"Lazarus," my Resurrected 1971 Porsche 911, at Cars and Coffee, Austin Landing, August 31

The car has slowly come together, with more to do but quite presentable. Here we go ----

A Brief Review of "American Factory:" An Appropriate Labor Day Parable

On Wednesday of last week Netflix released the documentary “American Factory.” I do not know if you have seen it yet, but encourage you to do so. The factory is the Fuyao automotive glass factory located in Dayton, and has been quite controversial because of union organization attempts and company efforts to thwart the UAW. Recently it was learned that Fuyao was fined $120,000 for the illegal firing of three employees who were organizers connected to a vote that ultimately failed.

There is a lot I could say about this film, but I have one major take-away. Namely what we witness is the reversal of a colonial relationship; the film is about power and currently who has it. Note that there is one Chinese “manager” with every American worker during training. Americans really have no voice at the plant although the company is called Fuyao Glass of America. Thus, what has happened is that the once Western dominance of colonial peoples is now reversed in a manufacturing environment located in Ohio. Of course there are many other contrasts that become apparent as the film unwinds – a Chinese work ethic of living for work while the Americans work to live; Chinese bodily leanness compared to Americans being often overweight and thus possessing the fat hands that do not handle glass sheets well. And then there is the contempt for the comments of Senator Sherrod Brown, questioning exactly “who does he think he is” for his comments about unions. 

But you have to admire the Chinese, from the Chairman of the company on down. They emphasized transparency at the start of the film, and that was certainly delivered. I think that for the most part they admire America and Americans. But they are also impatient with our work habits. While we are astonished at their lack of regard for worker safety, they cannot understand our blue collar workers lax work ethic. A number of the Fuyao employees formerly worked at GM. That should tell you something about complacency on the job. Just read Rivethead!

While many workers are glad to have their jobs, there is a dark side to it all, perhaps expected, given directors Bognar and Reichert. As the story ends, workers are being gradually replaced by machines and robots whenever possible. Will the future in 2030 be as grim as forecast, or are there other possible scenarios more uplifting and hopeful for the American blue-collar worker?

35th Pontiac Trans-Am Nationals, August 24, 2019

Hi folks -- a few images from the event are below. A perfect day for the event, held at the Holiday Inn near Wright State University. The following for these cars is simply amazing. It makes you wonder as to whether GM did the right thing in discontinuing the brand!

Biomimicry in this design?

12th Annual Hamburg-Berlin Klassik Rally, August 29-31

At the 12th Hamburg-Berlin-Klassik Rally two SL sports cars of the W 113 and R 129 model series will be starting.  This year, a total of around 180 classics built up to 1999 will be driving from Berlin to Hamburg in three stages.

Brand ambassador Ellen Lohr will starts the 12th Hamburg-Berlin-Klassik Rally in a red Mercedes-Benz 230 SL “Pagoda” (W 113): Eugen Böhringer and Klaus Kaiser won the Spa–Sofia–Liège Rally in 1963 in such a vehicle. One big difference: back then, the total distance was 5,500 kilometrers. At the atmospheric North German classic rally from the Spree to the Alster this year, it is 750 kilometres.

To date Ellen Lohr is the only woman to have won a DTM race: she won with the AMG-Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II DTM touring car (W 201) in what was then the German Touring Car Championship on 24 May 1992 in the first race of the racing festival at the Hockenheimring. The successful race and rally driver starts again and again at automotive classic events for Mercedes-Benz Classic with sporty vehicles from the company collection.

The tradition of sportiness  is also made clear at the rally by a 300 SL (R 129). The model series with innovations such as the automatic fold-out roll bar, integral seats and the ADS adaptive damping system had its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show precisely 30 years ago. With this, the technology vehicle is taking the step from attractive young vintage car to forward-looking classic in 2019. The 300 SL of the 129 model series is the final Mercedes-Benz roadster with this legendary model designation, which goes back to the 300 SL (W 194) racing sports car from 1952.

