Thanks for stopping in. Take the time to browse around, plenty of interesting archived motoring material on the site. Got a story to share about an old car, truck or motorcycle? Simply leave a comment, and I’ll get in touch. Warm regards, Greg Williams.
If you’re looking for my book, Prairie Dust, Motorcycles and a Typewriter, please visit www.modernmotorcyclemechanics.com
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NEW Nicholson Bros. Motorcycles t-shirts are available at www.modernmotorcyclemechancis.com. You know you want one.
Photo courtesy Library and Archives Canada.
Story first published in the Calgary Herald’s Driving section March 5, 2010.
Take your semi-reliable car or motorcycle, equip it with a set of decent tires, fill your pocket with adequate cash for gasoline and it’s easy enough to drive across this country.
But just imagine doing it some 80 years ago.
Challenging, to say the least. But J. Graham Oates did it in 1928 aboard an Ariel 500cc motorcycle equipped with a sidecar. He was the first individual to pilot a rubber-tired vehicle from sea to sea – long before the Trans Canada Highway.
And that’s just one reason why Oates, a motorcyclist who hailed from the Isle of Man – an island off the coast of the U.K. in the Irish Sea – was inducted into the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame last year.
Oates was something of a nomad who prior to leaving his Manx home designed and built his own motorcycle, a machine he called the Aurora. In the early 1920s he had big ambitions intending to build and market the Aurora but public interest in his product waned.
In the mid-1920s after the failure of the Aurora venture Oates raced a variety of British motorcycles in competitive events.
Then, Oates moved to Bolivia before eventually winding up in Canada.
Once here in 1928 he worked in the Canadian motorcycle industry as a salesman at J.V. and J.W. Conroy, a shop in Toronto that sold Ariel, Douglas and Royal Enfield machines.
Over a few drinks in the bar with Charles Dennis Browne, a First World War buddy and Castrol Oil rep here in Canada, Oates hatched the idea for his cross-country adventure. He’d ride an Ariel motorcycle to drum up some publicity for both Ariel and Castrol.
Sponsored by Ariel Motors and Castrol Oil, between June and September 1928 Graham rode from Nova Scotia to Vancouver on a new 497cc ‘Two Port’ single-cylinder Ariel motorcycle attached to a Canadian-built sidecar – constructed by Sturgess of Hamilton, Ont.
To do this, Graham motored along roads when he could find them, but resorted to riding hundreds of miles on the railroad tracks between Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario and Whitemouth, Manitoba – a journey that would certainly have tested the mettle of any motorcyclist.
He rode the machine between the steel rails, and every railroad tie in the track would send jarring vibrations through the handlebars and saddle. Oates persevered; moving the outfit off of the rails when a train approached and lifting it back on after it passed. On occasion the train crew had to help him get his motorcycle and sidecar back on the rails.
On Thursday, Sept. 13, 1928 Oates arrived in Calgary.
A front-page story in the Calgary Herald ran the next day, and it summed up his journey thus far.
‘Coast to Coast Cyclist Arrives’, claimed the headline. ‘J. Graham Oates Reaches Calgary on Motorcycle in Cross-Canada Trip.’
And here’s the first paragraph: “Four days from Regina through discouraging prairie ‘gumbo’ and 18 days from Halifax on a coast-to-coast motorcycle tour in an effort to establish for the Ariel motorcycle the record of being the first gas-propelled vehicle to travel across Canada on rubber tires, J. Graham Oates, general manager of Conroy and Company, of Toronto, arrived in Calgary at 7 o’clock, Thursday evening, tired and dusty, but cheerfully satisfied with the results of his trip so far, having covered the 6,700 miles in 18 days.
“Mr. Oates emphasizes that Western Canada’s chief need is more and better motor roads and he heartily endorses the campaign of the Alberta Motor Association to awaken public interest in the subject.”
