Gazette - Larz Anderson Auto Museum

Larz Anderson Auto Museum
Gazette
Vol. 1, No. 2 — June 2015
2015 Lawn Events
Sun., June 14 — Corvette Day, 9am-3pm
Sun., June 21 — German Car Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., June 28 — British Car Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., July 12 — Microcar Classic, TBA
Sun., July 19 — Miata Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., July 26 — Day of Triumph, 10am-2pm
Sun., Aug. 2 — Tutto Italiano, 10am-2pm
Sun., Aug. 9 — BMW CCA Day, 9am-2pm
Sat., Aug. 15 — MG Rover Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., Aug. 16 — American Car & Truck Day,
10am-2pm
Sun., Aug. 23 — Swedish Car Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., Aug. 30 — Ford Lincoln Mercury Day,
10am-2pm
Sat., Sept. 12 — Porsche Day, 9am-3pm
Sun., Sept. 13 — European Motorcycle Day,
10am-2pm
Sun., Sept. 27 — Mercedes Day, 10am-3pm
Sun., Oct. 11 — Transporterfest, 9:30am3:30pm
Sat., Oct. 17 — Tutto Lite, 10am-2pm
Sun., Oct. 18 — Japanese Car Day, 10am2pm
Sat., Oct. 24 — Extinct Car Day, 10am-2pm
Sun., Oct. 25 — Studebaker Day, 10am-3pm
Clockwise, from top left: Vintage Merkel and modern Ducati take center stage; the reception opens; the latest in racing; ‘Wall of Death’ veteran (an Indian); the room fills quickly.
Seeing the Beauty in
‘Beauty of the Beast’
by Richard A. De Vito, Sr.
This season’s opening night reception for the Museum’s new exhibit,
“Beauty of the Beast,” was a full house. We had great food, great company, and
a great show of 72 motorcycles from many collections that will be on display all
season.
The motorcycles comprising the exhibit range from 1899 models to modern
high speed machines. Some of the cycles are one-offs, such as a six-cylinder
bike with the engine sideways and a V-8 prototype of 1,000cc. It’s hard to imagine so many different varieties, but some of the most notable are described in
the extensive review that appears in this issue, beginning on page 3, by Andrew
Newton — who is a motorcycle rider himself.
Meet the members of LAAM
Neal Heffron
Neal with his favorite BMWs.
This month’s Member Spotlight,
Neal Heffron, has experience with it
all.
While his first “fun” car was a ’74
Bricklin (he can still remember the
VIN: 569), Neal has since had many
interesting cars from Maserati, Ferrari,
Alfa, Porsche and BMW. He started
racing at a young age, going from time
trials at Lime Rock eventually up to
professional racing in showroom stock
Larz Anderson Auto Museum
Gazette
Monthly May through October
Bimonthly November through April
Contributors to this issue:
Richard A. De Vito, Sr.
Jennifer Arone
Margie Cahn
John Christoforo
Andrew Newton
Sheldon Steele
Bruce Vild
Joshua Sweeney, photographer
SFD-Shoot For Details
All photos courtesy of our contributors
unless otherwise credited
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endurance races. His collection now
includes, among others, an Autozam
AZ1 and a Henna Red (Orange) BMW
M1, which “has it all for me...Italian in
design, German in build, with an interesting race history.”
Neal is a regular at our summer
Lawn Event shows, and loves hearing
people’s thoughts and opinions on his
Neal as Ferrari driver.
admittedly eclectic collection.
Perhaps even more interestingly,
Neal and his wife Susan founded Tutto Italiano here at the Larz Anderson
Auto Museum. Together they ran it for
nine years, and the event they started
has now turned into the biggest Lawn
Event here at the Museum. Thanks,
guys!
A View Inside Our Current Exhibit
by Andrew Newton
1912 Flying Merkel Board Track Racer
Joseph Merkel began building bicycle
parts in the late 1800s and by 1899 he had
constructed his own motorized tricycle. It was
the first motorized vehicle in all of Wisconsin.
The following year he attached a DeDion
engine to one of the bicycles he had made and
utilized a belt to drive the rear wheel.
