HIGH-OCTANE NEWS FROM THE CALIFORNIA AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM MARCH / APRIL 2013 EDITION Wow, have we been busy lately! We’re still working hard on our New Home project - meeting with City officials, developers, and potential donors; opening a new exhibit (Pint-Size: Microcars on the Road) without a curator on staff (thank you to our guest curator, Mark Cunningham!), planning for upcoming events like the Beer Tasting, Annual Membership Meeting, Vettes for Vets and the Cruise, and hosting outside events every weekend! If you’d like an up-to-the-minute Yes, things look a little bit different these days... From the desk of Executive Director, Karen McClaflin report on our New Home progress, please plan to attend our Annual Membership Meeting on Friday, March 1. The meeting is for museum members only, but it’s never too late to join and become an official Gearhead! Give us a call or visit CalAutoMuseum.org/html/membershi p.html to get your invitation to our membership meeting where we’ll enjoy free dessert, coffee and tea, along with an report on 2012, new home update, plans for 2013, and the CAM Docent and Volunteer of the Year awards. Hope to see you there! Keep on Cruising, Karen McClaflin THE STREETCAR CITY BY RICHARD FLOCH In cities, once land is divided and streets are laid out you pretty much can’t go back and change things. After the earthquake and fire leveled San Francisco in 1906, it was rebuilt—much like it was. It had to be. The fire didn’t destroy the deeds and legal rights-of-way that defined its basic structure which were cast in its past. >>CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 / SHAPE OF THE CITY>>
Transcript
HIGH-OCTANE NEWS FROM THE CALIFORNIA AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM
MARCH / APRIL 2013 EDITION
Wow, have we been busy lately! We’re still working hard on our New Home project -
meeting with City officials, developers, and potential donors; opening a new exhibit (Pint-Size: Microcars on the Road) without a curator on staff (thank you to our guest curator, Mark Cunningham!), planning for upcoming events like the Beer Tasting, Annual Membership Meeting, Vettes for Vets and the Cruise, and hosting outside events every weekend!If you’d like an up-to-the-minute
Yes, things look a little bit different
these days... From the desk of Executive Director, Karen McClaflin
Mar. 9 /Trip to Dick DeLunas “Toy Box” &
Roy Brizio’s Street Rod Collection / $70
Mar. 17 ST. PATRICK’S DAY / $4
Wear primarily green and get in half price!
Kids activities, great exhibits, awesome cars.
May 26, 2013 10am-2pm / VETTES 4 VETS
A FREE Corvette car show organized to honor the hard
work and dedication military veterans have committed to
our country.
Saturday, August 3, 2013 / 5th ANNUAL CAM
CAR CRUISE /REGISTERATION NOW OPEN
The CAM Car Cruise is an annual event for vintage
car owners to show off their rides. The Cruise
begins at Sac State and ends on Fulton and El
Camino in a huge vintage car show.
report on our New Home progress, please plan to attend our Annual Membership Meeting on Friday, March 1. The meeting is for museum members only, but it’s never too late to join and become an official Gearhead! Give us a call or visit CalAutoMuseum.org/html/membership.html to get your invitation to our membership meeting where we’ll enjoy free dessert, coffee and tea, along with an report on 2012, new home update, plans for 2013, and the CAM Docent and Volunteer of the Year awards. Hope to see you there!
Keep on Cruising,
Karen McClaflin
THE STREETCAR CITYBY RICHARD FLOCH
In cities, once land is divided and streets are laid out you pretty much can’t go back
and change things. After the earthquake and fire leveled San Francisco in 1906, it was rebuilt—much like it was. It had to be. The fire didn’t destroy the deeds and legal rights-of-way that defined its basic structure which were cast in its past.
>>CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 / SHAPE OF THE CITY>>
NEWSLETTER DESIGNED BY NATALIE MINAS
Free admission starting at 6p.m.
Refreshments will be available for on-site
purchase. The Capitol Pops Concert Band will
begin their performance, comprised of a 75
piece ensemble, promptly at 7:00 pm.