During his trip across Canada Oates collected letters from the mayors of major urban centres, including Toronto, Winnipeg and Regina. He visited with Calgary’s then-mayor (Frederick Ernest) Osborne and added his message to the others to be delivered to the mayor of Vancouver.
According to the article, Oates left Calgary heading west on what was the beginnings of the Trans-Canada highway to Golden where he expected to cross the Rocky Mountains once again bouncing over railway ties.
Oates made it to Vancouver just 21 days after starting the trip, and he dipped the rear tire of his Ariel in the Pacific, just as he had done in the Atlantic. He returned to Toronto via U.S. routes, and he remained in Canada for another three years.
As if crossing Canada by motorcycle wasn’t reason enough to posthumously induct Oates into the CMHF another of his contributions was the establishment of the British Empire Motor Club. Initially a motorcycle club, the BEMC of Toronto still exists, but now mainly organizes automobile races.
A great book by Manx author Bill Snelling called Aurora to Ariel is available and it details many of the exploits of Oates. According to Snelling, he is in the process of updating the book, and the new edition will include more of Oates’ diary entries and photographs. It’s a great read about an intrepid motorcycle pioneer — put it on your reading list. Click here to purchase the book.
Image courtesy Library and Archives Canada.
Photos courtesy John Cooper.
Story first published in the Calgary Herald’s Driving section 19 Feb. 2010.
Crazy custom cars ruled the day back in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Builders such as Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth, George Barris and the Alexander Brothers shared their unique vehicles with crowds around the North American auto shows.
It was vehicles such as the blue deuce coupe built by the Alexander Brothers – which later became known as the Beach Boys Little Deuce Coupe – and the Emperor by Barris that influenced Tom Culbertson when he built El Tiki.
Culbertson, of Indianapolis, Indiana, originally built El Tiki in a short 127 days. Currently owned by John Cooper, El Tiki was further modified to the point it’s at now – and the car is on show this weekend at Calgary’s 44 th Annual Auto Value Parts World of Wheels.
Culbertson’s been building cars since 1964. After he left the Marine Corps he came home to work with his father at the family service station. In the garage Culbertson went to work with torch, grinder and wrenches building his own hotrods. That line of work soon had him building rods and racecars for other customers.
For Culbertson, automobiles simply never progressed beyond the early 1960s. His daily driver is a chopped 1956 Lincoln two door, and his second car is a 1930 Ford Model A coupe with a flathead V-8. Both cars have been driven numerous times to New York, Florida and Las Vegas.
According to Cooper, who has been friends with Culbertson since high school, he looks the part, too.
“He has always had slicked back hair, cuffed jeans, engineer boots and tattoos,” Cooper says. “He doesn’t own a cell phone and still has rotary dial phones in the shop and house.”
El Tiki started off as a simple build. Out behind Culbertson’s shop was a rusty 1929 Ford Sport Coupe body shell that had been rescued from a farmer’s field. At one point in its life the coupe body had been modified – badly – and Culbertson says it was a good candidate for a roadster-style conversion.
“Every car I do I pretty much just sit back and look at it, and visualize in my head what I’m going to do. The inside, the dash and the doors – I visualized it all before I started the build.
“If I was a better artist I could probably draw it – but I’m not,” Culbertson says from his shop in Indianapolis. He’s worked in the same 85’ long by 30’ wide building since 1976. He’s got everything he needs in the shop, including an attic full of cool old parts, and El Tiki never left the building during its construction and ultimate completion.
Culbertson started by building a double-tube chassis, complete with a 1947 Lincoln front axle and a 1957 Ford 9” rear end.
Then, he fit the body, channeling it 4” over the frame and removing the metal top to make it a roadster. Of course, there was far more involved than that. The doors were sculpted, the windshield and frame fabricated, the interior ‘waterfall’ console hand constructed and the dash from a 1956 Oldsmobile narrowed and welded in place.
