You gotta pimp my ride... Damn, right...
Posted on 01/19/2005 5:57:14 AM PST by xp38
Teddy Roosevelt was the first president to ride in car, a Columbia Electric Victoria in 1902 and was the first president to own a car as well.Roosevelt was not the first President to ride in an automobile. William McKinley was, and he did it at least twice as President, once in Washington, and once in Ohio, in 1899-1900. Roosevelt did take a ride in a Columbia during a parade in 1902. Not until May of 1905 did he use an automobile in Washington, and only briefly. He rarely used automobiles after that, especially not in Washington. His dislike for the technology was known by Americans and accepted as normal.
The First President to officially purchase an automobile was William Howard Taft. Taft loved cars and hated demagoguery, which was behind Roosevelt's avoidance of automobiles. Roosevelt did not want to be associated with what were considered "rich men's toys." Even after Roosevelt bought a car for his home in Long Island, in 1910, he disliked the technology. He could never see its importance, and he loathed its associations with industrialism and social change.
Taft negotiated with Congress to purchase two White House autos to be available the day of his inauguration. His very public endorsement of the technology, by example and in his rhetoric, led to an explosion in automobile use and purchase. Not even Henry Ford, who had the best selling car since 1906 (Model N, then the T in 1909), could keep up with the growth of the industry as a whole, which more than doubled in 1909. That is to say, the growth in the industry cannot be explained by the Model T. It was Taft's forceful promotion of the automobile that brought the nation to it.
I put a web slide show on this from a paper I gave last year that tells the story of the politics of the early motor age:
Early Automobiles & Airplanes: The Cultural LagFor a couple anecdotes about Taft and his cars, see:
The Taft Pages: Autos
The reason I fight to tell this story is not just because, as my father tells me, the world is less imperfect when an untruth is corrected. I want people to understand the dangers of populist, demagogic politics. The anti-automobile rhetoric and example of Teddy Roosevelt hurt America and greatly delayed the coming of one of the greatest advances in human history. Yes, the automobile did come to America. No, it was not because of Henry Ford. The way the automobile came to America was defined more than any others by Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.
Taft's White House Autos (1909)
I fell into this study while writing a book on the history of the limousine. I got to wondering why this fat dumb guy Taft used autos and the supposedly modernist Roosevelt did not. When I took a closer look, a whole new world fell upon me.
Depending on where you live, look for a private party selling a used Caddy. I got my '02 SDV (mentioned above) in 2002 for $4300 with 80K miles on it, put on a good set of tires, and have spent very little on maintenance since. It's in outstanding shape. I say "depending on where you live," since some regions have better offerings than others. New England is excellent. New Jersey sucks.
Clinton. Oh, and that pull down desktop has a nice mirror on it for cutting cocaine.
Yikes... it looks like they put the back window on the front of the car. That is ugly.. I don't like the framing around the front windshield. Of course, in my lifetime, I won't be driving one of these..
Why they tried to make the car look like a batmobile with those goofy lights is beyond me.
yeah, my first thought looking at the front end was "butt ugly" but friend, your version isn't much of an improvement, beauty-wise, but no doubt more practical in most cases...
THAT is a cool car! I'd want to be prez just to have one.
Thanks for that correction.
Photos exaggerate the disproportion of the car. I haven't seen this new car yet, but I filmed the 2001 limousine, which is similar. Up close, it works, likely because of the enormity of it. This thing is huge, and it feels huge, sounds huge, and looks huge. Everything about it is oversized.
Btw, there's something deviously enjoyable about the words "front end." lol!
The only thing about the pics is that the car has all zeros for a license plate.
"Do you think a current day Lincoln would have been better style wise?"
As much as it pains me to say it - because I hate Fords - yes, the new Lincoln has better styling.
No,it looks like a 1973 Fleetwood.
I own an autobody shop and several years ago a customer brought one in for touch up and polish.I knew the owner and he told me to drive it if I wanted to. When I was finished I had some errands to run so I drove it.
What a ride!
You are right.I didn't notice the square headlights either.
now thats pimp! lol :)
That there is an RV or Redneck Vehicle. You can get one at your neareast Redneck Vehicle dealer. Look em up in the yeller pages. Look fer names like Bubber's RV's, Junior's New and Used RV's, or Mommaannem's RV's.
I love mine.
She is a beauty. Don't you go a caller her ugly! Do you drive a Mini Cooper or something?
He's keepin' it real. ;^)
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