P2O -- Porsches to Oxford, July 31, 2010

This 944 was parked near my car -- would you believe the owner bought this car for about 1k and put about 3k in it? You can't buy a used Chevy for that! Great job!
A most unusual color on this Porsche 968.
My favorite car of the event -- Kevin from Indianapolis with a blown 911 -- terrific custom body work as well.


Hi folks -- had a great morning in Oxford, Ohio at Porsches to Oxford. Supposedly 500 Porsches were there, and the rain held off. I had to leave at noon to get friend Cliff back to the Dayton area for a birthday party, but in the meantime had four wonderful hours looking at Porsches and talking to a number of super car people. I have attached a few photos -- my apologies to the folks I cannot properly identify in these photos.

John

Reflections on the Ford Mercury

Hi folks,

I had an extended conversation with a reporter today about the Mercury brand, due to end this fall, and wanted to share some of my thoughts with you.

At first, I thought I might actually have little to say of substance, but after going through the topic, perhaps there is more than I initially considered.
Three Mercury products loom large in my life. The first is one of those iconic images of a car that burn into your memory early in one's life. It was my cousin Richard's 1954 maroon Mercury, first encountedered when I was about 8-10 years old, that stuck with me for a long time. In my own mind and at the time, I thought it was a very pretty car, particularly its taillights and dimensions. The next Mercury that became a part of my life was a 1974 Mercury Capri, certainly one of the worst if not the worst car that I have ever owned. I bought it new in the fall of 1973, my first new car. It had a 2800cc v-6 and a sunroof, but in the end became a source of major problems due to a clutch cable that kept on kinking on me and repeatedly was replaced. This car was never exactly right. Fianlly, my son-in-law Tony now has a 1967 Cougar that he is working on, and boy it needs plenty of work. I hope to help him get it right when I am in San Diego between January and May of 2011.

What were the great Mercury's from the past?

1) The 1940 Convertible -- an elegant upgrade over the Ford
2) The 1949, the first new post-war model and featured in Rebel without a Cause. Also the starting point of George Barris' best-known custom of the 1950s, after chopping and channeling.
3) The 1954 Sun Valley -- I thought about buying one 20 years ago, but probably my wife would have vetoed the deal.
4) 1957 Turnpike Cruiser -- loaded with gadgets
5) The 1967 Cougar, made famous by the publicity campaign "At the sign of the cat." The high point of the Mercury brand, without doubt.

The Flocks, Curtis Turner, and an Attempt to Unionize Nascar, 1961

Ethyl Flock
Fonty Flock
Francis, Tim, and Fonty Kiss
Fonty Flock

Hi folks -- This is a great story! Plenty to still unravel here involving Curtis Turner as well. Not your typical authorized NASCAR History.


The Flocks: NASCAR's First Family, What a Bargain!

By Orlena Miller

July 25, 2002

The family tree of NASCAR and that of the Flock family are as entwined as the tangled kudzu that blankets the hills of the family's native Alabama. The Flocks are indisputably the "First Family" of NASCAR.

There were three Flocks in the top ten of the first Grand National Championship (now the Winston Cup) standings. Bob, Fonty and Tim finished third, fifth and eighth respectively. There is also, no other NASCAR family with three brothers in the Hall of Fame. On July 10, 1949 their sister, Ethel joined her brothers on the Daytona road/beach course, until this past June this was the only time in NASCAR history a brother and sister had competed in the same event. This Daytona race remains the only time four siblings have appeared in the same NASCAR sanctioned event.

There were nine children in the Flock family of Ft. Payne, Alabama. When Carl Lee Flock passed away, his youngest child Tim was only one year old. His widow, Maudie worked in a hosiery mill to support her family. To supplement their mother's meager income the older boys relocated to Atlanta to work in the family moonshine business. On the back roads between Atlanta and Dawsonville, GA the Flock brothers proved to have natural talent for building and driving vehicles that could outrun anything the police had on the road.

