A discography of Riverside Records LP's on sports and racing cars

Hi folks -- just a start!
5018 -- Sounds of Sebring 1960
1173 -- Sounds of Sebring 1960 Stereo
5017 -- Grand Prix Cars at Sebring
1166 -- Grand Prix Cars at Sebring in Stereo
5016 -- Grand Prix of the U.S. 1959
1165 -- Grand Prix of the U.S. 1959 Stereo
5015 -- Sports Cars at Sebring in Hi-Fi
1144 -- Sports Cars at Sebring in Stereo
5014 -- Sounds of Sebring 1959
1146 -- Sounds of Sebring 1959 in Stereo
5013 -- Vintage Sports Cars in Hi-Fi
1115 -- Vintage Sports Cars in Stereo
5012 -- Mercedes-Benz W125, W163
5011 -- Sounds of Sebring 1958
5010 -- Cuban Corners
5008/9 -- Sounds of Sebring 1957
5007 -- The Marquis de Portago
5006 -- Carroll Shelby
5005 -- Phil Hill
5004 -- Stirling Moss
5003 -- Pit Stop
5002 -- Sports Cars in Hi-Fi
5001 -- Sounds of Sebring
1101 -- Sports Cars in Stereo
833 -- Peter Ustinov -- G.P. Gibralter
1127 -- Peter Ustinov -- Stereo
5502 -- Hot Rods and Dragsters in Hi-Fi
1154 -- Hot Rods and Dragsters in Stereo
5503 -- Hot Rods in action
1161 -- Hot Rods in Action in Stereo
5504 -- On the Drag Strip
1184 -- On the Drag Strip in Stereo

Late 1950s in the U.S. -- The Rise of Interest in Sports Cars -- Bill Grauer and Riverside Records

Hi folks -- for some time now I have been reading late 1950s issues of Sports Cars Illustrated in my spare time. There is much to recommend in this periodical, the precursor to Car and Driver. Terrific technical articles abound, including those written by Roger Huntington and Karl Ludwigsen. I am always fascinated with the ads, including those from M.G. Mitten, Vilhelm B. Haan, and AMCO. lately I have been struck with the sheer number of record releases related to sports cars in HiFi and Stereo done by Riverside Records an Bill Grauer. Interestingly, my favorite reord as a teenager in the 1960s was not "Rubber Soul" by the Beatles, but "Vintage Sports Cars in Hi-Fi," that included commentary by David Scott-Moncrieff! Of course, Riverside is known to this day for its great cuts of classic Jazz form the 1950s -- but what do folks know about the recording of races at Sebring, Lemans, and the many other releases that were done during he late 1950s and early 1960s. I have a Dragster release that I picked up at a goodwill a few years ago, but am interested in finding many more of these records and critically listening to them. If you have similar interests, please contact me.

John

GM to auction off first Volt

Money to benefit science and math education in the Detroit Public Schools. See Story from the Detroit News by clicking on link below. Apparently, the bidding has gone up to 118k so far for this first retail sale VIN number Volt.
Serious questions, however. Does this product (along with the Nissan Leaf) mark a transition in the global auto industry related to technology, and to what degree is that the case? Will this be a long or a short time period revolution? If a major technology shift, will this change the content of undergraduate engineering curricula? Will the new generation cars be made primarily in the U.S.A. or overseas? How will India and China fit into the new industry, assuming there is one? Will the Volt help bring back GM? Will plug-in hybrids be the way the industry will re-configure in the years ahead? Would you rather buy a 41 K Volt, or for nearly the same money a BMW or Mercedes (or even a Lexus, if you are inclined to go that way?). Is your home wired for such a vehicle to recharge after hours? What market segment will be attracted to this brand? Perhaps there is a market in California and New York, but will there be customers in Missouri, Iowa, and Utah?

GM to auction off first Volt to aid DPS | detnews.com | The Detroit News

THE SOCIETY OF AUTOMOTIVE HISTORIANS RICHARD SCHARCHBURG STUDENT PAPER AWARD, 2011

Hi folks -- since I am coordinating this competition for 2011, I decided to also post the announcement on my blog. I want to spread the word on this as much as possible. I encourage both undergraduate students and graduate students to apply.

John

THE SOCIETY OF AUTOMOTIVE HISTORIANS

RICHARD SCHARCHBURG STUDENT PAPER AWARD

In order to encourage research and writing effort among university students in the area of automotive history, the Society confers its annual award for the best student paper in the auto history field. The award is named for Richard Scharchburg, the late Professor of History at Kettering University, eminent automotive historian, and past president of the Society of Automotive Historians. Persons submitting papers must be enrolled at educational institutions (upper-class undergraduate or graduate level) at the time of submission. This competition is international in scope, but papers must be in the English language. Papers already published or scheduled for publication will not be accepted.

