Intermeccanica’s Italia IMX show car of 1969. (Veloce Publishing)

    Some readers may have heard of Intermeccanica, builders of American-powered sports cars made in Italy in the 1960s and ’70s.
But many may not realize the company has distinct Canadian roots. Indeed, its founders – Frank and Paula Reisner – have to be counted among our great automotive entrepreneurs.
    Frank and Paula were refugees from war-torn Europe who came to Canada with their families – from Hungary and Czechoslovakia respectively – as teenagers in 1946. They met in Montreal and married after Frank earned a chemical engineering degree from the University of Michigan. In 1958, the newlyweds sailed for Europe on what was planned to be a three-month vacation.
    They ended up staying for 18 years.
    Frank and Paula were automobile enthusiasts and in 1959 started Intermeccanica in Turin, Italy, supplying performance parts for European cars by mail to American owners. The company flourished and soon Intermeccanica was building cars powered by big American V8s, but using steel bodies crafted with Italian style.
    Its history has been told for the first time in Intermeccanica – The Story of the Prancing Bull – a well illustrated and highly readable book from Veloce Publishing in the U.K. It was written by Vancouver journalist Andrew McCredie, as told by Paula Reisner. (Husband Frank died in 2001.)
    Intermeccanica’s first car was a Formula Junior racer in 1960. Their first sporty road car was the Apollo, designed and financed in California using a Buick engine.
    Ninety Apollo coupes and 11 convertibles were built between 1961 and 1965, when its U.S. backers ran into financial difficulty – a problem that was to plague Intermeccanica throughout its years in Italy.
Intermeccanica cars were always a hit at major auto shows, but that never translated into huge production volumes. The firm’s most successful production car was the Italia, built in both coupe and convertible form, and powered by a Ford V8, from 1966-71.
    The company then seemed poised for a breakthrough with a new car called the Indra, which was to be sold by General Motors’ Opel division in Germany. However, GM suddenly stopped supplying the Chevrolet V8s and other parts that were needed, which led to a lawsuit that ultimately reached the Supreme Court of the United States.
    By 1975 not only was their company faltering, but Italy was a political and economic mess. So the Reisners packed up their three children and headed for sunny California. It was a chance encounter at a used car lot in San Diego that set the course for Intermeccanica in the New World. When Frank stopped to look at a trio of Porsche 356 Speedsters, the car salesman said, “I could sell a hundred of these.” So Frank gave up designing his own cars to concentrate on reproducing one of his all-time favourites.
    After some failures and successes, in 1982 the Reisners moved again – this time back to Canada – and set up shop in Vancouver.
    Under the direction of the Reisners’ eldest son, Henry, Intermeccanica still builds high quality reproductions of the Porsche 356-A Speedster and Roadster RS, using fibreglass bodies mounted on steel frames of Frank’s own design and powered by Porsche engines. It also makes a replica of VW’s famous Type 62 Kubelwagen, originally built for the German army during World War II.
    Intermeccanica’s hood badge – a red prancing bull – has undergone a major change since the firm’s years in Italy, and now is superimposed on the B.C. provincial flag.
    Intermeccanica – The Story of the Prancing Bull is available in North America through Quayside Distribution services in Minneapolis at1-800-328-0590 or www.motorboooks.com. The price of the 192-page hardcover is $79.95.
    For information on the cars the company builds today, go to www.intermeccanica.com.

Write to Glen at glenwoodcock@canoemail.com

RM founder and chairman Rob Myers at the July 1 press conference in Auburn, Indiana.