Bob Flock had a reputation in the hills and mountains of North Georgia. That ol' boy could drive the wheels off a car. The federal agents that chased him, often to no avail, grudgingly respected his driving skills. Once, the revenuers discovered Bob would be running a race in Atlanta, they waited for him at the track hoping to make a public arrest. As the race began Bob still had not appeared. When the field was set, a gate opened and Bob Flock drove onto the track to take the green flag. Shortly thereafter, dozens of police vehicles where also on the track, sirens screaming and lights flashing. They chased Flock for a lap or two, when he got the chance he drove through the fence, hit the street and was gone. The police followed the fugitive until he finally ran out of gas near downtown Atlanta.

Reminiscing years later, Bob said, "I would have won that race if the cops had stayed out of it."

Bob Flock retired from driving when he broke his back in an on track accident, but he remained involved with racing as a track owner and promoter in the Atlanta area. During his 36 race NASCAR career Bob had 4 wins, 11 top fives and 18 top tens.

As a kid Bob's younger brother, Fontello Flock delivered 'shine on his bicycle, when he was old enough he joined his brother in tearing through the mountains transporting white lightning and evading the law. Fonty began his stock car career prior to World War II. Like most racers of the day he eventually made his way to the Mecca of speed, Daytona Beach. He first raced on the beach course in July 1941, Fonty earned the pole position but during the race crashed and was seriously injured. Because of his injuries and the war Fonty did not race again until 1947.

It was Bob Flock that convinced car owner Ed Schenck to put Fonty in his car for the inaugural event at North Wilkesboro Speedway, May 5, 1947. He won the pole, his heat race and the 30-lap feature race. He went on to win seven of the forty-seven races he ran that season, at one point he and Bob were tied for the points lead. When Bob broke his back at Spartanburg in October Fonty finished the season driving his brother's car. He was crowned 1947 champion of the National Championship Stock Car Circuit. NCSCC was renamed NASCAR the following year. Fonty Flock is the only driver in the history of our sport to go to victory lane in his first series start. This racing Flock brother compiled 19 wins, 72 top fives and 83 top tens in 154 Grand National starts.

The Flocks were a family of daredevils. In addition to earning a living driving a taxi, patriarch Carl Lee was also a trick cyclist and tightrope walker. Tim once said of his father, "He had an incredible sense of balance. I think Bob, Fonty, and me got that from him, and I truly believe this helped to make us good racecar drivers."

The men of the Flock family did not hold exclusive rights to the title daredevil, however. Reo, one of the older girls was a wing-walker and a stunt parachutist with a barnstorming air show in the 1930's. The youngest daughter Ethel, named after the fuel her father used in his cab, was closer in age to her speed demon brothers. And she shared their passion for fast cars and competition. Truly a pioneer Ethel Flock raced in over one hundred modified events during an era when women weren't even allowed in the pits at many tracks.

To draw larger crowds to his Atlanta Speedway Bob Flock hired Ethel, Sara Christian and Mildred Williams to race at the new facility. Following her brothers south, Ethel Flock Mobley joined them "on the beach" at Daytona in July 1949. In a '49 Cadillac owned by her husband, she finished eleventh. She not only beat Bob and Fonty, but also Curtis Turner, Buck Baker and Herb Thomas. Not too shabby for a Georgia housewife. Tim Flock who finished second that day recalled the event, "She particularly loved racing with and beating her brothers". This was one of two NASCAR starts for Ethel, her combined winnings for both races was fifty dollars.

In a Georgia cow pasture at the tender age of ten, Tim Flock attended his first race. As he watched his brothers and the other "whiskey trippers" slinging dirt and banging fenders he knew he wanted to race too. Bob and Fonty tried to persuade their youngest brother to stay in school and out of racing, it was Ethel and her husband that encouraged and supported Tim's racing career.

Julius Timothy "Tim" Flock holds the highest winning percentage in NASCAR history, 21.2 percent. In 189 races Tim went to victory lane 40 times, that equates to one win for every 4.73 starts. These numbers alone would earn Tim Flock an indelible mark in the annals of NASCAR. But Tim Flock was so much more than a gifted driver, his personality and antics were as memorable as his skill behind the wheel. Flock's career spanned NASCAR's formative years. He took the green flag for the first time in a NASCAR event June 19, 1949. Tim competed in NASCAR for most of the next 13 years and won the Grand National Championship in 1952 and 1955.