Merkel began producing motorcycles in
1902, and in 1903 the company was reorganized as the Merkel Motor Corp. From 1903 to
1905, they produced “The Merkel,” which featured a 2.5 horsepower single-cylinder engine.
Early Harley-Davidson models look
exactly like their Merkel counterparts because
Merkel had such a strong influence on the
Milwaukee upstart.
In 1909, Merkel began racing their bikes
with professional riders Charles Balke and
Stanley Kellog. By May 1911, technology from
their racing success had trickled down to their
street bikes, and almost all Merkel’s featured
their famous telescoping girder fork. Each of
their racing machines bore the name “Flying
Merkel” on their orange tanks.
Much of their racing success was due to
Maldwyn Jones, who eventually became the
National Champion with the help of his Flying
Merkel.
Despite their great racing success, reliability, and quality engineering, the company went
under in 1917.
The first vehicles that could be considered motorcycles were barely identifiable as such, and the first commercially available motorcycles were little
more than strengthened versions of the
bicycles of the day with small, simple
motors fitted to them. For a time, they
were simply a way to get around and
represented a cheap, practical alternative means of personal transport during the emergence of the automobile.
Many decades on, these curious little
two-wheeled machines have obviously
become so much more than that, having grown in size, speed, cost, and ar-
guably most of all, social significance. The development and design of
motorcycles long ago took on their own
bold direction, dictated more by passion than common sense and at times
more by form than function. This has
resulted in over a century of bike designs that have challenged the limits
of human ability and the laws of physics. At the same time, unique cultures
and subcultures have developed around
motorcycles or the various motorsports
that they are used for. Associations or
even assumptions, both positive and
(Continued on page 4)
Photos for this article by
James A. Harding, P3 Image Studios
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The Beauty of the Beast (Continued from page 3)
1912 Emblem Board Track Racer
negative, have become associated with
certain motorcycles and the people
who ride them, while the bikes themselves have a meaning of their own for
people. Even the mention of a certain
model name or the faint drone of a particular exhaust note in the distance, for
some people, conjures up images of a
specific bike.
“Beauty of the Beast,” our current
exhibit at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum, features innovative and influential designs from throughout the long
and fruitful history of the motorcycle
and from the surprisingly diverse range
of nations that have produced it for the
equally diverse groups of people who
have ridden it.
Each of the bikes was selected for
its innovative technical or aesthetic design and the group of machines spans
over a century of evolution from the
dawn of the Motor Age to the computerized technical sophistication of today.
The specimens featured come from all
over Europe, Japan and especially the
United States. Each has some part in
the motorcycle’s wide-ranging artistic,
engineering and cultural significance.
Key innovations in the motorcycle’s
design, both mechanical and visual,
are examined as are their connections
with similar trends in the wider world
of motoring.
Of course, no discussion of an ob-
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ject as performance and speed-oriented
as the motorcycle would be complete
without racing. It is often said that
“competition improves the breed,” and
this is just as true in the world of bike
design as it is anywhere else. Several
competition bikes are therefore presented as well.
Central to the appeal of the motorcycle as something so much more
than two wheels and an engine is that
in terms of a working relationship between man and machine, the motorcycle is second only to the airplane in
terms of the complete physical freedom
and sensation of speed that perhaps it
offers. Unlike the airplane, however, a
motorcycle is an attainable possession
for millions of people. A used sport
bike costs a small fraction of the price
of a car with similar performance, and
even a large, comfortable touring bike
for long weekend rides and road trips
barely takes up any room in the garage
or driveway.
The almost indescribable feeling of riding a motorcycle, the way a
rider doesn’t so much turn as he cuts
a line in the road around a corner, the
way the invisible push of torque pushes
him down the road, the constant presence and knowledge of danger, the exposure to the elements and the sensory
overload that goes with it, the necessary awareness of surroundings and the
Emblem was an American motorcycle
manufacturer that made motorcycles from 1909
to 1925. They were one of over 300 different motorcycle producers in the early 1900s.
Emblem’s motto was “Class, Power, Speed
& Satisfaction,” and they had high hopes of
achieving success in the crowded US market.
