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No one does cars like the Hoosiers, nor celebrates the astonishing contraptions that put us on the road to the elegance of the Cords and Auburns that invested the cornfields of the great heartland with an Art Deco elegance.
A lot of folks think of Detroit as the Motor City. Maybe it was the buckle on the auto-belt, but the archipelago of the freedom of the road sprawled from Ontario west, through northern Ohio and the heartland of Indiana, ending not far from Chicago, where they still can’t drive.
I have told you the story of Dad and his time with the Nash-Rambler concern down on Jefferson Avenue in the 1950s. It was pretty wild times for engineers and stylists who brought the horsepower that powered the new life of America.
After Dad retired in Northern Michigan, he talked to author and auto-nut Pat Foster about the transformation of American transportation. The view was bifurcated. Legendary GM designer Harley Earl brought the sizzle of the exotic brushstroke to the raw power of the V-8 engine. Dad absorbed that artistic inclination and tried to incorporate that sense to the Rambler design line under legendary AMC head of design Ed Anderson. If you are inclined to know more, Pat’s books are a great start. But this is actually an update on an annual car rally named for Dad.
It might be a function of the PR that went with Pat Foster’s books, or the fact that Dad was one of the last of the original crew George Romney entrusted with building good looking but sensible cars. Don’t get me going on that- we Rambler kids all had chips on our shoulders about the kids from GM, Ford and Chrysler and their roaring horsepower out on Woodward Avenue.
From their Aery on the bluff above the bay in northern Michigan, Mom and Dad were enticed to attend the annual club meet which was named in Dad’s honor. location bounces around, but of late we- and I speak as a member- have found Griffith AFB as a great place for the event. The confluence of col airplanes is quite remarkable, and Dad would thoroughly approve. Somewhere, I know he is smiling.
But while this is a bit about Dad, it is more about the people who care about these cars with a deep passion. This is the outcome of this year’s Bill Reddig Rally from Todd Harrington, club president. They have some remarkable rolling stock, including this remarkable Pepto-Bismol-colored 1959 Rambler Cross-Country station wagon named “Rosie,” at least while it was on our watch. my brother and I donated to Todd as a rolling memorial.
Long may she roll.
Copyright 2019 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com