The Automoblie flashback series - "I love the 1920's" - The year is 1922

[Gateway]

Welcome to my "Automobile flashback series"

Every week, over the next 78 weeks, i will make a "Automobile flashback series" thread. Where, we will cover "that" year of the automobile. The good, the bad and the ugly. Interesting facts, outrageous opinions, and amazing feats will be posted.

I also want to let everyone know, if you have any questions at all, about the cars in these upcoming threads, do not be afraid to ask. We have lots of automotive knowledge here in the Car Lounge. These thread will be great, if we can get input (Questions/Answers) from every one of you.

Without any further a do, i present you the year 1922...

(VH1 Jingle)I love the 20's.... I love the 20's.... I love the 20's!!!!!(VH1 Jingle)

1922 - Where it all began for Jaguar - The Swallow Sidecar Company

"The Jaguar story is a 'rags to riches' one. It was, for 50 years, the story of one man who built up one of the world's greatest automotive names which is renowned for style, performance, tradition and quality.

To trace the birth of this British company, we must go back to the northern seaside town of Blackpool. Here a young motorcycle enthusiast by the name of Bill Lyons, not yet 21 years of age, met William Walmsley, who was building a rather stylish sidecar which he was attaching to reconditioned motor cycles.

Young Lyons immediately displayed the two traits that would be his greatest qualities for the next 50 years or so. His business acumen shrewdly espied a good commercial opportunity and his eye for style appreciated the attractive appearance of these normally mundane creations. He felt there was great potential if the activity could be organised along business lines and production increased to make the operation viable.

As soon as William Lyons came of age, the Swallow Sidecar Company was formed in September 1922, with a bank overdraft of £1,000.

Humble first and second floor premises were obtained in Blackpool and, with a handful of employees, production commenced. A young Arthur Whittaker was taken on to help with sales but proved better at buying. He remained with the company for around 50 years becoming one of the shrewdest buyers in the business.

Pioneering the use of aluminium, the very stylish sidecars were immediately popular and production expanded rapidly. "

Modified by Gateway at 11:27 PM 2-5-2005

[vwlarry]

C'mon, history buffs; there's more to car-lounging than debating the merits or lack of same of Jetta Vs, or whether 22 or 24-inch rimz look more phat on my new Scion Xb (or is it xB...oh whothehellcaresanyway).

So, 1922 it is. Well, one of the major automotive happenings of this solar-orbit from 83 round-trips previous took place when Henry Ford (you know, that evil white guy who turned the whole world into wage-slaves and dated Hitler or something), at the behest of his patrician and oh-so-tasteful son, Edsel (why did Henry name his son after that dreadful car?...but I digress...) purchased the moribund Lincoln Motor Car Company from a certain Mr. Henry M. Leland for a fire-sale price of $2 million dollars.

Mr. Leland, who not only was already famous as the "Master of Precision" who also founded Cadillac, and would later achieve even greater fame as Colonel Harlan Sanders, the Kentucky Fried Chickenfat King (look at photographs and tell ME it's not the same guy ), was apparently a man who, while anally retentive when it came to quality, had all the sense of style of Ralph Nader's tailor. His Lincoln automobiles were revered for their engineering excellence the world-over, but people just didn't really want to be SEEN in the things. 'Ugly as a mud fence, they'd say. So, when the line on the Lincoln sales-chart crashed into the floor, Ford sensed the opportunity to snatch a bargain, and bought the company for his son to play with.

Later that century, when Edsel Ford applied his artistic touch to the marque, history was made, etc etc.

So, what else interesting happened in '22? David? Taimar?

ANYBODY???

Modified by vwlarry at 12:21 AM 2-8-2005

[vwlarry]

This topic shouldn't need life-support, but sobeit.

Doesn't ANYONE here have any interest in cars prior to 1990?

[garagemonster]

Quote, originally posted by vwlarry »

This topic shouldn't need life-support, but sobeit. Doesn't ANYONE here have any interest in cars prior to 1990?

No fair, Gateway started this thread on Saturday! Plus I left for Chicago on business Monday morning. It took me until this morning just to catch up!