They offered single-cylinder and V-twin
motorcycles. Their single-cylinder bikes had
about 4 horsepower while their range-topping
V-twin model had 7 horsepower. Emblems were
belt-drive, and like many manufacturers at the
time they put their machines to the test on the
board track.
Lee Taylor raced this 1912 Emblem Board
Track bike. He died in a fatal crash on July 4th,
1916, in Hamilton, Ohio. He collided with
Maldwyn Jones, the factory Flying Merkel rider.
The following is an account of the incident as
told by Jones:
“When the 25 miles event came up, the
track was very dusty. I had gotten a bad start
and Lee Taylor had gone into the turn ahead
of me very fast. I thought that Lee must have
fallen, but about halfway around the turn, he slid
out of the dust right in front of me. It was impossible to miss him and we collided. His leg was
amputated the next day. Lee died about a week
later. Everyone was shocked, especially me as
we had been friends for a long time.”
skill required to ride combine to provide
the rewarding experience that draws so
many people to motorcycles. It is living, and it is freedom.
Not all would be so reckless, but
Hunter S. Thompson summed up the
characteristic recklessness of riding
when he remarked that life “should
not be a journey to the grave with the
intention of arriving safely in a pretty
and well preserved body, but rather to
skid in broadside, in a cloud of smoke,
thoroughly used up, totally worn out,
and loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow! What
a ride!’” It’s the exhilaration of riding that has shaped the design of many
bikes, and some of the most successful
manufacturers are the ones that have
convinced people through clever advertising or even just through tradition that
(Continued on page 6)
The Anderson Cars
The 1900 Rochet-Schneider
by John Christoforo
The second car in the Anderson collection was the French Rochet-Schneider.
My last article indicated that Isabel
and Larz Anderson had a love affair
with automobiles. The Andersons were
childless, and if I’m correct, developed
a love for cars as partial fulfillment of
life’s needs and wants. Progressing
from when they bought their first car, in
1900 they bought a Rochet-Schneider,
and in 1901, their second Winton.
Rochet-Schneider was a company
that began operations in Lyons, France,
and produced automobiles between
1894 and 1932. What attracted curious customers was their sales slogan,
“Strength, Simplicity and Silence.”
Like many cars manufactured in
the so-called “brass era,” the RochetSchneider designs were intended for
the wealthy, with their brass fittings,
patterned leathers, hand-shaped luxury
woods and expensive components.
Before the company came into existence, Edouard Rochet worked for his
father, who manufactured bicycles. In
1894 they teamed up with Theophile
Schneider, a relative of the well-known
armament family. Between 1895 and
1901 they built 240 single-cylinder
cars. By 1901 they had perfected models with two and four cylinders. By
1903 their designs closely followed the
Mercedes cars on the young market.
In 1904 the company was sold for
4.5 million francs to a London-based
company that utilized the same name,
but due to continually low production
of vehicles the company was going
under by 1907. Theophile Schneider
bought the factory back, and was destined to produce high-quality cars for
several years to come.
In 1900 the Andersons were back in
France and became enamored with the
Rochet-Schneiders that they observed
on the streets of Lyons and Paris. They
purchased one of these unique vehicles
and brought it back to America.
(Continued on page 7)
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Cars and Coffee
A new tradition
by Jennifer Arone
Cars and Coffee was created for car enthusiasts to meet up early on a
Saturday morning. They’d grab coffee, talk cars and by 11am they’d be
gone.
We have started our own tradition here at the Larz Anderson Auto
Museum. The Museum opens early at 8 a.m. on designated Saturdays for
your viewing. Grab a coffee and a snack and check out some of the Boston
area’s best cars.
Cars and Coffee is sponsored by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management – The Keeney Group and Yuppieracing.net. This event is free, but we
encourage attendees to become Museum members! See the last page for
details.
The next Cars and Coffees are:
Saturday, June 13, 2015, 8-11am
Saturday, July 18, 2015, 8-11am
Saturday, August 22, 2015, 8-11am
The Beauty of the Beast (Continued from page 4)
their product is what provides the experience best.