ALL TIME STARS, the vehicle trading platform of Mercedes-Benz Classic with a showroom in the Mercedes-Benz Museum, starts the Hamburg-Berlin-Klassik Rally with a dark blue Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5 Cabriolet (W 111). The exclusive vehicle was delivered to Munich in 1971, later belonging to a Mercedes-Benz collection, and is now a part of the current portfolio of ALL TIME STARS. An ALL TIME STARS team from Japan will be starting with it. The first representation was opened in the Shinagawa district of Tokyo in 2017.

Good partnership for automotive classics

Mercedes-Benz Classic maintains a good partnership with the Hamburg-Berlin-Klassik Rally, which is organised by specialist magazine “Auto Bild Klassik”. 2019 will mark the second time that the brand from Stuttgart is a premium partner of the regularity rally for classic vehicles built up to 1999.

The twelfth edition of the rally takes place from 29 to 31 August 2019 and is divided into three stages from Berlin to the Mecklenburg Lake Plateau and Wolfsburg and then on to Hamburg. The first vehicle starts on Thursday (29 August 2019) at 1 pm in Berlin’s Olympiastadion. The 199-kilometre route includes the Liebenberg castle and estate as well as Rheinsberg. The stage goal is Göhren-Lebbin.

On Friday (30 August 2019), a 290-kilometre stage awaits, which leads in a south-westerly direction past Parchim, through Dömitz and over the Elbe Valley towards Wolfsburg. The third section begins on Saturday (31 August 2019) in a northerly direction and ends after 255 kilometres at the BallinStadt Emigration Museum in Hamburg, which is the destination of this year’s rally.

The brand ambassador of Mercedes-Benz Classic at the 2019 Hamburg-Berlin-Klassik Rally

Ellen Bohr
Born 12 April 1965 in Mönchengladbach, Germany

Ellen Lohr came to motorsport from karting, in which she was active from 1979 to 1983. Her greatest successes were participating in the Junior Kart World Championship and claiming a first-place title in the North-West German Kart Championship. After competing in the German Formula Ford 1600 series (German Champion in 1987) and initial races in the DTM (BMW) and the German Formula 3 Championship with Volkswagen in 1989/90, she was signed up by the AMG-Mercedes team for the German Touring Car Championship. Ellen Lohr was the first and – to this day – only woman to clinch a DTM victory: on 24 May 1992, she was victorious in the first race at the racing festival in Hockenheim at the wheel of an AMG-Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II. For the 1995 season, she moved to the Mercedes-Zakspeed team, and in 1996 drove for the AMG-Mercedes Persson MS team. In 1997, she competed in the European Truck Racing Championship at the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz racing truck. From then on, Ellen Lohr continued to be actively involved in numerous other racing series, including the Paris–Dakar Rally (as of 2005) and once again in truck racing (as of 2012). In 2019, Ellen Lohr will compete in the Nascar Whelen Euro Series.

The Mercedes-Benz Classic vehicles at the 2019 Hamburg-Berlin-Klassik Rally

Mercedes-Benz 230 SL rally vehicle (W 113, 1963)

In March 1963, Mercedes-Benz introduced the 230 SL (W 113) sports car at the Geneva Motor Show. The new SL, with its clear and unmistakable lines, simultaneously replaced the 190 SL and the 300 SL Roadster. The body derived from the “Fintail” saloon (W 111) with a rigid passenger compartment and crumple zone made the 230 SL the first sports car with this life-saving innovation. Owing to its concave hardtop reminiscent of Far-Eastern temples, the 230 SL was dubbed the “Pagoda”, a nickname also applied to the subsequent, outwardly identical 250 SL and 280 SL models. The 230 SL offers more comfort than its predecessors and yet it is a real sports car: in the brand new model, the reigning European rally champions Eugen Böhringer and his co-driver Klaus Kaiser won the strenuous Spa–Sofia–Liège long-distance rally at the end of August 1963. They covered the 5,500 kilometres in around 90 hours and crossed the finishing line with just eight minutes of penalty time.

