A GDYNETS

PUBLICATION
2017, G. DAVID
YAROS. ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED.

Car Collector
Chronicles

Volume X, Issue 1

Exploring:

Ca

Car Collecting Today

High RPMs

Classic Rides
Reports From the Field
Oldsmobile (1897-2004)
Cadillac (1902- )
Allant (1987-1993)

Corvair (1960-1969)

= Clickable Link

IN THIS ISSUE:
High RPMs

Crystal Ball Gazing

Back Home
in Indiana

Auto Trivia

As promised last month,

but never presented due to
lack of space, we take a look
into the future of automobile
transportation.
This look
comes to us courtesy of the
Society of Automobile Engineers (SAE) which has seen
fit to include me on its mailing list.
I go back to my Indiana
roots to present information
on Milton O. Reeves. While
I doubt many of you recognize the name, I can assure
you that all of you make use
of one of his creations daily.
This month I shall be observing first hand the British
motoring scene.
In midJanuary the Mrs. and I shall
be spending some time in
London, along with a day trip
to gay ol Paree.
January Automotive Milestones
01-1897 Winton builds 1st
car with steering wheel

CCC Forum
EMail:

OldsD88@gmail.com

02-1923 Chevrolet debuts

1st air-cooled engine
05-1924 1st Chrysler debuts
06-1917 Gold-plated Studebaker displayed at NYC Auto
Show
06-1954 Kaiser Darrin goes
on sale
07-1918 1st Chevy truck built
09-1926 1st Pontiac built
10-1979 The last Beetle rag
top rolls off VW lines
13-1942 Ford patents a
method of constructing plastic
auto bodies
14-1954 Nash-Kelvinator
and Hudson merge to form
American Motors Corporation
16-1853 Inventor of the
pneumatic tire, Andr Michelin, born
16-1977 Dodge Omni and
Plymouth Horizon debut
17-1953 Corvette 1st intro'd
17-1903 Cadillac premieres
at Madison Square Garden
17-1956 Ford Motor Co.
goes public
22-1950 Preston Tucker
found not guilty of mail fraud

28-1896 East Peckham, Kent

Eng. Issues 1st speeding ticket for
doing 8 mph in a 2 mph zone
29-1886 Benz patents 1st gasoline-driven automobile
30-1958 Rambler American debuts

- Taking a winter nap!

GDYNets on the Web

Find GDYNets on the web:

Pics to Ponder

January 2017

CCC -THE FORUM -A web

site to discuss the newsletter,
the hobby and our cars.
Car Collector Chronicles
Saved 62 -Our 1962 Olds
convertible, Ransom Eli Olds
and things Oldsmobile related
web site.
The Gray Lady -1955 Cadillac
Coup de Ville web site.

SAVED 62: A website devoted

to our 1962 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 convertible. The site

also has a lot of information on
Oldsmobile cars and the company founder, Ransom Eli Olds.

THE GRAY LADY: This website features our 1955 Cadillac

Coup de Ville, lots of Caddy
information and an extensive
repair library.

DAVES DEN: -A site devoted to a myriad of interests.

Foremost is extensive information on the Steel City of Gary,
IN. There are also offerings on
steel making, U.S. Steel-Gary
Works, U.S. Marine Corps, M14
assault rifle, of course Oldsmobile, and the tragic story of the
murder of Gary, IN Police Lt.
George Yaros.

Car Collector Chronicles

Page 2

Crystal Ball Gazing

Cars, like
other
appliances
now, will
become throw
away items.
We wont
repair them.
Well just
pitch em and
get another as
a
replacement.

While recently perusing a tool catalog I could not help but notice how far battery technology has advanced. Today battery powered tools have far more power (voltage) than
just a few years ago and the price per volt for this technology is becoming more and
more reasonable. That is the way it is supposed to work, right?
Battery power is also the wave of the future when it comes to our cars. It has taken a
while, and there is still a way to go, but I do foresee my grandchildren not ever having to
go to a gas station for a fill-up. I also doubt they will even have to tether the car to an
electrical outlet when not in use. Rather, the garage floor shall contain an electromagnetic charging pad. Pull the car in, park it and it will start charging itself.
The Society of Automobile Engineers (SAE) says that soon cars shall be powered by
48v systems. So we go from 6v to 12v to 48v? I would call that a quantum leap. What
will that 48v system be doing, aside from powering woofers and tweeters? Here is an
SAE list of but a few things we shall be seeing:
Electrically-accelerated turbochargers
Electro-mechanically actuated valves
Electrified-axle modules that enable quick and easy all-wheel-drive
Electrically-actuated dampers for adjusting the suspension
Engine start-stop systems
On-demand operation of most ancillaries, including HVAC
Of course, all this electrification will serve to further reduce the number of shade tree
mechanics. Cars, like other appliances now, will become throw away items. We wont
repair them. Well just pitch em and get another as a replacement.
The other drawback I see is, what do we do with all these no longer functioning batteries at the end of their useful life? While I am a firm believer in recycling, I cannot
deny my chagrin at learning when I took a bunch of dry cell (flashlight) batteries to Batteries +Bulbs for recycling that it charged a fee for this.
Another innovation on the horizon, per the SAE, has to do with motor oils. We have
already progressed from dino to synthetic in order to be better stewards of our environment. But ever changing driving habits call for more refinements in this area. The
length and time of average trips by car keeps decreasing. It is now at 22 minutes and
7.5 miles per trip. This makes for extreme driving conditions. Us car buffs know that
running an engine for a short time, never letting it warm up, does more harm than good.
A motor oil that will facilitate rapid warm-up (time needed to get metal parts, coolant and
oil to operating temps) can reduce fuel consumption by double digits. That would be
significant, to say the least.
Autonomous vehicles are coming. What the heck is an autonomous vehicle? That is
a fancy way of saying driverless car. Ford says they shall be here by 2021. They
have already been spotted on the roads. The question I have is, will they be
accepted by the public? Will the proverbial road trip or vacation be as inviting with no
one behind the wheel? Certainly not to our ilk, who thoroughly enjoy driving their cars!
In the ever changing workplace, the wave of the future is cobots (collaborating
robots). They shall put an end to labor intensive, back breaking, dirt under the
fingernails jobs. Cobot is nothing more than a term used to make less threatening the
prospect of a robotic run manufacturing plant. Instead of assembly line workers, plants
shall have on-site a full-time mathematician. His job shall be to read and interpet bits &
bytes and program software and self-learning autonomous intelligent vehicles (AIVs) to
timely transport needed components to the assembly line.
The bottom line is that no matter how intelligent the factory floor becomes, there will
still/always be a need for humans on the line; sadly just not as many. Those that do
remain shall have to be both highly educated and skilled.

