Car Collector Chronicles 05-16

8/17/2019 Car Collector Chronicles 05-16

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Volume IX, Issue 5

1st speed-limit law

22-1929 Debut flight of the Good-year Blimp23-1875 Alfred Sloan, Jr., born,New Haven, CT28-1937 VW founded29-1946 1st Kaiser-Frazer30-1911 1st Indy 50031-1927 Last Model T

- Time to uncover the car!

By now most have uncov-ered and fired-up their rides.We have had a few nice dayshere in SE WI, but winterhas not yet departed. It isnot at all uncommon for us

to still see a 30 degree differ-ence in our daily high temps.

Soon they shall be firing upthe engines at Indy. Thisyear marks the 100th run-ning of the Indianapolis 500

race. It is a bucket list event.I was fortunate, while in

college, to live a stone’sthrow from the track. Addi-tionally, our phys ed teacherwas also the track fire chief.I had some pretty unique

access to the track happen-ings in the month of May

during my college years.I vividly recall standing on

pit road taking pictures dur-ing practice one year when aracer came in and appearedto be heading right at me,

and fast. In fact he was doing just that in an effort toquickly reach the fire station.Burning racing fuel does notemit a visible flame. I did notknow that, just like I did notknow that I was standingsmack, dab in the middle ofthe pit row fire station! Toget out of his way I jumped

over the retaining wall! May Automotive Milestones

1-1954 Nash and Hudsonmerge to form AMC2-1918 Chevrolet joins GM3-1899 Packard begins op-eration6-1928 Chrysler introducesDe Soto10-1923 GM names Alfred P.Sloan president11-1947 B.F. Goodrich an-nounces tubeless tire14-1969 Last Corvair17-1868 Horace Dodge born,Niles, Michigan19-1903 Buick Motor Co.incorporates21-1901 Connecticut enacts

High RPMs

GDYNets ® on the Web

Find GDYNets on the web: ® -THE FORUM ◄-A web

site to discuss the newsletter,the hobby and our cars.

Car Collector Chronicles® ◄

Saved 62 ◄-Our 1962 Oldsconvertible, Ransom Eli Oldsand things Oldsmobile relatedweb site.

The Gray Lady ◄-1955 CadillacCoupé de Ville web site.

SAVED 6 : A website devoted

to our 1962 Oldsmobile Dy-namic 88 convertible. The sitealso has a lot of information onOldsmobile cars and the com-

pany founder, Ransom Eli Olds.

THE GRAY LADY This web-site features our 1955 CadillacCoupé de Ville, lots of Caddyinformation and an extensive

repair library.

DAVE’S DEN ◄-A site de-

voted to a myriad of interests.Foremost is extensive informa-tion on the “Steel City” of Gary,IN. There are also offerings onsteel making, U.S. Steel-GaryWorks, U.S. Marine Corps, M14assault rifle, of course Oldsmo-bile, and the tragic story of themurder of Gary, IN Police Lt.

George Yaros.

A GDYNETS ®

PUBLICATION

© 2016, G. DAVIDYAROS. ALLRIGHTS RESERVED.

May 2016Ca s

Car Collector

Chronicles ®

Exploring:

Car Collecting Today

Classic Rides

Reports From the Field

Oldsmobile (1897-2004)

Cadillac (1902- )

Allanté (1987-1993)

Corvair (1960-1969)

◄ = Clickable Link

IN THIS ISSUE:

High RPMs 1

Not Your Father’sOldsmobile

2

A Look at 1916 4

Pics to Ponder 5

CCC ® Forum ◄ EMail:[email protected] ◄

http://ccc.activeboard.com/http://www.scribd.com/D_Yaroshttp://www.freewebs.com/jeandaveyaroshttp://graylady.atwebpages.com/http://gdynets.atwebpages.com/http://ccc.activeboard.com/http://ccc.activeboard.com/http://ccc.activeboard.com/http://ccc.activeboard.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://ccc.activeboard.com/http://gdynets.atwebpages.com/http://graylady.atwebpages.com/http://www.freewebs.com/jeandaveyaroshttp://www.scribd.com/D_Yaroshttp://ccc.activeboard.com/


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I recently came across a photo of an Oldsmobile of which I was not aware. One rea-son was that it was one of many concepts created

by the Olds division of GM. While some are wellknown, such as the 1954 F88 that Barrett-Jacksonhammered at $3.2 Million a few years back, othersare a bit obscure.