Tim won the '52 championship in spectacular fashion. He only needed to start the race in order to clinch the title. But this was not Tim Flock's style. He would run this race like he ran all races, wide-open. On lap 164 of the 200-lapper Flock crashed, flipped and skidded down the frontstretch on the car's roof. Emerging unhurt the new champ declared, "I bet I'm the only driver who has won the championship on his head." The 1955 championship was won in a much less dramatic manner. Flock utterly dominated the season. In '55 he had 19 poles, 18 wins and led 40 percent of the laps run.

Unfortunately, although his career statistics are indeed impressive, Tim Flock will always be best known for his simian passenger, Jocko Flocko. A rhesus monkey that sported his own racing suit, Jocko rode with Tim in eight races. Once, while Flock was leading at Charlotte something frightened the poor monkey. The monkey went berserk and slipped his harness. The panicked animal grabbed Flock around the head and he was driving with one hand and trying to hold the monkey with the other. Relinquishing the lead Tim hit pit road and handed Jocko to a crewmember. Flock finished third that day and Jocko Flocko's racing career came to an abrupt end, Tim figured the incident cost him about $750.00. The little monkey wasn't first animal to give Tim Flock problems during a race. Once at Daytona he jumped out to an early lead, when he reached the beach portion of the course he drove into a flock of seagulls, scattering feathers, blood and gore. "There were so many feathers it looked like snow," Tim said.

Throughout Tim Flock's NASCAR career he was frequently at odds with "Big Bill" France.

In 1950 when Bruton Smith wanted Flock to run at his track outside Charlotte, Tim said he would race, if "Big Bill" agreed. But France was not in the habit of allowing his drivers to race at "outlaw" tracks. True to form, Bruton Smith made Tim an offer too rich to turn down. Miffed at Flock's rebellion, Bill France took away 837 driver points, which Flock forever maintained had cost him the championship. Recalling the incident Flock said somewhat bitterly, "They changed the rules whenever they wanted."

At Daytona in 1954 Tim finished first but was disqualified two days later because a soldered carburetor screw was found in the post race inspection. Disgusted, the youngest of the "Flying Flocks" bid farewell to NASCAR and returned to Atlanta. In February '55 friends convinced Flock go to the Daytona 500, he was happy not driving and was going as a spectator only. However, after getting a look at Carl Kiekhaefer's new Chrysler 300 Tim could not restrain himself and convinced the rookie car owner to let him drive the car. Tim Flock went on to win the Championship that season.

Another brush with Bill France ended Tim Flock's career in NASCAR. Flock supported Curtis Turner's 1961 attempt to organize the drivers. Like Turner, Tim believed a drivers' union would force Bill France to treat them more fairly. Not intimidated, France threatened to close his tracks if the drivers organized, facing unemployment the majority abandoned the scheme. With the notion of a union quashed France banned Curtis Turner and Tim Flock from NASCAR, for life. However, in 1965 hoping to boost waning interest in the sport France reinstated Flock and Turner. By this time, Tim was 40 years old and enjoyed working in public relations at Bruton Smith's Charlotte Motor Speedway, he declined France's offer to return to competition.

In 1998, shortly before his death Julius Timothy Flock was named one NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers. When Tim lost his battle with cancer at age 83 he knew his contribution to the sport he loved had been recognized and was appreciated.

Carl Lee and Maudie Flock's children, Ethel, Bob, Fonty and Tim with a combined total of 379 NASCAR starts finished in the top-ten 230 times. For their priceless contribution to our sport the Flock siblings' total winnings was less than $200,000. What a bargain!

Can Race Drivers Speak Up? Barney Oldfield and Fonty Flock. NASCAR, a Family-Owned Business Where Drivers have Little Real Say?

