Fatal Teen Accidents: Why do they never learn?

Hi folks -- I was asked to do a web video this morning for HuffPost on fatal teen accidents but schedule and a lingering illness got in the way.  However, just yesterday a stunning accident occurred within a mile of where I live in Washington Township, Ohio and so it is appropriate to comment again on the high teenage fatal accident rates -- increasing rather than following more the general trends in the U.S. As often happens, the accident in question was more than likely the result of alcohol and speed.  We drove by the scene last night and saw a 30 foot by 30 foot piece of grassed area totally charred.  The tree that was hit was already cut to pieces and ready for firewood. If it wouldn't be for the marked land, you would never know anything happened. The young man who died had been an excellent football player at Alter High School and student at Ohio State. The driver was OK -- it seems that in these kind of crashing -- assuming alcohol was involved -- the driver always gets off easy.  But the passenger does not. Note the 2010 BMW was nearly cut in half by the impact with the tree and then with a ruptured gas tank incinerated.
What causes this?
1. A young person's sense of immortality?
2. A fatal mentality that life has no purpose?
3. Youthful desperation about the life ahead?
4. An intoxication of speed intensified by alcohol consumption? Life as it is is simply too staid?

Take an Automobile and American Life Exam!!!

HST 344

Exam 1 -- February 14 -- Dr. Heitmann       Name_____________________________________________

I Objective questions.  Answer all 20 of the following with the best answer possible. (40 pts.)

1. All of the following BUT ONE made important contributions to the 19th century bicycle industry that served as a forerunner to the automobile: a) Kirkpatrick Macmillan; b) James Starley; c) Nicholas Joseph Cugnot; d) John Kemp Starley.

2. Of the following, what person has the best claim to the invention of the automobile:  a) Etienne Lenoir); b) John Boyd Dunlop; c) Karl Benz; d) James Laux.

3. The county that was the leader in automobile production during the pioneer era to 1908 was: a) Germany; b) France; c) Italy; d) Great Britain.

4. All of the following but ONE was a disadvantage associated with steam-powered cars: a) a relatively new technological system b) slow start up time; c) high cost; d) need to replenish water.

5. Name the car made in Cleveland that Horatio Nelson Jackson used on his historical transcontinental trip of 1903. ________________________

6.  Due to the encouragement he received while developing his Quadricycle, Henry Ford felt indebted to this great inventor -- "the most useful American." _____________________________

7. This man authored Principles of Scientific Management in 1911, consequently the basis of the field of industrial engineering. He believed that work on the shop floor could be done "one best way." _____________________________

8.  In response to worker turnover and criticisms concerning the "degradation of labor," in 1913 Henry Ford responded by paying his workers _____________dollars per day.

9. This muckraking author wrote a story of one Ford Motor Company family's vicissitudes through the years from 1908 to 1937, highlighting the dark side of Henry Ford: a) Joseph Conrad; b) Booth Tarkington; c) Caroline Merithew; d) Upton Sinclair.

10. The National Motor Vehicle Theft Act, passed by Congress in 1919, was also known as the: a) Hoover Act; b) Dyer Act; c) Carter Act; d) Blues Brothers Act.

11. This Flint speculator and businessman is normally given credit for the founding General Motors. __________________________________

12.  Inventor and businessman, this Ohio State electrical engineering graduate developed the self starter and integrated ignition system. __________________________________

13. He was the consummate organization man who was most responsible for GM's organization plan of the early 1920s, for the decentralized multi-divisional organizational structure, and consequently the sustained profitability of the firm until his retirement in 1956. _____________________________

14. This burley Californian and designer played a lead role at GM between 1927 and 1958 in fostering the concept of "keeping the customer dissatisfied." ______________________________

15. Walter Chrysler and the corporation named after him acquired this auto manufacturer during the 1920s to add production capacity: a) the Rickenbacker Motor Car Company; b) the Graham-Paige Motor Car Company ; c) Dodge Brothers Corporation; d) The Jordan Motor Car Company.

16. All of the following groups but one proved to lobby for good roads at the end of the 19th century:  a) railroads; b) advocates for rural free postal delivery; c) bicycle enthusiasts; d) farmers.

