Running Out Of Gas!

In addition to a relatively accurate fuel gauge, modern cars have a Low Fuel Light to warn when it's time to fill up. And unless you're driving somewhere like Highway 95 in Nevada, you can count on passing a service station at least every few miles. That takes all the adventure out of managing the fuel in your tank. It wasn't always that way...

Back in the early days of motoring, most cars didn't have fuel gauges – with the Ford Model T for example, to check the fuel level, you pulled over, lifted up the front seat cushion (yes the tank was under the seat) and dipped a stick in the fuel tank. Ford Dealers gave out free wooden dipsticks marked with gallon graduations. Before service stations became common, motorists bought their gasoline in canisters at a general store – definitely not 24/7 service.

BETTER THAN NOTHING
Fast forward a few years and cars had rudimentary fuel gauges – the Model A Ford's (produced from 1927 to 1931) was a metal rod on a pivot with a cork on the end, floating in the tank. To say it was not too accurate is an understatement. Combine this with far fewer service stations and running out of gas was a regular occurrence. The smart motorist always carried a can with an extra gallon or two.

DRIVING ON RESERVE

Early Volkswagen Beetles didn't have fuel gauges. Instead there were two fuel pickups in the gas tank – the "MAIN" projected up into the tank an inch or so, while the "RESERVE" was right at the bottom. This meant that when you ran out of gas on the "MAIN" there was a bit of fuel left in the tank. A lever on the floor beside the accelerator pedal, switched the fuel pickup from "MAIN" to "RESERVE". When the driver refuelled the car, it was crucial they reset the lever to "main." Then later, when the car ran out of gas, the driver simply flipped the lever to "RESERVE" and carried on to the nearest gas station. The key to this system relied on the driver resetting the switch to "MAIN" when refuelling. If this was NOT done, then the car would use all the gas and you'd be stranded.

RUNNING ON FUMES
Years ago, Diane and I were travelling along a lonely highway in Nevada (see picture above) heading towards the town of Goldfield. The gauge was reading WAY below the "E" and I was putting the lightest touch on the accelerator trying to stretch the fuel to its max. We did not want to be stuck in the middle of the desert! On every downhill I'd shut the engine off and coast to the bottom. When the town finally came into sight, we both breathed a sigh of relief. Had we not had that close encounter with an empty tank, I don't think my memories of that part of our trip would be so vivid.

A GREAT CAR MOVIE

Incidentally, a few months before our "Running On Fumes" adventure near Goldfield, the 1971 movie "Vanishing Point" had been filmed on the SAME road! That movie is well worth a watch, specially for fans of the original MOPAR muscle cars – this film features a 1970 Challenger R/T 440. Barry Newman played the lead character "Kowalski", Cleavon Little was blind DJ "Super Soul" and Gilda Texter is memorable as "Nude Motorcycle Rider."

FILLER ON THE LEFT SIDE
Most North American, Japanese and Korean cars have the filler cap on the left side of the car. I believe this so drivers can more easily judge when pulling up to the pumps. If you have the misfortune to run out of gas on a roadway with no shoulder, that left side filler is going to put your life in grave danger. Picture yourself standing beside your vehicle with a jerry can pouring fuel in your tank – cars are whizzing by, having to swerve around you. I know of one fatality in our area that resulted from this exact scenario – pouring rain, no shoulder, left side filler cap. What a shame. Somebody should point out this hazard to our auto manufacturers.

ROMANTIC INTERLUDES
In the olden days, young men often used running out of gas as a way to extend their "alone" time with their sweetie.

DIESEL ENGINES
When you run out of fuel with a gasoline powered car, you just pour in some gas and crank the starter. After few moments the engine will fire and you're on your way. It's not as simple with a diesel engine that runs out of fuel. The high pressure fuel pump has to be reprimed – that usually involves a tow to the dealer or a roadside visit by a skilled technician.

TWO-STROKE MOTORCYCLES
Back in the late sixties I was riding a motorcycle with a two-stroke engine. Two-strokes had to have oil mixed into the gas – this was how the engine was lubricated. Motorcycles had a MAIN/RESERVE fuel switch just like the Beetle mentioned above. The added wrinkle was that when the engine ran out of fuel it also ran out of oil. If the rider didn't switch from MAIN to RESERVE very quickly, the engine would seize. Not only would the engine be seriously damaged, having the back wheel unexpectedly stop turning could cause the rider to crash the bike. Not fun. 

There you have it, way more information on running out of fuel than you ever wanted to know!

Is it Time To Bring Back The Cabover?

In the past, the length of a transport truck was an important issue, as the maximum vehicle combination length (truck and trailer) was regulated – a longer truck meant it had to tow a shorter trailer. Truck manufacturers were under pressure to shorten their vehicles – the "Cab Over Engine" (COE) design was their solution.  