Technical data for the Mercedes-Benz 230 SL (W 113, series production)In use: 1963 to 1964
Cylinders: 6/in-line
Displacement: 2,306 cc
Output: 110 kW (150 hp)
Top speed: 200 km/h

Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster (R 129, 1992)

The Mercedes-Benz SL from the R 129 model series was premiered at the Geneva Motor Show in 1989. The development of the new SL had already begun in the 1970s. It set high standards in terms of the passive safety of an open vehicle. The most important innovations included the automatic roll-over bar, developed by Mercedes-Benz, and the electrically adjustable integral seats with three-point seat belts including seat belt retractor and seat belt tensioner. For the start of the new roadster, there were initially two types with three-litre, six-cylinder in-line engines (the 300 SL with 140 kW/190 hp and the 300 SL-24 four-valve version with 170 kW/231 hp) as well as the 500 SL with a five-litre V8 engine (240 kW/326 hp). In as early as 1986, the company approved the development of the later top model – the 600 SL with a V12 engine – which was introduced in 1992. The R 129 combines the values of sportiness and comfort. It impresses with a high technical level and the modern design of its light, wedge-shaped body with clear lines and surfaces. This makes it a highly sought-after SL and young classic to this day. The 300 SL was built from 1989 until 1993 – it was the last Mercedes-Benz vehicle with this legendary model designation. It goes back to the 300 SL racing sports car (W 194) from 1952, from which the 1954 300 SL “Gullwing” and 1957 300 SL Roadster (both W 198) were derived.

Technical data for the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (R 129)Production period: 1989 to 1993
Cylinders: 6/in-line
Displacement: 2,960 cc
Output: 140 kW (190 hp) at 5,700 rpm
Top speed: 228 km/h

Syllabus, Fall Term, 2019, "The Automobile and American Life"

Barney Oldfield, the man Who Redefined Speed

A Sports Car Gathering, 1952. While Striving for Individuality, Conformity Inevitably Followed

    HST 344  -- Science, Technology and the Modern Corporation: The Automobile and American Life

            Class Meeting: MWF 11:15 a.m.-12:05 p.m., HM 125

            Instructor: John A. Heitmann 

            Office: 435HM (x92803). 

            Office Hours: 10:00-10:50 a.m. MWF or by appointment

            E-Mail:Jheitmann1@udayton.edu

            Blog page: http://www.automobileandamericanlife.blogspot.com

            Texts:  John Heitmann, The Automobile and American Life.

                        Ben Hamper, Rivethead.

Jason Vuic, The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History

And materials on Isidore.

                        Grades: The final grade for this course will be based on two hour exams, (40%), Term Paper (topic to be approved, 30% ) and final exam (30%). The grade scale is as follows: A  94 to 100; A- 90 to 93; B+  87-89; B 84-86; B-  80 - 83; C+ 77-79; C 74-76; C- 70-73.  A similar pattern applies to lower grades.  Letter grades are assigned a mid-point numerical grade. Additionally, attendance can influence your final grade: if you miss more than 3 classes, one letter grade will be deducted from your grade; if you miss more than 6 classes, a two letter grade reduction will take place.  A good grade for this course is a C+.  Grade averages may be influenced by such factors as trends over the time of the course; for example, how you finish is far more important than how you start. Policies for exams strictly follows History Department Guidelines, and make-ups will only be offered with a valid, documented excuse. 

            Attendanceat lectures is crucial if you are to expect a good grade in the course, and I want you to be at every class if that is at all possible. On many occasions material presented is not covered in the readings, and so many of the ideas discussed central to the development of modern science are complex and often confusing. Your attitude and what you bring in to the classroom can make the difference between a mediocre offering and a most positive educational experience.  

            Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated and offenses will be punished accordingly. A first offense will result in a failing grade for the exam or paper in question; a second offense will result in a failing grade for the course. 

            

Course Purpose:  It has been said that the automobile is the perfect technological symbol of American culture, a tangible expression of our quest to level space, time and class, and a reflection of our restless mobility, social and otherwise. In this course we will explore together the place of the automobile in American life, and how it transformed business, life on the farm and in the city, the nature and organization of work, leisure time, and the arts. This is a most complex transition that we will study, as the automobile transformed everyday life and the environment in which we operate.  It influenced the foods we eat; music we listen to; risks we take; places we visit; errands we run; emotions we feel; movies we watch; stress we endure; and, the air we breathe.

