[Wichita-SCCA] Phabulous success!

Fri Jul 13 08:59:56 EDT 2007

Ahhhhhh.  Hindsight is a wonderful thing.  

Still, I wouldn't call them cowards.  

________________________________

From: Greg Laws [mailto:GLaws at cox.net] 
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 11:52 PM
To: Webmaster
Cc: Wichita Region SCCA.
Subject: Re: [Wichita-SCCA] Phabulous success!

True enough.  The first known usage of the name "Rochester" was in England where there is a city in Kent by that name.  However my impression is that the General Motors' original AC Rochester Division was named for its location near Rochester, NY.  That makes the carburetor use of the name "Rochester" as American as apple pie (pie which, I'm sure, was first made somewhere else).

Other interesting tidbits, at least to some, are:

What "AC" and "Delco" stand for. Turns out AC stands for Albert Champion, the bicycle racer and spark plug maker who became GM's first just-in-time supplier when Billy Durant brought him to his Buick plant in Flint in 1908. 
Delco stands for Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co., the workshop of Charles (Boss) Kettering, the legendary inventor who -- among other things -- invented the electric starter in 1911. The erstwhile "Remy" comes from Frank and Perry Remy, who merged their electric coil business with Delco in 1916

The bio on Chevrolet Motor Company founder Louis Chevrolet is as follows.  Note that, while he was born Swiss, he was raised French!
Louis-Joseph Chevrolet (December 25 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_25> , 1878 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1878> , La Chaux-de-Fonds <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Chaux-de-Fonds> , Neuchatel <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_of_Neuch%C3%A2tel> , Switzerland <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland>  - June 6 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_6> , 1941 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1941> , Detroit, Michigan <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit%2C_Michigan> ) was a racing driver <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racing_driver>  and the founder of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet> , which was acquired by General Motors <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Corporation>  and is their best-known brand worldwide, and in many cases synonymous with General Motors itself.

In 1886 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1886>  his family left Switzerland to live in Beaune <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaune>  in the Côte-d'Or <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B4te-d%27Or>  département <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9partement>  of France <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France> . It was there as a young man that Louis developed his mechanical skills and interest in auto racing. He worked for the Roblin mechanics shop from 1895 to 1899 at which time he went to Paris <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris>  where he worked for a short time before migrating to Montreal, Quebec <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal%2C_Quebec>  in Canada <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada>  in 1900 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900> . The following year, he moved to New York City <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City>  where he was hired by FIAT <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIAT> .

Working for the Buick <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick>  motor company he learned car design and started designing his own engine for a new car in 1909. Shortly thereafter, he would partner with William C. Durant <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_C._Durant>  to start the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in Detroit, Michigan. Chevrolet had differences with Durant over the design and in 1915 sold Durant his share in the company. The next year, the company was folded into Durant's General Motors <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Corporation> .

At that time, Chevrolet shifted into the racing car industry, partnering with Howard E. Blood of Allegan, Michigan <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegan%2C_Michigan>  to create the Cornelian <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelian_automobile> , a state of the art racing car which he used to place 20th in the 1915 Indy 500 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indy_500> . In 1916, he and his brother Gaston started Frontenac Motor Corporation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontenac_Motor_Corporation> , designing and producing another line of racing cars.

A mechanical genius with little in the way of a formal education, Louis was the older brother of Gaston Chevrolet <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_Chevrolet>  (1892-1920), who won the 1920 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920>  Indianapolis 500 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_500>  in a car he had built. Louis also competed in the race four times, with a best finish of 7th in 1919 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1919> , and his brother Arthur <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Chevrolet>  also competed twice.

Louis Chevrolet is buried in the Holy Cross and Saint Joseph Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis%2C_Indiana> . His bust stands at the entrance to the museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

********************************

The bottom line is that the French and the Americans were strong engineering and racing competitors in the early days of the last century.  They remain that way today.  Current French engineering is world-class excellent as shown with their Formula One results, the Mirage jet fighter, the Exotec ship-to-ship missile, and much more.  Renault is the 3rd largest automotive manufacturer in the world and they own effective controlling interest in Nissan, a company which has come back from the brink after Renault bought in.  Can't say the same for Daimler-Chrysler ...

Politically, the French Legionnaires were world renown for their bravery and their control of the very countries where we are floundering today.  Looking back, can it honestly be said that the French were cowards in not supporting our attack on Iraq or is the truth rather that they were smarter and much more experienced than we were and knew a fool's errand when they saw it?

Food for thought.

Enjoy, 

Greg (I've gotta get a life!) Laws

	----- Original Message ----- 
	From: Lonnie Heston <mailto:lhheston at gmail.com>  
	To: Webmaster <mailto:webmaster at wichitascca.org>  
	Cc: Wichita Region SCCA. <mailto:Wichita-SCCA at wichitascca.org>  
	Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 10:23 PM
	Subject: Re: [Wichita-SCCA] Phabulous success!

	Ahhhh, the untraveled...  the uneducated...  

	Rochester is about as American as Chevrolet - !!

	http://www.paris-hotel-rochester.com/english/the-hotel-01.html    (note description under photo)

	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Chevrolet     (2nd Paragraph most informative)

	Now if I could find a way to make this otherwise useless trivia pay for itself... 

	Congrats, Greg!!

	On 7/11/07, Webmaster <webmaster at wichitascca.org> wrote: 

		Rochester?  Wait, that's not a French name!

		 Oooo  Guy Roberts 
		(   )  Webmaster at wichitascca.org 
		 ) /   #37 - 1994 Polo Green Corvette

		(_/   

		Greg Laws wrote: 

			Rochester carb = phaster Phrog!

			Enjoy,
			Greg Laws

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