Barney Oldfield at the wheel of a Simplex, airplane in the background
Fonty Flock, one of NASCAR's early greats


Apparently race drivers have little say in the racing game -- rather it is the owners of the tracks and promoters that run the sport. And when they do speak up, they are quickly squelched. Take the historical examples of Barney Oldfield and Fonty Flock, criticizing safety in their day. This is from Speed Age, January, 1958, p.47:

"The name Barney Oldfield still strikes a responsive cord among race fans although the great showman has been among the deceased since 1947. the great blusterer, who never won an international event and only one national championship race, nevertheless was the toast of the automotive world because of his flair for publicity, natural color, and ability to spend money faster than he could earn it. When Barney's name no longer had box-office appeal and when headlines became scarcer and scarcer, the former bellhop turned to driving farm tractors, sitting on flag poles and other tricks aimed to keep the black ink flowing. The complete end came when he turned on the sport,issuing charges and counter -charges following a series of facing fatalities. His by-lined (but ghosted) newspaper series "widows in waiting" is credited with turning the Heast newspaper chain against the sport.
Now comes the greatest showman of the decade, Fonty Flock, in an almost duplicate performance. The handsome bon vivant of the stock car world was once the best driver in the business. his every act, spoken word and performance earned headlines and babies were christened with hsi catchy first name (Fontello). But Flock's last major win was in 1952, and headlines were getting scarce. With only 27 laps of the Southern 500 run, the one-time great spun his Pontiac in Darlington's dangerous Number Three turn and started a chain smash that hospitalized Flock and Paul Goldsmith and took the life of Bobby Myers.
Leaving the hospital the following day wit ha fractured left arm, Flock traveled a 100 miles and call ed a press conference. He blasted the officials at Darlington, called the sport nasty names and got headlines. The following day he did the same thing in another city. All charges were denied vehemently, then ignored when they entered the ridiculous stage. But the result was apparent. two politically powerful Southern newspapers editorialized for legislation to stop stock car racing. Interpretation: Flock was miffed when his last-minute bid for a $500 appearance deal was turned down. Ironically, each of his press conferences were held in cities along the route assigned to him in his new business -- selling stock! Even Barney at his best was never more timely."

Does Flock appear in NASCAR histories? Was he marginalized? Do drivers have much of a say in racing?

A Racer's Requiem -- a 1958 poem dedicated to the late Bob Sweikert

This poem was published in Speed Age, may 1958, and written be Elinor Myerfield of San Francisco. It was dedicated to Bob Sweikert.

You're far from the oil and
engine's exhaust
Gone forever -- but yet, not lost.
For where cars compete and
speed is king,
Your soul is always on the wing.
Your heart still beats in
motor's throb
Within each driver--you're
there, Bob.
To guide their hands upon the
wheel.
And strengthen nerves like
tempered steel.
You whisper caution in their ear
To keep them calm and free
from fear.
You wish them luck and softly
say
"Stay safe -- and win another
day."
Now you sleep in a quiet place
While others continue with the race.
But our loving thoughts to every
track
Will bring your dauntless spirit
back.

Draft Syllabus for Fall, 2010 Senior Seminar, the Automobile and American Life

SEMINAR--HST 485P1 FALL, 2010
The Automobile and American Life
Class Meeting: Monday, 3:00-5:50 p.m.
HM 468

Instructor: Dr. John A. Heitmann
Office: HM 435
Telephone: x92803
E-mail: John.Heitmann@notes.udayton.edu
Office Hours:
MWF 10-10:50 a.m., or by appointment


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 seminar 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.

Required Texts:
John Heitmann, The Automobile and American Life (McFarland, 2009).
Cotton Seiler, Republic of Drivers (Chicago, 2008).
Kevin Borg, Auto Mechanics: Technology and Expertise in Twentieth Century America (Johns Hopkins, 2007).

Grades: Course work will consist of seminar lectures, discussions, presentations, films, and optional field trips to the Dayton Concurs and the Kil-Kare Drag Strip near Xenia. Grades will be based on class discussion and 2 three page book review point papers (30%), an assigned book class presentation (25%) and a research paper (45%).

