RECAPSLETTERS
I JUST READ TERRY MCGEAN’S COLumn, “The Dawn of Modern Motoring” in the June issue of HCC, and with regards to performance, I couldn’t agree more. The 1950s was the decade that gave us the modern passenger car. In my view, the 1949 Ford represents a ground-breaking revolution in automotive styling. The Whiz Kids (as they were called) at Ford ushered in a new era of design by moving the engine forward, thereby evening up the front and rear portions of the car, while also incorporating the fenders into the body. It was the precursor to the modern automobile, and every car since the ’49 Ford is some iteration of this first in class. I have attached two photos, a 1948 Ford and my own 1949 Ford Custom convertible, to highlight the stark contrast. Ford sold 430,000 automobiles in 1948, and 1,118,000 in 1949, an increase of 160 percent, vaulting the company back into first place among all manufacturers. Thank you, HCC, for such interesting articles, memorable stories, and gorgeous pictures. Jack Schewel Lynchburg, Virginia
A SPECIAL THANKS TO PAT FOSTER for the excellent article on the Quantum Sports Car (February, HCC #209). During the late Seventies/early Eighties we were active in the Saab Sonett Club of Southern California. With over 50 members, some with several Sonetts, the “pride and joy” of the club was Bud Clark’s Quantum. Yes, Bud is one of those “private collectors” Pat mentions in the article. Bud restored and maintained the car to its original glory, exactly like the one in the picture. Though Saab engineers ultimately rejected Wal Kern’s masterpiece, the Quantum was the inspiration for Saab’s original Sonett 1 (of which six were built). Frankly, the Quantum was much more attractive. I had
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You arrive, crisp and air-conditioned, your seats cooled, your body un-jounced, your ears free of noise fatigue, your clothes unseasoned by hydrocarbon fumes. You had a conversation on the way via Bluetooth. We get used to it so quickly. Driving that ’51 Chevy Terry recalled gave him a taste of what a trip was like in the old days — shifting and steering and Phil Zarrow negotiating the curves and hills was work! Springfield, Tennessee You were engaged in the effort of driving. I ENJOYED TERRY MCGEAN’S COLMuscles got used. Coordination and dexumn in the June issue very much (“The terity were put to the test. It required judgDawn of Modern Motoring,” HCC #213). ment about the ability to pass that truck He really impressed upon me that he is given the conditions. Have I enough gear, a man much in the same mindset as me or enough go? It’s fun… right? Well, sure. when it comes to the classic car. It’s fun as long as I’m not trying to live in the modern world at that moment. Driving Often, I see the same tired sentences a car like that is best reserved for when typed on internet forums: the experience is about, well, driving a car “They don’t make them like that like that. Short distances. Town and counanymore.” try driving. Leisurely speeds. Wrinkled and “Those old cages were bulletproof — slightly exhaust-tinged clothing. all that steel protected you in an acciTerry hit on a key detail, though: dent.” “Things were great ’til the Feds ruined This began to change right about the time that 12-volt charging systems, ball-joint everything.” suspensions, and V-8 overhead-valve I love old cars. Love them. My entire engines became the norm. By 1965, it was life has been spent dreaming about them, possible to have a car with all of the basic trying to buy one or another, turning modern conveniences: air conditioning, wrenches on them, cursing at busted power steering and brakes, decent hanknuckles in 30-degree weather, or, more happily, enjoying a summer evening or fall dling, comfortable seats, and, of course, automatically shifted cars with ample afternoon on a leisurely tour in whatever was the chariot of the moment. I can safe- power at the right foot. The car became ly say that I’ve “wasted” more time on old modern — today, we still use the same basic functions to map out the controls of cars than I will be comfortable revealing our cars. There’s no such thing as a “gas when accounting for myself in whatever pedal,” in the real sense of it; we have a afterlife awaits me. I’ll shuffle my otherpedal which emulates a gas pedal. Gauges worldly feet and blush like a schoolboy with needles, which emulate analog when the deity says, “How many hours?” instruments. Shifters which pretend to That said, I am a person who rechave linkages. In effect I still feel like we ognizes that the good old days were not are setting up the basic user experience to always good. The driveability of these old match what we strived for in the late ’50s cars was nowhere near what it is today. and early ’60s. The comfort, convenience, and ease of This is why I think that the desirability driving a modern car is taken for granted. the opportunity to drive Bud’s Quantum — front-wheel drive, two-stroke mid-engine, light, nimble, and exotic looking — what wasn’t there to like? I seem to recall that the Quantum was the first automobile to be designed with Computer Aided Design (CAD), something that is taken very much for granted today.
HEMMINGS CLASSIC CAR SEPTEMBER 2022 I Hemmings.com