SCHEDULE OF LECTURES AND ASSIGNMENTS

            The week of:

Week 1/August 24                  Introduction;What our cars tell us about ourselves. The car in everyday life: the automobile age and its contradictions.  Automotive Pioneers

                                                            Reading: Heitmann, Introduction, Chapter 1.

Films: “Wild Wheels”; “Horatio’s Drive.”

Week 2/August 29                  Putting America on the Road; Henry Ford and the Model T

                                                Reading: Heitmann, Chapter 2.James Flink, "Three Stages of Automotive Consciousness" (Isidore).

                                                            Film: “Automobile Parade;” “Gussle’s Day of Rest.”

September 5 – Labor Day -- No Class

                                                                   

            

            Week 3/September 7                        Stealing Cars; The Rise of General Motors

Readings: Heitmann, pp. 54-63; Stuart W. Leslie, “Charles F. Kettering and the Copper-Cooled Engine.” (Isidore). Film: “Master Hands.” 

Week 4/September 12               Advertising, Styling, Design and the Art of the Automobile

                                                            Reading: Heitmann, pp. 64-71; Clarke, "Managing Design.”                                                                                              (Isidore)              

                  Week 5/September 19                     On the Road

                  Reading: Heitmann, Chapter 4. Peter D. Norton, “Street Rivals: Jaywalking and the Invention of the Motor Age Street.” (Isidore].

Films: “Grapes of Wrath;” “Route 66;"    “Detour;” ‘Keroauc: On the Road"

                  Week 6/ September 26                    Religion, Courtship and Sex

                                                                                          Readings: Heitmann, Chapter 5.

Films: “Thelma and Louise”; “Motorcycle Diaries”

October 3 – Exam 1

October 5-9 Mid-Term Break

                                                                                          

Week 7/ October 10        The Interwar Years: The Great Depression, Aerodynamics, and Cars of the Olympian Age

Readings:  Heitmann, Chapter 6.

                                                                                          Films: “The Crowd Roars;”  “Burn Em’Up Barnes.”

                  

                  Week 8/October 17                           World War II:  Detroit, the Arsenal of Democracy

                                                                        Readings:  Heitmann, Chapter 7

Film: “Jitterbugs.”             

Week 9/ October 24                          The Post War Industry and Technological Suppression

Readings: Heitmann, pp. 133-154: Robert C. Post. “Henry Kaiser, Troy Ruttman, and Madman Muntz: Three Originals.” (Isidoree).

                                                                                          Film:“Tucker” 

                  

                  Week 10/October 31                        Chrome Dreams of the 1950s

                                                            Jan & Dean and  the Beach Boys          

Readings: Heitmann, pp.154-163; Jeremy R. Kinney, “Racing on Runways: The Strategic Air Command and Sports Car Racing in the 1950s.” (Isidore).

                                                                                          Film:  “American Graffiti”

            

November 7       Exam #2 -- you will be tested on the Vuic  book at this time

            

Week 11/ November 9            The Rise of the American Muscle Car

                                                                                          Readings: Heitmann, pp.164-178.

Films: “Bullitt.” Joe Szalo, “Filming of Bullit,"(Isidore).

                                    

                  

                  Week 12/ November 14                 Oil Shock I: Japan, James Bond, and Mobile Lovemaking

Readings: Heitmann, pp. 178-184; Gary T. Schwartz, “The Myth of the Ford Pinto Case.” (Isidore); Brock Yates, Cannonball! World’s Greatest Outlaw Road Race(St. Paul, 2002), 13-84.

                                                                                          Film: “Easy Rider;” Toby Halicki's "Gone in Sixty Seconds" 

                  

Week 13/ November 21 and November 28           The Automobile World Upside Down, 1980s to the Present.