The photo I saw was of an Oldsmobile XP-888.It is a 1970 era machine. Oldsmobile officiallydescribed it as:

An entry level sports car, featuring a se-ries of interchangeable rear compartmentcovers; including fastback, pickup andwagon variations.

I am a little at a loss to appreciate why in 1970 Oldsmobile thought that it needed an“entry level sports car” in its line? After all, through 1970 Oldsmobile had already sold155,552 4-4-2 automobiles. Also, in that year an Olds 4-4-2 with a 455 c.i. V8 paced

the Indianapolis race.For whatever reason, the minds in

charge determined creating the XP-888was a good idea. Here is the result of thatexercise.

My first question is, what do you see? Isee a Chevy Camaro front-end/doghouse.Or, is it a Pontiac Trans Am? The rear-end looks to have Corvette genes? Somemay see Studebaker Avanti lines in thebody, and I would not argue the point.

So where is the XP-888 today? Is it stillextant? A check of the GM Heritage Cen-

ter web site ◄ yields no mention of thecar. That is not unusual. It was quite common for concept vehicles to be destroyed. Ifthat was its fate, it is too bad. She was a nice looking ride!

I ran across an earlier engineering and design effort which I found to be quite appeal-ing. It was the 1953 Oldsmobile X-P Rocket. This car was constructed on a a full-sized, B-body chassis. The lines flow quite well, given the 203 inch long fiberglassshell. The X-P Rocket was Oldsmobile’s first GM Motorama concept car. It was namedafter the Lockheed F-94B Starfire. Features presented to the motoring public for thefirst time were the large oval-mouthed grille, a wraparound windshield, bucket seats anda fiberglass body that incorporated a “Darrin Dip” in the beltline. The headlights wereencased in plastic bubbles. Reportedly three examples were built. I know of none stillin existence.

Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile

ar ollector hronicles Page 2

“My first

question is

what do you

see?”

https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-vehicle-collection/https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-vehicle-collection/https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-vehicle-collection/https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-vehicle-collection/https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-vehicle-collection/https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-vehicle-collection/https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-vehicle-collection/


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Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile—Cont’d.

The last Oldsmobile I want to present is the 1959 F88 Mk. III. It was given to HarleyEarl for his personal use on retirement. His “retirement gold watch,” so to speak. Its

color was bright red. It featured a retractable aluminum hardtop which closed whenmoisture was detected by the rain sensor. Reportedly, this feature did not function relia-bly. The car sat on a 102 inch wheelbase, sported turbine styled wheels and stood only46 inches off the ground. The engine was fuel injected and produced 250 h.p. Unique tothe car was the muffler/exhaust system. It was mounted to the front of the engine andexited forward of the front wheels.

While Harley Earl did drive the car for a few years, his successor Bill Mitchell orderedthe car be returned to GM and scrapped. All indications are that this order was duly car-ried out.

All I can say is, it sure would be nice to be able to go cruising around in this machine.One would not have to ask twice if I wanted to borrow the car! I can’t imagine the emo-tions that had to be stirring inside the individuals doing the scrapping. I wonder what theywere thinking, feeling at the time?