Enough with the b!itching and onto the cool stuff.

1922 was a banner year for racing fans as it was the year that Ferdinand Porsche (another man with ties to the Reich), then Technical Manager at Austro-Daimler, embraced competition as a means to improve the breed.

Behold the "Sascha"

Displacing a mighty 1.1 litres over four cylinders, the car went on to win 43 of its 51 starts throughout Europe, most notably first and second places in-class in the Targa Florio. (Ever wonder why there's a Porsche Targa?)

Who's next? There can't just be Gateway, vwlarry and me interested in this stuff! How can you know where you're going if you don't know where you've been?


Modified by garagemonster at 7:31 PM 2-8-2005

[Viss1]

In 1922 I was a young lad fresh out of the Great War, where I had served gallantly as a cook in a Belgian brothel. The workload was a bit tough, but I can tell you the perks were the bee's knees.

A few of the lads took to driving our customers' motorcars while they were "otherwise occupied." Occasionally, a visitor would instruct us to fill his motor up with petroleum distillate, post-haste. My favorite models were the Bentleys. After I had completed my service, I obtained a 1922 3-Litre like the one pictured below in exchange for two weeks' labor in a raccoon-tail hat factory.

The lads also acquired various motorcars, and we flirted with racing. We would tie an onion to our belt, as was the custom at the time.


Modified by Viss1 at 10:06 PM 2-8-2005

[vwlarry]

Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Montgomery Burns!

("Exxxx-cellent")


Modified by vwlarry at 8:43 AM 2-8-2005

[SMG]

Quote, originally posted by vwlarry »

Doesn't ANYONE here have any interest in cars prior to 1990?

I'm waiting for the '60s. Only 38 more weeks to go

[PackRat]

1922 Chevy.

[Taimar2]

1922? Well the industry was stlll growing at that time, the massive consolidations of the late 1920's and 1930's hadn't yet really taken place.

But I can tell you that 1922 was the year when the Pontiac was first concieved as a companion for the Oakland, though the actual car would not arrive until 1926.

What else happened in 1922?

GM and chevy had a big disaster with the Kettering Copper-cooled engine in Chevrolets. Fewer than 1000 of the experimental cars were made. Only 300 went to dealers, and all were recalled and destroyed.

Billy Durant, now two years since his time at GM ended, launched a low-priced car to compete with Chevy, Ford, and Willys (then the low-priced three) - the Star captured a decent share of the market but never managed to really compete with the bigger outfits, and Durant motors died quietly in 1931. The bigger, more expensive Durants had been on the market for about a year.

Late in the year, the Sprinfield tourer became the first car available with a radio as a factory option.

The NADA used-car value guide premiered.

In the fall of 1922, a Model T runabout, the cheapest body available, would've cost you $265.

The Triumph motor car, of England, was born in Coventry.

In very late 1922, the Wills St. Claire, best known for it's advanced OHC V8, added the first back-up light.

Two major models were introduced in Europe in 1922 that would change the course of Automotive history. One was the unibody Lancia Lamda, the first unibody car. The other was the cheap and spartan Austin 7, which would form the basis of many licensed manufacturers and give rise to manufacturers including Toyota, Jeep, and BMW.

[vwlarry]

Rolls Royce ceased production in their Springfield, Massachusetts plant in 1922, IIRC.

BTW, the Coppercooled Chevrolet has one survivor. A preacher bought one, and refused to sell it back to GeeEmm. Henry Ford acquired it later, and it resides in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Michigan, today.

Ironic, eh?

[garagemonster]

That same Targa Florio I mentioned above also saw the first meeting of two motorsports legends:

Alfred Neubauer in the Austro-Daimler Sascha

and

Enzo Ferrari in a Alfa Romeo 20-30 ES

Ferrari ended up in 16th place and Neubauer in 19th. Poor Neubauer's race was notable for him spending the entire 8 hour () stint without seeing another single car. Quoth he "A racing driver can be the world's loneliest human being."

[Gateway]

Great pics/info garagemonster, keep em coming.

[vwlarry]

"1922 was a banner year for racing fans as it was the year that Ferdinand Porsche (another man with ties to the Reich), then Technical Manager at Austro-Daimler, embraced competition as a means to improve the breed."

