Chevrolet Assembly Line Workers in Flint, Michigan - Documentary (1936)

Chevrolet Assembly Line Workers in Flint, Michigan - Documentary (1936)

Master Hands is a 1936 sponsored documentary film short which shows what work is like in a Chevrolet automobile factory. Credits include original music by Samuel Benavie, cinematography by Gordon Avil, and film editing by Vincent Herman.

It was produced by the Jam Handy Organization, a pioneer in industrial film production. In 1999, Master Hands was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Jaguar E-Type, 1961-1975 full untold history

Jaguar E-Type, 1961-1975 full untold history

Even though two-seat, low-slung runabouts were being produced in North America, there exists the romantic notion that only those venerable marques from across the pond are the real deal.

The reason for this attitude is simple. Beginning around the mid-1930s, cars built in North America began growing and gaining weight as buyers began equating size with prestige and value.

in Great Britain, the combination of (very) narrow roads and expensive petrol made smaller, lighter cars (including sports cars), a more viable proposition.

Sports cars were all but forgotten until the end of the World War II when returning servicemen brought back a trickle of these odd little right-hand drive roadsters. The sports-car trend began gathering steam with post-war MG TCs and TDs, followed in the 1950s by MG TFs and MGAs, plus assorted Triumphs and Austin Healeys. Most weren't overly powerful, especially comfortable or particularly reliable. But they provided more wind-in-your-face pleasure than any other car around

Master Hands (1936) Chevrolet Manufacturing

Classic "capitalist realist" drama showing the manufacture of Chevrolets from foundry to finished vehicles. Though ostensibly a tribute to the "master hands" of the assembly line workers, it seems more of a paean to the designers of this impressive mass production system. Filmed in Flint, Michigan, just months before the United Auto Workers won union recognition with their famous sitdown strikes.

The Diesel Story in video film

Traces the development of the diesel from the Otto 'SILENT' gas engine of 1877 through Rudolph Diesel's engine, to the machines that now drive ships, trains, tractors, trucks and cars.

JAGUAR XK120 full history details

The XK120 was the fastest, most exotic car that Britain offered in 1948, it came about almost by accident.  In 1945, Jaguar Cars offered a range of stylish sedans and tourers, but used bought-in engines. Company founder William Lyons planned a new sedan with a brand new Jaguar-made engine, designed in secret during World War II.

This twin-camshaft straight-six was a masterpiece. Flexible and powerful, its basis was a cast-iron block with a seven-bearing crankshaft. On top was an all-alloy cross flow Westlake cylinder head. It had two noise reducing timing chains, and twin 1.75in (4.5cm) SU carburetors. It looked superb with its polished aluminum cam covers, and stove-enameled exhaust manifold.  Delays in the sedan’s development meant that Jaguar had no car in which to install its showpiece. So William Lyons hastily constructed a sports car body on a shortened sedan chassis, thinking it might generate publicity and act as a rolling tested.

HUDSON COMMODORE full history details

founded in 1909, was among the last of the American “independents” carmakers who struggled and ultimately failed in the face of the mighty Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. Although its cars during the 1920–30s were mostly unremarkable, Hudson shocked the burghers of Detroit in 1948 with its range of “Step Down” cars.  They were so-nicknamed because driver and passengers stepped down into their seats due to a unitary-construction method Hudson called “Monobilt”: instead of the body being bolted on top of the chassis, the floorpan was suspended from the bottom of it.

founded in 1909,

was among the last of the

American “independents”

carmakers who struggled and ultimately failed in the face of the mighty Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. Although its cars during the 1920–30s were mostly unremarkable, Hudson shocked the burghers of Detroit in 1948 with its range of “Step Down” cars.  They were so-nicknamed because driver and passengers stepped down into their seats due to a unitary-construction method Hudson called “Monobilt”: instead of the body being bolted on top of the chassis, the floorpan was suspended from the bottom of it.