“There’s no carbon fibre or fibre glass in this car, it’s all metal,” Culbertson says. “You start with a 20-gauge sheet of steel, cut it, roll it, stretch it and shrink it until it fits the way you want it.”
To give the car some power Culbertson opted to use a 1956 Oldsmobile 324 cubic inch engine mated to a 1947 Ford truck three-speed transmission. An adaptor was used to marry the Olds engine to the Ford gearbox.
“Everything on the car is older than 1961,” Culbertson says. “I had in my mind that if a guy was building it in 1961 that’s the newest a part could be.”
When the car was done Cooper decided he wanted to buy it. Cooper had been around during the entire build process and after he sold his 1960 Cadillac he had some funds to buy El Tiki from Culbertson.
“When I bought the car it was finished, but just not the way it looks now,” Cooper says. “I wanted to take it to another level.”
Together, Cooper and Culbertson rebuilt the front grille and added the quad headlights – from a 1960 Buick – built the headrests and added the fins to the decklid.
“El Tiki has been a bit of a test bed for my son, Dustin,” Cooper says. “He did all of the original body work and paint in 2005 when he was 17, and he did it again when he was 19.”
Cooper does drive the car, and he’s put several thousand miles on El Tiki since its completion.
At the World of Wheels El Tiki is just one of many custom, restoration and original vehicles on display at the BMO Centre at Stampede Park. The kids will enjoy seeing Doc Hudson, the Hudson Hornet from the hit movie Cars. And Kane’s Harley-Davidson hosts Motorcycle 2010 with a display of new, custom and vintage machines.
The show runs today from 3 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. General admission is $14, children six to 12 are $5 and children five and under are free. Discount tickets are available at Auto Value Parts stores.
This story first published in the Calgary Herald, January 29, 2010. All images courtesy TMI AutoTech, Inc.
Ariel is a name that is familiar to vintage motorcycle enthusiasts.
The historic British maker got its start in 1870 with bicycles, and motorcycles followed in 1902. Ariel produced famed models such as the Square Four and Red Hunter before going under in 1970.
Today Ariel might become just as well known for a hot little supercar called the Atom.
Ariel Motor Company (U.K.) started life in 1991 under a different name, and designed the Atom in 1995 (arielmotor.co.uk). They acquired the Ariel name in 2001. There is quite a cottage industry in the U.K. of bespoke sports car builders and Ariel is among them.
Taking notice of the Ariel Atom was a group of three Canadian racecar aficionados now living in the U.S. They bought eight Atoms and set up a driving company that offered the ‘Ariel Atom Experience’ to individuals and corporate clients alike.
“Our background is motorsports, and we’ve worked with racing at many different levels across North America,” says Mark Swain, vice president, sales and marketing of TMI AutoTech, Inc. from his trackside office in Alton, Virginia. “In 2007 we were looking for something to do, and we developed the Ariel Atom Experience; where participants get to drive an Atom on the racetrack with an instructor,” and experience for themselves the thrill of driving a lightweight and powerful car.
That led to TMI AutoTech being granted the North American rights to build the Atom under licence (arielatom.com). In order to undertake this manufacturing task a facility was required. Swain says the best location was a 16,000 sq. ft. shop at the raceplex at the Virginia International Raceway.
They equipped the small manufacturing facility with some high-tech tools and started production.
“We can roll out the shop door and onto the track,” Swain says. “From chassis fabrication through to final assembly the Atom is built right here.” Approximately 50 Ariel Atoms are built in the plant each year.
But what makes the Atom so unique?
That question can be answered simply, acceleration and handling.
“It’ll do 0 to 60 miles per hour in under three seconds; it’s blindingly quick,” Swain says. “And it handles as well as it accelerates. You’re getting the performance of a million dollar car for one that starts at $50,000 – it’s good value for the performance dollar.”
