One more...

...day of cars, then we'll try something new,
but today - take a look at what I offer you;
advertising loves to look good on cars,
and I have selected three of the stars.

Some of old, and one still lives on,
It's kind of sad the others are gone.
I can imagine a good many more,
of course, then again, my choices are poor.


Moxie! The drivers sat in the saddle.  This one is still around
it appears in Moxie Days Parade in Livermore Falls Maine.
Click on the photo, for a good look




I don't need to add anything to Mr. Peanut




Oscar Mayer, this one is still active. Thanks Darlene.



Now we.....

...arrive at the proud letter "Z",
and just how many cars can there be?
Not to many and only one recent one,
but that's not the story, of how this is done.

Schuyler Zent, way out in Ohio,
Bellfontaine was the place, where Z wasn't zero;
he made the Zent for a whole two years,
then made the Traveler, but ended in tears.


The only one left...




An ad in the paper



A Ford truck makes a delivery

Before...

...John Hertz put you in the drivers seat...
..he put you in the back, that's how he thought he could beat...
...the costs of buying cars.  In 1921 he started to make..
...his own for Yellow Taxi, in 1925 it's when he sold his stake...
..to General Motors, then they made them just for him...
...so know we know the margins made, weren't all that slim.


1931 Yellow cab




1936, taxi!



..and in 1941, this was the cab.

It was...

...kind of hard, to find cars that start with X,
not too many of them, maybe it was a hex;
but, whatever caused the lapse, never may be known,
but now that I found one, it's one I'd like to own.

These were called "cyclecars", and they were small,
two people in a row, or tandem, if that's your call;
sporty little buggys, chain drive and all that,
and a nice windscreen so you wouldn't lose your hat!


1914 Xenia



An early Xenia ad



You'd like one of these, admit it.



It's pronounced willies..

From the comic strip "Shoe":
Editor "I need you to cover that story at the morgue"
Shoe "My car is in the shop"
Editor "Take that old Jeep out back, like you did last time"
Shoe "How come every time I have to go to the morgue I get the Willys?"

That's right, it's what W brings,
John Willys praises, the US sings;
from plain old cars to the almighty Jeep,
we owe him more than a peep.
 
It's an old brand, back to nineteen-oh-six,
some folks still drive them, just for kicks;
the '41's were a hot-rodders dream,
put in an Olds engine, and let 'er scream!


1935 Model 77 Willys



1949 Willys Jeepster



1954 Willys Aero



Here's a '41 that's done over



It takes...

...a little looking, for the letter U,
not many autos out there for you;
but there were a couple, photos sure are scarce,
but we I found would save a lot on gas.

Single cylinder engines, not built for speed,
Union City, Indiana, must have had a need..
..they only built three hundred of these motor cars,
but, for the letter U, they're our daily stars.

1902 Union



Ad for the 1902




Ad for the 1903 - the last year for Union



Now we arrive...

...after A to S, at the letter T,
and we offer the Terraplane, just you wait and see;
there cars were beauties, no such thing as plain,
before they were a Hudson, just plain Terraplane.

Nothing real fancy, kind of middle class,
built to last but had good speed, very hard to pass,
I'd like to take one for a ride, but that is not to be,
simply put, well you see, none belong to me.


1934 Terraplane roadster




1935 Hudson-Terraplane pickup



1935 Terraplane sedan



1938 Terraplane Coupe



If I had...

...a Studebaker, I take it for a ride,
all the way to the sea, just to watch the tide;
or maybe to the mountains, a breath of fresh air,
and I'd take you along, after all fair is fair.

They started making wheelbarrows, then wagons...
...the brothers five, then they say "fire breathing dragons..
...of the internal combustion type. 
They turned to making autos, and advertising hype.

The Studebaker, very well could be my favorite car,
I had one once and liked it, it was, for me, a real star;
but change is change and it was gone, and left me with a Ford,
oh how I wish my Studeie back, please, please Lord.

