Care You Car

Ford Motor Car

2009-04-01T23:32:00.000-07:00

The Ford Motor Car Company started with one mans dream of putting America on wheels. That man was Henry FordHenry Ford, born July 30, 1863. He grew up on the family farm in what is today Dearborn, Michigan. Henry's childhood was that of a typical boy living in rural nineteenth century, going to school and doing farm chores. His interest mechanical things and a dislike for farm work showed at an early age.
In 1879, Henry Ford left home at sixteen for the nearby city of Detroit He was going to work as an apprentice machinist. He worked at this for three years and then returned to Dearborn. Then for the next few years years, he operated and repaired steam engines, finding occasional work in a Detroit factory When time permitted, he over-hauled his father's farm implements. In 1888 he married Clara Bryant. Henry supported himself and his wife by running a sawmill.
In 1891, Ford he went to work for the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit as an engineer. This showed a conscious decision on Ford's part to dedicate his life to industrial pursuits. He was promoted to Chief Engineer in 1893. This gave him enough time and money to devote attention to his personal experiments on internal combustion engines.
These experiments led to the completion of his own self-propelled vehicle the Quadricycle in 1896.
Although Ford was not the first to build a self-propelled vehicle, he was, however, one of several automotive pioneers who helped this country become a nation of motorists.
In 1899 Ford quit his job at Edison and with the help of some investors, he started the Detroit Auto Company. This venture ended in failure.
Ford moved back to his father's home in 1901. He built a car on his own and with it beat Alexander Winton in automobile race. This attracted more investors and enabled him to form the Henry Ford Co. Ford withdrew from that company and it became Cadillac in 1902. In 1903 he formed the Ford Motor Co. The Model A was produced in a rented plant on Mack Ave. his arrangement last for one year and in 1903 he built Piquette Ave. plant at corner of Beaubien This building is still standing and being restored. In the same year Ford of Canada was founded in Windsor Ontario. By 1906 Ford had overtaken Olds, Buick and Cadillac combined to become No.1 auto maker in U.S. In the same year Henry Ford became the company president and majority owner.

Harley Earl

2009-04-01T23:30:00.001-07:00

Who was Harley Earl? Well without Harley Earl's help we would not have a Corvette today. Harley Earl started working for Generals Motors in 1927 as designer. Earl's job was to displace Ford Motors prominence in the automotive world. He had many successes with GM. Harley Earl loved Sports Cars, and when the returning GI's after World War II came home with MGs , Jaguars, convinced GM that they needed to build a sports car. The result was the 1953 Corvette! This was a nice car but was built almost entirely with existing part from the Chevrolet. Then along came Zora Arkus-Duntov. He was a man with a vision and this vision saved the Corvette. Zora was determined to develop the 'Vette into a true world class sports car. Soon, Zora became director of high performance at Chevrolet and set about transforming GM's largest division from a conservative company into a youthful, exciting one. In the process, he would change the Corvette from a docile roadster into a full-blown sports car that measured up on and off the racetrack against the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati, and Mercedes. So those are two names any Corvette fan should know.

Volvo P1800

2008-11-09T22:25:00.001-08:00

Volvo gained great publicity when, in 1961, they supplied a Volvo P1800 sport cars to ITC for their new TV series "The Saint". Based on the books of Leslie Charteris it stared Roger Moore. Volvo only too happy to supply a white car when Jaguar wouldn't supply an E Type.The first car supplied was a Jensen built Volvo registered 71 DXC. This car was used between 1961 and 1964. Volvo supplied another car in 1964, 77 GYL which was updated as the production model changed. It was fitted with Minilite wheels and altered bumpers. Two more cars where supplied NUV 647E and NUV 648E, one being used for filming and the other by Roger. The car on display in the museum is 77 GYL restored back to its original state. The photograph shows NUV 648E wearing a false number plate.