CITROËN 2CV 1948 full history details

At the Paris motor show in October 1948, the 2CV caused astonishment, even though it had been scheduled to appear eight years earlier. The original launch was cancelled when World War II broke out. All but one of the 250 prototypes were destroyed to preserve the ingenious car’s secrets.  It expressed a new philosophy for Citroën, being the lightest of lightweight economy cars, powered by a newly designed air-cooled flat-twin engine of a mere 23ci (375cc), front-wheel drive, and the first four-speed gearbox Citroën had ever fitted as standard.  Its corrugated hood gave the appearance of a wartime air-raid shelter on wheels.  The “father” of the 2CV was Citroën’s managing director, Pierre Boulanger. He briefed his chief engineer Maurice Broglie to come up with an “umbrella on wheels” that could travel in comfort over rural roads and cost a third of the price of a family sedan.  The tight-knit team that designed the car, led by André Lefebvre, more than rose to the challenge, and continued work on the car during the war. After several concepts had been tried out, using a test track built in the grounds of an isolated chateau outside Paris, Citroën settled on a light, gauge steel body and soft, long-travel interconnected suspension featuring horizontal coil springs.  Low-pressure Michelin Pilote tires made sure it could float over any pothole.  Showgoers in 1948 might have been uncertain as to the utilitarian new Citroën, but it rapidly became part of the fabric of French life, both rural and urban.

DAVIS DIVAN 1938 full history details

The story of this arresting-looking three-wheeler with its four-abreast seating begins in 1938, when a similar one-off car was commissioned by wealthy American playboy Joel Thorne. He regularly cruised the streets of Los Angeles in his three-wheeled wonder “Californian.” One man who was particularly taken with it was car salesman Glenn Gordon “Gary” Davis.  Somehow, Davis managed to acquire the car, which had inspired him to try and sell a version to American motorists. Treating the Californian as his rolling billboard and prototype, Davis toured the nation promoting his Davis Motor Car Company.  Having acquired a factory in Van Nuys, and with the Californian beginning to look rather worn, Davis hired some engineers to help him build a production prototype. Three experimental cars later, the specification of the Davis Divan was settled. It now included a 159ci (2,600cc) Hercules engine and a three-speed Borg Warner gearbox. The hardtop was removable and headlights were concealed behind flaps.

Although eye-catching, only a few were test-built before Davis’s exasperated staff sued him for unpaid wages. Despite plans for making 50 cars daily and new designs for a three-wheeled military vehicle, the plant was shut in mid-1948. Davis was jailed for two years for defrauding investors; after he served his sentence in 1953, he became involved in making bumper cars. Whether or not Gary Davis was a conman, he certainly created a car like nothing else on the road.

TUCKER 48 “TORPEDO” full history details

Preston T. Tucker’s character was something between dreamer and opportunist. He’d been an office boy at

Cadillac, a car salesman, and partner in an Indianapolis racing car business before deciding to revolutionize car design in post-war America with an all-new model that was fast, stylish, and safe.

Early ideas in 1945 were for a streamlined coupé with a rear-mounted, 592ci (9,700cc), air-cooled engine that used two torque converters to the rear wheels instead of a gearbox. It had seatbelts, a padded dashboard, and a windshield that popped out in a crash. When that proved unfeasible, his team went for a streamlined four-door sedan, with a Franklin air-cooled flat-six engine in the back. The seatbelts were dropped, because it was felt they implied the car was unsafe, and so were swiveling headlamps, disc brakes, and a central driving position. But the independent suspension and padded dashboard remained.  The car’s ongoing evolution meant a switch to water-cooling, and the finalized version proved rapid, with a 121mph (195kph) top speed despite its considerable bulk.  In 1946, Tucker acquired the then largest factory building in the world, a former Chicago aircraft plant, to make his car.  But public goodwill evaporated when US financial regulators alleged fraud for raising finance from dealers and customers while changing the design of the car they had committed to. His name was cleared, but the Tucker Corporation went into liquidation.

MERCEDES-BENZ T80 full historical details and stories

This car is the ultimate manifestation of speed as envisioned at the height of Nazi power in Germany.

