The cars I almost bought as a teenager

MGA twin cams from the late 1950s. I ended up buying for $600 a 1959 MGA that had been rebuilt by a couple. Mine was quite convenitional, fun to drive, actually reliable, but beneath the surface rusting away.

I looked at a Corvette at a garage located on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo. Its power scared this 16 year old way, and a good thing, given my driving abilites at that time.

Hi folks -- my first car was a 1959 MGA that I bought in high school in 1966. It ran all the time, but that was about it. I knew nothing about cars at the time and bought a refugee from a junk yard! Other cars that I looked at were equally problematic but in the end I steered away from them. I was fascinated with sports cars at the time and thought hard about a twin cam 1959 MGA. Good thing I didn't bite on that one since they are almost impossible to keep in tune -- especially so for a teenager who at the time did not no one end of a wrench from another! Then there was the 1959 Corvette, red and white, that probably would have killed me if I could have scraped up the money to buy it. And a 1964 Corvair turbo spyder, that I brought home to show my parents and promptly fogged up the yard with oil smoke! In His infinite wisdom, God protected me then as He does now.

Great Car Chase Films

Thunder Road 1958

The Bank Dick (1940)

Hi folks -- The other day I showed a scene from Bullitt in class and discussed the chase scene in cineamatic history. Here is my list of the greatest car chased films.

Runaway Match (1903)
Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914)
The Bank Dick (1940)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Thunder Road (1958)
Dr. No (1962)
Goldfinger (1964)
Bullitt (1968)
The Italian Job (1969)
The French Connection (1971)
Duel (1971)
Vanishing Point (1971)
Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)
The Gumball Rally (1976)
Mad Max (1979)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Ronin (1998)
Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)
The Fast and Furious (2001)
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Die Another Day (2002)
The Italian Job (2003)
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Fast and Furious (2009)
The A-Team (2010)
Fast Five (2011)

Some final exam essay questions to consider

Hi folks -- how do you feel about writing up one of these essay questions? My HST 378 class at USD will have to write on one of these May 19!

II Essay. (50 pts.) Answer one of the following by writing a coherent essay harnessing factual evidence whenever possible. Your answer should have both an introduction and a conclusion. For the final exam I will choose two of the following three essays!

A. It seems obvious that the current decline in the American automobile industry didn‘t happen during the past few years. In your own words and using what you have learned in this course; trace the decline of the American industry beginning with the 1950s, making sure to discuss key aspects and developments in chronological fashion. Do you think this decline was inevitable or not, and why?

B. Culture, past or present, high or popular, is important. Discuss the culture related to the automobile in America between 1950 and 2000, making sure to include examples from music, film, and literature (including poetry). Broadly speaking, what does post-WWII car culture tell us about how automobiles contributed to being American during the second half of the 20th century?

C. In James Flink’s article, “The Three Stages of Automobile Consciousness,” the author remarks that “Automobility has had more important consequences for 20th century American man than even Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier had for our 19th century forebears.” Elaborate on this idea within the context of the second half of the 20th century

Bella Italiana in San Diego: Mike and Nick's Alessandro's Ferrari 275 GTB

Mike and Nick Alessandro

My son-in-law, Tony Ryno

Design by Pininfarina, Coachwork by Scaglietti

Hi folks -- I had an interesting time Saturday morning at San Diego's Spanish Landing Park near the Lindbergh airport, where Italian cars were on display. One of my USD students, Nick Alessandro, had alerted me that one of his father's cars, a very rare 1967 Ferrari GTB/4 Berlinetta, would be there. This car was developed with a direct infouence from the racing Ferraris and had an innovative new chassis that incldued fully independent suspension for the first time on a production road car. With rear independent A-arms, coil springs and telescopic shocks, similar to the front design, coupled with a rear mounted five-speed greabox, this automobile's weight distribution resulted in superb handling characteristics.

The new 275 GTB/4 engine was designated Tipo 226. The 4 camshfts acted directly on the valves, and dry sump lubrication was utilized. The V-12 engine produced 300 hp, and had six Weber DCN17 carburetters.

Noted formula 1 driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise summed up the car best: "It is first and foremost, a serious and comfortable gran turismo, but it retains the lineage of a race car in the response of the engine and the quality of the handling. The 275 GTB/4 is one of the greatest automobiles created in our times."

