Even though it is the ultimate car, as far as countless Americans are concerned, it is very different from European marques like Rolls-Royce or Mercedes-Benz.
The history of Cadillac can be divided up into three parts. In the beginning there were humble economy cars, then innovations such as V8, V12 and V16 engines and electric lightning/starting were made, but production was still low. After World War 2 and centralized control from General Motors management and order books of 100,000 cars the strategy again changed. During the time when General Motors Management had control, the car repair industry was also thriving. The Cadillac presented a new way for the public to see the use of a car. It was a luxury model, high price to begin with, with low amounts of repair for the long term.
Henry Leland the founder of Cadillac was older than many of the U.S. motor pioneers and already a well-established engineer, when his engineering company built its first car. Before that they had produced transmissions and single cylinder engines for Ransom Olds famous Curved Dash. And even though the engines were superior to their contemporaries, Olds rejected the latest engine because of the costs.
While Leland was still searching for and alternative market he got the chance to buy the remnants of the Henry Ford Company after Henry Ford had departed. By using Leland’s single-cylinder engine they started to build a new car, which was first displayed at the New York Automobile Show in 1903. As they couldn’t use the Ford name, they named it Cadillac, after the 17th century French explorer Antoine Laumet de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, who founded Detroit in 1701. The Cadillac Model A was a small simple car with Leland’s single-cylinder-engine lying horizontally under the seat and giving little indication of the exotic creations that would follow.
Even though exact production figures for the first year are uncertain, it attracted over 2,000 orders a week.
The 300E models were equipped with Chrysler’s new Golden Lion wedge-head V8 engine at 392 cu in (6.4 L) displacement.
The power output was about the same but the loss of the Hemi and the recession still meant poor sales of 522 coupés and 125 convertibles.
The engine of the 300F introduced in 1960 delivered 375 hp (280 kW) as standard and to boost power at lower and mid rpms, a special “cross-ram” intake manifold was derived. Also a special 400 hp (300kW) “short ram” version was produced for competition. The 300F also had a new lightweight unibody construction and a sharper-edged styling. 969 coupés and 248 convertibles were built.
The 1961 300G was wider at the bottom than the top had different headlights, the fins were made sharper-pointed and the rear lights were moved from the fins to the tail below them. The cross-ram engines remained the same but the unreliable French manual transmission used in the 300F short ram models was replaced by a more reliable Chrysler racing manual transmission and cars with this transmission now are among the most rare and desirable of all letter series cars. Of the 300G 1617 cars were built.
The 300H of 1962 had no fins any longer and for the first time the plain (non letter) Chrysler 300 appeared. Except for a 300H badge, externally there was little difference between the 300H and the plain 300 and many options of the 300H could be ordered on the other models too. The cross ram intake was gone and the 300H again had an inline dual 4-barrel carb setup. The body was about 300 lb (140 kg) lighter and the car was faster than the 300G. Due to the loss of exclusivity and the fairly high price only 435 coupés and 135 convertibles were sold. 25,020 of the plain 300 were sold.
The letter “I” was skipped and 1963’s 300J looked smoother and more angular. The convertible and the “short ram” engine were now dropped and the only engine available was the 413 cu in (6.8 L) “long ram”, with a little more power than the previous model. The top speed was 142 mph (229 km/h). Only 400 cars were sold.
For the 300K of 1964 the convertible returned and the cars had a 413 cu in (6.8 L) Wedge with a single 4-barrel carburettor, a regular intake manifold and 360 hp (270 kW). It was the new standard engine and the cross-ram engine became an extra-cost option available on the 300K only. As the baseline price was reduced 3,022 coupés and 625 convertibles were built.
1965’s Chrysler 300L was the final year of the letter series and the car was totally restyled. It had a sleek mid-1960s linear look and the cross ram engine was no longer available. For the first time every feature on the letter car could be ordered as option on the plain 300 the only difference was the ‘300L’ badge. 2,405 coupés and 440 convertibles were sold.
While GM built the Corvette and Ford the Thunderbird, Chrysler went a different way. The Chrysler letter series. Based on a 2-door saloon it was the fastest and most powerful American car for several years.
The first car of the letter series, the C-300 launched in 1955, didn’t bear a letter but can retroactively be considered the 300A. The 300 originally stood for the 300 hp (220 kW) engine.
The design was pretty similar to other Chrysler models as parts from other cars were used. The front clip and grille were taken from the Imperial, the mid section from the New Yorker hardtop and the rear quarter from the Windsor.