17.  A group of businessmen led by Carl Graham Fischer mounted a campaign beginning in 1913 to develop a transcontinental highway link, now known as US 30, but then called the ______________________ Highway.

18.  Of all undivided highways constructed during the Interwar Years, one in particular stands out as the "Mother Road," in large part due to John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. It is _____________________.

19. What tax was the primary means by which the federal government raised funds for highway construction after 1921? ____________________________

20. Built in Europe beginning in the 1920s, these divided roads predated and severed as a model for Adolph Hitler's 1930s Autobahnen. ________________________________ 

HST 344 Exam 1 Essay Question

Since the publication of On the Road, a venerable mountain of critical literature has been generated on  the author’s intended themes.  The most recent views that have been discussed are those of John Leland, author of Why Kerouac Matters:  The Lessons of On the Road (they’re not what you think).   Leland asks the reader to focus on Sal Paradise (Kerouac’s character), rather than on Dean Moriarity (Neal Cassady).  Leland argues that Sal provides the reader with something they can use, like The Road Less Traveled or The Purpose Driven Life. He goes on:

“Sal’s lessons divide among four overlapping fields, each unsettled in the postwar boom.  America had emerged from the war with half the world’s wealth and nearly two thirds of its machines, and with destructive capabilities unmatched in history. It was creating suburbs, television, organization men, nuclear families, the car culture, Brando, McCarthy, and Rock and Roll.  Amid this tumult, Sal navigates distinctive paths through the men’s world of work, money and friendship; the domestic turf of love, sex and family; the artist’s realm of storytelling, improvisation and rhythm; and the spiritual world of revelation and redemption.  His lessons in all four areas remain relevant today – any reader picking up the book for the first time can apply them to questions that are new to him or her as they were to Sal.”

What lessons emerge after reading the book, and why are they important to you?

The Good News -- Mercedes 380sl was already retrofitted with a double link timing chain! Pretty girls and Mercedes sls -- photos

Hooray!  __ I found out from Rick at Foreign Exchange yesterday that the Mercedes already had a double link timing chain.  Am I relieved! Ordered some tuneup parts from Rockauto later in the day -- spark plug wires, distributor cap, rotor, oil filter. So when the weather gets a bit better, I'll start my campaign to get the Mercedes 100%, as if it really needs it!

some photos of girls and sls

model Lara Stone doing a M-B ad

 The 190 sl

A 280 sl

"Hot Rod Race," a precursor to "Hot Rod Lincoln" -- a correction to the historical record concerning George Wilson

Hi folks -- what first follows is my history of hot rod music taken from The Automobile and American Life: 

"In addition to Felsen’s fiction, the hot rod was also the subject of songs – actually many of them by the early 1950s. The seminal lyrics of many versions that followed was that written by George Wilson and performed by Arkie Shibley and his Mountain Dew Boys in 1950. “Hot Rod Race” proved to be the precursor of many future songs, including “Hot Rod Lincoln,” the best-known version of which was performed by Johnny Bond in 1960 and Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen in 1972. Initially, the song told the story of a family trip from San Pedro in a Ford that turned into a race with a Mercury. Surprisingly, at the end both the Ford and the Mercury are blown off the road by “a kid, in a hopped up Model A.” Later, the Ford and Mercury were replaced by a Cadillac and a Lincoln, but the continuity in common among the long chain of version is obvious.^{21" -- pp.139-140.}

^{I received an email from Don Whitworth with the following correction:}
Leon Kelly was my uncle. He was taught guitar by my grandfather. My grandfather played Chet Atkins style long before Chet Atkins was known. Uncle Leon was from Glen Rose, Texas. By the way, Hot Rod Race was Not written by George Wilson. If was written by Wilson's son who was underage and could not sign a legal and binding contract. George Wilson sold the rights as if he was the writer. Just wanted to clear that bit of history up.

HOT ROD RACE
(written by George Wilson)
Arkie Shibley & His Mountain Dew Boys - 1950


     Now me and my wife and my brother Joe,
     took off in my Ford from San Pedro.
     We hadn't much gas 'n' the tires was low,
     but the doggone Ford could really go.

