Cars and Coffee at the Greene, April 16, 2016

It was an absolutely beautiful morning for a cruise-in!  This event is quite different than the one I wrote up last night that is held on Friday evening.  Friday it is mostly American muscle and old guys.  Saturday morning that the Greene parking garage it is foreign cars and young people -- many kids!  Also there were many Porsche owners there, mostly newer and very expensive Porsches.

Just a few photos -- a sample of Porsche row; a nice Bug Eye Sprite, and a pair of Land Rovers.

1919 Ford Model T Roadster Converted to a Speedster in 1929

Interesting car at the Beavercreek, Ohio Cruise-In tonight.  this is a 1919 Ford Model T that the owner's grandfather purchased in 1927 and then home built a speedster from.   The speedster has been rebuilt but following the layout of the original version going back to the late 1920s.  There were plenty of these kind of modified cars around between WWI and WWII.  One might say that these cars were the first "hotrods."

Electronic Engine Control Beginnings: The 1978 Lincoln Versailles

How did the electronic management  of automobile control functions evolve during the 1970s in American cars?  One important step forward  an be seen in the technology employed in the 1978 Lincoln Versailles. The Versailles proved to be a disappointing competitor to the Cadillac Seville, but it significantly introduced clear coat paint, halogen headlights, and microprocessor electronic controls. The Versailles 301 V-8 featured seven sensors which fed data to a central microprocessor which in turn managed spark timing and exhaust-gas recirculation. Those sensors included: a Dura-Spark Ignition Module; a Thermactor Control Solenoid; a Barometric Pressure Sensor; an Air Inlet Temp Sensor; EGR Valve Actuator and Sensor; Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor.

There were other examples of the use of microprocessor technology in 1978, including a Chrysler radio with an electron memory, the digital; clock with a vacuum-display chronometer, and a fuel consumption computer that calculated range in a Lincoln Mark V.

We rarely think of the Lincoln Versailles as a car of historical significance. But indeed, it did demonstrate new technologies with long-term impact.

The First Automobile Advertisement in America; 1898, "Scientific American," Winton

Note the comparison with the horse -- an early theme in automobile advertising. Also, the use of cost data  -- 1/2 a mile after  $1000 outlay. A masculine object-- "handsomely, strongly, and yet lightweight constructed...." Also the exaggerated utilities of the device -- "No odor, no vibration."  Can't be TRUE!

First parking Meter Installed in 1935, Oklahoma City

The parking meter was invented by Carlton C. Magee.

The parking meter was the brainchild of a man named Carl C. Magee, who moved to Oklahoma City from New Mexico in 1927. Magee had a colorful past: As a reporter for an Albuquerque newspaper, he had played a pivotal role in uncovering the so-called Teapot Dome Scandal (named for the Teapot Dome oil field in Wyoming), in which Albert B. Fall, then-secretary of the interior, was convicted of renting government lands to oil companies in return for personal loans and gifts. He also wrote a series of articles exposing corruption in the New Mexico court system, and was tried and acquitted of manslaughter after he shot at one of the judges targeted in the series during an altercation at a Las Vegas hotel.

By the time Magee came to Oklahoma City to start a newspaper, the Oklahoma News, his new hometown shared a common problem with many of America’s urban areas–a lack of sufficient parking space for the rapidly increasingly number of automobiles crowding into the downtown business district each day. Asked to find a solution to the problem, Magee came up with the Park-o-Meter. The first working model went on public display in early May 1935, inspiring immediate debate over the pros and cons of coin-regulated parking. Indignant opponents of the meters considered paying for parking un-American, as it forced drivers to pay what amounted to a tax on their cars, depriving them of their money without due process of law.

Despite such opposition, the first meters were installed by the Dual Parking Meter Company beginning in July 1935; they cost a nickel an hour, and were placed at 20-foot intervals along the curb that corresponded to spaces painted on the pavement. Magee’s invention caught on quickly: Retailers loved the meters, as they encouraged a quick turnover of cars–and potential customers–and drivers were forced to accept them as a practical necessity for regulating parking. By the early 1940s, there were more than 140,000 parking meters operating in the United States. Today, Park-O-Meter No. 1 is on display in the Statehood Gallery of the Oklahoma Historical Society.

"My Mother-in-Law the Car;" What would be an Appropriate Car for your dead Mother-in-Law to Inhabit?

I absolutely hated this show when I was kid.  It was stupid, and at age 17 I had no patience for such a ridiculous TV farce.  Ann Southern was a great lady and actress, but her voice could not enhance one of the worst entertainment ideas ever. At least that was my hateful thinking at the time.  Now maybe I need to reconsider the value of this program.  Ever drive the car of a lead loved one?  Do you feel the presence of that person?  Be honest.

Maybe reincarnation into a car is a bit far-fetched, but the link between things and the human spirit can be quite real.

As an aside, what kind of car would your dead mother-in-law inhabit?

An AMC Gremlin?

A Pontiac Aztek?

A 1948 Packard?

A 1959 Rambler?