The monstrous six-wheeler was a pet project of racing driver Hans Stuck, who wanted Germany to assert its engineering supremacy by grabbing the world land speed record. Stuck had the ear of Adolf Hitler, who eagerly gave the venture state backing. The dream team of constructor Mercedes-Benz and designer Ferdinand Porsche were, by 1937, hard at work on what became the T80.

At the heart of the six-wheeler chassis was a vast 2,716ci (44,500cc) V12 engine—a Mercedes aero engine more usually found in the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter plane.  

KDF-WAGEN/VOLKSWAGEN full historical details

The beginnings of the best-selling single car design ever—21,529,464 were bought by the time manufacture ended in 2003—go further back than September 1939, when the car in its final form was revealed.  The German “people’s car” (volkswagen) project was first announced at the Berlin motor show in 1934, after the Nazi government-backed German Automobile Industry Association officially engaged the Porsche design consultancy to create it.  Ferdinand Porsche drew on designs for rear-engined economy cars he’d undertaken for Zundapp and NSU (denying accusations of intellectual theft from Czechoslovakia’s Tatra). 

HEALEY 2.4-LITER full historical details

With gas strictly rationed, and most new cars earmarked for export, motoring was difficult in 1940s Britain.  So when news broke that Donald Healey’s sporty new 146ci (2,400cc) had recorded a best speed of 111mph (179kph) on the Jabbeke Highway in Belgium in 1947, it was especially uplifting news. Here was something Britain could be proud of: the world’s fastest production sedan and, hopefully, a taste of good times to come.  Donald Healey, exuberant pre-war rally driver and Triumph technical director, had come up with a totally new car. Its light, but rigid cruciform-braced chassis featured advanced front trailing link suspension and was powered by an excellent Riley twin-camshaft, twin-carburetor engine.  

WILLYS MB JEEP all history details

In 1938, with war clouds gathering Over Europe, the US Army decided to replace its motorized motorcycle-sidecar Combinations (used for messenger and Advance reconnaissance duties) with a small, General-purpose vehicle. It let American Motor manufacturers know its requirements in 1940, and three companies responded with prototype vehicles—Willys Overland’s Quad, the American Bantam Car Co.’s Blitz Buggy and the Ford Motor Company’s GP.  After a protracted and complex bidding process, Willys’s concept for a light 2,106lb (955kg), maneuverable, and powerful all-purpose vehicle, capable of carrying Troops as well as weapons, was selected for production. It boasted selectable two- or Four-wheel drive—a true breakthrough.  It went on to serve in every major World War II campaign as a machine-gun firing mount, reconnaissance vehicle, pick-up truck, frontline limousine, ammunition bearer, wire-layer, and taxi. 

CHRYSLER THUNDERBOLT

Even today, there’s something irresistibly futuristic about the Chrysler Thunderbolt. It’s also extremely evocative, its pontoon-like body having been the inspiration for millions of tin toy cars of the 1940–50s.

Six Thunderbolts were created for a nationwide tour of American Chrysler dealers, intended to add spice to the introduction of the 1941 model-year Chrysler cars in showrooms across the country. The name came from a car that had smashed the land speed record at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, in 1938. Each car had a chrome lightning flash on its doors.

FIAT 500 TIPO CORSA Topolino1938

Even when Fiat tackled the low-price end of the car scale, it was incapable of building anything that didn’t exude character, verve, and speed “potential.”

Italian printer and amateur racing driver Raffaele Cecchini, however, went further than most, to wring maximum performance from the Fiat 500, the 1936 car Italians nicknamed “Il Topolino” (little mouse).

In 1938, he created this little streamliner to chase a number of 31ci (500cc) class speed records at the Monza circuit.

Apart from the beaten aluminum torpedo-like bodywork, with its gaping air intake, incredible fish tail, disc wheels, and tiny off-set turret, the usually feeble Topolino engine was heavily modified. To ensure it met 31ci (500cc) class rules (the standard Topolino had a 35ci (569cc) engine, sleeves were fitted inside the cylinder, and a new crankshaft gave a shorter stroke to reduce capacity to 30.45ci (499.05cc).

