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Posted
Answer is Stutz Bearcat, which was prepped in only 5 weeks for the 1911 Indy race and finished 11th.

Happy T-day Art!

Dave

Hi Dave! And to add to that, "You gotta be nuts to drive a Stutz", to which Bearcat drivers retorted: "But nothing could be worser than a Mercer!". Sure would have been fun to watch a Bearcat and a Raceabout going head-to-head in a match race, huh?

Art

Posted

What marque used the advertising tag line "The penalty of leadership"?

And,

A very famous woman, perhaps the first woman to do so, was featured in early print ads for the Terraplane. Who was she, and what was the tag line?

Art

Posted
A very famous woman, perhaps the first woman to do so, was featured in early print ads for the Terraplane. Who was she, and what was the tag line?

Art

Amelia Earhart, "In the air it's aeroplaning, on the sea it's aquaplaning, but on the land it's Terraplaning."

Posted
What marque used the advertising tag line "The penalty of leadership"?

Art

Cadillac.

Strange slogan then, strange slogan now... ("life, liberty and the pursuit").

Posted

Harry, yer too good!

OK, now for a bonus: Henry Ford, when confronted with the new 1929 Chevrolet "Stove Bolt 6", made a blunt statement giving his rationale for staying with a 4-cylinder engine. What did he say?

For bonus points, why did that first Chevy 6 get the moniker "Stove Bolt"?

Art

Posted
Harry, yer too good!

OK, now for a bonus: Henry Ford, when confronted with the new 1929 Chevrolet "Stove Bolt 6", made a blunt statement giving his rationale for staying with a 4-cylinder engine. What did he say?

For bonus points, why did that first Chevy 6 get the moniker "Stove Bolt"?

Art

Something like "I have no use for any automobile that has more spark plugs than a cow has teats"...

No idea on the origin of "Stove Bolt"... ;)

Posted
Something like "I have no use for any automobile that has more spark plugs than a cow has teats"...

No idea on the origin of "Stove Bolt"... ;)

You got it, Harry! When asked about that statement upon the announcement of the forthcoming Ford V8, HF simply stated that a V8 was nothing more than two four cylinder engines.

Art

Posted
Art, this is just a shot inna dark, but, was it because if it broke down, you could fix it with a stove bolt? ;)

George, essentially right! That first Chevy 6 was characterized by its use of dozens of stove bolts, which were at that time a standard item in just about every hardware store. A stove bolt is the common 1/4-28 bolt (1/4" diameter, 28 threads per inch, with a slotted head. In the days before high compression heads, and insert thin-shell engine bearings (cars of the era almost universally used "poured bearings", the babbit metal being cast into the block, rods and bearing caps, then bored to the correct dimension, then worn in to correct fit by turning the crankshaft with a lathe before final engine assembly/reassembly), the idea of torqueing cylinder head studs, main bearing and rod bearing cap bolts hadn't been a need--"just tighten them until they are TIGHT". So, the coarse thread of a stove bolt was considered all that was necessary, and they cost less to make than the much finer, more accurately cut threads of the various SAE bolts that were already on the horizon--just one more way that Chevrolet could make a "six at the price of a four".

Also, this engine became known, and was advertized as, "The cast iron wonder", as it even had cast iron pistons, themselves a throwback to years earlier in a day when aluminum pistons were in general use throughout the industry, primarily in the Model A Ford.

Art

Posted

In 1930, Cadillac unveiled the world's first production V16 engine in an automobile. While unique, this engine's cylinder count wasn't the longest-lasting feature, but two other features of the Cadillac Model 452 and it's drive train are still seen today.

What were they?

Art

Posted

Hey Art, how 'bout hydraulic brakes as the other?

I'm not up on my '30's cars as that's waaaaaaay before my time! :P

I'm not sure if others were using hydraulic brakes by then..............electric or mechanical?

Posted
electric starter? I remember at work they had a big ol poster of Cadillac "firsts" an an electric starter was one of them. :P

While Cadillac is credited for the introduction of the electric self-starter (designed and built by Alfred P. Sloan and his Dayton Engineering Laboratory Company--Delco), that was in 1912, on a 4-cylinder car. The Model 452 Cadillac was the first series Cadillac V16 (452cid), which was introduced for 1930, and continued in production until the end of the 1937 model year. The two innovations were present on the 1930 Cadillac V16.

Care to try again?

Art

Posted
Hey Art, how 'bout hydraulic brakes as the other?

I'm not up on my '30's cars as that's waaaaaaay before my time! :P

I'm not sure if others were using hydraulic brakes by then..............electric or mechanical?

Bill,

Cadillac had hydraulic brakes by 1930, but they didn't introduce them to the automotive world. That honor goes to Duesenberg Inc., in 1922.

Both of these innovations were major enough that they were ultimately adopted by just about every automaker on the planet. One gets cursed a lot when it doesn't work right, the other? Uh, people love it for sure!

Art

Posted
Art, could it be A/C? I know I really appericiate it! :P

There was a Cadillac V16 that had AC installed, but a few years afterward, which was done by some aftermarket outfit.

Not the innovations I am talking about--those were from the factory, and YOU most likely have owned a car with both features, millions upon millions of cars have been built with that technology.

Art

Posted
Bein a Caddy, could it have been power glass an Cruise Control? ALL my Cadillacs have had that. :lol:

Nope! Hint: Neither of these innovations is visible from curbside.

Art

Posted

Wow Art, you makin me even Crazier than I ALREADY am! Any body able to answer these questions? A curious Cadillac builder NEEDS to know! I gotta give up Art, you sure got me! :lol:

Posted
Wow Art, you makin me even Crazier than I ALREADY am! Any body able to answer these questions? A curious Cadillac builder NEEDS to know! I gotta give up Art, you sure got me! :lol:

George, think of silence as a keyword, to get you deeply in thought on these!

Art

Posted
All steel bodies and Insulation?I'm clutchin at straws here ART! Another hint maybe? :lol:

Nope! Cadillac used composite (wood structure, sheet metal skin) bodies built by both Fisher and Fleetwood until they got all steel bodies, with one-piece steel roofs in 1936, along with the rest of GM's line. As for insulation, there was sound deadening, but that wasn't any innovation then--luxury car makers had been insulating for silence from road noises for years already.

Art

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