    July 1 isn’t usually a date that’s celebrated in the U.S., but this year it became Canada Day in the city of Auburn, Indiana.
    There weren’t any fireworks, just a bang-up announcement for the battered-by-recession old car hobby. Canada’s RM Auctions, of Blenheim, Ont., has purchased the 235-acre Auburn Auction Park from near-bankrupt Cruze Auctions.
    Ironically, Kruze once considered RM its major competitor.
The announcement was made by RM founder and chairman Rob Myers at a press conference in the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum.
For park owner Dean Cruze, it is “the end of an era, but a new launch for RM.”
    “I have known Rob for about 30 years,” Cruze said. “He is one of the most knowledgeable men in the car business and has one of the best – bar none – of any auction company in the world.”
    It’s no secret that Cruze Auctions had been in trouble for awhile. Its owner had the option of going bankrupt or selling to a number of interested parties, including eBay. In the end, he chose RM. However, the Canadians are assuming none of Cruze’s debt. This is an asset purchase only. RM is not buying Cruze Auctions, only its Auburn Auction Park.
    “My mess is still my mess,” Cruze said, “RM did not assume any of my liabilities.”
    Cruze has been given three years by the state of Indiana to pay off consignors whose vehicles had been sold but who received no money for them.
    “I could have gone bankrupt,” he said, “but I want to pay these people. There are 62 of them left. I carry the list with me and am paying them off one at a time.”
    Cruze will have no legal or financial interest in the new company.
Myers said that RM – with worldwide sales of more than $200 million last year – has made its reputation as a boutique company with specialized sales in Britain, Italy and across the U.S.
    “We have been turning down cars because we did not have the venue for them,” he said.
    Now they do.
    The purchase of the Auburn Auction Park will give RM a location where, at least twice a year, they will be able to sell a wide range of vehicles including muscle cars and customs – areas of the hobby in which RM has not been involved. Until now.
    “There is no doubt in our minds that this will become the largest (old car) auction in the world,” Myers said.
    And the new company, called Auctions America by RM, isn’t about to let the grass grow under its wheels. The first sale in the refurbished auction park will be on the Labour Day weekend in less than two months. The company hopes to offer between 1,000 and 1,500 cars.
    Ambitious? You betcha! But RM didn’t become the world’s largest auction house for quality automobiles by sitting on its hands since Myers started restoring cars in a single-car garage 34 years ago.
Holding a sale in Auburn this Labour Day also keeps alive a 40-year tradition of having an auction that coincides with the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Festival that weekend.
    “The very first collector car auction I attended was the one held on Labour Day weekend in Auburn back in 1974. The ACD Festival and auction weekend has been a tradition for me ever since,” Myers said.
RM Auctions partner Donnie Gould has been named president of the new company and said, “We want to bring the park back to its glory days and make Auburn the antique car capital of the world.
    “RM Auctions has so many customers active in the buying and selling of muscle cars, customs, street rods and just plain great old cars that we simply cannot service them all with our existing venues,” said Gould.  “We believe the Auburn location is ideal for this biggest segment of the market with its freeway access, huge parking lots, and motorcoach and swap meet facilities. We are all very excited to get started.”

Write to Glen at glenwoodcock@canoemail.com

1972 Lotus Elan +2 photographed in Colgone, Germany.

    An international group of journalists was milling about the cobblestone courtyard of Bensberg Castle in Cologne, Germany, shooting photos of the new 2011 Porsche Cayenne and Panamera V6 when something unexpected happened.
    A middle-aged German couple drove into the castle grounds, not to have a peek at the new Porsches but because they wanted a nice backdrop to photograph their new car – a 1972 Lotus Elan.
Such is the appeal of old autos that the journalists quickly forgot about the Porsches and happily began to line up shots of the Lotus, with the castle in the background.
    The car’s owners seemed a little nonplussed at first – it wasn’t exactly the reception they had expected – but quickly recovered their composure and began fielding questions in both German and excellent English.
    This was one of their first outings in their new acquisition, freshly imported from Great Britain. Their Lotus is a right-hand drive model and appears to be in excellent original condition. Except for the pop-up headlights its styling still looks fresh.
    The first fibreglass-bodied Elans were engineered by company founder Colin Chapman, and went on sale in 1962 as roadsters weighing just 680 kg. Initially you could order one built by the factory in Norfolk, England or as a do-it-yourself-kit car. The roadster soon was followed by a hardtop model (which the British call a fixed-head coupe) that also seated two.
    A coupe with longer wheelbase and 2+2 seating was introduced in 1967 and weighed 889 kg. About 5,200 were sold and it’s estimated that despite their rust-proof fibreglass bodies, less than a quarter of those cars still exist.
    The Elan +2 belonging to the couple at the castle is a 1972 model. It has a 4-speed manual transmission, 4-wheel disc brakes, fully independent suspension and is powered by a 1,558-cc Ford engine with Cosworth twin-cam head. The inline four makes 118 hp and produces 108 lb.-ft. of torque. This gives the lightweight coupe a top speed of about 118 mph and the ability to sprint from 0-60 in 8.2 seconds – excellent performance for the day and still not bad by modern standards.
    Lotus enjoyed great sales success with the Elan, which led directly to the company’s success on the track. Team Lotus won the Formula One constructors’ championship seven times from 1963-78 and the Indianapolis 500 in 1965 with factory driver Jim Clark behind the wheel.
    Production of the Elan roadster ended in 1973 but the +2 carried on until 1975.
    Along with the Triumph Spitfire and Austin-Healey Sprite, the Elan was one of the templates used by Bob Hall and Mark Jordan at Mazda’s California design studio when they reinvented the roadster with the Miata (now the MX-5) in 1989.
    Lotus cars still are built in Hethel, Norfolk, on the site of a World War II Royal Air Force base. The company has changed hands several times since being sold to General Motors in 1986 and now is owned by Malaysian automaker Proton.
    Under GM ownership, a new M100 Elan was developed and sold from 1989-95. It featured a fibreglass body and front-wheel drive and was powered by a 1,588-cc inline four that originated with GM-owned Isuzu but was extensively modified by Lotus.
    Today the company has three aluminum-frame/composite-body sports cars available in Canada – the Elise (base MSRP $57,575), Exige ($80,500) and Evora ($85,880).

