Clairton's Car History

My designated driver drove me to drink

Not a Honda among us: Many readers of this blog remember Clairton back in the days when men were men and women were glad of it and you were able to tell one from the other by their earrings, tattoos, or the way they zipped their jeans. So return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear when there was no place in Clairton to purchase a new Acura, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Datsun, Hummer, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jaguar, Kia, Lexus, Land Rover, Mazda, Mini, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Saab, Scion, Smart, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota, Vauxhall, Volkswagen, Volvo, or Cadillac. Well, ok, I’ll concede, Vauxhall was sold at Carroll Motors Pontiac for a short time during the 1950s.

Readers help me remember to See the USA in my Chevrolet: Reader Ed Gibson, Clairton lad with a wealthy healthy memory for modes of transportation helped me remember some of the cars that one was able to purchase new in Clairton in the 1940s, 50s and beyond. Let’s test your memory and see if you remember the dealerships and even some of the cars that were sold back in the days of the stick shift, suicide knob, chopping and channeling, the Western Auto store on Miller Avenue, and the Clairton Bears fan who would paint up his hearse with white shoe polish for football games.

Cars, boats, and other modes of transport: Ed Gibson is a Clairtonian and an admitted autophile, car junkie, and grease monkey. He currently runs Three Rivers Marine Surveys www.threeriversmarinesurveys.com but spent many years providing for his family in the car business. In his current business he helps owners of new boats solve warranty issues but in his heart beats the engine of a 400 horsepower Dodge Hemi with dual four-barrel carbs. Ed has written articles about boats, water marine surveying, and water safety but he also knows the difference between an Olds Rocket 88 and a Ninety-eight. Ed is a certified scuba diver but was also a Clairton hot rod driver. My best guess would be that Ed’s dream car would be the Amphicar, manufactured by Industrie Werke Karlsruhe in West Germany (see photo above), but alas, never sold in Clairton. The cars listed below WERE sold new in Clairton. A thank you for the assist in the compilation of those cars and their dealers goes to Ed Gibson, Clairton boy.

Of grocery stores and Buicks: Many Clairtonians remember the Marracini markets in Wilson and “on the hill” at the Woodland and Worthington Avenue confluence, but what you may not remember is that the Marracini family also owned the Buick dealership in Blair. The Ford dealership in Wilson had several different owners over the years and one little dealership not to be overlooked was Page Wilcher Crosley near Mendelssohn Avenue and the Spur gas station. Don’t remember that one? Crosley was what today we might call a subcompact car manufactured in the U.S. by Crosley Motors from 1939 to 1952. Industrialist Powel Crosley, Jr, owned radio stations and the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. He built a teeny (80” wheelbase, less than 1,000 lbs.)Convertible that got over 50 miles per gallon and cost about $250. He later added other models including sedans, wagons, and pickup trucks. But the Crosley went the way of the Edsel.

Moving on up with more extinct cars: Caddy-corner to the post office on St. Clair and Fifth Street was a pool hall. But before being a pool hall it was the Airport Kaiser-Frazer dealership. The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was incorporated in Nevada in 1945. Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser teamed up with auto man Joseph Frazer and tried to catch a wave of the post World War II boom. The Clairton dealership did ok, but the company went bust. Studebaker started building wagons for farmers, miners, and the military during the Civil War. Their car building exploits started in 1902 first with electric then gasoline powered cars. Winters Motors on St. Clair Avenue sold Studebakers until the car company began to lose money and partnered with Packard, which had been building luxury cars since 1899. And yes, Packard had a dealership in Clairton, Niklas Brothers on Woodland Avenue at the corner of Halcomb.

A dealership near the cemetery – a bad omen: Hudson Motors built cars from 1909 until 1954 when they merged with Nash-Kelvinator (the latter of refrigerator fame) to form AMC, or American Motors Corporation. The Hudson dealership in Clairton was on Worthington as Nikolich Motors, just up the street from the cemetery, and later to become Johnny’s Glass, operated by John Nikolich, son of dealership owner Nick. The third generation Nick Nickolich now operates a waste management business from the same property. The Hudson dealership was short lived but the American Motors Corporation continued selling Nash Ramblers and other AMC products at Ping Young Motors on Miller Avenue and Wylie, a block from the grade school. Across the street from Miller Avenue school Ed Zupancic opened Zupancic Lincoln Mercury in the mid 1950s. The opening was attended by no less a celebrity than Ed Sullivan whose Ed Sullivan Show was sponsored by the car company.