In this class we will define the seminar as a shared learning experience in which one of its purposes is to create new knowledge. Therefore, the research paper is the most significant assignment of this course. It should critically explore an area of knowledge related to the automobile and American life, and ideally should be 15 pages double spaced in length, with footnotes and bibliography, and furthermore draw on minimally 15 sources, primary and secondary. I plan to meet with you individually and collectively during the semester to ensure that your topic has a proper focus and that sources are readily available for your project. A late paper will be penalized one-half letter grade per day.




Among the term paper topics are the following suggestions:

A Reassessment of the Life of Henry Ford II
Edsel Ford and Design during the 1930s
Fast Women -- Women Race Drivers (The Bugatti Queen, Denise McCluggage, and others)
American Board Tracks, 1911-1930
The Vanderbilt Cup, 1936-1937
Eight Tack Tape Players and the Automobile
Sex and the Automobile – either in terms of culture and design, or in terms of sex in cars
Women as Depicted in Automobile Advertising, 1920 - 1980 (you should narrow down the decades)
Seat Belts (or the Airbag, or Crumple Zones) and the Coming of Automobile Safety
Auto Racing Safety, post-WWII -- helmets, roll bars, fire suppression
Automobile Toys -- Ray Cox and the Thimble Drone Racers, etc.
Anti-Auto Literature in America, 1950-1980 (or 1970-2000)
Auto Theft, Organized Crime, and Theft Deterrents
The Automobile and the Environment: California Air Quality after WWII
Automation and the Post-WWII American Auto Industry
Automobile Journalists and Writers – Floyd Clymer
The Automobile and American Literature: fiction written since 1980
The Automobile and Film – Narrow down by decade or genre
Music about the Automobile or about Highways – again, narrow down by period
Drinking and Driving in the 20th Century
Car Jackings and Drive-by Shootings during the 1990s
The Big Three at War: WWII and the American Auto Industry
Industry Pioneers: Hiram Maxim, Alexander Winton, Ransom Olds, or perhaps others
Poetry and the Automobile, narrowed down by period
Buckminster Fuller and his Dymaxion Car; or, aerodynamics, streamlining and culture during the 1930s
The Automobile and Unionism -- Pattern Bargaining
Speed Traps during the 1920s
African-Americans and the Automobile -- use of newspaper databases
Ascot Raceway and the journalists who fought to close it during the 1930s
Hip-Hop and Cars – themes and artists
George Romney and American Motors

You will be required to submit point paper reviews on the books authored by Cotton Seiler and Kevin Borg. These are three page typed short essays that concisely summarize the key theme of each book and discuss how successful each writer was in conveying his or her point. These papers will serve as the starting point of in class discussions.

My book The Automobile and American Life is our key common reading in this class and the touchstone for our discussions. While you will not be tested on this reading, you will be responsible for reading this book and critically commenting on it in class.

Additionally, you must select from the syllabus a book that you will report on to the class at the scheduled time. All books listed are in the Roesch Library or in my possession ; you are to prepare a 20-30 minute presentation in which you discuss the author’s main theme(s), the subject topic of the book and its central narrative, and finally your own assessment of this book and how it enhanced(or stultified) your knowledge and interest in the history of the automobile in America.






Schedule of Assignments and Class Meetings

Week 1 — August 30
Introduction. What our cars tell us about ourselves. The automobile and its inherent contradictions. The automobile in art and as art.
Reading: Heitmann, Introduction.
Film: “Wild Wheels”

Week 2 -- Labor Day, No Class

Week 3 — September 13
Pioneers
Reading: Heitmann, Chapters 1.
Film: “Horatio’s Drive”
Report(s): Michael Berger, The Devil Wagon on God’s Country: The Automobile and Social Change in Rural America, 1893-1929 --; Booth Tarkington, The Magnificent Ambersons (1918)--;

Week 4 — September 20
Henry Ford, Fordism, and the Model T.
Reading: Heitmann, Chapter 2
Films: Mack Sennet, “Gussle’s Day of Rest( 1915).”
“California Straight Ahead,” (1925); “The Crowd Roars” (1932); “Burn ‘Em Up Barnes’”(1934)
Music: Virginia Liston, Bertha Chippie Hill, Robert Johnson
Report(s): Reynold M. Wik, Henry Ford and Grass-Roots America (Ann Arbor, 1972);
Greg Grandin, Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City (Metropolitan, 2009).


