Showing results by author "Daniel Alef" in All Categories

The great American automotive pioneers were entrepreneurial inventors and visionaries who changed the American landscape and brought us a new national culture. The dawn of the automobile ushered away the ubiquitous horse-drawn carriages and the rutted, dusty and wash-boarded dirt roads they traveled on, and replaced them with cars powered by steam, electricity and gasoline.

Here's a biographical profile of Harvey Firestone, founder of Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. Once upon a time there were four friends who called themselves the Vagabonds. They took summer trips together, shared their thoughts, dreams and visions, and forever changed the world we live in. They were born into simple farming families but set their horizons well beyond their pastures. They were inventive and industrious, and they achieved extraordinary success.

Here's a biographical profile of Charles Nash, an American automobile tycoon who died in 1948 in the tony city of Beverly Hills, California, leaving an estate of approximately $50 million. Not bad considering his roots: a dirt-poor farm boy whose parents split up when he was six years old and essentially abandoned him. Unimaginable today, a court indentured the six-year-old to a Michigan farmer to work for room and board until he was 21.

Here's a biographical profile of Walter Chrysler, the pioneer automotive genius who established one of the iconic brands in American automobiles and was known as "Mr. Fix It," for his uncanny ability to fix sick automobile companies. The Chrysler Building is one of the most recognizable icons of New York City; the Chrysler name, a symbol of American automotive ingenuity, and the Chrysler story one of humble beginnings in the best American tradition.

Here's a biographical profile of James Ward Packard, an American automobile pioneer. Unlike many of the automobile pioneers who received their primary training with blacksmiths, or under watchful eyes of mechanics in wagon, bicycle or railroad shops, Packard and his older brother William learned their trade as engineering students at Lehigh University.

Here's a biographical profile of Henry J. Kaiser, a great industrialist and philanthropist who had a profound impact on America's ability to prevail in World War II. People tend to regard the great American titans of the past as robber barons, men who made their fortunes off the backs of the oppressed, flaunting laws and living like nabobs while others had to scratch for a living.

Here's a biographical profile of John M. Studebaker, one of the largest wagon manufacturing concern in the U.S. who foresaw a new mode of transportation. Although five Studebaker brothers were involved at one time or another in the wagon and car business, the evolution of the company from wagons to cars and its enormous success is largely attributable to one brother, John Mohler Studebaker.

Here's a biographical profile of the White brothers who built steamers and trucks and developed a reputation for unique marketing concepts. "The Fight of the Century" took place in 1910, pitting Jack Johnson, the first African American heavyweight boxing champion against Jim Jefferies who was white. The fight was shrouded with racial tension and gave rise to the term "Great White Hope," referring to the need to find a white man capable of defeating the black champion.

Here's a biographical profile of Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., a fashionable dresser whose starched and pressed stiff-collared shirts, double-breasted suits, spats, and a pearl tie pin gave him the appearance of a dandy, of a playboy. But Sloan, who built General Motors into the largest corporation in the world through hard work and vision, and devoted the same zeal to philanthropy, had no time for play.

Biographical profile of Roy Chapin, the automobile pioneer who gave us many memorable cars including the Hudson Hornet, featured in the 2006 Disney-Pixar animated film Cars as Doc Hudson, a 1951 model (voice of Paul Newman). Chapin's success in the automobile world overshadowed his appointment as chairman of the Highway Transport Committee during World War I and as Secretary of Commerce under President Hoover.