Literary Digest, 1917) Read More »
Few realize that when we applaud the tremendous style that went into so much of the design of 1950s American cars, we are actually praising the fertile mind of Harley J. Earl (1893 – April 10, 1969):
Earl, who served as the Vice-President of Design at General Motors, conceived of so many design elements that are associated with that period, such as wrap-around windshields, tail-fins and two-tone paint styling. In the attached article, written when he was at the top of his game, Harley Earl tells his readers what is involved in automobile design:
Shakespeare has told us ‘neither a borrower nor a lender be’. An automobile stylist must be both. He must borrow his ideas from the creatures and creations of nature which are all about him…
Harley Earl on Car Design (Gentry Magazine, 1956) Read More »
Recognizing the importance of armored vehicles, a group of American millionaires, among them Henry Clay Frick (1849 – 1919), pooled their money and donated a number of such items to the New York National Guard. VANITY FAIR MAGAZINE pursued this story and produced this article as it developed with a thorough review of each of the donated military vehicles. Although the trucks are photographed, few are named.
American Trucks & Armored Cars (Vanity Fair Magazine, 1916) Read More »