The C-300 was equipped with Chrysler’s most powerful engine, the 331 cu in (5.4 L) FirePower “Hemi” V8, fitted with twin 4-barrel carburettors, a race-profiled camshaft setup, solid valve lifters, stiffer suspension and a performance exhaust system.
It was the most powerful American car for many years and the first American production car to top 360 hp (270 kW). The cars were successfully raced in NASCAR and numerous international rallies. The interest it aroused was not reflected in the sales figures of 1,725 built though.
The Chrysler 300B launched in 1956 looked pretty similar with larger tailfins and smaller modifications. The engines were larger with two models of 354 cu in (5.8 L) Hemi V8 with either 340 or 355 hp (254 or 265 kW) and performance was a little better, being measured at almost 140 mph (225 km/h). Only 1,102 cars were sold.
The 1957 300C had a completely new styling with a wide front grille and fins. For the first time a convertible model was available too. The Hemi engine was upgraded to 392 cu in (6.4L) with 375 hp (280 kW). A limited edition of 18 cars had 390 hp (290 kW). 1,767 coupés and 484 convertibles were built.
The 1958 300D was the last model with the old FirePower Hemi. It was a 392 cu in (6.4 L) engine tuned to 380 hp (280 kW) as standard. 35 cars had fuel injection and delivered 390 hp (290 kW). The fuel injection system caused problems though and most cars were replaced with the standard twin-quad carburettor setup. Thanks to recessionary times only 618 hardtops and 191 convertibles were built.
The 1958 Ford Nucleon was a concept car built by Ford and there was only one ever constructed.
The car was supposed to be powered by a small nuclear reactor which was placed in the rear. The passenger compartment was situated close to the front of the car, extending beyond the front axle, to protect the passengers from the reactor.
The Ford Nucleon had a one piece windscreen with no pillar, a compound rear window and the aerodynamic styling looked very futuristic. Air intakes at the leading edge of the roof and at the base of the roof supports were meant to be part of the reactor’s cooling system.
The capsule with the radioactive core for motive power could easily be changed and it was said that the car could travel about 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometres) without recharging. That was depending on the size of the core of course. At the end of its life the core would be taken to a charging station. The reactor was similar to the ones used in nuclear submarines but of course much smaller.
A working prototype of the Ford Nucleon never was built but it is an icon of the Atomic Age and shows that designers thought everything was possible.
A mock-up of the car can be seen at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
I’m not sure if “Every day something else leaks.” should be the right description for that certainly very unique car.
The Edsel was a brand of the Ford Motor Company but from 1957 to November 1959 only 118,287 cars were built, 2/3 of them at Louisville Assembly Plant and 7,440 in Ontario, Canada.
Of course the Edsel was different than others and it was designed to be this way. 18 different body styles were available among them a full line of station wagons. You could get the cars in 90 colour combinations, such as Alaskan Gold, Sunset Coral or Sahara Beige. The oval grill was a lot talked about as it in a way looked like a horse collar, a toilet seat or even a woman’s genitals.
Some drivers had problems with the push button transmission system which was located on the steering wheel were normally the horn was. Many drivers shifted gear instead of honking the horn. And it was prone to shift unexpectedly from “park” into “drive”, so it was wise not to walk in front of an Edsel.
But even though the car looked different and was different, it only was a car with four wheels and four doors. And this seemed to have been part of the problem. Even though it was a great car to drive it only was a kind of ordinary car that just looked a little different. It might have sold better if it had been able to fly or anything like that.
Even with a grill looking like a toilet seat. I still think it is a great car in a way and the many different colours really are marvellous.
Anyway the Edsel was a marketing failure and the Ford Motor Company spent $ 350 million to design, launch and prototype the car. Fewer than 6,000 Edsels seem to have survived but now are a highly collectible item amongst lovers of vintage cars.
In 1931 the people in charge of the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan found it necessary to produce a smaller car for the European market.
The Ford Model Y was designed. It was first presented in 1932 on the Ford Motor Exhibition in London’s Royal Albert Hall. In August of that very year the production in started in England and in 1933 in Germany.
There the car was named Ford Köln, as Köln is the German name of the city of Cologne, where the cars were manufactured. The Ford Köln had a 4-cylinder engine, 21 hp (16 kW), with a top speed of 85 km/h (53 mph).