General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler: In addition to the aforementioned Ford dealership in Wilson and Zupancic Lincoln Mercury, Chrysler Corporation dealerships included Gregg Motors Chrysler on Park Avenue near Clairton High School, Mauro Desoto/Plymouth next to the Blue Bird Restaurant, and Jim Phillips Dodge on Worthington across from the Triangle and Reggie Desiderio memorial. General Motors dealerships included Carroll Motors Pontiac next door to Mauro Desoto/Plymouth, and down the street was Gumble Chevrolet where the Rite Aid Drug Store currently stands. Browns Oldsmobile sat at the bottom of St. Clair Avenue. The last dealer of mention, and ironically one of the few still selling cars in Clairton is Royak Motors which sold Willys Jeep products across the street from the post office. It is operated by Joe Royak, Jr. Willys came to prominence by winning a government contract to produce Jeeps during World War II. After the war they expanded their offerings to cars, trucks, and station wagons that became America’s first SUVs. The Jeep brand was eventually sold to Chrysler.

A review of Clairton circa 1950s: During its heyday Clairton had 16 car dealerships that offered every American car made except Cadillac. The two main streets include St. Clair Avenue, which was the location of the State Theater, at least three hotels, and six car dealerships, and Miller Avenue which had a school, two car dealerships, two movie theaters (Capital and Colonial), most of the business district, three service stations and a church. All this in a town that at its peak boasted fewer than 20,000 residents! In my next post I’ll focus on how some things have changed in Clairton in a half century.

A little blogging music Maestro... “Riding Around in my Automobile,” by Chuck Berry.

Dr. Forgot
http://Drforgot.com
www.mifflintownship.org

Laying Eggs and Squealing Tires

Of Chicken Eggs and Jaguars

We eat chicken before it is born and after it is dead: My good friend Jim and I were to meet the other day for lunch. He’d had a hankering for an omelet for days so we went to a joint whose specialty is the omelet. It was closed. I teased him about being the first person ever to be thrown out of a joint when it was closed. Jim took my teasing well and our conversation turned to gas prices and how this generation of youngsters will never know the freedom and joy that we, the car generation knew.

Just for car lovers: By car lovers I do not mean the back seat of a 1949 Packard. Only a certain age group will understand that. Suffice it to say that any child born in the back seat of a car with an automatic transmission probably grew up to be a shiftless bastard. Cars were a huge part of the lives of those of us who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. Any kid who had wheels was immediately bolstered in status in the eyes of his peers as well as the eyes of the opposite sex. My first car was a ’47 Willys Jeep panel truck, purchased for $ 200 in 1958. I was almost two years away from my 16th birthday so I was not exactly legal behind the wheel but I convinced my father to allow me to have the Jeep by using is as a newspaper delivery vehicle. Each afternoon 2,000 newspapers would arrive by truck in my father’s garage. We’d count them, tie them, and deliver them to paperboys around the city. Hard work for sure but is started me on my addiction to cars.

Every make and model: Over the years I’ve owned nearly every make and model American car. In college I’d make extra money by purchasing a sad looking car from a student for a song, wash it, wax it, replace dented parts with newer ones from the junkyard, then resell it at a tidy profit. It was a good business for a Psych major. I’ve owned Buicks, Fords, Cadillacs, Pontiacs, Ramblers, Packards, T-Birds, Mercs, Dodges, Plymouths, Lincolns etc. etc. But my dream had always been to own a Jaguar. There was something about the stuffed shirt upper class attitude of the Brits that made a Jag my dream car. They were very expensive and had a terrible reputation for breaking down, but they were regal and elegant. Then Ford bought the company, preserved the good parts and retooled the factories to improve the bad. The result was from 1992 onward the Jaguar brand soared.

Finally a dream come true: It was 2000 and I was driving home past a brand new Jaguar dealership. Sitting in front was the most beautiful burgundy colored Vanden Plas (the Jaguar top-of-the-line model) I had ever seen. I wheeled into the lot and was met by a salesman who had sold me a BMW at another dealership a few years earlier. I knew the price of that car was too steep for my blood and he told me that it was the car was in fact not new but a 1998 model just returned from a Red Carpet Lease. Seems a casino boss bought his girlfriend a new Jag every two years. He told me the price and it was almost within my range but I left in my old Lincoln.

It’s not me, it is Kismet: When I got home and checked the mail there was a card from the new dealership. It said, “Make your best deal at our new dealership then use this coupon for an additional $ 5,000 discount.” Needless to say I returned and became the proud owner of that Jag. It is my Sunday car. More than a decade old with fewer than 60,000 miles. It purrs. Jaguar has since been sold to Tata Motors of India but I’ve got mine.

A little blogging music Maestro... “Baby You Can Drive My Car” by the Beatles.

