1926 Ford Model T Coupe

1926 Ford Model T Touring Car

The introduction of cars had a profound effect on the economy.  The number of people employed as buggy whip makers, reins and harness makers, farriers and livery stable workers diminished drastically.  New demands for oil field workers, refinery workers, gasoline dealers, tire repairmen and mechanics increased.  Gulf Oil opened the first gasoline station in 1913.

Ford came out with an improved car.  It was also painted only black and was called a Model A.  It also had to be cranked to start it.  That was followed by a Model B also only black which had a self starter.

Others started to manufacture cars.  William Durant was a buggy manufacturer in Michigan.  In 1909 he asked Louis Chevrolet to help design a car.  The first Chevrolet was made in 1911.

 Barney Oldfield also helped design a car.  The first Oldsmobile was made in 1911.

A company called General Motors was formed.  In 1918 Chrevolet became part of General Motors.  In that year the first Chevrolet truck was manufactured.

Other makes of early cars were the Whippet, Hupmobile, Nash, Cord, Willys, Studebaker, Stutz, Pierce Arrow, Oakland, Packard,  Reo, and Duesenberg.

Of course none of these early cars had heaters, air conditioners, or radios.  The first car with a radio was the 1924 Chevrolet.  Windows were not made of glass but rather a substance called isenglass.  The first cars had no lights and thus were not made to be driven at night.  Some owners put kerosene lanterns on their cars and drove them at night.  Some cars a little later had carbide lights.  These were little  tanks holding water and a box on top of the water holding  carbide.    A valve would be opened to allow the carbide to enter the water thus forming acetylene gas which could be lit with a match.

There were two basic types of these early cars.  Those with a front and back seat were called Touring cars.  Those with a single seat were called Coupes.  Some coupes had a door where today would be a car trunk.  That door opened down and in that space was another seat called a rumple seat.

The earliest cars had horns so the driver could warn people to get out of the way.  These first horns were nothing more than a rubber bulp attached to a reed.  When the rubber bulb was squeezed the air in it would activate the reed so it vibrated and produced a sound.  Later there were electric horns.  The sound produced was oooogha or uuuughu or uuuugha.  It was not until about 1931 that horns such as we hear today were on cars.

The early cars could be repaired much easier than those of today.  If you raised the hood you could reach any part that needed repair in the engine department.  A few wrenches, pliers and a screwdriver was all you needed.  The term “shade tree mechanic” was created.  Repairs were literally made under a shade tree.  It was said that with a pair of pliers and some baling wire you could keep a Model T or Model A or Model B running.  That was an exageration but not by much.

The first car I remember my father owned was a 1933 Chevrolet.  I know he owned cars before that.  In fact I have the papers where he registered a 1916 Oakland.  Men have always talked about their cars with other men.  One of the sisters of my mother was named Leota.  Leota married Frank Shaw.  Uncle Frank was a great believer in Ford automobiles.  At one time he owned a 1937 Ford.  At that time my Dad owned a 1936 Chevrolet.  I remember the two of them discussing and the attributes of each with my father listing the drawbacks of Fords and Uncle Frank those of Chevrolets.

Before World War II all cars had manual transmissions.  There was a gear shift on the floor to the right of the driver.  You had to manually shift through the gears.  There were usually three forward and one reverse gear all activated by this gear shift.  Today many drivers have never driven anything except cars with automatic transmissions.  One of the earliest automatic transmissions was called a Hydromatic.  I think that first appeared in Buicks.  Dodge came out with something called Power Glide.

The Willys Motor Company designed probably the best known motor vehicle ever and that was the Jeep for the use of the military.  Others also made Jeeps using the Willys plans and specifications.