Write to Glen at glenwoodcock@canoemail.com

James Bond’s 1964 Aston Martin DB5.

    What’s the most famous car in the world?
    Now there’s a question to set off a hot debate.
    I think we can agree it would have to be a car millions of people have seen – so that would make it something viewed around the world on movie or TV screens.
    Well then, how about Herbie the Love Bug from the series of Disney flicks about the lovable VW starting in 1968? Or maybe the gull-wing DeLorean from Michael J. Fox’s Back to the Future trilogy from the 1980s? That’s probably the one that would get my vote, although Steve McQueen fans might opt for the green Mustang GT the actor drove in his 1968 movie, Bullitt.
    From TV there’s General Lee, the 1969 Dodge Charger featured on The Dukes of Hazzard. A good case can be made for the Batmobile, of both TV and movie fame, not to mention comic books.
    And from real life there’s the Lincoln limousine in which U.S. President John Kennedy was riding when he was assassinated in Dallas in 1962.
    However, RM Auctions says it’s none of those. The Canadian company, based in Blenheim, Ont., calls the silver 1964 Aston Martin DB5 driven by Sean Connery in the James Bond films Goldfinger and Thunderball “the world’s most famous car.” In association with Sotheby’s, it will be offered for the first time at RM’s annual Automobiles of London sale on Oct. 27, where it is expected to bring in excess of $5 million.
    The DB5 is chassis No. 1486/R and comes with all of “Q’s” gizmos (actually the work of Oscar winner John Stears of Eon Productions at Pinewood Studios): fake machine guns, bullet-proof shield, revolving licence plates, ejector seat, oil slick sprayer, tire-shredding spinners and smoke screen – all controlled from factory-installed switches hidden under the centre armrest.
    During filming of Goldfinger, chassis No. 1486/R was called the “Road Car” and is the one seen onscreen when Connery is at the wheel. It didn’t acquire all of the gadgets until the filming of Thunderball.
A second DB5, known as the Goldfinger “Effects Car,” because it had all the gadgets, was stolen from a private collection in Florida in 1997. It was never recovered and an insurance settlement in excess of $4 million reportedly was made.
    Aston Martin built two more modified DB5s for publicity tours before Thunderball’s 1966 theatrical release. One of those DB5s was on display at the Smoky Mountain Car Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tenn, for 35 years before it was sold at an RM in Arizona for $2,090,000 in January, 2006.
    That’s considerably more than the $12,000 paid by Philadelphia broadcaster Jerry Lee, owner of the “Road Car” for the past 41 years. It was only on loan to Eon Productions, and after the films were shot was returned to Aston Martin, which sold it to Lee in 1969.
    The car has a DOHC 4.0-litre engine coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission and produces 282 hp at 6,000 rpm. Befitting a “Road Car,” it has undergone a careful re-commissioning by RM’s restoration shop which returned it to running condition after years of static display in Lee’s home.
    Proceeds of the RM sale will go to the Jerry Lee Foundation, dedicated to solving social problems associated with poverty, with an emphasis on crime prevention. The foundation is responsible for the establishment of the Stockholm Prize in Criminology, for which Lee received a Swedish knighthood in 2008.
    And RM’s pre-auction estimate of $5 million may prove to be low. Bloomberg News has reported that if both Aston Martin and James Bond fans get in a bidding war it could fetch up to $10 million.