Week 5 — September 27
The Rise of General Motors and Sloanism
Reading: Heitmann, Chapter 3.
Film: “Roger and Me”
Report(s): Sally H. Clarke, Trust and Power: Consumers, the Modern Corporation, and the Making of the United States Automobile Market (Cambridge, 2007)--; Stuart W. Leslie, Boss Kettering: Wizard of General Motors (Columbia, 1983)--;
Stephen Bayley, Harley Earl (New York, 1990)--.

Short Review of Auto Mechanics is due.









Week 6 — October 4
America on the Road: The Highway and the City;
Reading: Heitmann, Chapter 4
Film: “Taken for a Ride”
Reports: Jack Keroauc, On the Road; Warren James Belasco, Americans on the Road: From Autocamp to Motel, 1910-1945 (Johns Hopkins, 1997) – ; William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways (Boston, 1982);
Report(s): Ashleigh Brilliant, The Great Car Craze: How Southern California Collided with the Automobile in the 1920s (Santa Barbara, 1989) – .
Scott Bottles, Los Angeles and the Automobile (Berkeley, 1987) – .

Week 7 — October 11 Women Behind the Wheel; Religion, Sex, and the Automobile

Readings: Heitmann, Chapter 5
Reports: Virginia Scharff, Taking the Wheel: Women and the Coming of the Motor Age(New Mexico, 1992) –; Elinor Nauen, Ladies Start your Engines: Women Writers and the Road (Boston, 1996).
Films: “Thelma and Louise;”

Week 8 — October 18
Library and Consultation Day – no class

Week 9 — October 25
The Interwar Years; The Great Depression
Reading: Heitmann, Chapter 6.
Reports: David Blanke, Hell on Wheels: The Promise and Peril of America’s Car Culture, 1900-1940 (Kansas, 2007)--; Peter D. Norton, Fighting Traffic: the Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City (MIT, 2008)--;


Week 10 — November 1 WWII and the Reconversion Economy

Reading: Heitmann, Chapter 7.
Report: David Gartman, Auto Opium (New York, 1994);
Film: “Tucker”
Term Paper Proposal Due; The Completion of a Working Bibliography of no less than 15 Sources, 5 of which are articles.




Week 11 — November 8
Chrome Dreams of the 1950s
Readings: Heitmann, Chapter 8

Report(s): John Keats, The Insolent Chariots (Philadelphia, 1958) – ; Katie Mills, The Road Story and the Rebel: Moving Through Film, Fiction, and Television (Carbondale, IL, 2006) – .
Film: “Rebel Without a Cause;” “Thunder Road.”
Music: Jackie Berenson, Howlin’ Wolf, and Chuck Berry.

Review of Cotton Seiler's Book is Due

Week 12 — November 15
Muscle Cars of the 1960s; Jan & Dean and the Beach Boys
Readings: Heitmann, Chapter 9
Music: Dead Man’s Curve — Jan and Dean; Little Duce Coupe — The Beach Boys; GTO – Ronny and the Daytonas;
Reports: David Lucsko, The Business of Speed : the Hot Rod Industry in America, 1915-1990 (Johns Hopkins, 2008)--; Tom Wolfe, The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (New York, 1965) – Tom Lewis, Divided Highways (Viking, 1997) – ; Lee Iacocca, with William Novak, Iacocca: An Autobiography (Bantam, 1984) --;
Film: “Bullitt;” “American Graffiti”



Week 13 — November 22
Safety and the Environment;

Reports: Ralph Nader, Unsafe at Any Speed (New York, 1965); Emma Rothchild, Paradise Lost: The Decline of the Auto-Industrial Age (New York, 1973) – ; Jane Holtz Kay, Asphalt Nation: How the Automobile Took Over America and How We Can Take it Back(Crown, 1997); Brock Yates, The Critical Path (Little, Brown, 1996);
Readings: Flink, pp. 295-345.
Film: “The Vanishing”



Term Paper Progress Reports — Entire Class