Manuscripts should not exceed 10,000 words, and should be double-spaced. An abstract is requested. Judging criteria include clear statement of purpose and testable hypothesis, accuracy and thoroughness of research, originality of the research, documentation, quality and extent of bibliographic resources, and writing style. Diagrams, graphs, or photographs may be included. Submissions are to be electronic, in Word 1997-2003 format or pdf files only, to the e-mail address below.

Possible subjects include but are not limited to historical aspects of automobile companies and their leaders, regulation of the auto industry, financial and economic aspects of the industry, the social effects of the automobile, highway development, environmental matters, and automotive marketing, design, engineering and safety.

A cover letter should be included stating the student’s address, school, program, advisor, and stage in studies. The student should indicate how the paper submitted will relate to his or her professional future. Submissions must e-mail dated by June 10, 2011. All papers submitted will be acknowledged.

Upon recommendation of the judges, the winning paper will considered for publication in the Society’s Automotive History Review. The award consists of a plaque and a cash prize of $500.00.

Submissions should be sent to: John A. Heitmann, Ph.D, Chair, Student Awards Committee

Department of History

University of Dayton Tel: 937-229-2803

300 College Park Fax: 937-229-2816

Dayton, OH 45469-1540 e-mail: john.heitmann@notes.udayton.edu

From Ed Garten: AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- A NEWSPAPER BOY DEVELOPS A PASSION FOR CARS

Hi folks -- Ed Garten is a good friend of mine who has often contributed to this blog. Below is his story of how he first came to love the cars that he enjoys so much to see at car shows and on the road. It is also a tale that conveys the powerful effect of sense of place on our lives.

After reading the story below, click open the U-Tube video link at the bottom.

"Hey, Mrs. Jones, how's the Willys runnin' these days?" "How's that old Hudson performing for ya Mr. Jackson? Ever think of taking it to the racetrack over in Virginia?" "How you doin' this afternoon, Miss. Lowe, ever think about gettin' rid of that Henry J of yours? The new Fords are really pretty you know." "Seems to be some oil leakin' out of the rear end of your Studebaker Mr. Ross, just noticed it when I parked my bike beside it to bring your paper up to the house."

Come along on a ride as we begin at the old bridge crossing the Greenbrier River at the intersection of West Virginia Routes 3 and 12 and head up Tunnel Hill into Hilldale (the rural southern West Virginia community where I grew up in the 1950s and early 1960s). This was very poor community then as now. Then continue on to the end of Hilldale and down the mountain into and through the next village of Talcott (famous for the C & O Railway, the Big Bend Tunnel, and the American folk legend John Henry). Yours truly graduated from Talcott High School in 1965 with a huge graduating class of seventeen young people.

But, from the top of the hill entering the village of Hilldale until one decends the mountain on the other end headed toward Talcott, that was my newspaper route delivering the Hinton Daily News from the age of 13 until I gave up the paper route a week or so before high school graduation. Essentially a two mile long paper route. Can you imagine delivering to approximately 60 customers on this long and hilly route in the middle of winter and in a deep snow? The Hinton Daily News sold for 5 cents an issue, six days a week. I would collect from my customers on Saturday -- 30 cents for the week. I made 2 cents profit and the newspaper company got 3 cents. If everyone paid in a given week I would "collect" approximately 18 bucks and made a cool $7.20 a week for my labors (or a buck twenty a day if you look at it that way). But some of my customers each week would always claim they couldn't pay because their welfare check hadn't arrived yet or (as I sometimes suspected, they had left some cash behind at the liquor store). In those cases the common Appalachian phrase would be to me: "Can ya carry me?" Meaning: "Can you collect next week when I might have some money on me?"

To think that, today, I sometimes spend a buck twenty for a parking meter, a very small bag of chips, or a can of Coke. We learn lots of lessons relative to how, at an early age, we handle and view money don't we? And that period in life as a paper boy taught me many lessons about the value of money, not to mention valuable lessons related to self-discipliness, promptness, and courtesy. What lessons have you learned about "money and life" over the years? Moreover, for those of us who had jobs as young people, what might we have learned about other folks at an early age? As a paper boy I learned that everyone is different. I learned to interact with diverse personalities and, sadly, I sometimes saw a dark side of life: Fathers that severely beat their children, alcoholic mothers and fathers who came to the screen door to get their newspaper but who could barely stand up. I also had generous and giving folks on my paper route including wonderful men and women who every day, without fail, would inquire of my health or ask how school was going. Many of these folks would give me a little Christmas present as the holidays approached. A warm pair of socks, a bag of candy, a dollar bill in an envelope with my name on it, all gifts that spoke to my heart and showed their appreciation of my service as their paper boy (well, the candy spoke to my stomach).