Write to Glen at glenwoodcok@canoemail.com

A rendering of the Studebaker Avanti courtesy of Loewy Design.

    Because of the Internet, you never know how far afield your words are going to travel.
    One of the people who wrote following a recent column on the “prettiest cars” was David Hagerman, who lives in Georgia and read it online at www.autonet.ca.
    David’s late wife, Laurence, was the daughter of designer Raymond Loewy and he said that together they established Loewy Design in 1998, “when the Web was still young, to introduce her father to a new generation of savvy industrial design enthusiasts.” He wanted to express his thanks for the nice things said about Loewy’s 1953 Studebaker Starliner and 1963 Studebaker Avanti.
    Actually, it’s easy to say nice things about both of those timeless designs, especially the Avanti which would not be out of place as a concept car at one of today’s major automotive shows. Anything else from that era looks like exactly what it is – a car that’s almost 50 years old. But the Avanti, at age 48, is as fresh as tomorrow’s morning breeze.
It’s also easy to say nice things about Loewy design studios, which was responsible for some of the most inventive and iconic items of life in the 20th century.
    As someone once said, he took the ordinary and made it beautiful.
Raymond Loewy (1893-1986) was born in France but immigrated to the U.S. in 1919, where he became known as “the father of industrial design.”
    His body of work includes streamlined electric and steam locomotives for the Pennsylvania Railroad, the redesigned 1955 Coke bottle, the Greyhound Scenicruiser bus and household appliances from refrigerators to pencil sharpeners.
    His studio also created the enduring logos for companies such as Shell, Exxon, Greyhound and Lucky Strike cigarettes.
    Loewy’s first work for Studebaker was in 1936 and his studio was responsible for the ground-breaking 1947 Studebaker Champion. In 1953 they produced the long, low Starlight coupe that’s considered a turning point in automotive design.
    By 1961 Studebaker badly needed a new car with sex appeal. Loewy and his design team of Tom Kellogg, Bob Andrews and John Ebstein were given 40 days to come up with something – anything. Their brainstorming resulted in a two-door coupe that featured a fiberglass body on a modified 109-inch Studebaker Lark chassis with a 289 cubic inch Hawk engine.
    “Weight is the enemy,” said Loewy. “In this age of fuel shortages you must eliminate weight.” He also eliminated the grille, saying, “Who needs grilles? Grilles I always associate with sewers.”
    The Avanti’s clean, unadorned shape was a radical departure from the chrome-laden beasts produced in Detroit. Before her death in 2008, Loewy’s daughter Laurence told CNN that her father called the automotive designs of GM’s Harley Earl “chrome-plated barges,” adding that “If left to his own devices, Harley Earl would put fins on a TV or refrigerator.”
    The Avanti went into production in June, 1962 as a 1963 model, and until Studebaker closed its South Bend, Indiana plant in December, 1963, 4,643 were built, not counting prototypes.
    With the closure of South Bend Studebaker shifted its Lark/Daytona assembly to the company’s factory in Hamilton, Ont. The Avanti name and tooling were sold to two Indiana Studebaker dealers, Nate Altman and Leo Newman. They purchased a portion of the South Bend plant, stacks of leftover Lark chassis, and produced the Avanti II in limited numbers using 327 Chevy V8s – the first in a succession of Avanti replicars.
    For more about Raymond Loewy and his work, log on to www.RaymondLoewy.org or www.RaymondLoewy.com.

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Factory photo of an Alfa Romeo 1600 Duetto.

