CarPort

These days everyone is looking for alternatives in the automobile industry, so what could be a more appropriate theme for Rétromobile, France’s midwinter old car show, than alternative energy, or énergies nouvelles as the French say. Showcased in the center of the exhibition hall were examples of steam, electric and hybrid vehicles covering more than….
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Two weeks ago, I posted this same picture with the caveat that it was “not an inauguration picture.” It seems, however, that I may have to eat some crow, for there is evidence that it was indeed taken during Calvin Coolidge’s 1925 inaugural celebrations. When I bought the photo from a British source many years….
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…Fifth Avenue, the photographers will snap us.” Irving Berlin, who wrote those words to his song “Easter Parade” in 1948, probably knew about DeSotos, but he could hardly have foreseen Wayne Graefen, the CarPort’s Texas Ranger. Wayne gads about in Texas and environs looking for interesting autos. Sometimes he buys them, like the Hupp Eight….
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It was cold in Washington, DC, this week, as the nation inaugurated our 44th President. For President Obama and his entourage there was no discomfort, as their new hermetically-sealed Cadillac limos kept them warm and dry. For the millions on the mall, however, it was shivers and shakes as the thermometer hovered in the high….
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I’ve mentioned before that I never had Tonka toys when I was growing up. I was not deprived, however. By the time I was seven or eight I had been given several Dinky Toys, and a new era in my life had begun. Dinky Toys were a British invention, sold by Meccano, Ltd., makers of….
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It was July 1990 and we were driving along in Beluga, our 1970 Chevy Impala, headed for a week’s vacation in Vermont. We’d been contemplating a change in our automotive stable, as our three children were outgrowing the Impala and our other vehicles comprised a Peugeot 504 Diesel and a rusty Dodge Club Cab pickup.….
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One thing instilled in me by my late father was an appreciation for tools, their care and feeding and especially the use of the right tool for the job. As a jack of many trades, in his 89-year lifetime he accumulated quite an array of tools, many of which I still have. One Christmas, some….
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You’ve read about my fondness for the 1935 Ford, the car my parents had when I was born, and how I’d like to have one some day. I’m pleased to report that the day has come, in a modest sort of way. This past October my cousin Suzy (center, between my sister Rosemary and wife….
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It comes as no surprise that the Big Three are extending their holiday plant shutdowns this year. The great industrial drama has been playing on the news for some time now, the players dancing around bankruptcy and government mulling a rescue plan. Although the times and situations are very different, one can’t help remembering the….
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A few months ago, I said I remember “Mommycar,” my mother’s 1935 Ford, as a Standard model. I’m beginning to doubt my recollections, as Standards came with one taillight and the only photo I can find clearly shows two. Of course, some items standard on the Deluxe model, like the second taillight and second horn,….
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