One of the big motivations in launching Motor City Garage.com was to provide a platform for sharing some of the great stories in automobile history, especially those that involve the Motor City. Nobody in the paper publishing world or on the web does automotive history in quite the way MCG plans to do it, and we intend to devote a good part of the website to the subject.
But this is summer, the height of the outdoor car show season, and MCG’s feature coverage of these events has proven to be incredibly popular. (By the way, thanks!) Purely historical topics, along with everything else, must take a back seat to the summertime stories for now. Come winter, there’ll be plenty of time and space for the historical stuff.
That said, MCG still slips in a history piece where it can. If you haven’t read them before, please take a moment to give them a look. We think these stories feature fresh material you can’t find almost anywhere else, and if you’re a gearhead, we think you’ll enjoy them. Links below:
Cleveland’s phantom raceway It was erased from the city maps a century ago but it was an important race course in its day. MCG shows you exactly where it was.
Henry Ford’s railroad All about the Detroit, Toledo, and Ironton Railroad and Ford’s brief fascination with railroading, including his electric railroad experiment.
The 1957 Chevrolet — the car that wasn’t supposed to be A look behind the scenes at the iconic car that was created almost as afterthought, including rare styling studio photos.
Oliver Barthel, man of motors One of the true pioneers (and unsung heroes) of the Detroit auto industry, he had a direct hand in the early work of Charles B. King, Henry Ford, Ransom Olds, and others.
More on the Stout Scarab — with rare period film William B. Stout’s extraordinary Scarab prototypes, with fascinating footage of one running wild on Detroit’s city streets circa 1940.
Cadillac’s phantom V12 This story on the stillborn V12 powerplant intended for the 1967 Eldorado includes a 12-photo slideshow of an actual prototype engine with views from every angle.