Car Collector Chronicles

Page 3

Back Home Again in Indiana

Having been born and raised in Indiana; Gary, Indiana, not Louisiana, Paris France or
Rome to be precise; I found this automobile manufacturer history to be of interest, and hope
you do to.
Milton Othello Reeves was born on a farm in Rush County, Indiana in the waning years of
the Civil War, 1864. He spent his adult life in Columbus, IN. Other notables with ties to Columbus, IN are soon to be V.P. Mike Pence, NASCAR driver Tony Stewart and KFCs Colonel Sanders before he was a colonel.
In 1896 Milt took to the roads with his creation, the fourth or fifth automobile made in
America (historians cannot agree on this). He called it the Motocycle. What made his motocycle unique was that it incorporated a variable speed transmission utilizing a belt and pulley
system. Henry Fords quadricycle, created at or near the same point in time had a singlespeed transmission. In addition to the VST, the car was powered by a 2 cylinder, 2 cycle, 6
h.p. engine.
A refined version of the motocycle was driven by Reeves to Indianapolis in 1897. History
records the car as being the first automobile ever seen in Indy. Remarkably, it was capable
of maintaining a speed of 30 m.p.h. While the drive to, and display in, Indianapolis was for
the purpose of marketing his creation, the public was not yet ready to buy these new fangled
contraptions. He sold all of five before he gave up the ghost on this endeavor in 1898.
Ever the tinkerer, Milton
continued to toy with cars. In
1911 he decided he could improve on the Overland. He
did so by adding two more
axles, 1 front & 1 rear, to the
car. He dubbed it the Reeves
OctoAuto. The idea behind
eight wheels was to vastly
improve the ride and, believe
or not, reduce tire wear! Tires
would wear less as each now
carried half the weight of conventional 4-wheeled cars? It
was advertised as The Easiest Riding Car in the World. Built on the principle of the Pullman Parlor Car.
The Reeves OctoAuto
was a right hand drive vehicle, over 20 long, with a
180 (15) wheelbase and a
40-horse engine.
Both
front axles turned when
steering. Only 1 rear axle
furnished traction for the
car.
The Reeves OctoAuto
was first presented to the
motoring public at the inaugural Indianapolis 500. It
found no buyers at $3,200
($85,492.13 in 2016). One
distinction the Octo may
claim is that in 2007 Time
Magazine named It one of
the ugliest cars ever built.

The idea
behind eight
wheels was
to vastly
improve the
ride and,
believe it or
not, reduce
tire wear!

Car Collector Chronicles

Page 4;;

Back Home in IndianaContd.

Not one to be discouraged, the following year Reeves presented the world with his SextoAuto. This car sat
on 3 axles and 6 wheels. This car, like its predecessor, went no where in terms of sales.
Less one thinks Milton O. Reeves was a total kook, you need to know
that he is remembered in automobile circles for inventing the muffler.
It was part of the design on his original 1896 creation, the Motocycle.
Additionally, Indiana thinks enough of Milt to hold an annual Reeves
Festival. Coincidentally, the First Annual Reeves Festival was held in
the same year that Time publicly disparaged his OctoAuto design.
Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery applies to the OctoAuto.
In 2010 another 8-wheeler surfaced on ebay. It featured two Mazda
rotary engines, two Jaguar differentials, eight four-lug wheels and a
bunch of flashing interior lights. The selling price was $4,900. That
sum computes to a paltry two hundred 1911 bucks; considerably lower
than Reeves $3,200 asking price for the OctoAuto!

Auto Trivia
This bit of info was found in my email back in November. It is from the folks at Rock Auto. I must
admit it caught me by surprise, which I guess is exactly what it was intended to do:
Which 2017 model was assembled with the most (by value) equipment (parts) from the US and Canada?
A. Chevrolet Camaro
B. Toyota Camry
C. Lincoln Continental
Duh? The correct answer is the foreign car company, Toyota!

Car Collector Chronicles

Page 5;;

Pics to Ponder

Ok, Ive had my say for the month. Now its your turn! I invite/encourage submission
of your comments, opinions and article contributions. I also ask that you please help
spread the word about our publication. Everything sent shall indeed be reviewed by
me. Submissions should be sent to CCC at OldsD88@gmail.com.

Now that you have finished reading the newsletter, if so inclined, like CCC on Facebook by going here. To UNSUBSCRIBE send an email to ==> OldsD88@gmail.com
_______________________________________

-- RESTORE 'EM, AND DRIVE 'EM!

COMING NEXT ISSUE:
TBD