Please allow me this digression from my normal Drivin’ News themes.

Recently while at the gym I encountered a friend who is both a dedicated nurse and a thoughtful student in the school of “what’s happening now.” Our conversation quickly evolved to acknowledging a disturbing undercurrent that stains the space in time that the collective “we” presently occupies. Much like a disquieting subsonic tone, it seems to reside on the edge of our consciousness while shaping the character of the times in which we live. “I pray every day,” she said.

Yes, Covid certainly exacerbated it, but only like a hobo joining a disparate cohort all hitching a ride on the same runaway train. Though many among us acknowledge our gratitude for what we have, few if any seem to be blowing noisemakers at a party thrown by life. It seems that the content, perspectives and attitudes dominating our culture’s information channels and shaping the zeitgeist offer little solace to the inner “us” that seeks joy and peace and benefits from the emotions generated by words like love, inspiration, happiness and hope. That inner, decent us, longs for sanctuary from a steady diet of self-doubt, disappointment, anger, betrayal, anxiety, conflict and a host of other unhealthy negative feelings foisted upon us by our environment and our own thoughts. It creates a lens through which we view the world, shape our future life and potentially harm ourselves. What to do?

Personally, I pulled the emergency cord on my life train and stepped off to attend a retreat and explore the unconventional beliefs of a visionary neuroscientist. I would experience a week with 12 to 14 hour days of high intensity immersion in the power of meditation and mindfulness at an event entitled “Piercing the Veil.” The following thoughts are not intended as the advocacy of an apostle. I retain a healthy skepticism. However, they do represent the impressions gained by an open mind exposed to beliefs once dismissed by a scientific community that is now taking a very serious second look.

Meet Dr. Joe Dispenza, doctor, scientist and, for some with a metaphysical streak, modern mystic.

Exploring our power within

Clinging for dear life to the front bumper of a speeding Ford Bronco seems like a curious point of origin for a revolutionary vision with the potential to profoundly advance the physical and psychological betterment […]

It would be my first job in the automobile industry. It was 1975 and Mercedes-Benz of North America hired me to create their first audio-visual technical training system. I would be creating educational programs to train technicians at the dealership. I was thrilled to be working for the iconic three-pointed star – A good company, with good people and great cars. I had no clue that I stood on the brink of what would be a  lifetime avocation.

It happened so serendipitously. One day early in my career at Mercedes-Benz I encountered the very polished Count, yes Count, Marcus Clary a Public Relations executive. He was discarding new car brochures from previous years. I asked if I could take some. Help yourself was the reply.

Thus began a lifetime of opportunistic dumpster diving at North American car companies as decade after decade I witnessed most automotive manufacturers indiscriminately discarding what they viewed as outdated sales literature and I saw as important future messengers of history.

Over 100 years ago the new car brochure came to life in a world cluttered with expensive hand built cars desperately seeking to be noticed.

Over coming decades the new car brochure would evolve as a powerful 20^th century sales tool and a valuable reference for the future study of automotive history.

Now as we witness, with some sadness, the sacrifice on the altar of digital efficiency of the high quality, brilliantly photographed, aesthetically striking and increasingly expensive bibles of the new car sales effort, I would like to take an admiring look back at whence they came.

Evolution of the new car brochure

(Part 1 – 1900 to 1940)

1936 Ford

In the early 1900s the emergence of the automobile as a commercial venture demanded printed material that would help present, position and promote this new contraption.

Over roughly the next one hundred years the new car brochure would tide a wave of evolution and sometimes revolution in design, technology, socioeconomic conditions, societal values, editorial style and graphic delivery.

One need look no further than the very first page of the very first Cadillac catalog to see the role set aside for the new car brochure. The year was 1903.

1903 Cadillac

“Being unable to reach the majority of prospective purchasers of automobiles by Agencies or personal calls we […]

Entering Ed Jurist’s Vintage Car Store in Nyack, New York offered a visual wonderment of not only vintage automotive but, as well, vintage aircraft art and artifacts. A 12-cylinder Merlin engine, the type famous for powering the P-51 Mustang, sat proudly cradled where it could be viewed through the building’s large front window that faced the street.

On this day in 1982, I had originally strolled in to interview Jurist about a Sherman tank he had sold to a Hollywood rental business years before. As the interview wound down to allow Jurist to depart for dinner, the topic of vintage aircraft surfaced. Suddenly dinner could wait as an animated Jurist held forth on his experiences purchasing vintage war planes from around the world. While the tank story was written and published, the telling of Jurist’s vintage war plane exploits never made it to print, until now.

Buckle your lap belts and hang on for the story of the sputtering Mosquito and the Virgin Loretto.

The sputtering Mosquito and the Virgin Loretto

DeHaviland Mosquito

Though pilot and copilot alike had faced death before while flying bombers in WWII, concern tinged their voices as their eyes flicked across the dead black skies above the jagged, unforgiving and equally black Pyrenees mountains somewhere below. As to how far below, they could only venture a sweaty guess. Spotting a light, any light filled the content of their unspoken prayers as an engine of the vintage WWII DeHaviland Mosquito twin engine bomber sputtered and coughed in what portended to be a death rattle if the plane could not find a place to land and land soon.

Jurist was never a stranger to aircraft adventure starting with his exploits as a wartime B-17 bomber pilot with the Eighth Air Force. Shot down over Nazi Germany, Jurist actually escaped from the Nazi prisoner of war camp where he had been held. In later years Jurist set up business in an old Cadillac dealership built in 1927 that was home to his Vintage Car Store. There, in addition to travelling the world in search of rare and valuable automobiles, he dedicated himself to finding and preserving vintage aircraft, primarily of the military variety. Jurist during his years of searching out vintage war planes brought in more vintage […]