The Atom features an exo-skeleton chassis, meaning the frame tubes are exposed and there are very few lightweight composite body panels to cover up the architecture. In the TMI-produced car motivation is provided by a Japanese-spec Honda K20 power plant. This is the same engine that powers the Honda Civic Type R in the home market. The engine is mated to a six-speed, limited slip, close ratio gearbox. While the engine is meant to power a front wheel drive vehicle, imagine the power plant pushed to the back, making the Atom a rear wheel drive.
“It’s a pretty hot little engine, and it’s the highest output 2.0-litre engine Honda makes,” Swain says.
There’s no windshield. No doors. No hood to speak of. And that makes the Ariel Atom weigh a paltry 624 kg. For the sake of comparison, a Mazda MX-5 tips the scales (depending on specifications) at around 990 kg.
Some components of the car such as the wheels, brakes and engine are purchased form outside suppliers, but TMI makes the chassis, suspension pieces and the few body panels the car does wear. Each Atom is built to the buyer’s specifications, and while some will go through the requirements to make it street legal and register the car for the road the Atom is sold in North America as a racetrack-only vehicle.
There is a Canadian dealer in Montreal to support a core group of enthusiasts who participate in track days at venues such as Circuit Mont Tremblant in Quebec and Mosport International Raceway in Ontario. According to Swain, though, 95 per cent of their sales are to U.S. states where there’s no snow and the Atoms can be used on tracks year-round.
“You’re not out in the open as much as you are on a motorcycle,” Swain says. “The car is very visceral. You feel the wind and you feel every movement of the car. There’s no traction control or ABS, whatever (steering or braking) you put in is what it’s going to give back to you, and it’s very rewarding to drive.”
Great news. Prairie Dust, Motorcycles and a Typewriter was recognized with a MAX Award on Saturday, Jan. 16 at the SUPERSHOW in Toronto. The award was accepted by motorcycle author Max Burns on my behalf. The 31st annual MAX Awards are the equivalent of the Oscars for Canadian motorcyclists. What’s especially great about the 2010 MAX is it bookends the 1997 MAX received for writing an article about J.B. Nicholson.
Be sure to visit www.modernmotorcyclemechanics.com for books, t-shirts and DVDs.
Story first published in the Calgary Herald’s Driving section, Friday Jan. 8, 2010.
January is a difficult time of year for motorcyclists.
The machines have been serviced and tucked away for their long winter’s nap and riders suffer serious withdrawal symptoms.
But there is something of a cure. It’s called the Calgary Motorcycle Show at the BMO Centre at Stampede Park. Starting today at noon doses of the medicine will be dispensed for $13 – adult admission.
Every major brand from BMW to Yamaha will have models on display, together with custom and vintage machines. It’s safe to say, if it features two wheels, it will be featured at the show. Returning to the Canadian market after more than a decade is Royal Enfield, and Indian is also back in action – both will be on display.
New this year as part of the Motor Madness Thrill Show is Jason Britton – accomplished motorcycle extreme stunt rider and host of Speed TV’s SuperBikes. The Thrill Show features Britton stunting on the cement floor in the Corral and high-flying motocrossers, the FMX Freestyle Team, getting airborne with their aerial acrobatics.
We recently caught up with Britton at his No Limit Motorsports shop in Los Angeles. As air tools chattered in the background Britton chatted on his cell phone about his passion for motorcycles and his unique extreme stunting techniques.
Q: Your website says you were riding at age two – do you remember the experience?
A: I remember it very clearly. My dad sat me on a motorcycle (a small semi-automatic Honda Trail 50), and his intention was to scare me – he started it and revved it up, and it was the most exhilarating experience of my life; it was the beginning. I was already able to ride a bicycle, and my dad thought he’d put the bike in gear and roll me down the driveway. I just rolled on the throttle and rode it around my uncle’s land until it ran out of gas and then I cried like the baby I was.
I’d been on bikes and ATVs with my uncle, and I had enough knowledge to know you twist the throttle and go.
Q: Who is Jason Britton?