Nowadays North American pickup trucks are getting longer every year. The overall length of the latest ultra-crewcab long box trucks is nearly twenty feet! Perhaps it's time for us to revisit the cabover configuration. Back in the 1980's I had a 1966 Dodge A100 pickup just like the one shown below. That truck had a pickup bed 8-1/2 feet long and a very spacious cab, in the same length as a compact car!

In both Asia and Europe this style of truck is the most common, again mainly for packaging efficiency and greater manoeuverabity in the tight spaces common in their cities.

Why can't North Americans have a pickup design that provides the same amount of usable passenger and cargo space as the current crop of full-size trucks, but in a much shorter package? One that actually fits in our ever-shrinking parking spaces. As an added bonus, with its shorter wheelbase the truck would have a tighter turning circle.

Shown below is my concept for a new Ford Cabover Pickup! A vehicle with virtually the same space in the bed and cab as our current crop of full-size pickups. Pardon the pun, but Ford has gone to great "lengths" to reduce the weight of their new aluminum bodied trucks – just think of how much lighter it could be if it was three or more feet shorter.

I suspect your first impression of my concept's different proportions will be less than favourable. But give it a serious second look, I mean REALLY study it – and its bulldog-like cabover shape will grow on you. Combine that with its improved functionality and I think you'll conclude it's a winner!

The New Miata – The Front End Is Not Quite Right

There's lots to like about the new Miata, but I'm not a fan of the front end design proportions. The sideview profile shows the highest point of the front fender is significantly behind the centre point of the front wheel. Maybe it's only me, but that just looks wrong. Since the early thirties cars have had the high point of the fender directly over the centre of the wheel. Take a look at the 1934 Ford below to see what I mean.

Here's the side profile of the new Miata

To help visualize the relationship between the wheel and fender, I've added a thin blue line vertically from the centre of the front wheel – see how the arch of the front fender peaks well behind that line. 

Here's my rework of the new Miata I've raised the headlights and moved the peak of the front fender to be above the centre of the front wheels. I think this looks much better. What say you?

In addition, the original car sits too high over its wheels. The centre of the wheelwell opening and the centre of the wheel should be the same – MY MIATA is lowered to the correct visual ride height.

You never really know what you'll find...

In June 2012, my wife Diane and I took a holiday drive down to explore the Oregon coast. Sadly, the weather was mostly not conducive to walks along the beach marvelling at the scenery. Cold, wet, and fog, these were the operative words. After toughing it out for a few days we decided to pull the plug and come home.
A day into our return trip, we'd gotten away from the coast and were enjoying the sights of the Columbia River Valley. Our route took us east and we eventually got on to Highway 97 to take us north back to Canada and home. The weather made great strides – we were now enjoying clear blue skies and warm temperatures.
We were cruising along quite nicely and Toppenish Washington was the next town we would encounter. "We've got to turn around!" I shouted, applying the brakes, looking for a sideroad to do so. When Diane asked why, I said, "We just passed the biggest old car boneyard I've ever seen!" There were literally piles of old cars and parts taking up acres of space beside the road. I gingerly walked in the driveway and knocked on the door of the house on the property, hoping to gain permission to take some photos. Unfortunately there was no answer, so on the way back to the car I took as many quick pics as I dared. Here's one taken from the road – as you can see there's one heck of a lot of vintage tin sitting here.

Recently, I had another look at these photos and my shots of several very large, very old, very strange-looking flatbed trucks, all bearing the name 'Curtis Publishing Company' caught my eye. After I'd worked up an interesting picture of one of the more complete trucks, I thought I should find some historical information on these vehicles. Google, what have you got?

Well, it turns out the Curtis Publishing Company (which published several magazines, including: Jack and Jill, Holiday, Ladies Home Journal, and Saturday Evening Post). Starting around 1910, they used a fleet of twenty-two of these trucks to deliver their periodicals throughout Philadelphia PA. These ELECTRIC trucks were built by the 'Commercial Truck Company' also of Philadelphia. 

The trucks silently plied the streets of the city at night dropping off bundles of magazines to all the newsstands. They carried a payload of ten tons, and although they had a top speed of only 12 mph (unloaded) and 6 mph with a full load. They were so successful at their task, the Curtis Company used them up until 1962 – absolutely amazing!

Here's a  copy of my digital painting of this wonderful old beast... hope you like it. 

I had fun doing an image of this downright goofy old truck. It's so weird-looking, I couldn't help liking it. If you want to know more about the history of these early electric vehicles, just google the Curtis Publishing Company or the Commercial Truck Company. In closing, here's a picture of a fully-restored Model F-5...

Headlights And Such

It's been a while since I've posted on this blog – my apologies. I'll try to get back on a more regular schedule.

