Willistead Classic

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• hey a bonus post!! my weekend at work is a little less boring now!
  these are fantastic shots andrew, thanks for grabbin them. i sure wish they still made hood orniments like that. i would love to be crusin down the road with a giant goose with outstretched wings leading the way!
  there's only a couple things that were a needed change. like the non collapsing, sternum crushing steering columns. and the (pardon me) baby decapitating glove box doors that would fly open in an accident.
  what's the deal with the star of david in the dodge brothers logo?? i've never seen that before.

  again, thanks for the post andrew!

• The use of the Star of David in the Dodge Brothers logo goes back to 1914 and the first Dodge Brothers car built. It was last used on the 1938 Dodge.

  The Dodge Brothers logo has been extensively discussed in the Dodge Brothers Club newsletter, which notes that in 1938, an export version with a single black triangle was used, and shortly afterwards, the Star-of-David logo disappeared completely. David Zimmerman wrote that he suspected that the Dodge Brothers may have believed that certain export markets would not buy a car with the link to the Jewish symbol.

  This information was copied from ALLPAR.COM

  Here is the link if anyone wants to read up on Chrysler Hood Ornaments:

• Guess the link didn't show up in my last post. Here it is again.

  http://www.allpar.com/history/logos.html

• Staying on that Dodge theme, the Dodge Brothers once operated a machine and bicycle shop in Windsor prior to moving back to Detroit to supply parts for some new upstart company called Ford! The shop was not far from the present day Chrysler Building in the former Norwich block.

  Having gone to the show yesterday at Willistead as well (and it was exceptional), I ran into a former co-worker who sits on the classic car committee and we both admired the creativity and engineering of the designers and engineers of yesteryear. Cars as such were developed by very talented and independent thinking people. They did not evolve from committes of yes men. When I hear all the time we are rapidly moving to a service based economy and becoming Tim Horton's Nation more than a hat tip is needed to workers from the past who designed and manufactured things we admire. Glad to see the Willistead Car Classic is back and better than ever.

• I hope it was well attended. I was out of town so I couldn't go but if it comes back next year I will certainly be there.
  My fav shot above is the LaSalle hubcap. Great shots Andrew.

• Love the photos. I love going to these shows and admiring the cars, especially the ones from the 30s and 40s. I couldn't make it but my inlaws went so I got to see all their pictures last night...nothing this detailed though so thanks for posting them. I love the hubcap shots the most!

• The thing I liked the most was the Art Deco designs on the instruments on the dashboards of the 30's and early 40's cars.

  The coolest owners were a couple who had a big white Hudson. I was poking my camera in the open window trying to get a shot of the dash, when the owner told me to open the door to get a better shot. He said that he owns the car so others can enjoy it. He was a refreshing change from some of the other owners who are less than generous with their cars. :)

  I'll post a few more, less specific shots tomorrow from the show.

• I appreciated the Hudson owners as well, but have to also extend a note that unlike most car exhibits, at the very least we were able to walk right up to all the vehicles. I'm sure you've all been to enough classic car exhibits and familiar with the ropes that usually go around the cars keeping everyone at least an arm's length away. But yeah, the Hudson owners were most gracious - and they had one of the rarer and more desirable marques too. The interior of most of these classics is worth as much attention as the exterior and engine compartments and it was nice getting that much closer to the Hudson's.

• I like the use of the fasces in the second photo with a big "H" (Hudson probably?). This was a symbol that was adopted by Fascist political groups pre-WW2. It also appeared on American dimes or nickels during and after WW2.

  I love the amount of detail that went into the style of these old cars.

• Many thanks to the Maggio's who brought the "Classic" back.
  Six hours was not enough time to relish all of the beautiful craftspersonship on dispaly.
  Hope it is back next year.
  On another note, the last standing structure of the Ford Windsor Casting Plant was levelled this morning.