On the Road with Ask Cool Daddy
Dear Cool Daddy: I know that the auto industry took a 42 month "vacation" from domestic production during World War II. Which auto makers active at the start of the pre-war shutdown didn't emerge for the post-war boom?
The answer, oddly enough, is none…every auto maker active when the freeze began on January 1, 1942 came back to life when it was lifted on July 1, 1945. These were the Big Three…General Motors, Ford and Chrysler…and the Middle Five…Hudson, Nash, Studebaker, Packard, and Willys-Overland. Even the diminutive Crosley compact, introduced in 1939, continued until 1952. And Checker, making cabs since 1922, survived until 1982.
As Baby Boomers growing up in the '50s and '60s, our dads, uncles, and grandfathers regaled us with the glories of extinct makes from the past. In the first 3 decades of the 20th century, hundreds of auto companies came and went…it was tough to compete with the Ford Model T, which would eventually lay claim to literally half the cars on the road. Thus the "shake out" had pretty much been completed by the time the stock market crashed and the Great Depression hit in 1929. There were less than 30 car companies left, and those below the Middle Five folded fast, even though most had existed for over 20 years.
Erskine, Kissel, and Moon ended production in 1930. Jordan, Gardner, Durant and Dupont were gone after 1931. Essex folded after 1932, Peerless and Marmon after 1933, Franklin after 1934. The second half of the decade saw the demise of Auburn, Cord, Cunningham, Duesenberg, Pierce Arrow, Reo, and Stutz. Hupmobile and Cadillac's LaSalle gave up the ghost in 1940, as did Graham-Page. Its assets were sold to to Kaiser-Frazer in 1947, which in turn merged with Willys as Kaiser-Jeep in 1963, bought out by AMC in 1970…the last of the Middle Five still standing.
Dear Cool Daddy: I don't ever remember seeing a "pink Cadillac" back in the day…was there really such a thing?
Pink Cadillacs are associated with the 1950s, when everything about autos was the most flamboyant. For example, Aretha Franklin's 1985 song "Freeway of Love" mentions a pink Cadillac, and the drawing on the 45 picture sleeve is a pink convertible, altho not a production model…it's the LeMans dream car from 1953, a full-size 2-seater. In the black-and-white music video, her 1957 Seville hardtop turns pink with a white top at the very end. But if you examine factory paint-chip charts, you won't find the bright, gaudy, in-your-face PINK pink we're talking about.
Closest are subdued hues like "Mountain Laurel" from 1956-57, and 1959's "Wood Rose"…what today might be called "dusty mauve." Salmon/Coral/Peach was also available some years. But Cadillac colors were always on the conservative side, especially compared to the wild shades everybody else was offering...and those snazzy 2-tone and 3-tone combinations.
The mystique of the Pink Cadillac started with Elvis...he owned 2...repainted by a neighbor in a color they nicknamed "Elvis Rose"...note: NOT pink! The first was a 1954 model, totaled when the brake linings caught fire. The second was the famous 1955 Series 60 that's still on display at Graceland. It originally had a black top, but was repainted white to match the first one around the time Elvis had it reupholstered.
He does mention a pink Cadillac in his early recording, "Baby, Let's Play House." When he returned from the service, Elvis gave the 1955 to a buddy, in favor of a 1961 Coupe deVille, white with a pink roof. Mary Kay Ash of Mary Kay Cosmetics gave Pinkillacs to her top salesmen beginning in 1969, painted "Mountain Laurel Blush" at the dealership to match her compact cases. But despite no eye-popping pink on the official Cadillac pallet, its fame compelled Lincoln to respond in the form of an over-the-top 1956 lavender…what they called "Wisteria"…not to mention a pinker "Amethyst" and a peachy "Island Coral." Shield your eyes...
Dear Cool Daddy: I've noticed that Andy Griffith as Sheriff Taylor is always driving the latest model Ford...can you date the episodes by the model year of the squad car?
Only approximately…that's because they started filming for the new fall season in the summer, too soon for the new model year. So the first half of a season contained the previous year's model, then the new patrol car generally debuted in the spring. Thus, a 1960 Ford could indicate the 1959-60 TV season (an episode shown in the spring of 1960) or one from the 1960-61 season (originally aired in the fall of 1960.)
As was mentioned each week in the closing credits, Ford provided vehicles for the show. That's why you'll see all those Thunderbirds, Mustangs, old Fords, new Fords, and that groovy Mercury Comet with the slanty tail-lights that pops up in episode after episode, year in and year out. The squad car was generally a Ford Galaxie, sometimes a base model Ford Custom. But the citizens of Mayberry certainly saw to it that their lawman always had the newest ride!
Dear Cool Daddy: I heard that Jan & Dean's "Dead Man's Curve" was a about a real place, and a crash by Mel Blanc, the Man of a Thousand Voices. Hit or myth?
Mostly hit. Jan Berry wrote the music and DJ Roger Christian wrote the lyrics for the imaginary race between Jan's Sting Ray and Roger's Jaguar XKE. The route runs west thru Los Angeles along Sunset Blvd...besides the legendary Schwab's drugstore, where Lana Turner was supposedly discovered, they mention real cross-streets...Vine St, Crescent Heights Blvd, La Brea Ave, and North Doheny Drive. The only discrepancy is: "He passed me at Doheny and I started to swerve / But I pulled her up and there we were at Dead Man's Curve." This downhill right-hand curve...just past Whittier Drive, north of the UCLA campus…is actually a good 4 miles west of Doheny Drive…that had to be one long "swerve"!
Roger Christian originally wanted the race to end in a tie, but Jan thought it would be cooler for one of them to spinout. By the time the song came out in March of 1964, the roadway had been repaired and was no longer as dangerous…the trouble was a bow to the outside that would force cars into the oncoming lane if they were coming down the hill too fast…especially treacherous at night.
The song was indeed inspired by what happened to Mel Blanc on January 24, 1961…but he wasn't racing anyone…he was coming uphill the other way, east into Los Angeles, when he was hit head-on by a college student, who suffered only minor scratches. Mel almost died from his injuries, and had to take a hiatus from recording Barney Rubble's voice for "The Flintstones." That's why for several episodes, it sounds like somebody else doing the voice...because it is…Hanna-Barbera's jack-of-all-trades Daws Butler.
At the time of the accident, it was reported that there had been 6 fatalities there in the past year...other sources say 23 accidents and 3 fatalities in 2 years. But almost losing Mel spurred the DPW into action. BTW, there are 2 versions of the song. The original on the "Drag City" LP says "my frenched tail-lights," and lacks the skidding and crashing sound effects. The more familiar 45 version says "my 6 tail-lights"…yes, Sting Rays had 2 on each side, but it was a common custom trick to add a third, mimicking the triple tail-lights on the big Impalas. Till next time, pleasant motoring…and rock on!
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