A: Just a regular guy with a passion for motorcycling and the motorcycle industry – it’s a joy of bikes, really. It’s either in your heart and it’s a passion or it’s not. Motorcycling is not something I feel I’d want to be without.
Q: From BMX and motocross to street riding – was the stunt profession a natural fit?
A: I rode anything I could get my hands on, and I rode it on the edge of my skill level and the bike’s limitations, always pushing the envelope. It was a pretty simple progression, as I would quickly find my way to the bike’s limits.
I took my stunt riding skills from all aspects of two-wheeled sports, BMX, motocross and roadracing. I combined all of the skill sets and brought them into stunt riding. Acrobatics, wheelies, stoppies, burnouts, drifting – it takes a lot of different skill sets to master.
Q: What is your role with the TV show SuperBikes?
A: I’m the host of SuperBikes on Speed TV and I travel the world exploring the sport bike culture and lifestyle. There are so many different types of people who ride motorcycles, and no matter where you go it’s all two wheels and one love. There’s an enthusiast niche scene just about everywhere – it’s an international language, motorcycling is.
Q: Do you have a favourite episode of SuperBikes?
A: My favourite is the neck and back surgery episode (Britton required extensive surgery to rectify spinal cord issues that were leading to paralysis). That episode really opened my eyes to the reality of it all and helped me to step back and look at my family and see what they go through when I’m on the bike. Crashes over time had taken a toll, and my vertebrae were pushing into my spinal cord. I did have some paralysis on my left side, and my doctor said I was one step away…
Q: You also executive edit 2Wheel Tuner magazine – what kinds of stories do you feel are important to share with readers?
A: The ones that stress the reality and the dangers of motorcycling if you aren’t aware of your surroundings, and the fact that safety gear can save a life.
Q: How safe is stunt riding, and do you feel a responsibility in promoting safety?
A: I feel a responsibility because I have an influence over a large number of people. Stunt riding is dangerous but in the proper setting it’s not too bad. Most of the stunts we do are performed at slow speeds. Obviously, you shouldn’t be stunting on the street. I encourage riders to find a location where they can ride and not be hassled, and not destroy the environment where they are riding.
Q: What is involved in making one of your extreme videos?
A: At this point we have so many different locations where we’ve ridden, and the videos are compiled from different shoots. There was a time when we used to shoot in traffic and unsafe areas – but I saw it was a dead end and shifted gears and started performing in a more professional form, where people could enjoy watching from the sidelines as opposed to in traffic.
I wouldn’t even consider stunting in traffic now, but I know there are those who do and they have no regard for public safety or their own safety. At one point I saw that as something that was okay to do, but I figured I’d rather shift the influence and set a better example.
Q: What does ‘extreme’ mean?
A: We use that term to describe something that’s over the top and not the ordinary – not in the ordinary scope (of riding a motorcycle).
Q: Do you have a favourite ride or road that you like to experience?
A: I hop on the bike to run back and forth to the shop, and I like the Pacific Coast Highway – the road’s calm and soothing with some twisty turns but it’s not like a racetrack.
If I want to shake the cobwebs I’ll go to a track and take my time getting up to speed. The Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond would be my favourite track.
Q: What’s next for Jason Britton?
I’ve opened a motorcycle shop and I’d like to open a few more. We do parts and accessories and service – we’re your friendly neighbourhood motorcycle store. We’ll do anything from sport bikes to cruisers.
I’m becoming more and more involved in car stuff, four wheel motorsports. I’m not thinking of crossing over, but I’m not sure where that might lead.
Britton is looking forward to performing in Calgary. He was here last January but wasn’t able to perform due to his surgeries. But he did check out the Corral, and of the location he says: “It’s a pretty slick indoor venue.”
Check www.calgarymotorcycleshow.ca for more show details. The Calgary Motorcycle Show runs today noon to 9 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $13 for adults, $9.50 juniors (9 – 15), free for children under six when accompanied by an adult and $35 for a family pass (two adult and two junior).
