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."

Happy 90th Birthday, Rally Driver Ewy Rosqvist!

The Swedish women’s team of Ewy Rosqvist/Ursula Wirth wins the VI Argentinian Touring Car Grand Prix (VI Gran Premio Internacional Standard Supermovil YPF) in a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE (W 111), which was held from 25 October to 4 November 1962. The women’s team won in all six stages of the 4,626-kilometre race and set a new record.

“Baroness Ewy von Korff-Rosqvist was a star behind the steering wheel of the Mercedes-Benz rally cars in the 1960s, and she remains closely connected to our brand to this day. She has lent lustre to countless appearances of Mercedes-Benz Classic at high-profile automotive classic events,” says Christian Boucke, Head of Mercedes-Benz Classic. “We congratulate this likeable and successful rally driver on her 90th birthday – aptly on the ‘125 years of motorsport at Mercedes-Benz’ anniversary.”

The motorsport racer was born on 3 August 1929 as Ewy Jönsson in Stora Herrestad (Sweden). After attending high school and agricultural college, she studied veterinary medicine in Stockholm for two semesters and became veterinary assistant. She was responsible for a district with farms that were spread far and wide. Her father bought her a Mercedes-Benz 170 S (W 136), with which Ewy travelled 150 to 200 kilometres a day, up and down narrow dirt tracks. This is where she discovered her talent for driving quickly and safely on difficult terrain. In her autobiography “Driving through hell” she writes: “After two years, I was driving so well that I often finished for the day one and a half to two hours before my female colleagues despite all my stops at the farms.”

Ewy married Yngve Rosqvist in 1954, with whom she participated in the Rally to the Midnight Sun (Svenska Rallyt till Midnattssolen) in the same year, and also had her chance behind the wheel: “I was allowed to drive on some of the intermediate stages and that was so much fun that I decided to take part in a rally myself, or as a co-driver, as soon as possible”, she later recalled. In 1956, Ewy Rosqvist took part in a rally by herself for the first time.

She won the Women’s Cup four times at the 1,000 Lakes Rally in Finland and also topped the female rankings at numerous other rallies across Europe. In 1959, she won the European Women’s Cup in a Volvo ahead of Pat Moss, the sister of Stirling Moss. She was presented the trophy at the Monte Carlo Rally ceremony by Princess Grace of Monaco in 1960. Ewy Rosqvist won this trophy again in 1961. She also received the Women’s Cup in international rallying (Coupe des Dames) in 1959 and 1961. In 1960, she became a works driver for Volvo.

Works driver for Mercedes-Benz

It was in 1962 that Mercedes-Benz brought the successful rally driver into the works team together with her co-driver Ursula Wirth. In a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE (W 111), the women’s team won the Women’s Cup at the four-day Svenska Rallyt till Midnattssolen (Swedish Rally to the Midnight Sun, 12 to 16 June 1962). This was followed by 6th place at the 22nd Raid Polski (2 to 6 June 1962) and 12th place at the Liège-Sofia-Liège Rally (29 August to 3 September 1962).

On 4 November 1962, Ewy Rosqvist, together with her co-driver Ursula Wirth, won the VI Argentinian Touring Car Grand Prix (VI Gran Premio Internacional Standard Supermovil YPF) in her Mercedes-Benz 220 SE. The women’s team won in all six stages of the 4,626-kilometre race and set a new record: Rosqvist/Wirth increased the average speed of the winning team of the previous year (Walter Schock and Manfred Schiek, also in a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE) from 121.234 km/h to 126.872 km/h. The rally drivers were enthusiastically celebrated upon their arrival in Buenos Aires.

In the following years, too, Ewy Rosqvist was successful again and again at renowned rallies and long-distance races. This included the 1963 win of the Women’s Cup at the Monte Carlo Rally, the win in the up to 2,500 cc displacement class at a six-hour race at the Nürburgring (with Ursula Wirth and Eberhard Mahle) as well as third place at the Argentinian Touring Car Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE behind her team colleagues Eugen Böhringer and Klaus Kaiser as well as Dieter Glemser and Martin Braungart, both in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SE (W 112).

In 1964 Rosqvist, together with Eva Maria Falk, was able to win in the up to 2,500 cc displacement class at the Monte Carlo Rally, finish fifth at the International Acropolis Rally and secure third place at the Spa–Sofia–Liège Rally. She ended her active career at the 1964 Argentinian Touring Car Grand Prix, at which she finished in third place with Eva Maria Falk. In June of the same year, she married Baron Alexander von Korff-Schmysingk in Stuttgart. Today, the Baroness von Korff-Rosqvist lives in Stockholm.