Actually, in point of fact, Dr. Porsche's utilization of motorsport competition traces all the way back to the turn of the century. He drove his own creation, the Lohner-Porsche with the "mixte" gasoline/electric propulsion system, in hillclimbing events in Austria.

...not being critical, just adding info.

[4x4s]

WILLARD VELIE grandson of JOHN DEERE graduated from Yale in 1888. The Velie Car Co. became a leader in quality, not size. Today the Velie is remembered only by automobile buffs, but in its day it was prized for its combination of quality and low price. In 1922 the U.S. Navy Dept. in New York tested 76 foreign and domestic cars. Its goal was to select the best features of automobiles motors for the adaptation to aircraft.. Only eight passed the test. Duesenberg, Fiat, Packard, Brewster, Hispano-Suiza,Isotta-Fraschini and the VELIE. For the first six years the Velies were advertised in the John Deere catalogue.

1922 VELIE, MODEL 58, 5 PASS, TOURING

1922 VELIE MODEL 58 SPORTS TOURING - DISK WHEELS, VELIE 6 ENGINE

Velie went on to manufacture airplanes. Velie autos were made from 1908 to 1928. Willard Velie died on Oct.24, 1928. His son closed the Velie factory in Nov. he said "that he could not run the Velie plant and the aircraft plant, at the same time".

Velie Monocoupe Model 70 ...one of the first planes ever built for private fliers. Velie Monocoupes were built from 1927-1929.

Modified by 4x4s at 11:45 AM 2-13-2005

[vwlarry]

I've just learned that Gateway, the author of this series of topics, is leaving VWVortex, for reasons that are incomprehensible to me. All I know is that if he is a member in bad standing in these forums, then maybe I am too.

Are these forums metamorphosing completely into a padded-room for bipolars and pimple-faced adolescents to sling their excrement at each other?

[stock60]

just came in for a so you guys don't think noone cares

[VWteknik]

Me too!

[vwlarry]

I apologize for getting morose, but there is something happening to this forum that troubles me.

The same thing is happening to our culture. It's de-evolution.

[vw fiend]

where is he going? intelligent threads will be missed... anyway to convince him not to go?

my buick contribution:

1922 Buick Touring Sedan model 22-4-45

1922 Buick Touring Car

[Alex W]

1922 was a very good year.

http://www.christophgrohe.ch/l....html

[4x4s]

Quote, originally posted by vwlarry »

I've just learned that Gateway, the author of this series of topics, is leaving VWVortex, for reasons that are incomprehensible to me. All I know is that if he is a member in bad standing in these forums, then maybe I am too. Are these forums metamorphosing completely into a padded-room for bipolars and pimple-faced adolescents to sling their excrement at each other?

Farewell Gateway, if this is true.

I, for one, will attempt to continue this sort of thread. I already have my 1923 post ready - I was waiting for the next in the series to begin.

Don't let the morons win VWLarry - giving up is the wrong answer.

[onebadbug]

Despite an incredible production increase of over 135%, the Hudson Motor Co. (Including Essex Motors) remained as the 7th over-all US manufacturer.

1922 marked the consolidation of the two formerly separate companies that had always been headed by the same executives and managed as a single company anyway.

The Hudson 4 passenger Phaeton is renamed the Speedster, a name last used by the company in 1917.

1922 would be the last year for The Hudson Motor Co. to offer a Limousine.

A Hudson driven by King Rhiley took first place in the Pike’s Peak event for cars with over 300 c.i.d. finishing in 20 minutes, 5 seconds. An Essex driven by Glenn Schultz also came in first in it’s class with a time of 20 minutes 41 seconds.

Hudson prices this year ranged from $1525 for the 4 seat open Speedster to $3495 for the 7 passenger Limousine.

Essex prices ranged from $1045 for the Touring Car to $1895 for the Sedan, both were 5 passenger cars.

The 1922 Essex Coach

Modified by onebadbug at 6:06 PM 2-19-2005


Modified by onebadbug at 7:06 PM 2-19-2005