I’m pleased to announce that I will be signing copies of my book, Prairie Dust, Motorcycles and a Typewriter, this weekend at the Calgary Motorcycle Show at the BMO Centre at Stampede Park. I’ll be at the vintage motorcycle display Friday, Jan. 8 from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and again on Saturday, Jan. 9 from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The book is $20 per copy, and the companion DVD, Motorcycle Memories in Motion, is $10.
See you there!
1968 Norton Atlas a dependable missile
This story first published in Inside Motorcycles, Issue 1206
All photographs by Amee Reehal
The slogans ‘The Unapproachable Norton’ and ‘The World’s Best Road Holder’ defined one of the most fabled British motorcycle builders. Founded in 1898 by James Lansdowne Norton, or Pa, as he was commonly known, Norton brought to the motorcycling masses several technological advancements. Not the least of these developments was the featherbed frame as designed by the McCandless brothers.
Since the early 1940s the brothers had been working on advanced frame designs, labouring at improving the handling of their own motorcycle – a Triumph. But the McCandless brothers came to the attention of Norton and they were persuaded to design a frame for the Birmingham, England motorcycle company. The featherbed was the result – an all welded duplex tube frame with swingarm rear suspension. The design of the frame was such that the centre of gravity was lowered, and the fuel tank placed further back from the steering head to help centralize weight
Their featherbed motorcycle chassis, introduced to Norton in 1949 and used in the 1950 Isle of Man TT races, revolutionized how Norton motorcycles handled. There are a couple of stories about how the name featherbed was coined. The most popular is that in 1950, when Norton racer Harold Daniell first rode a 500cc single-cylinder equipped McCandless frame he was so impressed with the handling that he equated it to “riding on a featherbed.” The name stuck.
In 1951 Norton’s Model 7 500cc twin-cylinder engine slid into the featherbed frame, and that was the Model 88 Dominator. Over the years Norton used the featherbed frame for many of its motorcycles, including its more pedestrian 350cc and 500cc single-cylinder machines. It was the twin-cylinder Dominator Model 99 that grew to 600cc in 1956, and to 650cc in 1961 with the 650SS. On that bike, he frame top rails were pinched together, decreasing the width of the frame to better accommodate a rider’s knees.
Then came Norton’s 750cc Atlas. Introduced in 1962, the Atlas with its high-capacity engine, featherbed frame and Road Holder fork was intended to be the competition for Triumph’s sporting Bonneville. In 1964 the Atlas was fitted with 12-volt electrics and a second AMAL carburetor. The Atlas was produced until 1968, when the Isolastic-framed Commando was introduced.
Calgary motorcycle enthusiast Bob Klassen has been nuts for bikes ever since his first – a 175cc Harley-Davidson Scat. He got into old British motorcycles in 1985 when he bought a 1970 Triumph Bonneville, literally as an offshoot to his English car hobby. He does, however, have some Italian and American motorcycles in his collection of eight machines. Klassen discovered this featured 1968 Norton Atlas on eBay in 2005, and encouraged a friend to purchase the motorcycle.
“He’d had a British bike in his younger days, and I was always trying to convince him to get back onto a British machine,” Klassen said. “This Norton was in the northwest U.S., and it appeared to be in stock condition. I got my friend interested and he bought the bike.”
After he got the bike home to Calgary, though, his interest waned, and he had trouble getting the Norton started. It languished for three years until the spring of 2008, and that’s when Klassen got a phone call. “He said ‘Come pick up the bike, and do what you need to do to get it running’,” Klassen recalled. After Klassen picked up the Norton it took him a day or two to sort through some wiring and the points ignition system – difficult to access thanks to their location behind the cylinders and underneath the carburetors — before ho got it fired up. But after it started, the Atlas seemed to run and idle fine, so he strapped on his helmet, zipped up his jacket and pulled on his gloves and went for a ride. “I had the thing seize up 20 miles later,” Klassen said. “I got the truck and brought the bike back home and took the motor apart. That’s where this very pretty and stock looking Atlas came off the rails.”