Tellingly, my love of automobiles probably developed during those years delivering the newspaper -- literally I knew the make, model, and year of every single car in our rural community and if I saw one of my customers I'd typically ask the person: "How's the Willys running Mrs. Smith?" or "How's that old Hudson doing for you Mr. Jackson, ever think of taking it to the racetrack over in Virginia?" or perhaps to the elderly spinster in our village: "Excuse me Miss Houchins but when I parked my bike to bring your paper up I noticed that one of your recap tires is peeling off. Might be good to think about some better tires for winter, just for safety's sake?" And the old bachelor who looked like his car: "Mr. Jones, ever think about gettin' rid of that Henry J of yours?" For some reason as a young boy, memorizing every detail of every car found along my paper route was important to me. Perhaps I was the only kid in the community who knew everything about everyone's car! A walking automotive encyclopedia! Of course a few of the cars I admired were, as they said down in the hills, "up on blocks" and likely would never see the highway again (but there was always hope). The first "foreign cars" as we called them that I ever saw as a newspaper boy were owned by customers. A elderly couple's son had just returned from an Army tour in Europe and there sitting beside his house was a red Alfa. Wow! The first Italian car I'd ever seen. And then another customer, considered to be an eccentric in the community, bought and parked in front of his house a used Simca. A year later he bought an old Hillman to give the Simca company. No mechanic around would touch either car and within a year both were "up on blocks" never to be driven again!

And there were some sad times delivering papers. For example, I recall picking up my load of papers the afternoon after John F. Kennedy had been killed. PRESIDENT KENNEDY DEAD: NATION MOURNS said the front page of the newspaper. I was only 13 years old but I tied a little American flag on the carrier of my bicycle -- even arranged it so that it was flying half staff. I recall walking onto the porches of all of my customers, knocking on their doors, and then the man or woman of the house appeared, saying with tears in my eyes: "Isn't it so sad, so sad......."

The money earned from my paper route was not to be sneezed at and I had my priorities for how it was to be spent. First priority was to keep my bicycles (I had two) in good mechanical shape so that "the news would always go through." Of course expenditures on a few frills also took a few dollars every once in a while: An extra reflector (for safety?), a new carrier rack, streamers for the handlebars, a new electric horn perhaps. And, yes, every week I might spurge on an RC and a Moon Pie (what for us hillbilly boys would have been known as "health food.) But the bulk of my meager earnings from that paper route went directly into a savings account at the National Bank of Summers in Hinton, West Virginia -- to be saved for first year expenses at college and for textbooks. As a freshman my first novels by J. D. Salenger, Albert Camus, Hemingway, and others were bought with "savings" from that paper route! Does deferred gratification pay off in the long run? Perhaps......but, when was the last time I read Camus? (smile).

But, hey, check out my "paper route" from 1961 through 1965.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0duM61YtEw

Best Regards,

Ed Garten

Photo of 1936 Terraplane: Robert Johnson's Terraplane Blues

Thanks to Ed Garten for the photo of an Uncle's magnificent 1936 Terraplane (Orville Wright was given one). An inexpensive Hudson, it was the subject of one of the great Blues songs of the 1930s, played by artist Robert Johnson.

And I feel so lonesome
you hear me when I moan
When I feel so lonesome
you hear me when I moan
Who been drivin my terraplane
for you since I've been gone
I'd said I flashed your lights mama
your horn won't even blow
I even flash my lights mama
this horn won't even blow
Got a short in this connection
hoo-well, babe, its way down below
I'm on hist your hood momma
I'm bound to check your oil
I'm on hist your hood momma mmmm
I'm bound to check your oil
I got a woman that I'm lovin
way down in Arkansas
Now you know the coils ain't even buzzin
little generator won't get the spark
Motors in a bad condition
you gotta have these batteries charged
But I'm cryin please
please don't do me wrong
Who been drivin my terraplane now for
you-hoo since I've been gone
Mr Highwayman
please don't block the road
Puh hee hee
ple-hease don't block the road
Casue she's restrin (?) a cold one hindred
and I'm booked I gotta go
Mmm mmm
mmmm mmmm mmm
You ooo oooo oooo
you hear me weep and moan
Who been drivin my terraplane
for you since I've been gone
I'm on get deep down in this connection
keep on tanglin with your wires
I'm on get deep down in this connection
hoo-well keep on tanglin with your wires
And when I mash down your little starter
then your spark plug will give me a fire.

Happy Thanksgiving -- The turkey car!

No, not Turkey like the middle east, this is a turkey car. This doesn't look really like it is set up as a permanent art car, but it certainly brings forth the holiday spirit. Looks lie a Beetle to me, under that cover.
Are you thankful for the car that you own and drive? If so, what is that car and why?
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
John