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mostlysignssomeportents · 7 months

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"Efficiency" left the Big Three vulnerable to smart UAW tactics

Tomorrow (September 22), I'm (virtually) presenting at the DIG Festival in Modena, Italy. Tomorrow night, I'll be in person at LA's Book Soup for the launch of Justin C Key's "The World Wasn’t Ready for You." On September 27, I'll be at Chevalier's Books in Los Angeles with Brian Merchant for a joint launch for my new book The Internet Con and his new book, Blood in the Machine.

It's been 143 days since the WGA went on strike against the Hollywood studios. While early tactical leaks from the studios had studio execs chortling and twirling their mustaches about writers caving once they started losing their homes, the strikers aren't wavering – they're still out there, pounding the picket lines, every weekday:

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/09/how-hollywood-writers-make-ends-meet-100-days-into-the-writers-guild-strike.html

The studios obviously need writers. That gleeful, anonymous studio exec who got such an obvious erotic charge at the thought of workers being rendered homeless as punishment for challenging his corporate power completely misread the room, and his comments didn't demoralize the writers. Instead, they inspired the actors to go on strike, too.

But how have the writers stayed out since May Day? How have the actors stayed out for 69 days since their strike started on Bastille Day? We can thank the studios for that! As it turns out, the studios have devoted so much energy to rendering creative workers as precarious as possible, hiring as little as they can getting away with and using punishing overtime as a substitute for adequate staffing that they've eliminated all the workers who can't survive on side-hustles and savings for six or seven months at a time.

But even for those layoff-hardened workers, long strikes are brutal, and of course, all the affiliated trades, from costumers to grips, are feeling the pain. The strike fund only goes so far, and non-striking, affected workers don't even get that. That's why I've been donating regularly to the Entertainment Community Fund, which helps all affected workers out with cash transfers (I just gave them another $500):

https://secure2.convio.net/afa/site/Donation2?df_id=8117&8117.donation=form1&mfc_pref=T

As hot labor summer is revealed as a turning point – not just a season – long strikes will become the norm. Bosses still don't believe in worker power, and until they get their minds right, they're going to keep on trying to starve their workforces back inside. To get a sense of how long workers will have to hold out, just consider the Warrior Met strike, where Alabama coal-miners stayed out for 23 months:

https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/warrior-met-strike-union/

As Kim Kelly explained to Adam Conover in the latest Factually podcast, the Alabama coal strikers didn't get anywhere near the attention that the Hollywood strikers have enjoyed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvyMHf7Yg0Q

(To learn more about the untold story of worker organizing, from prison unions to the key role that people of color and women played in labor history, check out Kelly's book, "Fight Like Hell," now in paperback:)

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Fight-Like-Hell/Kim-Kelly/9781982171063

Which brings me to the UAW strike. This is an historic strike, the first time that the UAW has struck all of the Big Three automakers at once. Past autoworkers' strikes have marked turning points for all American workers. The 1945/46 GM strike established employers' duty to cover worker pensions, health care, and cost of living allowances. The GM strike created the American middle-class:

https://prospect.org/labor/2023-09-18-uaw-strikes-built-american-middle-class/

The Big Three are fighting for all the marbles here. They are refusing to allow unions to organize EV factories. Given that no more internal combustion cars will be in production in just a few short years, that's tantamount to eliminating auto unions altogether. The automakers are flush with cash, including billions in public subsidies from multiple bailouts, along with billions more from greedflation price-gouging. A long siege is inevitable, as the decimillionaires running these companies earn their pay by starving out their workers:

https://www.businessinsider.com/general-motors-ceo-mary-barra-salary-auto-workers-strike-uaw-2023-9

The UAW knows this, of course, and their new leadership – helmed by the union's radical president Shawn Fain – has a plan. UAW workers are engaged in tactical striking, shutting down key parts of the supply chain on a rolling basis, making the 90-day strike fund stretch much farther:

https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2023-09-18-labors-militant-creativity/

In this project, they are greatly aided by Big Car's own relentless pursuit of profit. The automakers – like every monopolized, financialized sector – have stripped all the buffers and slack out of their operations. Inventory on hand is kept to a bare minimum. Inputs are sourced from the cheapest bidder, and they're brought to the factory by the lowest-cost option. Resiliency – spare parts, backup machinery – is forever at war with profits, and profits have won and won and won, leaving auto production in a brittle, and easily shattered state.