Headlights are a critical component to driving safely at night. Combined with good night-driving techniques and a clean windshield, good headlights can reduce your chances of having a collision (approximately half of all deadly accidents occur at night, yet night driving accounts for only 25 percent of overall traffic).
The first headlights appeared in the late 1880's, and were fuelled by acetylene and oil. It was time-consuming hard work to operate them. Not long after, electric lights were introduced, and although the fragile filaments in the bulbs failed often, they were a vast improvement. Cadillac was the first to add the luxury of switch controls INSIDE the vehicle. Prior to that, drivers were at risk of being shocked, burned, or run over when switching each individual light on/off and to high/low beam.
Headlight technology improved very little over the next forty years. The typical headlight had a glass lens, a chrome-plated reflector and a bulb. Each carmaker had unique headlights to suit the "style" of their car. Combine the large number of unpaved roads with fragile glass lenses and auto part suppliers were forced to stock a great variety of replacement lenses and bulbs. Another issue was the mediocre moisture seals in most headlamp assemblies – over time moisture rusted the reflectors – light output got dimmer and dimmer. To solve these problems, it was mandated in North America that beginning in 1940 every new car and truck was to use the same seven inch round headlamp. To eliminate the rusting problem a "sealed beam lamp" was required. Sealed beams combine the lens, bulb and reflector into one sealed unit. Eventually, two sizes of both round and rectangular sealed beams were available. But car stylists complained their designs were restricted by having only these few headlamp options...
In 1983, the 44-year-old US headlamp regulations were amended to allow replaceable-bulb, nonstandard-shape, architectural headlamps with aerodynamic plastic lenses. Today, as in years past, every car's headlights are different. However, the lenses are now made from very durable plastic, the reflectors are chrome-plated plastic (which does not rust) and the replaceable bulbs use only a few standard sizes. The only downside I see is a wide range of quality in the plastic lenses – some stay crystal clear for years (like my 10 year old smart car's lights), while others look cloudy and yellowed in only a few years.
Then Came HID
HID stands for high-intensity discharge, a technical term for the electric arc that produces the light. These units produce brilliant bluish light. There's no bulb or filament in the light so they should last longer. Initial cost is much higher than more conventional lamps.
Now We're Getting LED's 
Headlamps running on light emitting diodes are becoming more common. They have several advantages due to having multiple light sources within the lamp. With some very clever software AUDI has made the first glare-free high beam. Check out this youtube video showing how they work.
But Wait Lasers Are Coming! 
Actually the new BMW i8 has them now and here's a youtube video explaining their new technology.
Then There's "OLD SCHOOL" Lighting!
Back in the day, a night-driving enthusiast would first replace his car's sealed beam headlights with "Cibie" halogen units. Next, high-powered driving lights would be mounted on top of the bumper. These would be complemented by a set of fog lamps mounted as low as possible – often these had yellow lenses. Finally the most obsessed enthusiasts mounted multiple auxiliary lights on the roof. To operate all these lights took a bank of toggle switches.
FOG: with headlamps on low beam, switch this to ON and the yellow fog lamps illuminated and low beams went out. Fog lamps are meant to shine below fog and mist thus minimizing glare, this is only possible if the normal headlamps are switched off*.
DRIVING: switch this to ON and the lights mounted over the bumper would illuminate when high beam was selected. When the headlamps were dipped to low-beam, the driving lights went out.
AUX: switch this to ON and the lights on the roof would illuminate when high beam was selected.
What great fun it was to drive at night with all these lights burning! A mile of road would be lit up bright as day! With the enthusiast flipping these switches, heel and toe shifting and watching TEMP, OIL PRESSURE and TACHOMETER he or she didn't have time to get drowsy!  

Here's an old guy in an original mini equipped with a full set of rally-style lighting.

*Many modern cars come with what looks like fog lamps low on their front fascias – these are completely useless as they can only be switched on WITH the low beam headlights. All they do is illuminate the first ten feet of road in front of the car and create more glare for oncoming drivers. In fact, many drivers don't even know they have these useless lights turned on! Their only purpose is to let others know your car isn't the absolute cheapest model!

Have Your Heard of Erwin Komenda?

Erwin Komenda (1904 – 1966)

If you've ever driven, or ridden in, a Porsche, you probably noted how solid and rattle free the car was, no matter its age. If so, you can thank Erwin Komenda for that. From 1931 to his death in 1966 he was Chief Engineer and leader of the Porsche car-body construction department.
Prior to joining Ferdinand Porsche's new company, Erwin's education and work experience gave him the know-how to create car bodies that were both light and structurally sound – the ideal recipe for any car but crucial for a sports car! His first project with Porsche was to develop the body construction of the Volkswagen Beetle. He followed that by teaming up with Josef Mickl to design the Auto Union Grand Prix car, a mid-engined V-16 monster.
In 1946, Porsche decided they were going to build and produce their own sports car. It was Erwin that both designed the look of the car and engineered how it was to be constructed. That car came to be known as the Porsche 356. His work on that car and subsequent projects, including the 550 Spyder and the Type 901 (which became the 911), can still be seen in the cars Porsche produces today.
While Komenda was essentially an automotive engineer, his creations definitely had an artistic element to them. Probably the most notable being the Porsche 356 Series which was produced from 1948 to 1965. I still think this is one of the most beautiful cars ever built! Its elegant simplicity is something many modern designers could learn from.