1932 Studebaker President Convertible Coupe



1948 M52 A16 truck



1950 Studebaker Champion Cabriolet



Some names...

...lasted a really long time,
some still do, that's not a crime;
Ransom E. Olds built Olds, and then,
sold that off, and built cars again.

He made the Reo, as they were called,
and folks that owned them, they were enthralled;
the early cars had a chain drive...
...bicycle like, but they didn't thrive.


1912 Reo



1924 Reo Funeral Hearse



1929 Reo Speedwagon - the precursor of the pickup truck



1936 Reo - last of the cars; truck were made until 1988 then became Diamond T

Cars with,,,,

... a Q are quite hard to find,
makes me wonder if you don't mind;
they're so rare, now, my words don't mince,
I did find one, and it wasn't Quince.

The Queen was made for a lady to drive,
but in 1906 there weren't many alive,
so it should come as no great surprise,
that's what led to the Queen's demise.



1905 Queen touring



another 1905

1906 Queen, the last year made.

There have...

...been some makes of cars,
that were used by the famous and movie stars,
big and powerful of beautiful design,
oh, how I wish that one of them, were mine.

It was a symbol that showed solid success and pride,
with an engine that powered a good solid ride,
in the fifties they made them less pretty I'd say,
but they were large and comfortable, a good place to stay.

Top: 1936 Packard Convertible Sedan
Middle(1): 1941 Packard wagon - click on the photo.
Middle(2): 1948 Packard Clipper - my personal favorite.
Bottom: An example shown in 2009 of how a Packard might look today.

There has...

only been one car with an "O" that lasted very long,
and Oldsmobile is not the tune, not in this song,
but other have lasted for just a few years,
and while they diminished, few shed tears.

But the Oakland was the first General Motors "O" car,
it followed the Chevy, but wasn't a star;
so after a few years Oakland was gone by,
Chevy was followed by Pontiac - that's a reason why.

Top: 1923 Oakland, Maine roads still ride like this one!
Middle: 1924 Oakland, the perfection of Japan Blue Lacquer.
Bottom: 1928, by then Oakland was nearing the end.

A car...

...company was doing okay,
when things went haywire in some way;
they teamed up with an appliance guy,
and in a few 'short' years, they went bye bye.

It's a sad story, about marketing and such,
and of how American tastes change too much;
good solid cars, done in in the fifties,
too, too bad, those cars were such nifties.

Top: Beautiful 1925 Nash.
Middle(1): 1935 Nash - very stylish for the day.
Middle(2): 1946 Nash Suburban- that's real wood folks.
Bottom: 1955 Nash Rambler wagon, in the 50's pink, who wants to bet the interior is charcoal?

Take a....

...note from yesterday, it's the same old theme,
make one car, call it another, things aren't what they seem.
All of the Big Three have made that mistake,
so no one of them can take the cake.

It's led to the demise of some very nice brands,
Mercury for example used to call out the bands;
the Ford Motors got cheap and just made more of the same,
so design and planning are the ones to blame.

Top: 1949 Mercury family wagon-great photo of the Grumman Goose too. Click on the photo
Middle: 1951 customized.  The 1949-1951 Mercury was a favorite to customize and street rod.
Bottom: 1958 2-door hardtop, my first ride of over 100mph.

The manufacture...

...of cars took a turn for the worst,
when they all did the same thing, chapter and verse,
here's an example, say they took a Ford,
changed the grill and seats, whoa! Mercury on board.

All the companies did this. Took customers for fools,
when it would have been easier, to change a few tools.
Why in the world would you pay more for a car,
that's the same as the "cheap" one, but costs more by far?

So, let's take a look: it costs them the Plymouth, Oldsmobile too,
but we're checking out La Salle in a moment or two,
and there's more tomorrow, with Mercury in line,
and they keep killing some of the best looking ones. Fine!

Top: 1927 convertible coupe
Middle: 1940 business coupe
Bottom: 1940, eight door station wagon, from the train station to Pebble Beach!
NOTE: LaSalle became the Cadillac Series 61.