    June 24 marks the 100th anniversary of Alfa Romeo, the legendary builder of Italian sports cars. Originally, however, it was known as A.L.F.A., which stands for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (Lombard Automobile Factory, Public Company).
    In 1915 A.L.F.A. was taken over by Neapolitan entrepreneur Nicola Romeo, who converted the Milan factory to produce munitions, aircraft engines and other military hardware for the Italian army in World War I. Romeo had no interest in building automobiles after the war, but did authorize completion of 105 cars in 1919 just to get rid of parts that had sat around the factory for four years. Their sales success meant the company was back in the automotive business. Its name was changed to Alfa Romeo in 1920, with the Torpedo 20-30 HP becoming the first car to be badged as such.
    Like so many other automakers, Alfa Romeo struggled financially during the Great Depression and was taken over by the Italian government in 1932. It was acquired by the Fiat Group in 1986.
    Alfa Romeo has a long history in motorsport, dating back to 1913. Alfas won many Grand Prix events in the 1920s and ’30s with cars driven by such greats as Tazio Nuvolari and Louis Chiron. It dominated the Mille Miglia from 1928-38 (losing only in 1931) and was first in the Le Mans 24 Hours from 1931-34.
    Alfa won the first two Formula One championships in 1950 and 1951 and competed on that circuit, either as a constructor or engine supplier, from 1950-88.
    The company turned its attention to touring car racing in the 1970s and has won many major championships.
Over the years Alfa Romeo has made a wide variety of models, from compacts and roadsters to big sedans and coupes, all of them with a sporting nature. Famous models from the past include the Guiletta (1954-65), Sprint GT Veloce (1963-68) and Alfetta (1972-87). But it is the Spider, built from 1966-93, that is best remembered on this continent. Made famous in Dustin Hoffman’s 1967 film, The Graduate, the Spider 1600 Duetto was succeeded by the Spider 1750 Veloce and reached cult status in Canada and the U.S. So much so, in fact, that a “Graduate” version was marketed here in the 1980s.
    I have especially fond memories of test driving a Spider Veloce in 1976, not so much for its speed or handling prowess but for the burble from the dual exhaust – surely one of the sweetest automotive sounds in all the world.
    The car has never lost its popularity and an online search found a good selection of Spiders from the 1980s and ’90s for sale in Canada in the $8,000-$15,000 range.
    Alfas were last sold on this side of the Atlantic in 1995, but earlier this year Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne said “there is a strong likelihood” the marque could return to North America by 2012. Not only that, he indicated the modern Chrysler assembly plant in Brampton, Ont. could play a role in Alfa’s return.
    A good fit for that plant, which builds the rear-wheel-drive Chrysler 300 and Dodge Challenger, would be the new Alfa Romeo 169 sedan, said to be a competitor for the BMW 5-Series. Some analysts believe the first Alfa Romeo models could roll off the line in Ontario as early as late 2011.

*  *  *

    Alfa Romeo will be the featured marque at the British and European Vintage/Collector Car & Motorcycle Show in Calgary’s Stanley Park on July 17. Open to all British and European cars, the show runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. About 160 cars and motorcycles will be displayed and there is no entry fee to the public. Cars will come from Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. and there will be awards for best marques; plus a long distance award. The entry fee is $15 before July 10, $20 thereafter. Please pre-register online at www.vsccc. For more information email Mike Coe at coefront@shaw.ca or phone 403-281-0363.

Write to Glen at glenwoodcock@canoemail.com

1937 Rudge Sports Special and 1938 Rudge Ulster

belonging to Andrew Bosson of the Canadian Vintage

Motorcycle Group’s Great Pine Ridge Section

– Holly Varey photo.