     Now along about the middle of the night,
     we were rippin' along like white folks might,
     when a Mercury behind he blinked his lights,
     and he honked his horn and he flew outside.

     We had twin pipes and a Columbia butt,
     you people may think that I'm in a rut,
     but to you folks who don't dig the jive,
     that's two carburetors and an overdrive.

     We made grease spots outta many good town,
     and left the cops heads spinnin' round 'n' round.
     They wouldn't chase, they'd run and hide,
     but me and that Mercury stayed side by side.

     Now we were Ford men and we likely knew,
     that we would race until somethin' blew,
     and we thought it over,
     now, wouldn't you?

     I looked down at my lovely bride,
     her face was blue, I thought she'd died.
     We left streaks through towns about forty feet wide,
     but me and that Mercury stayed side by side.

     My brother was pale, he said he was sick,
     he said he was just a nervous wreck.
     But why should I worry, for what the heck,
     me and that Mercury was still neck-and-neck.

     Now on through the deserts we did glide,
     a-flyin' low and a-flyin' wide,
     me an' that Mercury was a-takin' a ride,
     and we stayed exactly side by side.

     Now I looked in my mirror and I saw somethin' comin',
     I thought it was a plane by the way it was a-runnin'.
     It was a-hummin' along at a terrible pace,
     and I knew right then it was the end of the race.

     When it flew by us, I turned the other way,
     the guy in the Mercury had nothin' to say,
     for it was a kid, in a hopped up Model-A.

The $3000 (or $6000, if the chain fails) question! Mercedes 380sl Timing Chain replacement

Hi folks -- 100k miles and time to change the timing chain on my new acquisition. So the big question tomorrow when the valve cover is taken off -- is it a single or double row chain?  Single -- then I have a 3k repair bill ahead to get a double row conversion done.  Double -- I get home with a much smaller repair bill. I was told today that just to replace the single with a new single chain may be a very incomplete and tenuous repair. New chain may snap at any time. Boom goes valves and pistons! And unless we remove timing cover the guides won't be replaced, and that does need to be done.

May need to bite the bullet!  We shall see!

OK, the 380SL Mercedes is here!

Hi folks -- the Mercedes made it to Dayton Saturday morning at 7 a.m. Yes, 7 a.m., rather remarkable since it left LA Thursday. Q-Express -- I wholeheartedly recommend them for vehicle transport.
Photos will follow once the car is washed. First issue -- getting used to the controls, knobs, buttons, etc. How do I open the gas flap?  Questions like that. Then lubricating doors, hood latch, trunk latch and hinges, etc. Had to read the manual for the Alpine stereo system -- too damn many buttons and  features. A fascinating handbrake release know on the left side of the dash!
One problem was that on Friday night it snowed and so there is salt on the roads -- poor CA car gets the harsh exposure to cold Ohio!  Car started up right away and I took Cliff for a ride on I-675.
First issue -- water in windshield washer tank -- had to suck out and replace -- it gets cold here.  Checked anti-freeze protection -- at 20 degrees F or so, maybe a little lower, OK for my garage, but just barely.
So can't wait for a little warmer weather so I can get to know this "Panzer."  Looks great, everything works.

Transporting a Car Across the USA

Hi folks -- OK now that I bought a car in California, how do I get it back to Ohio?  Good question, since I do not have a true spring break this year and can't go out there and drive it back. The way it works is like this. First you have to select a broker -- after looking around the Internet I intuitively chose Head of the Pack Transport, located in Van Nuyes , Ca and run by Todd Ferguson. He had excellent ratings on the web  and while others did as well, I chose him. Do you want open or closed transport, as that will make a big difference in price? What Todd does is post the job with price and location to location on the internet, and truckers bid on it. Todd sets a price, and tries to figure out the best price break.  You can go low, but it might take a long time to get a trucker to agree on that price.  Todd also only selects truckers from his list of trouble free operations, as the truckers have their won ratings to deal with.  Then an agreement is made, the pickup takes place, you get a GPS location of where your shipment is at the time in question, and off we go.  Considering a $`175 broker fee, the rest is paid to the trucker in cash or certified check, and I am now looking at about $925 for the shipment door to door. I'll let you know how this all works out shortly!