The Diamond T Motor Car Company manufactured automobiles until 1911 when the first truck led to exclusive truck production and soon gained legendary status as style leaders. While “The Handsomest Truck in America” became a long-standing slogan, Diamond T also emphasized its engineering leadership. Builders of more than 1500 Class B “Liberty” trucks in World War I, Diamond T produced nearly 50,000 thousand prime movers, half-tracks, army wreckers, tank tractors, and tank movers in World War II. The late 1940s were years of peak production, but as the 1950s progressed, Diamond T found independent status problematic. The White Motor Company purchased Diamond T in 1958; moving production from Chicago to Reos manufacturing facilities in Lansing, Michigan, in 1960, creating the Lansing Division to produce Diamond T and Reo trucks. Both Diamond T and Reo ceased to be separate trucks starting in 1967 when Whites new Diamond Reo Division began producing Diamond Reo trucks.
Known as the Main Street of America and the Mother Road, U.S. Route 66 is the nation’s best known highway. Once the microcosm of a culture increasingly connected by automobiles, its sights and attractions are now a fascinating reflection of a nation on the move. Travel this iconic highway through the heart of America with Route 66 Backroads as your guide. This lavishly illustrated book steers you from Chicago to Los Angeles, traveling through the lowlands of the American Plains and the high plateaus of New Mexico and Arizona, from the Great Lakes to the mighty Pacific Ocean, and through major metropolises and remote country towns. Branch away from the Mother Road, and you encounter gems hidden beyond today’s standard motels and tourist traps—the quaint frontier communities that date back to the nation’s westward expansion; the legacy of ancient native cultures; and the awe-inspiring natural wonders that have graced these lands since time immemorial. State parks, wildlife refuges, museums, historic sites, literary landmarks, and much more are there to be explored within a few hours’ drive from the path of Route 66. The fifty trips included here offer new travel opportunities for the thousands of road-trippers who follow this legendary route, looking for something more.
Professional traveler Jamie Jensen traveled more than 400,000 miles to bring you the best-selling guide “Road Trip USA.” In this expanded tour of Route 66, Jamie covers the kitschy “Main Street of America,” one of the country’s first transcontinental highways. From the golden sands and sunshine of Los Angeles to the gritty streets of St. Louis and Chicago, “Road Trip USA Route 66” highlights major cities, obscure towns, popular attractions, roadside curiosities, local lore, and oddball trivia on this unforgettable journey into America, then and now.
Exit the interstates and create your own driving adventures on America’s most famous highway with “Road Trip USA Route 66.”
In September 1893, little could 23-year-old mechanic J. Frank Duryea dream of the changes that would be brought about by his creation – a frail gasoline buggy that made its debut on the streets of Springfield, Massachusetts. ‘When I began work upon the horseless carriage back in 1892, no one could see what the automobile would mean to my fellow beings in peace or in war. And yet, the automobile to this very day contains not a few of the fundamental features which I was the first to devise, design, build, or order built to my specifications.’ – J. Frank Duryea (1942) ‘What we have is a family feud – without the violence – rivaling the legendary Hatfields and McCoys.’ Charles E. and J. Frank Duryea, two brothers from rural Illinois, were the founders of the American automobile industry. The Duryea Motor Wagon company was the first company organized in the United States for the manufacture of automobiles. The attention-getting, older brother Charles demanded – and to date has received – the principal credit for these pioneering accomplishments. A bitter family feud between the brothers, which was even carried on by their families after their deaths, further muddied the question about the individual brothers’ contributions. However, in Carriages Without Horses: J. Frank Duryea and the Birth of the American Automobile Industry, historian and author Richard P. Scharchburg proves that the quiet, self-effacing younger brother J. Frank Duryea is unquestionably entitled to as much credit as Charles, if not considerably more. J. Frank did the actual work of construction on the cars, and was responsible for the practical designing and engineering of all components (aside from the steering mechanism) of the Duryea cars. More than an account of the struggle for precedence between brothers, however, Carriages Without Horses tells the story of America’s first automobile company taking shape. Scharchburg covers the design and development of the first Duryea car, culminating with its successful operation on the streets of Springfield, Massachusetts on September 21, 1893. This book also covers: the landmark Chicago Times-Herald race of 1895, won by the Duryea car built and driven by J. Frank; the subsequent progress of the Duryea Motor Wagon Company; and, after the brothers went their separate ways, J. Frank’s 1901 founding of the Stevens-Duryea Company.
“Pack your bags, hop in the car, and head out on a haunted adventure across legendary ROUTE 66
Embrace the spirit of adventure and freedom with an exciting journey of spine-tingling paranormal activity and American history along Route 66. This travel companion transports you from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California, exploring over one hundred ghostly hot spots filled with fascinating facts and lingering spirits.
From ghost hunters to avid fans of the Mother Road, everyone can take their own haunted road trip on Route 66 with this essential, easy-to-read guide. Explore the famous highway through historic locations and gripping ghost stories about the St. Valentine’s Day massacre in Chicago, the restless spirit of Charlie Chaplin that still haunts the Venice Beach.”
Long one of America’s most cherished byways, Route 66 remains a popular tourist attraction and travel route for thousands of travelers every year. While stretches of the once-glorious road have been paved over or bypassed by the interstates, the journey from Chicago to Santa Monica along the path of the “double six” remains chock-full of unique roadside attractions, spectacular natural landscapes, and fascinating historical landmarks. Communities throughout each of the eight states touched by the “Main Street of America”—Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California—have embraced this vital piece of American history and offer a vast array of opportunities to experience the grandeur as well as the lost innocence of the glory days of Route 66. In Travel Route 66, Route 66 expert and enthusiast Jim Hinckley provides detailed descriptions and itineraries that allow travelers of all ages and inclinations to explore the myriad wonders to be found along the highway’s 2,500 miles. In addition to specific recommendations for places to visit, eat, and spend the night, Hinckley presents history for the highway and its attractions and suggests detours and daytrips off the beaten path, all while providing a vivid picture of the road that has long captured the imaginations of travelers from throughout the world. Illustrated with a wealth of color photos and vintage memorabilia, Travel Route 66 is a practical and entertaining guide to the America’s Mother Road.
“Winner of International Automotive Media Gold Award 2010
For all his fame as one of Hollywood’s great actors, a world-class humanitarian, and the proprietor of a natural food empire, the late Paul Newman had another intriguing facet that was less known and perhaps closer to his heart than all the rest of his well-chronicled life. He was an avid, successful and well respected car racer and team owner. This book tells that story–from Newman’s racing career, begun in earnest at an age when many race car drivers contemplate retirement; to the partnership he formed in 1983 with Chicago racing entrepreneur and team owner Carl Haas; to the impressive stable of automobiles he owned, from the Porsches and Ferraris to quirkier modified VWs and Volvos.
This is the tale of a life full of passion and skill, of someone who entered the 24 Hours of Daytona at the age of 70 and made his last professional race outing at 82; whose roster of drivers for Newman/Hass reads as a who’s who of open wheel racing; and whose interest in cars extended from the likely suspects to old trucks and new hybrids. And then there’s the charming pal who, when the incorrigible prankster Robert Redford had a miserably wrecked Ferrari dropped at his front door, returned the favor by having the car, crushed into a cube, delivered to Redford’s living room. The anecdotes, the races, the cars–all are here, adding up to what for many would be a full life, but for Paul Newman was simply another side of a man of talent, conviction, and enduring spirit.
See Motorbooks author Matt Stone interviewed by Jay Leno on JayLenosGarage.com: http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/jays-book-club-matt-stone/1164286/“