    Ah, Paris on the last weekend of spring. The smells from the outdoor cafes, the views from the tour boats on the Seine …
    Oops, wrong Paris. This one’s not in France, but Ontario. And the smells will be of motorcycle exhaust, and the views will be of vintage bikes. That’s because on the weekend of June 18-20 the Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group (CVMG) will hold its annual National Rally at the fairgrounds in Paris, Ont., just north of Brantford.
    This is the 21st such rally since Paris became its permanent home in 1990.
    Formed over the winter of 1968-69, the CVMG now has more than 2,000 members in 30 sections in every province except P.E.I. and Newfoundland-Labrador. The membership owns more than 7,000 motorcycles covering 200 makes.
    Peter Salter, of Welland, Ont. is media co-ordinator for the event and says up to 500 members – many bringing more than one bike – will participate.
    Like vintage car shows, there will be a judged Concours d’Elegance on Sunday as well as a show ’n’ shine. But the two-wheelers also can participate in a vintage reliability run, field games and a vintage trials demonstration.
    Salter says there also will be flat track and speedway racing (at additional cost) Friday night at the Paris Speedway adjacent to the rally site.
    Registration opens at noon on Friday, June 18 and is $30 for CVMG members, $40 for non-members. It includes access to the rally grounds, participation in rally events, including a free breakfast on Sunday, and free camping for the weekend. You also can register online at www.cvmg.ca, and at last count well over 400 people had signed up.
    Day visitors are welcome at $5 per person, per day, which will admit them to the rally until dusk but will not allow for participation in rally events other than as spectators. Salter says day visitors will be able to make purchases at the swap meet – which runs from Friday noon to Sunday noon, offering everything from vintage parts to restored motorcycles – but will not be allowed to bring items for sale.
    “We could have as many as 1,000 day visitors, but the number depends largely on the weather,” he says.
    There will be a wide variety of British, European and Japanese makes represented – most of them dating from the 1940s and ’50s. This year the featured marque is Rudge, which made popular motorcycles in Great Britain from 1910-39. Rudge bikes enjoyed considerable racing success, winning the Isle of Man Senior TT Race as early as 1914.
    When sales manager Graham Walker rode a 500-cc bike to victory in the 1928 Ulster Grand Prix, the sportiest of the company’s three models was renamed the Rudge Ulster, one of which won the 1930 TT Senior. A beautifully restored 1938 Ulster, owned by Andrew Bosson, will be one of the Rudges on display.
    An annual membership in the CVMG is $35 and includes the club’s 40-page monthly newsletter. Club president is Bill Hoar, who will be at the rally but won’t be riding one of his own bikes all the way from Ponoka, Alta. Instead, he’ll be borrowing one of Peter Salter’s vintage motorcycles, the oldest of which is a 1950 Vincent Rapide. Salter says Vincent once built the world’s fastest standard motorcycles (for road use) from 1937-55.
    The oldest motorcycles in the CVMG date back to 1903. But unusually for a group devoted to vintage machinery, there are no age requirements for members’ motorcycles. In fact, you don’t even need to own a bike to join.

Write to Glen at glenwoodcock@canoemail.com

1911 Model T Touring car owned by Sherwin Stapley of Campbellford, Ont.

    One hundred years ago, in 1910, the Ford Motor Co. opened the famous factory that three years later gave birth to the moving assembly line. This looming anniversary gives us the chance to clear up few misconceptions about that landmark event.
   “History is more or less bunk,” Henry Ford famously said in 1916.
When he made that statement I wonder if, in the back of his mind, was the fact that history already was crediting him with the creation of the moving assembly line when, in fact, it really was the work of some of his key employees.
    True, nothing happened at the Ford Motor Co. back then that didn’t have Henry’s stamp of approval. But the man in charge of the team that created that moving assembly line was a Canadian – Peter Edmund Martin.
    Born in Wallaceburg, near the border with Michigan, Martin was put in charge of the experimental room at Ford’s Piquette Plant in 1906, where the Model T was developed under his supervision. In 1907, Martin – known as “Ed” – became plant superintendent.
    Model Ts were built on Piquette Ave. from 1908-1910 when Ford Motor Co. opened what was then the world’s largest automotive manufacturing facility in the Detroit suburb of Highland Park. Martin became its superintendent as well.
    The story of how Ford employee William Klann had seen a “disassembly line” at a Chicago slaughterhouse is well documented. Klann figured that if animals could be butchered as they moved along an overhead conveyor, cars could be built in much the same way. Upon his return to Detroit he reported to Martin, who, if doubtful, nonetheless was open to further development of the idea.
    The process of a moving line – where each employee concentrated on one job – evolved by trial and error with Martin, his assistant Charles Sorenson and legendary designer and toolmaker Childe Harold Wills leading the way.
    On October 7, 1913, a rudimentary assembly line – with a Model T chassis being pulled on a rope – went into operation. The chassis travelled 150 feet, in which it passed by 140 workers who attached parts kept right at hand. This new moving assembly line allowed Ford to slash production time for a single vehicle from 12½ hours to five hours and 50 minutes.
    (It was another Canadian – James Couzens – who set up the “just in time” delivery of parts that kept the Model T assembly line moving at peak efficiency.)
    Soon the line was improved with a power-driven conveyor system wide enough for the chassis and with space for workers on both sides. Assembly began on the top floor of the four-story building, where the engine was put together, and progressed to street level, where the body was attached to the chassis.
    By 1914, continuous improvements had shortened assembly time to one hour and 33 minutes. That meant cars were coming off the line in three minute intervals causing paint to become a bottleneck. Only Japan black paint would dry fast enough, prompting the famous Ford saying that you could have any colour you wanted so long as it was black. That lasted until quicker drying lacquers were developed in 1926.
    The reduced number of man-hours per car also allowed Ford to continuously cut the retail price of a Model T.
    In 1928 the company moved automobile assembly to the even larger River Rouge plant in nearby Dearborn. Automotive trim manufacturing and tractor assembly continued at Highland Park until it was closed in the 1950s. On June 2, 1978 the U.S. government declared the Highland Park plant a National Historic Landmark. It is now used by the Ford Motor Co. for document storage and by the Henry Ford Museum as a repository for excess artifacts.
    Go to http://cardatavideo.blogspot.com/2008/08/ford-model-t-world-most-famous-car.html and you’ll find a video on the Highland Park Model T assembly line in action.