Come and tour a designated world
famous garage and a great private
collection with the California Automobile
Museum. Enjoy a good time, and
awesome cars!
BY: NATALIE MINAS
Fantastic, if books such as this had been required reading in high school, I definitely would have made better grades in history.
-Brad Bowling, Car and Parts Magazine
“”
Calling all cars!
The California Automobile Museum’s vehicle sales program is revving up this year to become the number one destination for donated and consigned cars in Sacramento.
What really sets donating to the Auto Museum apart from other charities? Your vehicle goes directly from your garage to our floor with no hassle, no third parties, no middlemen.
Your classic car will be on display during Museum hours, and after hours for private events. This is the best way to
get interest in your car for a speedy sale. We are sponsored by local media who will help us promote your car. Whether it’s in print, on television, or on the radio; your car will get noticed. Let us do it for you by donating or consigning your car to our trained and knowledgeable vehicle sales staff dedicated to getting you a top dollar bid.
CARS 4 SALE
CAM Car Sales
AUTOMOBILE HISTORY
For the Gearheads who don’t
have it already, we just
received autographed copies
of Kevin Nelson’s Wheels of
Change and Lunches with Mr.
Q. His books have received
rave reviews and is a Winner
of the James Valentine Memorial Award for Excellence in Automotive
History as well as Finalist for Best Book of the Year by the Los Angeles
1973 Ford Mustang convertible- 351 Cleveland with claimed 475 HP. Lots of upgrades. $20,995.00 Call 916-442-6802
1948 Plymouth P-15 Special Deluxe 4 door. Original paint and interior. Survivor vehicle. $8,500.00 Call 916-442-6802
1941 Lincoln Continental 2 door. Clean older restoration. Original V-12. $33,495.00 Call 916-442-6802
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TO SEE MORE CARS FOR SALEVISIT CAMCARSALES.COM
THE STREETCAR CITY >>CONTINUED FEATURE>>
But in the US, most major central cities were created when
streetcars were the prevailing way city-dwellers got around.
Long, straight arterial roads where streetcars traveled shaped
the central city and defined the boundaries of its
neighborhoods. Densities were high and businesses and
shops occupied the ground floors of multi-storied apartment
buildings where their customers lived. If you had to go
anywhere else, you took the streetcar.
Ironically, one of the
largest streetcar systems
serving a major city was
in, of all places, Los
Angeles. What came to
be the Pacific Electric
system in 1911 had over
1100 miles of streetcar
track. On it, you could easily get from any part of the LA basin
to another. It was fast too. You could take the “Red Car” from
San Bernardino to downtown LA in something over an hour…in
1914, a time that would be hard to beat a hundred years later
on LA’s congested freeways.
By the 1920s streetcars were sharing the same right of way
with growing legions of automobiles. It wasn’t an easy
marriage and things were about to get worse.
By the 1940s streetcars were being squeezed out and in some
cases, including the Pacific Electric system in Los Angeles,
were literally killed off by the automobile industry. In 1949, a
Federal Court convicted Firestone Tire, The Standard Oil Co.
of California, Phillips Petroleum, General Motors, and Mack
Trucks of conspiring to monopolize the sale of equipment to
transit companies and put them out of business. In more of a
gesture than a real penalty, GM was fined $5000 by the Court
for dismantling the $100 Million Pacific Electric System, while H.C.
Grossman, GM’s
Treasurer at the time,
was personally fined
the sum of $1.
There were, of course
other reasons for the
failure of streetcar
systems all over the
country following World
War II—primarily the basic incompatibility of sharing the same public
roads with growing numbers of affordable private cars running on
25¢ gas that gave you the freedom of movement that the streetcar
never could. Some rail transit systems, particularly those that had
substantial trackage underground or on elevated tracks thrived, but
those that didn’t, including LA’s Pacific Electric and Sacramento’s
own Trolley system, were allowed to pass into the dust of history.
Once You Get There, Where Do You Park?
Sharing the road with streetcars wasn’t the only problem for early
motorists in the city. A real problem that had unforeseen
consequences was that there was no place to park once you got
downtown in your car.
At first, businesses tried to find their own solution to accommodate
people who drove their cars downtown to shop or to work. But the
city hadn’t been designed for cars and vacant land was at a premium
and expensive. Cars were parked on rooftops. Strange car-elevator
parking arrangements were tried. People began to have to PAY for a
parking space.
It wasn’t enough so
inevitably, government got
involved.
Cities quickly got into the
parking business
themselves, buying land
and building parking lots
and structures devoted entirely to parking cars and charging both
customers to park and businesses through municipal parking district
assessments on their tax bills.
In 1935, Oklahoma City got the bright idea of charging cars that
-3-
THE AUTOMOBILE AND THE SHAPE OF THE CITY
Richard Floch, Docent Class of 2007Planning Consultant and former Planning Director for local governments in California. Understand the story told by the exhibits at CAM and you can better understand the Twentieth Century and how the automobile shaped our lives and the generation before us. Understand how transportation has shaped our cities and you can better understand why a $100 Billion “bullet train” occupies the headlines while the majority of us continue to be dependent on our cars in the face of increasingly hostile public policy and how, as we move into the twenty-first century, it may all be unnecessary.
parked on public streets as well and
installed the first parking meters. Other
cities rapidly followed suit. The parking
revenue gold-rush was on but while it
increased city coffers, it didn’t solve the
problem.
The Automobile Shapes Public Policy
City Planners responded by requiring
businesses to provide their own off-street
parking spaces. Their studies showed
that typically one parking space would be
needed for each 300-400 square feet of commercial floor space.
Elaborate minimum parking requirements were written into most
zoning ordinances specifying not only the number of spaces required
for practically any commercial or residential land use imaginable, but
also minimum sizes for spaces and aisles. Later, requirements for
parking lot landscaping and spaces devoted to handicapped
customers were added.
The problem at the time was no one really understood how much
land this meant was being devoted to cars. It turns out it also takes
about 300-400 square feet to park one car and provide driveways to
get to it. As a result, by the 1980s over half of the total downtown
land in most cities had been devoted to parking and travelways for
automobiles. To make room we tore down much of our downtowns,
creating sterile islands of concrete and forcing the economic base
that supported the downtown to happily relocate to the suburbs
where the people had moved as well. Jobs fled and the downtown
became the daytime realm of commuting office workers, home only
to the urban poor. We blamed it all on the car as if it had its own
consciousness and evil intent.
The backlash was inevitable
and predictably, too late.
Today, a new generation of
City Planners are now working
on “parking disincentives” and
“traffic calming” measures to
make it deliberately inconvenient to use a car downtown. Minimum
parking standards in zoning ordinances are being rewritten to now
regulate the maximum amount of parking allowed.
As we move into the environmentally conscious Twenty-first Century,
cars have come to be widely viewed as the enemies of cities and
even of the planet, itself. The infrastructure of roads that they require
is no longer fully funded or maintained. Public funds once earmarked
for streets and highways now go into “non-vehicular transportation”
and developers are required to build high-densities and mixed uses
in “pedestrian-friendly” developments that nostalgically
mimic the streetcar era. The streetcar, itself, has returned
to the downtown, this time driven by public policy and
helped by heavy public subsidies paid for by taxes on the
same automobiles that we blame for their original demise.
Public policy has become pay-back time.
The urban population of the United States exploded from
40% to 80% in the Twentieth Century because of
suburban growth made possible by of the automobile with
densities that were never intended to support public
transit. Whereas
the downtown had
originally been shaped by
fixed route transit systems
and may one day be
served by them again, the
suburbs were, from the
beginning, only possible
because of the automobile. Indications are that City Planners are
attempting to apply the same “transit oriented” development
policies to outlying areas designed around the automobile that
they are now pursuing in downtowns. Will it succeed or will it fail
as miserably as we failed to adapt the automobile to the
streetcar city? Is pay-back the only solution or are we missing
something important from the lessons of history?
What is the next technological advance that will free us from the
past as much as the automobile did in the Twentieth Century and
will shape the City of the next century? Maybe it is already here.
Telecommunications already allows us to meet, shop, find
entertainment, do business and go to work without being
dependent upon any physical transportation network. Advances
in wireless networking even mean that fixed distribution systems
of wires and cables are no longer necessary, unlike the fixed
rails of 1900 were to the Streetcar City and freeways to the
suburbs of 2000. Increasingly we will have the freedom to live
where we choose: in the central city with its modernized transit
systems and restored economic importance, or in the suburbs
where our cars will no longer cause congestion out of necessity
but become needed less frequently or used for enjoyment. Some
of us may even choose to live in rural areas or remote hamlets
which will, for the first time, have access to many of the same
resources that city-dwellers have always enjoyed. The shape of
the Twenty-first Century City may be anything we chose it to be.
-4-
PINT-SIZE EXHIBIT DISPLAYSTINY TITANS!Microcars, the tiny tots of automobiledom that thrived in the postwar era, are being celebrated through the California Automobile Museum’s new exhibit, PINT-SIZE: Microcars on the Road, which opened on February 9.
While microcars existed prior to World War II, they were most popular in the years following the war. Due to their minuscule engine and overall size, they were inexpensive to produce and easy to maintain. The earliest scooters and microcars — open-air motorized tricycles and quadricycles — were followed by
covered models that offered more comfort and safety, but as full-size cars became more affordable and available to the masses, microcars eventually faded from the automotive landscape.
With soaring gas prices, modern microcars such as the smart fortwo, FIAT 500, Scion iQ, Mini, and others
have emerged and are gaining popularity as drivers are looking to more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly
transportation options.
The exhibit, which examines the rich, 70-year history of the tiniest titans in automotive transportation, runs through
April 21, 2013 and includes the following vehicles: 1947 Crosley pickup, 1949 Crosley station wagon, 1950 Crosley Hot Shot, 1950 Crosley Farm-O-Road, 1957 Zundapp Janus, 1958 BMW Isetta 300, 1958 Fiat Multipla, 1959 Messerschmitt KR200, 1959 Vespa 400, 1960 Heinkel Tourist scooter, 1962 Heinkel Trojan, 1963 Peel P50, 1964 Peel Trident, 1964 King Midget Model 3, 1966 Subaru 360, 1967 Vespa 150 Super scooter, 1971 Mini Moke, 1971 Mini Cooper, 1972 Honda 600 and 1973 Fiat 500L.
BEER TASTING AT THE CALIFORNIA AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM Come and join us for a night of all the senses. Beer tasting provided by regionally located brewmasters, live music by The Bathtub Gins, mini-bites by Capital City Catering Company and Rayna’s Catering Company, our new mini exhibit PINT-SIZE, and awesome raffle prizes!
This event is a celebration in tribute to Sacramento Beer Week and our new exhibit PINT-SIZE: Microcars on the Road. Tickets are available online, over the phone and in person. Designated drivers are free, but must be accompanied with at least one beer lover.
For just $20 you can enjoy unlimited tastings from breweries such as Two Rivers Cider, New Helvetia, Auburn Alehouse, Lagunitas, Track 7, Mad River, Schubros, and Rubicon Brewing Companies.
-6-
Weighing in at 130 pounds (59kg), the Peel
P50 is classified as the smallest car known to
mankind. Originated from its home country
The Isle of Man, the Peel P50 is prominently
placed in this exhibit as a designation for
visitors (mainly small children) to have a
unique photo opportunity. Come see this tiny
titan up-close and personal. This exhibit runs
now through April 21.
MICROCARS
SMALLEST CAR IN THE WORLD NOW ON DISPLAY
For more information on this exhibit, please contact the Museum at (916) 442-6802.
$20 GENERAL / $18 GOV. EMPLOYEES (CODE: 2222)
$15 MUSEUM MEMBERS (CODE: 5555) / ONE DD PER GROUP: (FREE WITH
UNLIMITED ROOT BEER) / $25 at the DOOR
JOIN US AT THECALIFORNIA AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM
FEB. 286-9pm
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT CALAUTOMUSEUM.ORG
-5-
FEATURED EVENT
SPAGHETTI DINNER
SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 20134:00 PM - 7:00 PM / $10.00
The California auto Museum presents a delicious all-you-can eat spaghetti dinner, provided by Taste of Tuscany, on Sunday April 7, honoring the “Car Guy” Butch Gardner.
Learn more about our New Home plans and honor the life of local car guy Butch Gardner. ACCC endorsed event
ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT
We’re saving money this year which means we are cutting down on printing
our newsletter.
It will be helpful to us if you are able to receive our newsletter by email only. Please contact the Museum to be sure we have your most current
e-mail address.
If you would like to help out even more, we are always accepting your
PINT-SIZE EXHIBIT DISPLAYSTINY TITANS!Microcars, the tiny tots of automobiledom that thrived in the postwar era, are being celebrated through the California Automobile Museum’s new exhibit, PINT-SIZE: Microcars on the Road, which opened on February 9.
While microcars existed prior to World War II, they were most popular in the years following the war. Due to their minuscule engine and overall size, they were inexpensive to produce and easy to maintain. The earliest scooters and microcars — open-air motorized tricycles and quadricycles — were followed by
covered models that offered more comfort and safety, but as full-size cars became more affordable and available to the masses, microcars eventually faded from the automotive landscape.
With soaring gas prices, modern microcars such as the smart fortwo, FIAT 500, Scion iQ, Mini, and others
have emerged and are gaining popularity as drivers are looking to more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly
transportation options.
The exhibit, which examines the rich, 70-year history of the tiniest titans in automotive transportation, runs through
April 21, 2013 and includes the following vehicles: 1947 Crosley pickup, 1949 Crosley station wagon, 1950 Crosley Hot Shot, 1950 Crosley Farm-O-Road, 1957 Zundapp Janus, 1958 BMW Isetta 300, 1958 Fiat Multipla, 1959 Messerschmitt KR200, 1959 Vespa 400, 1960 Heinkel Tourist scooter, 1962 Heinkel Trojan, 1963 Peel P50, 1964 Peel Trident, 1964 King Midget Model 3, 1966 Subaru 360, 1967 Vespa 150 Super scooter, 1971 Mini Moke, 1971 Mini Cooper, 1972 Honda 600 and 1973 Fiat 500L.
BEER TASTING AT THE CALIFORNIA AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM Come and join us for a night of all the senses. Beer tasting provided by regionally located brewmasters, live music by The Bathtub Gins, mini-bites by Capital City Catering Company and Rayna’s Catering Company, our new mini exhibit PINT-SIZE, and awesome raffle prizes!
This event is a celebration in tribute to Sacramento Beer Week and our new exhibit PINT-SIZE: Microcars on the Road. Tickets are available online, over the phone and in person. Designated drivers are free, but must be accompanied with at least one beer lover.
For just $20 you can enjoy unlimited tastings from breweries such as Two Rivers Cider, New Helvetia, Auburn Alehouse, Lagunitas, Track 7, Mad River, Schubros, and Rubicon Brewing Companies.
-6-
Weighing in at 130 pounds (59kg), the Peel
P50 is classified as the smallest car known to
mankind. Originated from its home country
The Isle of Man, the Peel P50 is prominently
placed in this exhibit as a designation for
visitors (mainly small children) to have a
unique photo opportunity. Come see this tiny
titan up-close and personal. This exhibit runs
now through April 21.
MICROCARS
SMALLEST CAR IN THE WORLD NOW ON DISPLAY
For more information on this exhibit, please contact the Museum at (916) 442-6802.
$20 GENERAL / $18 GOV. EMPLOYEES (CODE: 2222)
$15 MUSEUM MEMBERS (CODE: 5555) / ONE DD PER GROUP: (FREE WITH
UNLIMITED ROOT BEER) / $25 at the DOOR
JOIN US AT THECALIFORNIA AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM
FEB. 286-9pm
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT CALAUTOMUSEUM.ORG
-5-
FEATURED EVENT
SPAGHETTI DINNER
SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 20134:00 PM - 7:00 PM / $10.00
The California auto Museum presents a delicious all-you-can eat spaghetti dinner, provided by Taste of Tuscany, on Sunday April 7, honoring the “Car Guy” Butch Gardner.
Learn more about our New Home plans and honor the life of local car guy Butch Gardner. ACCC endorsed event
ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT
We’re saving money this year which means we are cutting down on printing
our newsletter.
It will be helpful to us if you are able to receive our newsletter by email only. Please contact the Museum to be sure we have your most current
e-mail address.
If you would like to help out even more, we are always accepting your
HIGH-OCTANE NEWS FROM THE CALIFORNIA AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM
MARCH / APRIL 2013 EDITION
Wow, have we been busy lately! We’re still working hard on our New Home project -
meeting with City officials, developers, and potential donors; opening a new exhibit (Pint-Size: Microcars on the Road) without a curator on staff (thank you to our guest curator, Mark Cunningham!), planning for upcoming events like the Beer Tasting, Annual Membership Meeting, Vettes for Vets and the Cruise, and hosting outside events every weekend!If you’d like an up-to-the-minute
Yes, things look a little bit different
these days... From the desk of Executive Director, Karen McClaflin
Mar. 21 5-9pm / CARS UNDER THE STARS / $4
Every 3rd Thursday of the month visitors can enjoy
the Museum at half price ($4) after-hours.
This is an excellent family friendly event.
Feb. 28 / BEER TASTING FOR BEER LOVERS / $20
Enjoy a night for all the senses! 8+ Breweries, mini-
bites, live music, and great raffles.
$15 Members / $18 Gov. Workers / DD FREE /
$25 at the door
Mar. 8 / Capitol Pops Concert Band / FREE
Mar. 9 /Trip to Dick DeLunas “Toy Box” &
Roy Brizio’s Street Rod Collection / $70
Mar. 17 ST. PATRICK’S DAY / $4
Wear primarily green and get in half price!
Kids activities, great exhibits, awesome cars.
April 7, 2013 / SPAGHETTI DINNER / $10
All-you-can-eat Spaghetti Dinner by Taste of Tuscany.
Come and learn about our plans for a new home and
to honor the life of the “Car Guy” Butch Gardner.
May 26, 2013 10am-2pm / VETTES 4 VETS
A FREE Corvette car show organized to honor the hard
work and dedication military veterans have committed to
our country.
Saturday, August 3, 2013 / 5th ANNUAL CAM
CAR CRUISE /REGISTERATION NOW OPEN
The CAM Car Cruise is an annual event for vintage
car owners to show off their rides. The Cruise
begins at Sac State and ends on Fulton and El
Camino in a huge vintage car show.
CAM EVENTS
report on our New Home progress, please plan to attend our Annual Membership Meeting on Friday, March 1. The meeting is for museum members only, but it’s never too late to join and become an official Gearhead! Give us a call or visit CalAutoMuseum.org/html/membership.html to get your invitation to our membership meeting where we’ll enjoy free dessert, coffee and tea, along with an report on 2012, new home update, plans for 2013, and the CAM Docent and Volunteer of the Year awards. Hope to see you there!
Keep on Cruising,
Karen McClaflin
THE STREETCAR CITYBY RICHARD FLOCH
In cities, once land is divided and streets are laid out you pretty much can’t go back
and change things. After the earthquake and fire leveled San Francisco in 1906, it was rebuilt—much like it was. It had to be. The fire didn’t destroy the deeds and legal rights-of-way that defined its basic structure which were cast in its past.