Above is my digital painting based on a photo I took at the staging area for the 2009 Mille Miglia in Brescia, Italy. (Click on the image to enlarge it.) This beautifully prepared car is a 1954 Pre-A Coupe, my favourite era for the 356. I specially like the bent windshield, which was shaped to fit in the same opening as the earlier cars that were fitted with a two-piece windscreen. The car's unusual green colour made me think that if it was mine, "I'd be tempted to call it Kermit." For that title to make sense, I photoshopped myself into the frame, looking directly at you the viewer – my apologies to the guy whose head I replaced with mine! 

Was LaSalle the first muscle car?

In the middle of the roaring twenties, Alfred P. Sloan, CEO of General Motors is hard at work ensuring "The General" has a car in each and every price category potential buyers might want. But there's a problem, a few gaps have developed. Their product line started with entry-level Chevrolet, then Oakland, Oldsmobile, Buick and with Cadillac at the top.
When the gap widened between Chevy and Oakland, Alfred added a new brand in between, called Pontiac. Similarly, when the gap increased between Oldsmobile and Buick, there were two more models created: Viking and Marquette (don't feel bad if you've never heard of them, I hadn't either). Marquette was placed below Buick, but above Oldsmobile's Viking.
The car buying public found all these marques confusing. Sales of Viking cars was dismal and Marquette just a bit better – both were gone by 1930. Oakland was quickly overtaken by the more popular Pontiac and disappeared completely in 1933. Since Cadillac's prices had soared in the early 1920's, Sloan decided they needed a lower priced model to fill the gap to Buick. LaSalle debuted in 1927.

The dapper Harley Earl

LaSalle was built by Cadillac to its high standards, but with a difference. It was not a junior Cadillac, but a car that was more agile and stylish. LaSalle is considered by many to mark the beginning of American automotive styling.
Harley Earl (1893-1969) was working in his father's custom coach building shop, when his design skill was "discovered" by Lawrence P. Fisher, general manager of Cadillac. Fisher was so impressed with the young Earl's abilities he commissioned him to design the new LaSalle. The resulting car was a resounding success and as a result Earl became Head of Design at General Motors. The beginning of a thirty year career for Earl with GM.

LaSalles came with Cadillac's V8 under the hood.  
In 1928, its 303 cubic inch 90 degree V8 made 75 horsepower. (For comparison, the Ford Model A's engine produced 40 hp.) This engine made the LaSalle a fast car and its smaller than a Cadillac size made it nimble and sportier to drive.
On June 20, 1927 a LaSalle driven by Willard Rader and Gus Bell went 1,532 kilometres, averaging 153.2 km/h at the Milford Proving Grounds. Quite an achievement when compared the average speed of that year's Indianapolis 500 at 156.9 km/h.
Maybe it's just me, but doesn't putting a big engine in a small car sound familiar? Pontiac GTO, Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, Plymouth Barracuda to cite a few examples. Even the Allard, Sunbeam Tiger and the AC Cobra followed the same trail pioneered by the LaSalle.
With the coming of the Great Depression, LaSalle's role changed from that of a lesser companion to Cadillac to a means of keeping GM's luxury car division out of the red. Again, with the help of Earl's elegant styling touches, LaSalle weathered the depression. Sadly, when the economy started to pick up, there were new cars from other manufacturers that stepped on LaSalle's toes. The marque soldiered on but its sales were surmounted by the Packard One-Twenty and the Lincoln-Zephyr. GM wasn't sure what to do with the marque, as a result it slowly started to disappear, and by 1940 it was gone.

The Connection to the TV show "All In The Family"
Each episode began with Archie and Edith sitting at the piano murdering the show's theme song "Those Were The Days." There's one line of lyric that I could never quite decipher, it sounded something like, "Gee are oh lessel run gray." I happened to stumble upon the words to the song written out and the line is actually, "Gee our old LaSalle ran great! Here's a link: "Those Were The Days!"

In conclusion, here's my digital painting of a 1928 LaSalle coupe. It's based on a series of photos I took of a car at the Boyd Father's Day Car Show this year. At the time I was being thwarted by this fellow who seemed to get in the way every time I snapped a pic. When I started working on this image, I thought it would be more fun to keep him in the frame. Hence the title, "Takes More Than A Second Look." Click on the image to enlarge it.

ps Like Cadillac, the LaSalle brand name was based on that of a French explorer, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle.