Blue Friday

The day after Thanksgiving is called "Black Friday." Reportedly it's the time when eager pre-Christmas shoppers put merchants' businesses into the black, or a least they hope so. In any case, Black Friday has become like Punxsutawney Phil, a harbinger of things to come. Excellent sales on this one day are considered a portent for a good year.

Auto dealers are not the principal beneficiaries of holiday shopping. Cars are not exactly giftware, but dealers do watch the fortunes of their retail brethren. A sagging economy affects all merchants. Actually, car dealers were feeling the pinch long before the October stock market crumble and the GM cash crunch. I was taken aback this spring to find that New London Motors, our local Lincoln-Mercury-Mazda store, was no longer selling new cars. The franchises had been sold to Whaling City Ford, diagonally across the corner on "dealers' row," which now calls itself Whaling City Ford Lincoln Mercury Mazda. New London Motors, we're told, is taking a franchise for Eurospeed scooters, their launch scheduled for spring. I wonder how many they'll sell if gasoline is still below $2.00 per gallon, as it is now.

This is not the first big change for New London Motors. In the 1960s, they were selling Lincolns, Mercurys and Triumphs from a location that is now a medical office. Nor is the Lincoln-Mercury franchise the only one to change hands. What was once the Buick dealership has evolved into a Unitarian-Universalist church, and the present full-line GM dealer M.J. Sullivan (no relation to the former Buick dealer) also handles Hyundai. Not everything is cool at M.J. Sullivan, however. Rapid expansion a few years back left them with excess showroom space. Formerly leased to a discount furniture store, this building is now available for your retailing enterprise.

Reports say that the big box stores made modest gains over last year's Black Friday sales. For car dealers, though, I expect it was a Blue Friday, with all hints of an approaching Blue, Blue Christmas.

The Short Flight of Aero Willys

The name "Willys" conjures up thoughts of Jeeps and their many variations, not ordinary passenger cars. This is despite the fact that the Jeep's ancestor, the Overland, was second only to Ford from 1912 to 1918, and that until World War II Willys trucks were relatively rare. The company's Whippet was the third-best selling car in 1928, and in 1933 all large cars like the Willys-Knights were ditched in favor of the compact and low-priced Willys 77, which progressed through several stages, the last of which were called "Americar." Trucks during this period comprised pickup versions of the cars.

After the war, Willys had hopes of returning to cars. In fact, some attractive designs were penned by designer Brooks Stevens and a prototype sedan was built. However, the difficulties of resuming production dictated concepts that were simple to manufacture, and so the perpendicular wagons (another Stevens design)were the closest thing to cars to emanate from the Toledo factories. Later on, of course, came the sporty Jeepster, a passenger car for sure.

Model year 1952 marked Willys-Overland's return to cars. Styled by Phil Wright, whose prior art included the Pierce Silver Arrow and the 1935 Ford, and engineer Clyde Paton, the new Aero model was a small (108-inch wheelbase) unibody car with lots of interior room. There were three series, entry-level Lark, mid-range Wing and top-of-the-line Ace, the latter with a wrap-around rear window. An Eagle hardtop coupe was added in mid-year, with its own upmarket interior. Powered by the Willys 161 cid six-cylinder engines (L-head in the Lark, F-head in Wing and Ace), the cars were decent performers, and cheaper, though less well appointed, than Nash's Rambler.

For 1953, a Falcon series was added above Lark, and four-door models became available in all series. In 1954, cars got new taillights and bumper guards. The Falcon was dropped and Deluxe, Custom and Special trim levels were added.

Willys Motors was acquired by Henry J. Kaiser during 1953. Kaiser was mostly after the Jeeps, but a spiffed-up Aero was trotted out for 1955, the hardtop now called "Bermuda." After some 6,000 cars were sold the dies were shipped to Brazil, where, with new Brooks Stevens sheet metal, production continued until 1972. Thereafter, however, the closest thing to a passenger car to emanate from Willys in the USA was the Wagoneer.

Fluid-Matic

Many months ago, the CarPort explored the marvels and mysteries of Fluid Drive. That installment covered only through 1948, a turning point of sorts. In this episode we tell, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story.

Actually, changes for 1949 were fairly minor. A new M-6 transmission replaced the M-5 unit, but the differences were subtle: simplified valving and wiring. More significant was the extension of the semi-automatic box to Dodge, which called it Gyro-Matic. Chrysler and DeSoto continued into 1950 with Prestomatic and Tip-Toe Shift, respectively.

The next change was rather illusory, perhaps a marketing gimmick. For 1951, Chrysler renamed the system "Fluid-Matic," and added a shift quadrant to the steering column. The shifter operated the same way as it had before, and could still be easily handled by "feel" since it retained a modified "H" pattern, but probably the competition's onrush of fully-automatic transmissions, like Hydra-Matic and Fordomatic, on which an indicator quadrant was essential, convinced Chrysler that a quadrant, however unnecessary, was important.

The more significant change for 1951 was Fluid-Torque, basically replacement of the fluid coupling with a torque converter. Standard equipment on Imperials and optional on New Yorkers, Fluid-Torque was extended to DeSoto with the new Firedome hemi in 1952 and to six-cylinder Chryslers. In mid-1952, a new configuration was ushered in, one that used engine oil in the torque converter. Air cooling blades were also added to the outside of the converter.

For 1953, all Chryslers, DeSotos and Dodges offered the new Fluid-Torque, although in the case of Dodge it was dubbed "Gyro-Torque." Interestingly, Chrysler kept the shift quadrant, but deleted the name, perhaps because all models were now "torquey." Interestingly, while Chrysler used the "short form" of "Fluid-Torque," DeSoto clung to its Tip-Toe Shift designation, adding "Fluid Drive" or "Fluid-Torque" as appropriate.

For 1954, this all became moot, as the fully-automatic PowerFlite, stealthily fielded in late-1953 Imperials, reached the "upper three" Chrysler marques. The PowerFlite quadrant was simple and devoid of boasts, the bragging rights being relegated to the rear of the cars.

And what of Plymouth? Ah, the frequently misunderstood Hy-Drive, a combination so intriguing it deserves its own CarPort, sometime soon.

What Will President Obama Drive?

Many American presidents have been identified with cars, either a certain type of car or somethings a particular car. Lyndon Johnson was fond of Lincoln Continental convertibles of the type current during his 1963-69 presidency. Many were the stories of LBJ driving hell-bent across his Texas ranch with the white-knuckled press corps trying to keep up. Bill Clinton liked his 1967 Mustang, albeit a six-cylinder automatic model, though while in office he only got to do a cameo, slow-speed exhibition lap at a Mustangfest at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Ronald Reagan, on the other hand, was partial to Jeeps.

The Trumans were faithful Chrysler customers, although the future president was eternally fond of his first car, a 1911 Stafford (scroll down and click). Herbert Hoover bought a 1932 Cadillac V-16 Imperial Limousine shortly before leaving office, and kept it for years afterwards. Bonhams and Butterfields auctioned the unrestored car at their Quail Lodge sale in 2007.

George W. Bush likes to swashbuckle in his F250 4x4, particularly with visiting dignitaries. His father so reveres the red 1947 Studebaker he drove from Connecticut to Texas that a restored example holds pride of place in his presidential library.

The Obamas made much of being a one-car family until it was pointed out that their one car, a Chrysler 300C, was politically incorrect. Being a smart politician, the candidate swapped it for a Ford Escape Hybrid last summer. Of course, for the next four years he won't need a car, won't be allowed anywhere near a driver's seat. Instead the Secret Service will whisk him around in one of their many black Suburbans, or, on state occasions, in an incredibly ugly armored Cadillac.

Washington and Chicago are no place for presidential pleasure drives. If Barack Obama is to do any driving for fun, he'll need his own ranch, perhaps in New Mexico or Colorado, probably the bluest among ranching states. Then he could buy an old car and enjoy it to the fullest. So what sort of old car should President Obama drive?. Maybe something like this Jeep station wagon that LBJ once owned. Annoyed by the difficulty in reaching the rear seat on the two-door Jeep, Johnson had rear doors installed. Tell us what you think President Obama should drive.