Because of these factors that are
always present in riding, motorcycles
have always attracted certain kinds of
people with at least some sense of adventure, and the motorcycle has become
a potent cultural symbol, especially in
America. It has represented and continues to represent many things, but
what the motorcycle is perhaps more
than anything is the ultimate physical
expression of personal freedom.
The exhibit runs through May
2016.
1946 Indian Chief
In the 1940s the Chief frame was
modified to feature a plunger rear suspension,
and Indian began fitting its bikes with large
decorative fenders. These flared fenders were
extremely popular and gave the Indian its
iconic look.
Production of the Chief ran from 1922
all the way until 1953, when Indian closed its
doors and ceased producing motorcycles. The Chief featured a 1205cc sidevalve
42-degree V-twin.
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Lawn Events
Cadillac Day
by Richard A. DeVito, Sr.
Cadillac Day, May 17th, our first
lawn event of the season, was so packed
we had cars parked in the aisles.
One of the cars exhibited was Ken
Bourque’s 1932 LaSalle, an impeccable
example of a totally restored car he purchased about a year ago from a seller in
Texas.
In addition, on display were two
ambulances from the ’70s, several limousines, and an array of big Detroit Above and above left: The 1932 LaSalle of Barb and Ken Bourque. Below: Some of the
“iron” ranging from 1949 through cur- incredible vehicles seen at Cadillac Day at the Museum.
rent models.
It’s always a great spectacle to have
so many luxury cars side by side. These
special car days at Larz Anderson are
not to be missed!
The Anderson Cars
(Continued from page 5)
What the car seems to represent is
the transition between the horseless carriage and the true automobile. There is
a fine line that can be drawn between
the two and the Rochet-Schneider designs and engineering principles helped
the transition.
For those of you who have never
seen the Andersons’ Rochet-Schneider,
I suggest you visit the back room of the
lower floor of the Museum. Located
there is the 1900 model. Let me know if
you agree that it is a transitional vehicle
that indicates the end of the horseless
carriages and the birth of the automobile era. I can be reached at beagsley@
rcn.com.
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Lawn Events
More Photos from Cadillac Day
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June-July Lawn Events
Sunday, June 14: CORVETTE DAY
The National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS), New
England Chapter, sponsors Corvette Day. All Corvette owners are invited to attend.
The show starts at 9am and runs until 3pm. Car registration is $20 per car and includes the driver and one passenger.
Spectator admission is adults, $10; military, seniors,
students and children 6-12, $5; and children under 6 are free.
Museum Members are always free!
The Museum is open for your viewing until 4pm. Lunch
will be available on site for purchase.
Sunday, June 21: GERMAN CAR DAY
German Car Day is the first Museum-sponsored show of
the season. It’s on Father’s Day, so bring your dads, because
what dad doesn’t like a little German engineering? All proceeds benefit the Larz Anderson Auto Museum. Any automobile is accepted regardless of make, model or year, as long as
it’s German.
The show starts at 10am and runs until 2pm. Car registration is $20 per car and includes the driver and one passenger. If you pre-register, the fee is reduced to $15 per car.
Spectator admission is adults, $10; military, seniors,
students and children 6-12, $5; and children under 6 are free.
Museum members are always free!
The Museum is open for your viewing until 4pm. Lunch
will be available on site for purchase.
Sunday, June 28: BRITISH CAR DAY
British Car Day is a Museum Show and all proceeds
benefit the Larz Anderson Auto Museum. British automobiles
and their owners are invited and encouraged to attend regardless of make, model or year.
The show starts at 10am and runs until 2pm. Car registration is $20 per car and includes the driver and one passenger. If you pre-register, the fee is reduced to $15 per car.
Spectator admission is adults, $10; military, seniors,
students and children 6-12, $5; and children under 6 are free.
Museum members are always free!
The Museum is open for your viewing until 4pm. Lunch
will be available on site for purchase.