“[T]he

muffler/

exhaust

system …

was mounted

to the front of

the engine

and exited

forward of

the front

wheels.”

ar ollector hronicles Page 3


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ar ollector hronicles Page 4;;

Still Firing on All 8

It was noted in the May Automotive Milestones that 30 May marks the 100th running of the Indianapolis500 race. Another automotive entity is also celebrating its 100th birthday. That would be ACDelco™.When one thinks AC one thinks spark plugs. AC spark plugs powered the engine of Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, as well as

the planes of Amelia Earhart and Richard Byrd. AC spark plugs powered ChuckYeager’s Bell X-1 in 1947 when he broke the sound barrier. The rocket sending

Neil Armstrong to the moon in 1969 was ignited by AC spark plugs. ACDelco™electrical components also helped to transport astronauts across the lunar surface.I do not know how many are aware that “AC” are the initials of Albert Champion,

as in Champion spark plugs. He founded the company, and subsequently lost con-trol of it. Ultimately, he also lost the right to use the Champion name. Having losthis spark plug company, he turned to William Durant in 1908 to continue makingspark plugs. That year the name AC Spark Plug was trademarked. In 1909 thespark plug company was purchased by General Motors. It became a division ofGM in 1933.

The other half of ACDelco™, Delco, is the offspring of United Motor Co. (UMC); yet another Durant crea-tion. It came into being in 1916 and consisted of the Hyatt Roller Bearing Co., ball bearing manufacturerNew Departure, Remy Electric, Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co. (DELCO) and the Perlman RimCorp.

Initially, UMC sold its products to any automobile manufacturer that wanted to buy.That ended in 1918, when General Motors acquired the company. GM renamed thecorporation United Motors Service and made it a GM division in 1944. In 1960United Motors Service became United Delco. AC and United Delco were mergedinto AC-Delco in 1974 by GM.

There were a couple of notables associated with the entities making up UMC. Al-fred Sloan was at Hyatt. He went on to become the president of GM. Charles Kettering was with Delco.Kettering invented the electric car starter. No longer having to hand crank the engine made the automo-bile accessible to a far wider market.

Delco engineers also brought us electric lights for cars, permitting the use of the automobile after dark.These same engineers created leaded gas and came up with the 4-wheel braking system. Leaded gasfunctioned to reduce engine knock and lubricate engine valves and seats.

Perhaps the most remarkable feat of the folks at Delco had to do with a battery, in this instance an air-plane battery. On 29 Feb 1944 a plane went down over Lake Michigan. When it was brought to the sur-

face in 1996, 52 years later, the battery still cranked!

A Look at 1916

U.S. population:was approximately 102 Million – 30% of the 2016 populationFilm star Charlie Chaplin received a weekly pay of $10,000 – The equivalent of $218,000 todayThere were 109½ telephones for every 1,000 people in the U.S. This number jumped to 588 by 1970 and,thanks to mobile phones, 847 by 2007U.S. States numbered 48 – New Mexico and Arizona became states four years earlier (1912), but Alaskaand Hawaii would not be granted statehood for another forty-three years (1959)

A First Class Postage Stamp cost 2¢ – The equivalent of 44¢ todayThe cost of a loaf of bread was 7¢The average price for a car was $400The world’s tallest structure was the Eiffel TowerEinstein completed formulation of his general “Theory of Relativity”Electric refrigerators were first offered for sale, for $900Coca-Cola started using their new contoured bottleMr. Peanut was createdMontana voters elect the first woman to serve in the U.S. Congress, Republican Jeanette RankinThe Chicago Cubs played their first game at Weeghman Field (present day Wrigley) ,beating the Cincin-nati Reds 7-6 in 11 inningsPresident Wilson sent Gen. Pershing and 12,000 U.S. troops into Mexico to pursue Pancho Villa


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ar ollector hronicles Page 5;;

Pics to Ponder

Ok, I’ve had my say for the month. Now it’s your turn! I invite/encourage submissionof your comments, opinions and article contributions. I also ask that you please helpspread the word about our publication. Everything sent shall indeed be reviewed by

me. Submissions should be sent to CCC ® at [email protected].

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Car Collector Chronicles 05-16