Classic Cars, Tech Center News, February 19, 2001

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TOP HAT JOHN-CLASSIC CARS COLUMN - Tech Center News, February 19, 2001

FEBRUARY is about over and soon it will be good weather to maybe launch boats-the water is higher-and maybe even think about and looking at getting the old car back on the road again. Or obtaining one. Me thinks this will be a good time to buy one as I believe cars will be available.

If you are looking to buy an old one, the local publications are certainly the way to go as you can see, touch and feel the car. Auctions are good if you are astute and also the internet. Just remember though, someone should physically exam the proposed vehicle before the cash is ‘dropped’. And pictures … will tell you only what kind of car it is and its current color.

Something else to consider. A few weeks back I was talking with a collector who thought his cars-13 to be exacting-were properly insured. The story goes that the cars were stored with other owners ‘toys’ in a building that burned down and over one hundred cars, were ‘toasted’. The insurance company paid nothing, as its policy stated in fine print that it is the responsibility of the insured to notify the insurance company, if a change of vehicle storage location-from the owners place of residence to another location-exists. Moral of this true story … Read the fine print. Always read the fine print. And don’t be afraid to ask questions, get the answers in writing if need be and … READ THE FINE PRINT!!!

YES, February is almost over and the winds of March will be upon us-so a little calendar automotive history from those respective months is herewith presented.

One historic automobile that is no longer with us, but is recognizable by its headlight placement is the Pierce Arrow car. On February the 1^st of 1913 that company applied for a patent on fender mounted headlights. Some of us may remember the Willys automobile of the 1933 variety made popular by Ohio George Montgomery of AA/GS fame-one of my favorite cars. Those Willys cars had the same design headlights as the Pierce Arrow, mounted in/on the fenders.

Soon to be production, the new millenium two-seat Ford Thunderbird-a throw back retro design to the ever popular and highly prized collectible1955 through 1957 ‘Birds, was introduced to the worlds motoring public as a four-seater, on February 13^th of 1957. The four seat model outsold the two-seater by a huge margin and lasted as such … to the end of the last century.

Some notables from the month of March, of years gone by… Thomas B. Jeffery and R. Philip Gormully, who had been in the business of producing Rambler bicycles-and tires under the G&J trade name which became a part of the United States Rubber Company-sold the first Rambler on February 1st of 1902. Other cars were built by Rambler in both 1897 and 1898 with a car being first shown at the 1900 Chicago and New York auto shows. Imagine this … as in Daimler-Rambler/AMC-Jeep/Chrysler. It could have been, as Rambler was one of the companies absorbed in AMC. What a logo this could make … were their others?

On March 4^th of 1921, Warren Harding is the first United States President to ever ride in an automobile for his inauguration. The car was a 1920 Packard Twin Six model. According to the Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942, just 8,570 Twin Six model Packard cars were built from 1923 till its model discontinuance in 1923. Since Warren Harding’s time, it seems to be customary that all US Presidents have had … automobiles in the White House Presidential ‘fleet’.

Cadillac has produced few secondary model cars. History has them recorded though as the Cimmaron/Cavalier and now the Caterra/Opel. First though was the LaSalle introduced on March 5^th of 1927. Built by Cadillac, the LaSalle-named after the French explorer of the Mississippi River Valley of 1682-initially sold well and was intended to go head on in the market place with the low priced Packard 120 model. Just 205,000 LaSalle cars were built by 1940 and the name LaSalle went away, replaced by the Cadillac model Series 61 designation.