                                                                        Readings: Heitmann, pp.185-194,: James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones, and Daniel Roos, “Chapter 3: The Rise of Lean Production,” in The Machine that Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production (New York, 1990) 3-10 and 48-69.; Chunli Lee, “Adoption of the Ford System and the Evolution of the Production System in the Chinese Automobile Industry, 1953-93,” in Fordism Transformed: The Development of Production Methods in the Automobile Industry, edited by Haruhito Shiomi and Kazou Wada (New York, 1995), 297-314 (Isidore).

                                                                        Luscombe, Belinda. “The Tao of Vin Diesel: Millions of Fans are Inspired by his Oddest Role Yet: Philosopher.” (Isidore). Films: “Fast and Furious; Tokyo Drift;”  "The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant" 

Week 14/ December 5  The Automobile Industry and the Future; Sum Up

Reading:  Heitmann, pp.194-206; Shladover, Steven E. “The Truth About Self-Driving Cars.” (Isidore).

Film:  “The Revenge of the Electric Car”

                                                                        

                  

Week 15/December 9               Last Day of Classes – Term Paper Due

                                                      Heitmann, Epilogue.

                  

FINAL EXAM, Tuesday, December 13, 12:20 --2:10 p.m. On this exam you will be tested on the Ben Hamper Book.

    

Red Brick Reunion (Formerly Porsches to Oxford), August 10, 2019

I decided to drive out to Oxford, OH with my 1971 Porsche 911T Targa this morning and join in the festivities. I had lots of very good conversations with folks as I sat by my car and also walked around and spoke to owners. Had lunch at Skyline, but do not recommend the Coneys. My car ran absolutely flawlessly out and back -- it is about an hour drive each way. On the way out I drove through Middletown and decided I would not do that again. On the way back took OH 725 but finding it got me lost for a time as I took an excursion into Indiana. But the sun was out and the day was bright, so what better way to spend a Saturday!

The 1932 Mercedes SSKL Racing Car will be at Pebble Beach

On 22 May 1932, Manfred von Brauchitsch won the Avus race in Berlin in a Mercedes-Benz SSKL with streamlined body and thereby set a class world record with an average speed of 194.4 km/h over a distance of 200 kilometres. In 2019, Mercedes-Benz Classic reconstructed the vehicle with a high level of historical authenticity. Photo from Goodwood Festival of Speed 2019

The SSKL, of which only four were built in 1931, was a pure competition vehicle and signalled the crowning end of the development of the Mercedes-Benz S series (W 06) with types S, SS and SSK. Aerodynamics specialist Baron Reinhard von Koenig-Fachsenfeld designed a streamlined body for the SSKL to be driven by racing driver Manfred von Brauchitsch. The body was made of aluminium by Vetter in Cannstatt and mounted on von Brauchitsch’s car. At the Avus race in May 1932, the modification had an overwhelming effect: the streamlined Avus racing car had 25 per cent less drag than an SSKL with the classic body, giving it an increased top speed which was 20 km/h higher than usual. Manfred von Brauchitsch won the race in the futuristic looking car ahead of the previous year’s winner, Rudolf Caracciola. Mercedes-Benz Classic will present an authentic reconstruction of the car, the original of which no longer exists, to the public for the first time in 2019 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Technical data of the Mercedes-Benz SSKL streamlined racing car 
Period of use: 1932 
Cylinders: 6/in-line 
Displacement: 7,065 cc 
Output: 177 kW (240 hp), with supercharger 221 kW (300 hp) 
Top speed: 235 km/h

The aerodynamics pioneer Reinhard von Koenig-Fachsenfeld (1899 to 1992) designed a trailblazing streamlined body for the powerful Mercedes-Benz SSKL compressor racing car in 1932. On 22 May 1932, Manfred von Brauchitsch entered the important international Avus race in Berlin with this vehicle which was unusual to spectators of the time (the public promptly dubbed it “gherkin”) and won ahead of Rudolf Caracciola in an Alfa Romeo.