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1946 Clipper Club Sedan owned by John O’Neill of Baltimore, Ont.

Other than the new Fords and Mercurys, Packard’s Clipper was the only new American design for 1941.
The timing of its arrival couldn’t have been worse.
Coming out late in the year, just 16,600 1941 models were made in Detroit, and even fewer 1942s were assembled before America’s sudden entry into World War II.
Following the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, all U.S. automakers ceased making civilian vehicles to concentrate on military production. (Packard built Rolls-Royce Merlin engines for Britain’s Lancaster and Mosquito bombers, America’s P40 and P51 fighters and V12 marine engines for the U.S. Navy’s PT boats.)
The Clipper design – done by the fabled Howard “Dutch” Darrin – was a perfect blending of Packard’s traditional upright grille with a modern envelope body. It was available as a four-door Touring Sedan and two-door Club Sedan. The four-door looks a little lumpy, especially from the rear, but the swoop of the Club Sedan’s fastback styling is stunning.
As usual, however, Dutch didn’t like what the company did to his design. He had eliminated running boards entirely, but Packard kept them, hidden behind doors that flared outward at the bottom.
The Clipper was created as a lower-priced companion for Packard’s traditional line of luxury cars. But for the first two years after the war it was the only vehicle the company made, which many automotive historians believe was a great mistake and cheapened Packard’s prestige as one of the world’s foremost builders of fine cars.
And by 1946 the Clipper – so fresh before the war – was just another old design, especially when compared to the new Darrin-styled 1947 Kaisers and Frazers and Raymond Loewy’s 1947 Studebaker with its wraparound rear window.
Buyers could have their choice of a straight six engine, available in the Clipper Six, or a staight eight in Standard, DeLuxe, Super and Custom versions. The top-of-the-line Custom Super Eight Clipper of 1946-47, is probably appreciated more today that is was when new and is one of the few postwar cars granted “Classic” status by the Classic Car Club of America.
The Clipper Six Club Sedan in the accompanying photo is owned by John O’Neill of Baltimore, Ont. He had seen one “five or six years ago and thought it was sharp-looking.” Three years ago he found this car advertised in Old Autos, flew down to see it in Nova Scotia, bought it on the spot and had it trucked home.
When new, John’s Clipper was sold in Boston and somewhere over the years had been acquired by a doctor in New Brunswick.
It is in amazing original condition, with 57,000 miles showing on the odometer.
John says the interior is “absolutely correct.” There is no sign that the body wears anything but its factory coat of black paint and the chrome appears to be all original.
John admits that by today’s standards its performance is “sluggish” with the 105-hp six. “It doesn’t have great pickup,” he says, “but cruises nicely in overdrive at 55-60 mph.”
The Clipper name was retired when Packard’s new postwar designs went on sale as 1948 models, but made a comeback as a lower priced marque of its own in 1955. Three years after the company’s disastrous 1954 merger with Studebaker, all Packard assembly was moved from Detroit to South Bend, Ind., where the Clipper name died for good after the 1957 model year.
A year later, Packard itself was just a memory.