Inside the motor there was a bent connecting rod, and it appeared the cause was from a seriously ham-fisted rebuild job. “The rods were installed backwards,” Klassen explained, and this shortened the life of the rod shell bearings and the rods. His friend didn’t want to get this far involved with the Atlas, and at this point offered to sell it to Klassen – and Klassen couldn’t refuse. Why? Because he sees the 1968 Atlas as a milestone machine — it’s the last of the featherbed framed Nortons before the introduction of the Commando model, and that was the last year for the famed Road Holder forks, too.
“Finding the engine in such poor condition was a shock, and it was such a shock because it was in total contrast to what the rest of the bike looked like. Everything was there – even the enameled brass Norton insignias and Road Holder fork badges. I suspect the tank has been repainted, but the frame and everything else, including the fasteners, are original.”
Over the course of two months Klassen completely rebuilt the Atlas motor. In the bottom end he had the crank reground, installed new main bearings, rods and big end shells. After the cylinder was bored .020 over new pistons were installed. The cylinder head was completely refurbished with new guides, valves and springs. The twin 30mm AMAL Concentric carburetors are showing some signs of slide wear but were cleaned and bolted to the intake manifold. With the motor back in the frame it took Klassen little time to tune the carbs and get the Norton running. After that, all that was required for the Norton to pass inspection was a new rear tire. With the Atlas back on the road and more than 850 miles on the rebuild Klassen has nothing but praise for the machine.
“I’ve never owned a Norton and I’d never ridden a Norton until this Atlas,” Klassen said. “The Atlas is a heavier feeling bike, and it’s not as quick feeling as my Bonneville. It’s got a firm, pointed where you want to go feel to it. The engine, being a 750cc, has a very pliant torque characteristic. I love it.”
UPDATE: Dec. 23, 2009 — Now that the book Prairie Dust, Motorcycles and a Typewriter has launched, the title plus other Nicholson Bros. Motorcycles goodies can be purchased at www.modernmotorcyclemechanics.com.
I’m happy to announce the upcoming launch of my self-published book Prairie Dust, Motorcycles and a Typewriter: The story of Bernie Nicholson and Modern Motorcycle Mechanics.
Nicholson, of Nicholson Bros. Motorcycles (est. 1933) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was more than just a prairie motorcycle dealer. In 1942 at the age of 25 Nicholson wrote and self-published the first edition of Modern Motorcycle Mechanics, a book that sold so well, he was encouraged to write six more editions, the last in 1974. Over the years more than 100,000 copies of Modern Motorcycle Mechanics have sold worldwide — no small feat for any Canadian author. In fact, 35 years after the last edition was published, there is still a demand for the volume from motorcyclists restoring vintage American, British and Japanese machines. (See www.modernmotorcyclemechanics.com for more information.)
Prairie Dust, Motorcycles and a Typewriter takes an in-depth look at how two young brothers imported their first British motorcycle to the dusty Canadian prairies in 1932 during the height of the Depression, and how they went on to run one of the most well-known dealerships and motorcycle mail-order parts houses in North America. Not to mention Nicholson’s writing of Modern Motorcycle Mechanics.
Also available at the launch will be Nicholson Bros. Motorcycles t-shirts, and a DVD that features vignettes of Saskatoon motorcycle hill climbs, military motorcycle training in Barriefield, Ontario and a look at the Daytona Beach races in 1954 and 1955 plus much more.
Mark the calendar, and hope to see you there. Please share this news.
Smart: Small Car, Big Deal makes for smart reading.
Whether you have an interest in the Smart car or not this book proves fascinating as it details the many different facets of how a new automobile –especially in this day and age – enters into production.
Smart retells the history of the little car, from conception through design to final product. It also highlights the company’s environmental responsibility as the cars are produced at the green ‘Smartville’ factory in Hambach, France.
