African American Auto Mechanics -- 1950s

Hi folks -- Kevin Borg has written the book on the history of  auto mechanics, but I can't remember what he said if anything, on black mechanics. Here is a photo of three mechanics, a late 1940s Oldsmobile, and late 1940s or early 1950s Ford.

Studebaker and Nash Automobiles in the Belgian Congo, 1953

Hi folks -- note the above image. The topic of the importation of Automobiles into Africa,perhaps outside of South Africa, remains a wide-open research topic.

Road Song Lyrics: Artists A-C

Aerosmith: "On The Road Again"

Look out pretty mama
I'm on the road again.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive: "Freeways"

Drivin' in a beat up car
The highway is long but we've come so far
Two thousand miles from home
We got to find someplace that we can belong
But, we know, the freeways in life
Are all pointing us home
Don't you know, nothing in this life means anymore
Freeways, freeways.

Richard "Dickie" Betts: "Back On The Road Again"

Back on the road again
Right back where we really always been
Same old hotel rooms
Back on the road again.

Richard "Dickie" Betts: "Highway Call"

Sometimes I feel so all alone
That ain't no place to be
I wish I had my feet under the table
A little child on my knee
Highway call
There's something in your song
Highway call
You keep me rollin' on.

Rory Block: "Gone Again"

Man, will you look at that sweet two wheeler.
Gotta keep moving on open road
Gotta keep moving on open road
All I see is open road
Miles and miles of open road
Keep moving on open road.
Gotta keep moving on open road
Gone, gone.

Brewer and Shipley: "Blue Highway"

People don't pick you up on the blue highway
Oh the blue highway is a road you travel alone
People sure ain't gonna look you up on the blue highway
On the blue highway just keeps leadin' you on.

David Bromberg: "New Lee Highway Blues"

You know that goddam road seemed like it went on forever
Exhaust fumes made our eyes turn red and swell.
With our clothes stuck to the seat and to our bodies
It was a stinking summer trip through southern hell.

Jackson Browne: "Nothing But Time"

Rolling down 295 out of Portland, Maine
Still high from the people up there and feeling no pain
Gonna make it to New Jersey, gonna set it up and do it again.

Jackson Browne: "The Pretender"

I'm going to rent myself a house
In the shade of the freeway.
I'm going to pack my lunch in the morning
And go to work each day.
And when the evening rolls around
I'll go on home and lay my body down.

Jackson Browne: "The Road"

Highways and dancehalls
A good song takes you far
You write about the moon
And you dream about the stars
Blues in old motel rooms
Girls in daddy's car
You sing about the nights
And you laugh about the scars.

Jackson Browne: "The Road and the Sky"

I'm just rolling away from yesterday
Behind the wheel of a stolen Chevrolet
I'm going to get a little higher
And see if I can hot-wire reality.

Jackson Browne: "Running on Empty"

Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields
In sixty-five I was seventeen and running up one-o-one
I don't know where I'm running now, I'm just running on.

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Jackson Browne: "Shaky Town"

And I've followed those highway signs
And I've run down those thin white lines
Like those drivers this old road is all I call my own
That's a big ten-four
From your back door
Just put that hammer down
This young man feels
Those eighteen wheels
That keep turning 'round to take me down to shaky town.

The Byrds: "B. B. Class Road"

We're driving down the highway
Seven days a week
Looking for a number 1
Looking rather bleak.
Well, I'm a roadie
What a job being a roadie.

Canned Heat: "On The Road Again"

Take a hint from your mama, please don't cry no more.
Cause it's soon one morning down the road I'm gone
But I ain't goin' down that long ol' lonesome road all by myself
If I can't carry you, baby, going to carry somebody else.

Tony Carey: "Blue Highway"

I had a wife, she wouldn't keep me
Left a job, a living, and family
There was nothing to keep me, no reason to stay
Went looking for nothing down the blue highway.

Mary Chapin Carpenter: "Down at the Twist and Shout"

Well I never have wandered down to New Orleans
Never have drifted down a bayou stream
But I heard that music on the radio
And I swore some day I was gonna go
Down highway 10 past Lafayette
To Baton Rouge and I won't forget
To send you a card with my regrets
'cause I'm never gonna come back home.

Mary Chapin Carpenter: "Read My Lips"

A few more cigarettes now honey
One more jolt of joe
A couple hours past New York City
A few more turnpike tolls
One more minute away from you
Is a minute that lasts too long.

Mary Chapin Carpenter: "A Road is Just a Road"

A road is only dust and dirt.
On a lonely interchange
The signs all look the same
'cause a road is just a road
and a feeling's just a feeling.

No matter where you go,
from Waterloo to Wichita
A road is just a road
that the one you love is leaving on.

Mary Chapin Carpenter: "Stones in the Road"

And the stones in the road fly out from beneath our wheels
Another day, another deal, before we get back home
And the stones in the road leave a mark from whence they came
A thousand points of light or shame, baby, I don't know.

Marshall Chapman: "Leaving Loachapoka"

Going 90 miles an hour with her hair on fire
Running on a tank full of burning desire
She's heading out on highway number 29
Leaving Loachapoka, Alabama, behind.