During World War II no cars were made for civilians.  Those that owned cars when the War started kept repairing them as best they could but many wanted new cars but could not buy them.  In addition many became of age during the War and wanted cars.  More wanted cars than American companies could build.  Adolph Hitler had decreed there ought to be a car everyone could afford.  The Germans complied with a car called the Volkswagen.  Volkwagen translates from German to English as “People’s Car.”  A more expensive, sportier car made by Volkswagen was the Karman Ghia.  The first Volkswagen was developed by Ferdinand Porsche in the 1930s.  He lost interest until the decree by Hitler.  The first ones were made in 1938 but production was halted due to the beginning of World War II when Hitler geared up to invade Poland in 1939 starting the War.

When the War ended the Volkwagen was redesigned and a model came out which was swiftly identified as the Beetle.  It was cheap and sold rapidly throughout the world.  About this time the Japanese came out with cheap cars.  These first ones were not of high quality.  The Japanese Toyota and other makes coupled with the Volkswagen satisfied much of the demand for cars in the United States.  After World War II other makes of automobiles were the Nash and the Hudson as well as the Henry J.

After World War II people did all sorts of things to make their cars unique.  I will mention some of those.  Horns were available that played 8 to 16 bars of a tune.  Many purchased a knob to place on the steering wheel.  Instead of grasping the steering wheel on its edges you grasped the knob and turned the steering wheel with that.  Others purchased covers to place over the seats – seatcovers.  These were available in all sorts of patterns.  One in particular resembled leopard skin.  Some would remove the muffler, remove the insides and replace it.  This resulted in a vroom or warbling sound, the louder the better.  This was before there were catalytic converters.  Fender skirts were another.  These fit so that the area under the fender and to the hub cap of the wheel was ½ covered.

The first motor vehicle I owned was a Cushman motor scooter.  I bought it used in 1949 and sold it to my cousin Vic in 1950 when I  bought a 1936 Chevrolet four door sedan.  I sold that when I was transferred from Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio to Sampson Air Force Base near Geneva, New York.

My next car was bought in early 1951 and was a 1947 Plymouth coupe. I wrecked that car in late 1951.   In 1952 I bought a 1949 maroon Ford convertible.  I still owned that car when I got married and drove it until 1954 when I bought a 1954 Pontiac.  That car was traded in on a 1959 Plymouth Fury.  The gears were shifted by pushing buttons on the dash.  That car had huge tail fins.  From that 1959 Plymouth until 1988 I owned only Chrysler Corporation made cars.

After I moved to Niagara Falls in 1968 all my cars were purchased at Joe Cecconi Motor Company in Niagara Falls.  I first owned Dodges and then Chryslers.  I owned a succession of Fifth Avenues.

When my oldest son, Donald Patrick II,  graduated from college I gave him the Dodge I was then driving and bought a Chrysler Fifth Avenue.  That was a Dodge Polara.  He drove it for several years and finally sold it to his brother-in-law who drove it for several more years.  I think it had over 200,000 miles on it when the brother-in-law finally got rid of it.

When my daughter, Denise Marie,  graduated from college I bought her a new Plymouth.  I think the model was caused Horizon.  When my youngest son, David Michael,  graduated from college I also gave him a new Dodge which I think was a Neon.

When I moved to Fort Worth in 1987 I was still driving a Chrysler Fifth Avenue.  I had taken my Chrysler to a particular dealer in Fort Worth several times for service.  Once I took my step-sons Plymouth to that dealer for an oil change.  While I was there I asked the Service Manager to check his records to see when my Chrysler was due for service.  He asked me what the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) was for my Chrysler.  I told him I did not know.  He said all the records were kept by VIN number and not by customer name.  I decided I would no longer patronize a place that had such an impersonal attitude.  That was in 1988.  Shortly after that I decided to buy a new car.  Because of the Chrysler dealer’s attitude I shopped for other makes.  I bought a 1988 Cadillac Sedan DeVille.  I kept that car until 1995 when I bought a 1995 Buick Roadmaster that I still drive.

I wonder if anyone has noticed how the 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser looks so much like a 1937 Ford?