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June-July Lawn Events
Sunday, July 12: MICROCAR CLASSIC EVENT
The Microcar Classic Event is one of the most unusual and memorable lawn events on our calendar and a
family-friendly car show that everyone can enjoy. Hosted
by the Museum and sponsored by the Gould Family, the
show will feature rides for the kids (with parents’ approval,
of course) in fun cars like classic Fiats, Messerschmitts,
Crosleys, Citroëns, Minis and many others.
If you would like to register a car, visit the Microcar
Classic Event website at www.bubbledrome.com or telephone Charles Gould at (617) 965-4848.
Spectator admission is adults, $10; military, seniors,
students and children 6-12, $5; and children under 6 are
free. Museum members are always free! The Museum is open for your viewing until 4 p.m.
Lunch will be available on site for purchase.
Sunday, July 19: MIATA DAY
Miata Day is the most colorful show of the whole Lawn
Event Season! Only on Miata Day is the Great Lawn speckled with cars painted every shade under the sun! Miata Day
is sponsored by the Mass Miata Club.
The show starts at 10am and runs until 2pm. Car
registration is $15 per car and includes the driver and one
passenger.
Spectator admission is adults, $10; military, seniors,
students and children 6-12, $5; and children under 6 are
free. Museum members are always free! The Museum is open for your viewing until 4pm. Lunch
will be available on site for purchase.
Sunday, July 26: DAY OF TRIUMPH
Day of Triumph is a British-themed show, highlighting Triumphs. The show is sponsored by the New England
Triumphs.
The show starts at 10am and runs until 2pm. Car
registration is $20 per car and includes the driver and one
passenger.
Spectator admission is adults, $10; military, seniors,
students and children 6-12, $5; and children under 6 are
free. Museum members are always free! The Museum is open for your viewing until 4pm. Lunch
will be available on site for purchase.
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Speaking of cars...
Tires... What’s Under All Our Cars
by Richard A. DeVito, Sr.
State of the art. Left to right: 1899 Winton; late 1950s BMW Isetta; 2015 Aston Martin.
We ride on them. Here’s how we
got them.
Latex, first discovered by the South
American Aztec Indians, is a milky-saplike fluid, from latex (cauchu) trees. It
was used to make bouncing balls for
children.
In 1770, three French scientists
watched a group of young children
slash a latex tree, let the milky sap dry,
roll it into a ball, and then play with it.
These three men took samples of this
latex material back to Europe. All were
mystified about what to do with it.
Meanwhile, the Spanish and Portuguese were also familiar with this substance. They had trees producing latex
growing in similar climates, but there is
no record of what use was made of it.
Fast forward to London in the
1800s. An accountant discovered the
latex material could be used to remove
incorrect pencil marks on his ledgers.
He said he could rub off the pencil
marks, so he called it a “rubber.”
So… in the late 1800s, Charles
Goodyear of the Goodyear Tire Company accidentally mixed the latex with
The Larz Anderson Auto Museum:
Get to Know Us
President: John Carberry
Directors/Executive Committee: Joseph Freeman, Richard A. DeVito, Sr.,
John Darack, Michael Gaetano, Robert Lawrence, Susana Weber, Les Cavicchi,
Denis Bustin
Museum Staff: Museum phone number - (617) 522-6547
Executive Director - Sheldon Steele, [email protected], Extension
19
Member Services Manager/Operations Manager - Karen Hasenfus, events@
larzanderson.org, Extension 18
Marketing Manager - Jennifer Arone, [email protected],
Extension 13
Education Manager - Joseph Price, [email protected], Extension
21 various chemicals, then stabilized it
through a heating and cooling system
to produce a tire. This was a form of
vulcanization and was the start of the
tires we use today.
Until we develop some form of
levitation, we’re going to be driving on
latex, vulcanized, cured rubber tires for
a long, long time.
If you want to read more about the
rubber industry, suggested reading is
Rubber Mirror: Reflections of the Rubber Division’s First 100 Years by Henry
Inman.
Announcing a New Feature...
“My Ride”!
If you’ve recently purchased
a great car, whether new, used,
restored or to be restored, send
us a photo of you and your car
and a little bit about both to
[email protected].
We like to hear about it and
share it with our readers.
Please include your contact information in case we have
questions.
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Membership matters.
Member Benefits
Payment Information
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