Dr. ForgotSee me also at http://vegasbuzznews.com/

What a Day

Day From Hell

Ever have one of those days? Mine was the day before yesterday. That’s why I have not posted for a couple of days – coping and catching up. It started innocently enough. I was doing my normal morning routine – one slice of toast with peanut butter and a banana and 4 ounces of orange juice. After that I read the local paper and do the crossword puzzle. That is my morning routine. It rarely deviates. After the crossword is done the hygiene – shower, shave, scrub the cavities, etc.

Ding dong – not Avon: The crossword was frustrating for a Tuesday. I was so deep in thought I barely heard the doorbell at 7:15. Mrs. Forgot answered and a neighbor said, “Did you know the windows are broken on your car?” That started the downhill slide. I purchased a small used Saturn for my granddaughter’s graduation and parked it in front of the house. A “Club” locks the steering wheel since every teenager in town knows how to start a Saturn with a screwdriver. The potential thief apparently broke the driver’s side window, saw the club, and took off.

Have you priced a side window lately? I swept as many glass shards as I could then got the small vacuum for the rest – and promptly broke it while trying to drag it through the car. Went to get the upright vacuum and Mrs. Forgot said, “Oh, I meant to tell you, the vacuum broke last week.” Could it get worse? Yes.

Prices vary: I began phoning and checking the internet for auto glass replacement. A dozen bids later I discovered that bids ranged from $ 140 to $ 375 for exactly the same job! Now I remember why it pays to shop around.

Driving Miss Dizzy: While driving the car I noticed a pulsating in the brakes. After the glass was replaced the car went to the shop for brakes and related work. I was quoted a price for a complete brake job but after the technician examined the patient the cost tripled. No thank you, we will take it to another brake shop.

Car troubles, vacuum troubles finally end: As the great philosopher, 10-year old Annie once said, “The Sun’ll Come Up Tomorrow,” and it did. The glass was replaced, the brakes repaired, the vacuum needed a new belt, and the small vacuum simply needed a bag change. Everybody needs a day from Hell so when the good days happen an average can be established.

A little blogging music Maestro… anything else from “Annie,” of for that matter, anything upbeat.

Dr. Forgot

Year of the Cat

One Life, Maybe Two

They say a cat has nine lives. But this cat - or more correctly, catalytic converter, has one for sure but maybe two. The catalytic converter is a device under your car. In all likelihood you have never seen it. It makes its best efforts to return the atmosphere back to the days when air was clean and sex was dirty and polluting cars were not a problem. The feds mandate the device to be attached to every car and it has been so attached since for the past thirty-plus years.

Pretty boring so far, huh? In order for your car to purr cleanly the cat is comprised of, among other things, precious metals - as in platinum, palladium, and rhodium which collectively sell for well over $ 8,000 PER OUNCE! And what happens as the value of the dollar drops as it has been doing for months? The value of precious metals skyrockets. And that makes the catalytic converters great for recycling. Are you starting to hear the magic words, "Here kitty, kitty, kitty?"

Where does one take a hot cat for a cool payoff? the same place copper thieves take stolen copper that has been ripped out everything from street lamps to air conditioning units - any recycling center. Word on the street is that each one of the metal felines brings between $ 100 and $ 200. Let's see, it takes any old drugged up hippie 10 minutes or so to remove the device. A practiced thief with a portable battery-powered saw can have one gone in 60 seconds. Thieves can live pretty well working part time.

What of the hapless car owner? Costs up to a couple of grand to get the meow back on your motor. So who wins? Crooks and recyclers. Who loses? Individuals - simply for the deductible if they are insured, but for the whole ball of platinum if they are not, and insurance companies. And who gets to pay the additional cost of insurance because of the rash of thefts of these little kittens? You and me.

Law enforcement folks tell us that SUVs, 4-Runners, and other trucks that sit high are most vulnerable to the converter thefts since they sit high off the ground making it easier for a thief to slip underneath and do the dirty deed. The problem is not unique to Las Vegas. The Topix.com blog has more than 250 stories of such thefts - and that is only one board! The answer is not in locking or otherwise protecting the device, as that is next to impossible. Even if your car is equipped with an alarm it is unlikely that it would be tripped as the two unkind cuts are made to allow for removal.

The solution is stricter enforcement of the recycle yards. Require a photo and thumbprint for every sale. As for punishment of both the catalytic converter and copper thieves? I haven't decided whether capital punishment is appropriate - but then my cat has not yet been stolen (as far as I know).

A little blogging music Maestro... "Steal My Heart Away," by Van Morrison.

Dr. Forgot