I often say, flippantly, that the industry is just now starting to master the technologies of a century ago. That’s been more an impression than a statement of fact; I recall seeing many things in early publications and thinking, “Wow, I had no idea they did that so soon,” but if pressed, I wouldn’t be able […]
If nobody else, Clessie Cummins had proved to Americans the viability of the diesel engine. Familiar with the Indianapolis 500 since crewing for Ray Harroun in the first such race in 1911, he returned in 1931 with a Duesenberg-built, diesel-powered race car that finished 13th, but managed to not only run the entire race without […]
After three weeks, tensions started to run high in Cleveland. The city’s largest automotive factory, the Albert Kahn-designed seven-story Fisher Body plant on the corner of Coit Road and East 140th Street, which dated to 1921 and at the time built two-door Chevrolet bodies, had been strike-bound since the UAW-CIO – at the time a […]