If you’re a fan of the history of the Indianapolis 500 the name Marmon may mean something, because a Marmon Wasp, driven by company engineer Ray Harroun, won the first ever 500 in 1911. And in that race Marmon introduced what was to become an automotive staple – the rearview mirror. But for many in the old car hobby the name Marmon will be meaningless. Because chances are that outside of a major American auto museum you’ve never even seen a Marmon. They are few and far between, even in the U.S., and...

When General Motors decided to enter the motor home business in the early 1970s it became the only automobile manufacturer to produce a complete recreational vehicle. Many supplied running gear and chassis’ to RV builders, but GM decided to do the job entirely themselves. They would also provide unfinished units to those wishing to build them with their own customized features. The motorhome announcement by the formidable car company sent a chill through the RV industry. Shares of established RV...

Despite decent sales in 1960, the revolutionary designed and styled Corvair was a flop compared to Ford’s more conventional Falcon that outsold it two to one at more than 435,000 units. The Corvair brochure had stated this car, “…doesn’t need power steering, power brakes, a radiator, a waterpump, anti-freeze, or even water,” yet that wasn’t enough for buyers in these conservative times. The Corvair was like Rock n Roll -too non-conformist and revolutionary?! At the same time, America was starting to...

It was against Henry Ford II’s better judgment in 1955 that he allowed a committee of Ford executives to choose his father’s name to promote an entirely new division of Ford-built vehicles. But the men at the Ford Motor Company were so confident that the new division would achieve all of their financial and manufacturing objectives that they deemed it the highest honour to name it after Edsel Bryant Ford. Henry Ford II, Edsel’s eldest child and the president of Ford, was at first against the idea but...

Austin Sheerline – Bill Vance English Austins have usually been thought of by North Americans as small, economy cars, usually with four cylinder engines. The first one to gain real popularity was the A40, a pleasant little four passenger sedan that provided adequate performance and good fuel economy. It began arriving in quantity in 1948, and with the pent-up demand for new cars that followed the Second World War it did fairly well for a few years. It was followed by upgraded models such as the A50...