Interesting Historical Automotive Facts

[77rs]

Ford didn't have a floorshift till late 1927.

[Edzo]

Originally Posted by Scalded Dog

Okay, here's a more trivial "interesting" historical fact: REO Speed Wagon was a vehicle, long before it was a rock band. Some of y'all might be too young to remember the REO Motor Company (yes, I am too young for that!), and many may be too young to remember REO Speedwagon, the band, but... the band was named after the vehicle, and not the other way around!

Read about this in Muscle Car Review, "Olds had a wagon that could get goods to market faster than other wagons," ergo, the speedwagon!

[ChrisBlair]

Most prototypes of the muslce car era could not be licensed or insured as they were not DOT legal. They were unceremoniously crushed after the car show season

The prototype Buick GSX was an exception. Fully street legal with a Stage 1 455. This car was a star of the auto show circuit, with a special pearlescent paint job and boldly contrasting accent colors. After the show season was over and it was briefly on display at a dealership, it was sold through the dealer and survived to modern day although it needed restoration; Buick wasn't interested in keeping it and neither was GM. The Holy Grail of Buick muscle: out the door, with non-production parts!

http://www.buickperformanceclub.com/GSXPrototype.htm (the captions do not really even do justice to the non-production parts: hood scoops are completely different, front airdam shaped differently, seat covers were not "custom", they were one-off for the prototype, etc)

This link shows production '70 GSX examples

http://www.buickgsx.net/1970GSXPIC.htm

[DGthe3]

The first concept car was the Buick Y-Job

It dates back to 1938

[DGthe3]

Automotive styling was more or less invented by Harley J Earl, the first head of GM 'Art & Color Division' -eventually renamed to 'GM Design'. Only 6 people in the history of General Motors has ever held that position

A few innovations that are credited to him are the concept car, clay modeling (which is still used today), and tail fins. Additionally, the Harley J Earl trophy is awarded to the winner of Nascar's Daytona 500 race. Sitting atop the 4' tall trophy is a minature replica of one of Earl's prototype cars, the Firebird I.

[Number 3]

Originally Posted by 77rs

REO Ransom E. Oldsmobile

Ransom E. Olds, hence Olds-mobile.

[77rs]

Joe Bortz is the king of collecting, findingg old shiow cars. Many of GM's cars were sent to one junkyard- I don't remember the name- they had to be cut up in front of GM personel. But many were cut up a certain way thast they could later be put back together! Thank goodness!

[crysalis_01]

Google reveals interesting things all the time


The McLaren F1 Gearbox Prototype Used A Chevy V8.
McLaren needed an engine to test the gearbox for the F1. The motor needed to have enough torque to replicate what they expected from their eventual production unit, so they picked a good ol' Chevy 454 big block. 'MERICA!


or how about

The Ford GT Is So Strong That During The "Roof Crush" Test, It Broke The Crushing Machine.
Alternatively, Ford didn't have a roof-crushing machine strong enough to crumple even one measly little supercar. Lawl.

[MLL67RSSS]

In it's earlier years ('20's-'30's) before Fisher Body became a part of GM they produced car bodies for many other manufacturers, including Ford. At the Norwood Ohio plant that for a time exclusively built Camaros the factory was distinctly separated with a wall between the two. When the Fisher side completed Camaro/Firebird "bodies" they shoved them through a hole in the wall to the GM/Chevrolet side for the rest of the assembly process even after GM owned Fisher Body. They even had separate break/dining facilities and competed with each other production wise.

[kevint]

Originally Posted by crysalis_01

The Ford GT Is So Strong That During The "Roof Crush" Test, It Broke The Crushing Machine.
Alternatively, Ford didn't have a roof-crushing machine strong enough to crumple even one measly little supercar. Lawl.

Same thing with the Tesla Model S. Maxed out all of the safety tests and they couldn't roll it over the traditional way.

[derklug]

Cadillac developed the electric starter after a man died from an infection from a broken jaw received when the engine backfired while hand cranking. The starter drive, commonly known as a bendix, came from the designers name.

[its a syn]

Kingsford charcoal was a by product of Ford Motor Company.

[DGthe3]

In 1965, GM sold over a million Impalas in the US -no other nameplate has done so before or since.

[Number 3]

General Motors became so dominant that the U.S. Government at least discussed breaking it up claiming they had achieved a monopoly in the market.

General Motors is often credited with inhibiting the development of mass transit in the U.S.

We often forget our history, but GM was so dominant through the early 70s and even well into the 80s. But every year I worked there the market share dropped except for 2.

In 1999, GM sold 5 Million units in the U.S. market. By 2012, that was halved to around 2.5 Million units.