The book was originally published in Germany in 2007 as Smartism. With the arrival of the Smart car in the U.S., publisher Motorbooks renamed and printed the work (ISBN-13: 978-0-7603-3521-5, softcover, 180 pages, 300 colour photos, $32.95, www.motorbooks.com).
Smart is part art book with its many colour photos of the cars, the people who drive them, and images of the Smartville factory. Also included are several colourful examples of Smart’s advertising and design sketches.
However, the words written by authors Willi Diez and Jurgen Zollter are as illustrative as the photographs. The stories these two writers tell help peel away the many layers of the Smart story.
Divided into three sections – History & Technology, Analysis & Prognosis and The New One: 451 – Smart takes readers back to 1972. We’re told how Mercedes-Benz created a concept for a small car that the company thought would meet driver demands in the year 2000. While the designs might now look a little naïve, as originally sketched the concept car had dimensions similar to today’s Smart car. To prove the mini-car’s viability test mules of the 2.5-metre long two-seater were constructed.
The project was held back due to safety concerns. It wasn’t clear how such a small car could be constructed and live up to the safety requirements for which Mercedes-Benz as a brand was famous. But the company didn’t give up. In 1981, Mercedes-Benz developed a concept vehicle dubbed NAFA, the “Nahverkehrsfahrzeug”, or Local Traffic Vehicle. A prototype was made, but again, the project was put on the back burner. While the NAFA took into consideration safety with rigid side impact protection and ‘controlled deformation body components’ there just wasn’t a ready and willing market for a micro car.
Then in the late 1980s the California Clean Air Act was announced. The act stipulated that by 2002 at least 10 per cent of every major automaker’s cars sold in the state would have to be Zero Emissions Vehicles.
This spurred Mercedes-Benz to work on the MCC, or Micro Compact Car, and the company set up a design studio in Irvine, Calif. The design team worked in the community as well as in the studio, studying urban mobility issues as they attempted to sketch a pleasing design for the two-seater. Prototypes – the Eco Sprinter and Eco Speedster — were built in 1993.
Enter Nicolas G. Hayek, the man responsible for the Swatch watch. He wanted to revolutionize the auto industry with a car fit for an urban market, and Hayek figured he could apply his Swatch watch making concepts to car manufacturing.
In 1994 Micro Compact Car AG was established as a joint venture between Daimler-Benz AG (51 per cent share) and the Swiss Corporation for Microelectronics and Watch Making Industries Ltd. (49 per cent share). The car needed a name, and it was derived from Swatch Mercedes Art – or Smart.
Propulsion was an issue, and electric, hybrid, gas and diesel power were all considered. In the end, gas/diesel variants won out, and the Smart car was shown at numerous venues in 1995 and 1996. In 1997, Daimler-Benz bought out Hayek’s shares of MCC, and the Smart car was shown at the Frankfurt International Automobile Show.
The Smart measured in at 2.5 m long, 1.51 m wide and 1.52 m tall. A three-cylinder gas engine sat in the back of the car, and safety was assured through the Tridion safety cell together with front and rear crush zones and modern restraint systems. The body consisted, and still consists, of dyed thermoplastic panels, including a front and rear clip and doors.
The first Smart cars were sold in Europe in October 1998. In 1999 a direct-injection diesel engine found its way into the vehicle – and this was the engine powering the Smart when it debuted in Canada in 2004.
Smart – the book – takes a look at the turbulent times felt by parent company DaimlerChrysler in the mid-2000s, and how Smart the brand almost became a footnote in automotive history. With some restructuring and paring of jobs Smart weathered the storm, and the cars – now in their second generation with the new model 451 coupes and cabriolets — continue to be some of the most economic and climate-friendly vehicles in mass production.
Check Amazon.ca – at the time of this writing Smart: Small Car, Big Deal was listed as available and priced at $20.78.