The Collins Kids: "Hot Rod"

I found a real cute baby
she's a real swinging baby
And she says we'll go steady
just as soon as I get me a hot rod.
I'm going to take her for a moonlight drive
Across Mulholland Drive
Man I will be really alive
As soon as I get me a hot rod.

Don Conley: "Blue Highway"

Another highway, another heartache
Traveling man routine eight days from home
And all alone in the whining time machine . . .
On this blue highway
Between love and me
Nothing but blue highway
As far as my heart can see

Continental Drifters: "Highway of the Saints"

I'm driving down the Highway of the Saints
Keepin' an eye on a friend of mine
Who wishes no complaints
When all her strength had left her
And hope it become thin.

Alice Cooper: "Slick Black Limousine"

We're gonna fly ya ya yeah
Ninety miles an hour
Swervin' all over the road
Hundred miles an hour
My hand's on the radio
Baby's in the back seat
Bompin' all over the road.

Creedence Clearwater Revival: "Sweet Hitch-hiker"

Was ridin' along side the highway,
Rollin' up the country side.
Thinkin' I'm the devil's heatwave,
What you burn in your crazy mind?
Saw a slight distraction standin' by the road;
She was smilin' there, yellow in her hair;
Do you wanna, I was thinkin', would you care.

An under-appreciated racing film -- Checkpoint, 1956

If you like sports cars from the 1950s and road racing, this film is for you! I ran across this film on Netfilx streaming, and despite its two star rating it did not disappoint -- actually it is a diamond in the rough. True, the plot is not the best, but the cars are the stars, and the highway and race scenes are simply as good as it gets. Further, the use of engine sounds really enhances the experience.  After watching this film, I could not wait to get in my 1971 Porsche 911 and enjoy the open road. Don't miss this film -- the last 30 minutes of the film and racing scenes are priceless!

a 1957 Fiat Abarth

This car was also at the Friday night Cruise-In held in Beavercreek, OH last evening. It brought back some memories, going back to growing up in Kenmore, NY and a guy who rented an appointment in the house next to where my cousins lived. His Abarth was green, and all I can remember is this fellow in almost constant agony as he worked on the Abarth in the driveway.  I wonder if he ever got it right.  I doubt that he did..

Another Rat Rod at the Friday Night Cruise In

This is what I would call an exaggerated rat rod. The lime green wheels, front spring and engine detailing is hideous on purpose. Not my cup of tea.

5 Practical Points of Electric Cars -- A Contribution from Liz Nelson

5 Practical Points of Electric Cars

Electric cars are becoming more and more commonplace now that the world is pushing for an energy crisis situation. In the early 2000s, GM dismantled the EV1s giving a variety of excuses such as there would be no interest in this type of automobile. A decade later, there are a hot commodity and many are joining waiting lists for vehicles such as those offered by Tesla Motors. Aside from the ability to function without a single drop of gasoline, what else makes these vehicles practical for daily use?

1. Battery Life - Currently, some of the best batteries for electric cars can allow a person to travel for 300 miles. To some, this simply doesn't sound like enough driving time. To put it into perspective, the state of Colorado is only 280 miles across. Unless you are planning a cross-country trip, 300 miles is quite a bit of in-town driving per day. This is aside from the fact that solar conversion kits can be adapted to constantly provide power to electric cars as they are on the road as well.

2. Grid-Less - Solar panels can be used to charge your electric cars while they are sitting at home. Instead of plugging them into the grid and spinning your meter, you can adapt solar energy and deep cycle batteries to keep your car energy-sufficient and charging throughout most of the day. With renewable energy sources available, the possibilities are near endless.

3. Gas Prices vs. Power Prices - Unless you are using a self-sustaining system such as solar arrays to power your vehicle, there will be a cost of charging it up. However, the cost for power is far less than it would be for the cost of ever-increasing gas prices. In fact, it would be beneficial for more people to drive electric cars for those who don't. When the demand for an item decreases, so does the price. If even 10-percent of people in your neighborhood owned electric cars, the price of gas could steadily drop.

4. Clean Maintenance - Most mechanics who have worked on electric cars commented on how it is a clean experience. As electric cars use very little in the form of petroleum-based products for continued usage, the undercarriage and engine compartment are virtually oil and grease free. No more pouring Coca Cola on your drive way to remove the evidence of an oil leak.

5. Speed - Electric cars can handle to road as well as gasoline powered ones can. In fact, the first generation of Tesla Roadsters can do 0 to 60 in just under four seconds. Unlike electric scooters that may have a top speed of 60, electric cars can hit the road with as much speed as their predecessors can. Using the same aerodynamics to promote gas mileage, these same principles can save on power usage.

There are many who argue about the battery life of an electric car forcing the issue of how impractical it may be. Could these merely be rants from those who are afraid of change or those who have vested stock in oil companies? Or is there any truth to electric cars being impractical? Currently, consumers have the option of purchasing a wide range of vehicles consuming various amounts of fuel. Will there come a day when the government steps in and puts an end to carbon monoxide-emitting engines?

This is a guest post by Liz Nelson from WhiteFence.com. She is a freelance writer and blogger from Houston. Questions and comments can be sent to: liznelson17 @ gmail.com.