The only serious rival at the show to Mike nad Nick's car, a 1958 Ferrari racing machine.

The I-75 Adventures of Juan Santamarina -- Flying Ladders and More!!

Hi folks -- I am convinced that I-75 between Dayton and Cincinnati is far more dangerous than anything you can run up against while traveling on I-5 or I-15 in Southern California. UD History colleague Juan Santamarina has had more than his share of adventures on I-75, including flying pieces of wood aimed at his windshield, hood, and grill. Here is a short account of his latest heart-rendering event:

Thought you would enjoy my latest I-75 adventures:
I was southbound on I-75, just north of I-275 late yesterday afternoon. There was a tow truck loading a car on the right shoulder and cars were slowing down on the right lane as a result. A Ford Fusion must have been distracted and didn't notice the slowing traffic then slammed the brakes and turned sharply to the right toward the shoulder. Somehow it missed the tow truck/car combo just in front of him and went flying through the grass beyond the shoulder into the ditch and up the other side of it stopping just short of the sound wall and not hitting anything (at that point he was perpendicular to the highway and only stuck in mud and water!). I was a few cars behind but pulled over to see if the driver needed help--so did 2 others. Turns out the driver was maybe 80, a little confused--either by what had just happened or perhaps before....someone else called police who arrived 3 minutes later. Excitement enough?
Nope!
I was standing on the shoulder telling the cop what had happened when a pickup truck passed us and proceeded to drop his 20+ foot extension ladder out the back, landing a couple of feet in front of us and sliding up the right lane 30 feet forward while cars swerved to avoid it---leaving me to direct cars off the right lane while the cop and tow truck driver fetched the ladder from the right lane and dumped safely in the grass beyond the shoulder. Let me tell you that a big ladder like that hitting the road at 65mph is a little startling!
At that point I told the cop I had enough for one day and if he didn't need me I was on my merry way. He smiled, said thanks and bye.....
First a 2x4 flying at my car, then what was essentially a hit and run, and now this...? I guess I'm free now if these things come in threes--hopefully anyway, even though neither I nor the Benz suffered any damage on this event.

Identification and Significance Questions: Study Sheet for Final Exam, HST 378

Hi folks-- how many of these questions, taken from my The Automobile and American Life, can you answer well?

Exam on Thursday, May 19, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
I Identification and historical significance (50 pts.). Answer five of the following eight (8) people, places, and things in a concise and detailed paragraph, in five sentences or less for each.
Possibilities:



Henry Gregor Felsen’s Hot Rod (1950)
African-Americ ans, the Automobile, and Civil Rights during the 1950s
American Graffiti (1973
Don Stanford’s The Red Car (1954)
The Corvette and the Thunderbird during the 1950s
Garten Motors, Hinton, West Virginia
The UAW, The Big Three, and Pattern Bargaining
The 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88
The VW Beetle
Chuck Berry and “Maybellene”
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Thunder Road (1958)
Cadillac and the establishment during the 1950s and 1960s
Ralph Nader and the Corvair
The Federal Government, the automobile industry, and the 1960s
Crap Cars of the 1970s
Ben Hamper’s Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line (1991)
The Drive-By
NASCAR in the recent pastWomen, Poetry, and Passion, post-1980

Donks -- Cincinnati, the Individual, and Common Sense

Hi Folks -- Visiting back in Centerville, I read the Dayton Daily News this rainy Easter morning and found an rather lengthy article on Donks and the City of Cincinnati trying to take them off the road. Seems that the police argue that these cars are unsafe, and expose gas tanks and other parts to vulnerability during a crash. The owner of Fatt Boyz accessory shop in Kettering Ohio is worried that his business will lose lots of money if Cincinatti's stand starts a trend among municipal governments. Donk owners claim racial profiling, while anti-crime advocates assert that these cars are associated with gangs. Another example of American individuality being squelched for the common good.
Well, these cars are stupid. They can't handle, they are a total waste of money, and probably their owners have IQs in the range of 80. But -- if Cincinnati does this, will they also take off the road all the good old boys with their jacked up pickups that are equally as unstable and stupid? Give me examples of crashes involving these Donks? Show me statistically that they are unsafe?

Is this really about about traffic safety?