The Prisoner - Lotus Super Seven

2008-11-09T22:19:00.000-08:00

While filming an episode of "Danger Man" at the fantasy village of Portmeirion, North Wales in 1965, Patrick McGoohan conceived the idea of a series about a secret island village where former government agents were kept imprisoned. McGoohan himself played the non-conformist prisoner No. 6, who struggles relentlessly to crack the system. One of the main hallmarks of the series is the green and yellow Lotus Super Seven, driven by McGoohan before he is wisked away to the village. The transport in the village was provided by a fleet of brown and white Mini Moke taxis. The museum also owns a replica of one of these taxis.

Television Cars

2008-11-09T22:17:00.000-08:00

Even a million pound Bugatti could not create as much interest as the comical little car. Why? Because this is none other that the actual Trotters Independent Trader Reliant Regal Super Van! Pride and joy transport of those lovable rascals Del Boy and Rodney (two CSE's, if you don't mind) Trotter. These hilarious characters star in John Sullivan's highly succesful BBC comedy series "Only Fools and Horses".

TV Car

2008-11-09T22:06:00.001-08:00

The Munsters live at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in an impressive cobweb covered Gothic mansion. Father Herman is the head of the household. He is 7ft tall and bears a very close resemblance to Frankenstein's Monster. Lily his wife displays a touch of vampire about her, while their son Eddie has a great affinity towards werewolves. Other members of the family are Grandpa, who obviously a descendant of Count Dracula of Transylvannia and Marilyn who, is remarkably normal. Herman drives a rather special car "The Koach". This is a hot rod based on a lengthened 1923 Model T chassis with custom body and a massive Ford Cobra engine. It has Jahns high dome pistons and an Isky Cam and is fuelled through ten carburettors with huge gold plated intake pipes. The car on display is the actual original Munster Koach used in the world famous 60's TV series based around the Munster family. In the 70's the car toured the USA extensively and George Barris, its creator, gave the car a new paint scheme which it still displayed today.

2008-11-09T22:06:00.000-08:00

The Star

2008-09-07T19:24:00.001-07:00

Twinkle, twinkle, little star!
How I wonder what you are,
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle all the night.
The dark blue sky you keep
And often thro' my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye
Till the sun is in the sky.
Tis your bright and tiny spark
Lights the traveler in the dark;
Though I know not what you are
Twinkle, twinkle, little star!

A Silent Voice

2008-09-07T19:24:00.000-07:00

The situation seemed hopeless.
From the first day he entered my junior-high classroom, Willard P. Frank- lin existed in his own world, shutting out his classmates and me, his teacher. My attempts at establishing a friendly relationship with him were met with complete indifference. Even a “Good Morning Willar” received only an inau- dible grunt. I could see that his class- mates fared no better. Willard was strict- ly a loner who seemed to have no desire or need to break his barrier of silence.
Shortly after the Thanksgiving holi- day, we received word of the annual Christmas collection of money for the less fortunate people in our school district.
“Christmas is a season of giving,” I told my students. “There are a few students in the school who might not have a happy holiday season. By contributing to our Christmas collection, you will help buy food, clothing and toys for these needy people. We start the collection tomorrow.”
When I called for the contributions the next day, I discovered that almost everyone had forgotten. Except for Willard P. Franklin. The boy dug deep into his pants pockets as he strolled up to my desk. Carefully, he dropped two quarters into the small container.
“I don’t need no milk for lunch,” he mumbled. For a moment, just a mo- ment, he smiled. Then he turned and walked back to his desk.
That night, after school, I took our meager contributions to the school principal. I couldn’t help sharing the incident that had taken place.
“I may be wrong, but I believe Willard might be getting might be getting ready to become a part of the world around him,” I told the principal.
“Yes, I believe it sounds hopeful,” he nodded. “And I have a hunch we might do well to have him share a bit of his world with us. I just received a list of the poor families in our school who most need help through the Christmas collection. Here, take a look at it.”
As I gazed down to read, I dis- covered Willard P. Franklin and his family were the top names on the list.