CarPort

You may have been singing those words this week, but this item is not about the most popular movement in the best-known oratorio of Britain’s most famous German composer. It’s about one of the least-well known pioneers in the automobile business. Charles Brady King was born February 2, 1869 on Angel Island in San Francisco….
Read full article

You’re probably thinking “Edsel.” But while Ford’s “E-car” was an attempt to fill holes in FoMoCo’s product line, with models priced both above and below Mercury it was competing instead with Pontiac and Buick, a strategy that with hindsight seems incredibly foolhardy. Rather, it was Mercury itself that was Olds’s competition – the two cars….
Read full article

…or so it seemed. After World War II, Britain’s motor industry faced an edict of “Export or Die!” The island nation needed hard currency, and exporting automobiles was a good way to make a buck. The Austin Motor Company got with the program, and by 1947 was the top-selling import in America. The A40 Devon….
Read full article

I’m not in the habit of naming my cars, but other members of my family grew up with this tradition and have their own nicknames for my vehicles, often derogatory. Such was “Beluga,” for a Chevy that was deemed whale-like, despite the fact that Beluga is a white whale and my car was blue. It….
Read full article

If you should wander around your neighborhood today, wherever you may be, you’ll probably see some driveways full of cars and others that are empty. Some of you are hosting friends and family for a Thanksgiving feast, others are their guests. The photo atop this item is from 55 Thanksgivings ago, with my Aunt Timmie’s….
Read full article

…you’re a Jet all the way, from your first cigarette to your last dying day. So wrote Stephen Sondheim and you remember the words because of Leonard Bernstein’s immortal score for West Side Story. Inspired by Nash’s very successful compact Rambler, Hudson’s Jet, new for 1953, was built on a 105-inch wheelbase, 14 inches shorter….
Read full article

…for outdoor shows in the northeastern US at least. Usually Hershey is considered the “closer,” although some small gatherings and tours continue as long as Indian Summer lasts. Shortly before Hershey, Jill and I took in the Connecticut Antique Machinery Association’s two-day Fall Festival at their museum grounds in Kent, Connecticut. “Antique machinery” is a….
Read full article

A few years ago at Beaulieu Autojumble, I bought some interesting photos. Filed in a folder labeled “Checker” and stamped on the back as Ghia publicity pix, they showed four views of a very un-Checkerlike car. There was no nameplate visible, but a small checkered emblem on the grille exhibited a small section of the….
Read full article

There’s a new Taurus at your local Ford store. You may have noticed, however, that it’s pretty much the same as the car Formerly Known as Five Hundred. Depending on whom you believe, the new Taurus has been improved in 300 or 500 ways from the old Five Hundred, itself based on the architecture of….
Read full article

We go to Hershey in search of treasures, and some of us find them. This year, Joris, popular proprietor of PreWarCar.com, the intriguing website dedicated to pre-1940 cars and their knowledge, found a treasure of his own: a 1918 Canadian-built Model T roadster. Complete and running, albeit with burlap upholstery, Joris’s new car will make….
Read full article