Write to Glen at glenwoodcock@canoemail.com

Raymond Loewy’s fabulous 1953 Studebaker Starliner Coupe.

Got some really interesting and thoughtful replies when, a few weeks ago, I asked readers to name their prettiest cars rather than jumping on the tired bandwagon that pokes fun at “ugly” ones.
It was a response to a column written in the June issue of Hemmings Classic Car by Jim Richardson, where he raged against the “ugliest cars ever made.”
Like me, quite a few readers had Studebakers on their prettiest list. If only Studebaker build quality had matched those Raymond Loewy designs back in the 1950s, the company still might be around today.
Now Richardson has seen the light, coming up with his list of “the most beautiful cars ever made” in the July issue. Those are: 1934 Packard 12 Roadster; 1936 Cord 810; 1953 Studebaker Starliner coupe; 1956 Continental Mark II; 1963 Corvette coupe; 1971-73 Buick Riviera; 1987 Cadillac Allante; 2000 Ford Thunderbird.
All good choices. Now on to some readers’ emails that caught my fancy simply because of the wide range of vehicles mentioned. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
C. Dan Pannell read my column online at Autonet.ca and nominates just one car, the 1955 Chevrolet 2-door wagon, calling it both “elegant and functional.”
John Brink of Calgary likes the Studebaker Golden Hawk, Jaguar XKE, Datsun 510 and Porsche 911.
Rand Kellock also reads Time Machines in the Calgary Sun and says “these are the cars that bring a tear to my eye when I see them or even think about them. I am 35 years old. The reason I mention that is because I do not like the same cars other people my age do. My favourites are pre-war.”
In no particular order, Rand suggests the prettiest cars are: 1936 Duesenberg SJ; 1957 Ferrari Testa-Rossa; 1937 Cord 812 SC convertible; 1961 Ferrari 250 SWB; 1939 Talbot-Lago T150SS; 1935 Auburn Boattail Speedster; 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO; 1970 Porsche 917K (Gulf Livery); 1961 Jaguar E-Type convertible; 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500K.
John Webster says “I have a wide range of tastes in cars. If only I had the money to fulfill my fantasies these would be my choices: 1) 1953 Studebaker Starlight coupe; 2) 1956 Mercury or Monarch; 3) 1971 Camaro; 4) 1963 Corvette split window coupe; 5). 1955-56 Buick; 6) Ford Flex (boxy, but distinctive).”
“And, of course,” says John, “nobody has mentioned either of my cars, a 1965 Pontiac Parisienne convertible, or my 1957 Plymouth Plaza 2-door, both head and shoulders above their competition in the style category for their respective years.”
Glen Simonds wrote: “Liked your article in the London Free Press. Here’s my list, or at least one version of it. I tried to not have all sports cars. In no particular order: 1970 Datsun 240Z; 2006 Range Rover Sport; Audi R8 Spyder; BMW 3 Series Coupe; 1968 Camaro RS; Lancia Delta Integrali; 2010 Cadillac CTS Wagon; 1967 Jaguar E type roadster; Ferrari 308 GTSi; Aston Martin DBS.”
Doug Frechette of Wetaskiwin, Alta. read my story in the Edmonton Sun and sent in his top five list of prettiest cars, with reasons why.
“1) Auto Union 1000 coupe: Beautiful flowing fender lines, and I love the three piece wraparound back window. The later ones had a wraparound windshield as well that I feel enhances the design even further.
“2) 1967 Olds Delmont 88 2-door hardtop: The ultimate version of GM’s ‘Coke bottle’ styling. I especially like one with a vinyl roof which highlights the beautiful fastback roofline.
“3) Facel Vega HK: Beautiful from any angle, and a lovely interior inspired by an aircraft cockpit.
“4) Chevrolet Corvair, second generation: A well balanced design with minimal chrome that highlights rather than distracts from the lines.
“5) 1953 Studebaker hardtop: Purest version of the classic Loewy coupe, without the heavy-handed trim of the later Presidents.”

Write to Glen at glenwoodcock@canoemail.com