The cars built in Germany were more luxurious than those produced in England. A saloon and a convertible were available. But the Ford Köln wasn’t a great success due to the competition with the Opel, DKW and Adler. In 1935 it was replaced by the bigger Ford Eifel.
The Ford Eifel was produced in Germany from 1935 to 1940. It was available as 2-door saloon and 2- and 4-seat convertible, 2-sear roadster and light truck, with a 4-cylinder engine, 34 hp (25 kW), with a top speed of 105 km/h (65 mph). This car was a real success with more than 61,000 units sold. The Ford Eifel was derived from the Ford Model C platform and related to the Ford Anglia and Ford Perfect.
The Buick Motor Car Company was founded in 1903 by David Dunbar Buick and soon became very successful.
Production rose from over 725 cars in 1907 to more than 8,800 the following year.
The Buick Series 50 Super Convertible Coupe had an overhead-valve straight-eight “Fireball” engine and 3-speed transmission. Due to high compression pistons and Compound Carburetion the horsepower were increased from 107 to 125. The Compound Carburetion consisted of two dual-barrel carbs of which most of the times only one was in operation.
The second one provided extra power at high speeds or under hard acceleration. As each of the dual-barrel carbs were smaller than the old single ones it was said that petrol mileage was better in average driving. Many drivers even blocked the second carb in order to save petrol during wartime.
As the boot could be opened to both sides by pulling out the Louvre-Lock, access to the engine was much easier. It could even be removed entirely. The cars had horizontal grille bars and headlights in the wings. Two versions of the convertible were available, the 4-door convertible saloon and the 2-door convertible coupe. The latter was one of Buick’s best-sellers of that very year.
The first time I read about the Ford Model T was in my English book in school. It really impressed me, to read that the Tin Lizzy was able to pull a tractor out of a ditch.
In September 1908 the first Ford Model T was sold in Detroit. By that time it was still handmade. The car had a front mounted engine and rear wheel drive. It became the first mass produced car on assembly lines ever, with interchangeable parts.
With 15 million units it was the most sold car, until in 1972 the Volkswagen Beetle took over. It was a middle class car and even though most of the cars were black, different colours were produced from 1908 to 1914 and from 1926 to 1927 when production ended. The Tin Lizzy not only was the first car built on assembly lines, but the first car produced world wide.
From 1911 on the Ford Model T was assembled in Canada and Manchester, England and later in Germany, Argentina, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, and Japan. Due to the efficiencies of assembly lines the prices of the Tin Lizzy fell and even more people were able to afford one.
Specifications:
Class – Full-size Ford, economy car
Body styles – 2-door touring, 2-door roadster, 2-door roadster pickup, 2-door ton truck, 2-door closed cab ton truck, 2-door coupé, 2-door wagon, 4-door wagon, Center door wagon, 2-door convertible, 4-door sedan
The Exhibition What Were They Thinking? The Misfits Of Motordom in the Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, California is extended through July 5, 2010.
In this exhibition examples are shown, in which car designers and engineers tried to improve the cars of their times. Some of the inventions made are more than strange, others are pretty useful and worth thinking about. All of them certainly are good examples of out-of-the-box thinking.
You can see the 1957 Liberty Mutual Survival Car which was the attempt to improve safety for the driver, the passengers and even the pedestrians. Or the 1934 Chrysler Airflow, a scientifically aerodynamic car that didn’t match the styling trends of its time.
Another misfit was the 1959 Chevrolet Corvair. It was designed to compete with European compact cars like the Beetle and had an air cooled flat rear engine and rear drive. The American drivers though didn’t get on too well with the car and caused several accidents, therefore the car was thought of as being unsafe.
These are of course only a few examples of what you can see at the Petersen Automotive Museum.
On Saturday, December 5, 2009 the 4th Annual CARnival Family Fun Day will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. All children are FREE on that very day.
When John Willys had been taken his chief engineer with him on a trip to Europe, they sent several European cars back home to Toledo Ohio.
After having decided that the cars were too little and therefore unsuitable for the American roads, they wanted to design a “better automobile”.
The 1927 Whippet was a four cylinder model with 30 hp and a length of just over 12 feet. It was the smallest car in America. Not long after that, Willys offered a six cylinder with 40 hp that was only a little longer for $ 695. The Wippets grew. Within a couple of years they had 50 hp and the wheelbase itself was longer than the entire 1927 unit.
1929 Willys-Overland Whippet:
Engine – L-head straight-six, cast iron block and cylinder head, 50 hp