The Detroit entrepreneur STOUT SCARAB a car with twin-engines aircraft since 1935

The Detroit entrepreneur STOUT SCARAB a car with twin-engines aircraft since 1935

The earliest thinking behind the MPV (multi-purpose vehicle or multi-passenger vehicle) format as we recognize today can be traced back to 1935 and William Bushnell Stout’s Scarab.

This Detroit entrepreneur and inventor took his inspiration from airplanes. With his experience of designing an all-metal twin- engines aircraft, he decided to adapt the fuselage into a vehicle intended to be an office-on-wheels.

TATRA TYPE 77 with first air-cooled since 1934

TATRA TYPE 77 with first air-cooled since 1934

The Tatra 77 was a masterpiece of design and science in 1934, with its careful attention to streamlining detail and powerful V8 engine. 

It is incredible to think that, in 1934, just about the most futuristic car in the world hailed not from Germany or the US, but from Czechoslovakia. It was the centerpiece for the proud nation’s talents at the Berlin Auto Salon that year, and narrowly beat

Chrysler’s Airflow into production as the world’s first customer-ready, scientifically streamlined motor car.

The car came about thanks to the personal vision of Tatra’s widely admired Austrian chief engineer Hans Ledwinka.

It brought together his expertise in air-cooled engines and intelligent chassis design, with a newfound enthusiasm for aerodynamics.

PEUGEOT 402 ANDREAU “1940” one of six experimental Peugeots

PEUGEOT 402 ANDREAU “1940” one of six experimental Peugeots

N4X, one of six experimental Peugeots built to test the limits of streamlining for family cars in the near future—which, then, was the 1940s. 

It was extremely unusual for car manufacturers to exhibit “concept” or show cars in the 1930s, so the appearance of this astonishing looking Peugeot four-door sedan at the 1936 Paris Salon caused a stir.

It was presented as a vision of the family sedan of the near-future—1940 was the target—a risky strategy since it implied that the year-old sedan from which it was derived might soon be obsolete.

The 402 sedan itself was a sleek-looking car, with gracefully curved fenders, and headlamps concealed behind a waterfall- style radiator grille. But it wasn’t very aerodynamic.

German Rolls-Royces called: MAYBACH DS8 ZEPPELIN since 1907

German Rolls-Royces called: MAYBACH DS8 ZEPPELIN since 1907

Despite its gargantuan proportions, this Maybach Zeppelin with body designed by Paul Jaray and built by Spohn was cutting-edge stuff. 

Wilhelm Maybach partnered Gottlieb Daimler in designing some of the very earliest cars, but in 1907 he went into business with Daimler’s son Karl. Their specialty was building engines for Count Zeppelin’s airships. After the Treaty of Versailles (which banned German companies from making aero engines), Karl turned to producing car engines.

Customers proved elusive however, so in 1921, the retired Maybach built his own car.

They were acclaimed as “German Rolls-Royces.” In 1928, Maybach came up with the huge and impressive DS chassis, plus a magnificent V12 engine to power it. In 1930, it was renamed the Maybach Zeppelin in honor of the pioneering aviator, just before the ultimate edition, the DS8, was launched.

First TOYOTA AA 1937 the foundation stone for Toyota’s success

First TOYOTA AA 1937 the foundation stone for Toyota’s success

A Toyota AB, the convertible version of the AA model that was to lay the foundation stone for Toyota’s success. 

Japanese giant Toyota had an unsteady introduction to the car world. The company specialized in making textile looms until 1935, when a windfall on the sale of some patents persuaded Kiichiro Toyoda, son of the founder, to consider entering the car business.

It was no surprise that the three prototypes he built in May 1935 bore an uncanny resemblance to the Chrysler Airflow—the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works had bought one to take apart, and closely modeled the A-1 on it. They used Toyoda’s newly designed Type A six-cylinder engine in a ladder-type chassis, closely copied from Ford.

Yet, unusually for the time, it had pressed-steel disc wheels and a curved, one-piece windshield.