A Visit to the GM Historical/Heritage Center, Sterling Heights, MI

 This truck greets visitors to the GM Heritage Center.  It is a very difficult to find facility that is not open to the public.  In addition to the cars there is an archive that one can use by appointment.

 A wide angle shot of the floor with cars all around. About 150 are on the floor, many more in storage. One criticism -- this is all about thecars, but not about the people. Nice for the enthusiast, but asa histoical presentation it has a long way to go to reconstruct the past.  Most auto museums just throw cars on  the floor and think that is enough -- not so! people make history, not things.

 An electric Corvair project form the 1970s.

 A 1960s project car -- plenty of technology, not very much real vision.

 A classic 1955 Chevy dashboard. There were great GM successes, and in 1955 they hit the jackpot.

 Another economy project car -- with all that tlaent, they could not see the future.

My favorite -- taken from a Kentucky dealer, the fabulous Oldsmobile Rocket.  See the epilogue of my book, The Automobile and American Life.

5000 Kilometer Africa -- a 1940 photo book

5000 Kilometer Africa 

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Pictorial report on an early Egypt-Sudan car expedition. The route went from Cairo via Aswan to Khartoum and on about  Sennar, Gedaref and Kassala to Port Sudan at the Red Sea.  Irmgard von Opel and her husband Georg von Opel and  his friend Eric Phelps have been sent on behalf of an English  film company to this Egypt and Sudan expedition to gather material for a film. All photos have been taken with a Leica on Agfa-Isopan- und Agfa-Color-Film. Fantastic photographs of a past time, including Sultan-Hassan-Mosque,  Suez Canal, Nile, Karnak Temple at Luxor, Wadi Halfa area, died camel, Abu Simbel, nile cataracts, big turtle, market in Omdurman , girls, crocodile, eagle, tamtam man, Fuzzi-Wuzzi bedouins and more .... Hi folks -- this book is being advertised on ebayright now. I found it so fascinating and rare, Iwanted to share it with you. It is a $150, andout of my price range,  but perhaps one of youwill buy it.  A worthwhile book to won if you are into the history of road trips.

1970 and lee Iacocca as a Prophet -- a critical Point in American Automobile Industry History

Hi folks -- now that the Stealing Cars book is in the hands of the publisher I am turning to the first stages of a new study, this time dealing with the end of the Golden Age. Drawing from a statement taken from John Jerome's The Death of the Automobile, I am looking at the years 1969-1972. Recently I found an interview of Lee Iacocca in 1970 that proved to be quite prophetic. The major point of the article was that the Auto industry had reached a point in its history and that how it responded in the months that would follow "could affect the business health of the nation for years to come."

Iacocca would remark that "Ten years from now, if we do this wrong...."

He saw potential mistakes coming from the manufacturers, labor and federal government that would increase inflationary pressures and open the door to foreign competition.

From Iacocca "that the new American minicars [the Pinto and Vega] coming on the market would be Detroit's one chance to defend its home market against the foreigners....If we don't win them [consumers] back now, we never will."

The Automobile as an Object of Desire: Kenneth Grahame, "The Wind in the Willows"

In Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind and the Willows," Mr. Toad, traveling with Mole and Rat in their horsecart, encounters his first automobile.
"Glorious, stirring sight!" murmured Toad. "The poetry of motion! the real way to travel! the only way to travel!"
"What are we to do with him?" asked the Mole. "Nothing at all," replied the Rat firmly. "He is now possessed."

As I explore the end of the golden age of the automobile and the love affair with the car, I also am looking at the origins of the affair.  Certainly this source raises important insights about the pioneering days of automobiling and the love affair  as it emerged.

Study Sheet, HST 344, Final Exam Spring, 2013

HST 344, Final Exam Study Sheet, Spring 2013

 Tuesday, April 30, 2:30-4:20 Dr. Heitmann

I Identification and Significance. (20 pts).  I will choose four of the following and you must answer two.

1.      Ralph Nader and the Corvair

2.      The Federal Government, the automobile industry, and the 1960s

3.      Bullitt and the automobile chase scene

4.      NASCAR in the recent past

5.      Women, Poetry, and Passion, post-1980

6.      Who Killed the Electric Car?

7.      The Revenge of the Electric Car

II  Essay. (40 pts.) Answer one of the following by writing a coherent essay harnessing factual evidence whenever possible.  Your answer should have both an introduction and a conclusion.  For the final exam I will choose two of the following three essays!

A.     It seems obvious that the current decline in the American automobile industry didn‘t happen during the past few years.  In your own words and using what you have learned in this course; trace the decline of the American industry beginning with the 1950s, making sure to discuss key aspects and developments in chronological fashion.  Do you think this decline was inevitable or not, and why?

B.     Culture, past or present, high or popular, is important.  Discuss the culture related to the automobile in America between 1950 and 2000, making sure to include examples from music, film, and literature (including poetry).  Broadly speaking, what does post-WWII car culture tell us about how automobiles contributed to being American during the second half of the 20^th century?

C.     In James Flink’s article, “The Three Stages of Automobile Consciousness,” the author remarks that “Automobility has had more important consequences for 20^th century American man than even Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier had for our 19^th century forebears.”  Elaborate on this idea within the context of the second half of the 20^th century.

III. In a well-organized and factual essay that contains both an introduction and a conclusion, answer the following question. (40 pts.).  You must answer this question. 

Ben Hamper’s Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line is a remarkable tale focusing on the nature of assembly line work at General Motors during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is among other things, quite an indictment of General Motors’ management practices, ironically coming from an unhinged worker.  At the same time, it is sorry depiction of UAW work ethic. First, being as specific and detailed as possible, describe Hamper’s portrayal of management style and managers.  Secondly, how did Hamper and others cope with their work environment? To what degree do you think that Hamper’s account is on target, or perhaps not?  

Seemingly another Mercedes 380SL Problem Solved

Hi folks -- this issue involved the door locks, which would not close. Or the gas flap and trunk either. So I did a lot of reading on this matter.  The master door locking system is one powered by vacuum, with its source ultimately being manifold vacuum that is routed to a storage tank.  From there the line goes to a "Master Element Switch" in the drivers side door, and then on to the passenger door and the rear of the car. Since the major culprit is the "Master Element Switch" according to internet reports, I just ordered one of those, replaced it, and "bam," the locks work!

This is a Mercedes vacuum system diagram, but not the one for my car.  The point is that there are lines running all through the car, rubber connections that can be disconnected, and diaphragms that can go bad.  The only way to diagnosis this is with a vacuum pump and patience, and I have neither.