Mercedes-Benz Classic has reconstructed the innovative “silver arrow”, as it was described in a radio report at the time, from 1932, with the highest level of authenticity. This includes the lightening holes in the chassis, typical of the SSKL, which were undertaken according to the original drawings. In total, the racing car weighs 125 kilograms less than the Mercedes-Benz SSK, which served as its basis. The complete reconstruction of the streamlined body according to historical documents was particularly laborious. For this purpose, the experts researched the archives of Mercedes-Benz Classic and those at Schloss Fachsenfeld, which the engineer and inventor Reinhard von Koenig-Fachsenfeld transferred to a foundation in 1982.

The victory of the Avus racing car in 1932 is one of the milestones in 125 Years of Motorsport at Mercedes-Benz. It was back then that the aerodynamic optimisation was established in motorsport. The brand is commemorating this at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance with the driving premiere and presentation.

The Mercedes Trademark Star and Laurel

I really enjoy artwork originating during the Weimar Era in Germany.  It is the dynamic flow of the clothing, the use of color, the script in the advertisements -- all come together in what is depicted below. A remarkable time of innovation, only to be squashed after the onset of the Great Depression,

Advertisement with the trademarks of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and Benz & Cie. from 1925 – the year before the merger of the two companies into Daimler-Benz AG.

A combined show of strength: advertising poster from 1926 marking the merger between Daimler and Benz. It shows the Mercedes three-pointed star and the Benz laurel wreath.

Mercedes star as a radiator mascot, drawing from the 1920s.

"The Impossibly" Long Doors of the 1973 Olds Cutlass; Aunt Ruby's 1973 Pontiac Colonnade

1974

From Ed -- 

Guys, I was looking at some old car magazines this morning and ran across a review of the Olds Cutlass (1973) where the reviewer talked about the impossibly long doors.  One has to laugh out loud at what he said:

"Five foot long doors and a center pillar moved backwards?  These mothers are really heavy -- heavy enough to make you think of them as iron gates guarding the opening.  When the car isn't level, you have the chance to practice your isometrics.  And in tight parking encounters the long doors may open enough to emit a rear passenger while those in front may still require the physique of an airmail envelope to escape entrapment.

About the best thing the reviewer (Car & Driver, November 1973) could say about the "Colonnade Olds" was that the "grille work and bumper, was clean, non-agricultural, and attractive."

It was good to know the car's front-end was non-agricultural  

A quick story to share on the GM coupe doors:  Attached is a photo of the three versions of the 1973 Pontiac "Colonnade" -- the one in front with the "vanes' that covered the rear side quarter windows is exactly like the last car that my aunt Ruby owned.  Unlike most elderly men who say "you will have to pry the steering wheel out of my hands before I give up driving" my aunt Ruby decided one day that at the age of 81 she would simply "stop driving."  She drove to my mother and stepfather's home, pulled in the driveway, and handed the keys and the title to the Pontiac to my mother.   "That's it, I stop driving, one of you take me back home" she said.  

Aunt Ruby was what people back in the day would call a "big boned woman" meaning she was heavy and stout.  My mother later related to me that they literally had to pry her out of the car given how tight the seating was.  I was then told aunt Ruby proclaims: "I never liked this damn car, never could see out of it, never could get out of it, those damn doors!"

My mother titled the car in her name, drove it for a few months and then told my stepfather to "sell the damn thing" -- "I get a crick in my neck trying to see out the back."  Visibility was horrible in the Colonnades, of course, but GM during that period did make the front "A" pillars thinner and touted "better visibility" in their marketing.

Note also that the Pontiac version of these cars had a vary shallow trunk (note the one in the photo in the upper left).  The trunk severely sloped downward.  One might be fooled to believe this was a French car.   And, of course, the sedan version, to the upper right in the photo, was also a horrible design, and in my opinion the worst of the lot.

But aunt Ruby, a "spinster" school teacher had bought new Pontiacs since the late 1940s -- sometimes a new Pontiac every two or three years.  My mother told me that the last thing Ruby told her about the 1973 Pontiac Colonnade was:"No more Pontiacs, I hate this car."