I have had a serious car problem since birth in 1945; my motorhome problem is only since I met and was infected by Alice in 1972. These are both passions that are fun to share. Car guys and motorhome guys have personal lists of exciting cars and motorhomes that are their icons. What do old men do? They reminisce. So here are my icons. “Your results may vary.”
Cars:
1949 Cadillac Coupe de Ville.
Gorgeous facelifted styling (new in 1948) with small but radical tailfins, a trend-setting modern V8 engine and a much-to-be copied hardtop body design. Cadillac crushed their Lincoln and Imperial competition on the sales floor for the next decade.
1953 Chevrolet Corvette.
Incredible design, crude chassis, poor seller, but the start of the legend that has endured for over 60 years.
1953 Studebaker Starliner (Lowey) Coupe.
Stunning beauty, especially for the time, but destined to fail commercially. A tragedy.
1955 Chevrolet, any V8 model.
The ’54 was our grandfather’s car. The ’55 was what we coveted for our generation.
1955 Chrysler 300.
Awesome power (dominated NASCAR) and beautiful restrained styling.
1961 Lincoln Continental.
After the excesses of the ‘50s, clean, compact design; elegant luxury.
1961 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible.
The mystery car.
1963 Corvette Sting Ray Split Window Coupe.
I was a senior in high school and convinced my dad HE needed the radical new Sting Ray as his dealership “demonstrator.” He bit but seldom saw the car.
1963 Buick Riviera.
A timeless, gorgeous design, backed by a chassis that handled like a sports car.
Anyone who can identify the oddity about the mystery car above wins a Newell baseball cap, except for the owner of said car and his friends. The answer will be in the next newsletter.
Motorhomes came on my radar screen when I joined my dad in the family Chevrolet dealership in 1972 and met Alice. Alice’s dad Henry owned many travel trailers, then a mid-1960s Winnebago Chieftain, and finally a luxurious 1969 Condor. Henry’s aspirational motorhome? He wanted a Newell. No kidding! He passed away in 1971 before he had a chance to buy a Newell. He and I never met, and our Newell adventure was unrelated to his aspiration. But Alice and I believe that his intervention from heaven certainly had occurred.
Following is my (partial) list of iconic motorhomes from those early days:
1972 FMC 2900.
Advanced engineering and styling with then radical rear engine (gas) power. Superior handling and driving experience for the day. But very expensive to manufacture and a big money loser for the parent FMC corporation. The design also did not lend itself to models longer than the original 29 feet, and the FMC was discontinued in 1978.
1972 GMC Motorhome.
Sophisticated and attractive styling, front wheel drive, tiny 35-gallon fresh water tank. Great for tailgating, but terrible to live in. Although a good seller, it was an expensive-to-build design and limited to 26 feet. Like the FMC, this was an unprofitable venture. The GMC Motorhome was discontinued in 1978.
1973 Chinook 2200.
Alice’s and my first motorhome. Conventional, crude engineering, but many great memories for a couple in their 20s. Our icon but surely no one else’s.
1976 Blue Bird Wanderlodge.
Introduced in 1963, the marketing, dealer organization and the interior design received a very successful makeover in 1976, and Blue Bird dominated the big coach market for the next 20 years. I became a dealer, and Alice and I enjoyed several Blue Birds between 1976 and 1980. My two original partners in Newell also had been involved with Blue Bird, in management and as a coach owner. With the diesel Blue Bird still having a noisy front engine and the Newell a rear engine, the opportunity in 1979 for success with Newell, selling for about the same price, was clear. We jumped from Blue Bird to Newell, and never looked back.
Would you like to submit your choices and short descriptions of iconic cars and iconic motorhomes for us to share in an upcoming Newells News?
Enjoy your winter!
Karl Blade
President and CEO
Newell Coach Corp.