This is especially true for staffing. Automakers are violently allergic to hiring workers, because new workers get benefits and workplace protection. Instead, the car companies routinely offer "voluntary" overtime to their existing workforce. By refusing this overtime, workers can kneecap production, without striking.

Enter "Eight and Skate," a campaign among UAW workers to clock out after their eight hour shift. As Keith Brower Brown writes for Labor Notes, the UAW organizers are telling workers that "It’s crossing an unofficial picket line to work overtime. It’s helping out the company":

https://labornotes.org/2023/09/work-extra-during-strike-auto-workers-say-eight-and-skate

Eight and Skate has already started to work; the Buffalo Ford plant can no longer run its normal weekend shifts because workers are refusing to put in voluntary overtime. Of course, bosses will strike back: the next step will be forced overtime, which will lead to the unsafe conditions that unionized workers are contractually obliged to call paid work-stoppages over, shutting down operations without touching the strike fund.

What's more, car bosses can't just halt safety stoppages or change the rules on overtime; per the UAW's last contract, bosses are required to bargain on changes to overtime rules:

https://uaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Working-Without-Contract-FAQ-FINAL-2.pdf

Car bosses have become lazily dependent on overtime. At GM's "highly profitable" SUV factory in Arlington, TX, normal production runs a six-days, 24 hours per day. Workers typically work five eight-hour days and nine hours on Saturdays. That's been the status quo for 11 years, but when bosses circulated the usual overtime signup sheet last week, every worker wrote "a big fat NO" next to their names.

Writing for The American Prospect, David Dayen points out that this overtime addiction puts a new complexion on the much-hyped workerpocalypse that EVs will supposedly bring about. EVs are much simpler to build than conventional cars, the argument goes, so a US transition to EVs will throw many autoworkers out of work:

https://prospect.org/labor/2023-09-20-big-threes-labor-shortages-uaw/

But the reality is that most autoworkers are doing one and a half jobs already. Reducing the "workforce" by a third could leave all these workers with their existing jobs, and the 40-hour workweek that their forebears fought for at GM inn 1945/46. Add to that the additional workers needed to make batteries, build and maintain charging infrastructure, and so on, and there's no reason to think that EVs will weaken autoworker power.

And as Dayen points out, this overtime addiction isn't limited to cars. It's also endemic to the entertainment industry, where writers' "mini rooms" and other forms of chronic understaffing are used to keep workforces at a skeleton crew, even when the overtime costs more than hiring new workers.

Bosses call themselves job creators, but they have a relentless drive to destroy jobs. If there's one thing bosses hate, it's paying workers – hence all the hype about AI and automation. The stories about looming AI-driven mass unemployment are fairy tales, but they're tailor made for financiers who get alarming, life-threatening priapism at the though of firing us all and replacing us with shell-scripts:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/09/autocomplete-worshippers/#the-real-ai-was-the-corporations-that-we-fought-along-the-way

This is why Republican "workerism" rings so hollow. Trump's GOP talks a big game about protecting "workers" (by which they mean anglo men) from immigrants and "woke captialism," but they have nothing to say about protecting workers from bosses and bankers who see every dime a worker gets as misappropriated from their dividend.

Unsurprisingly, conservative message-discipline sucks. As Luke Savage writes in Jacobin, for every mealymouthed Josh Hawley mouthing talking points that "support workers" by blaming China and Joe Biden for the Big Three's greed, there's a Tim Scott, saying the quiet part aloud:

https://jacobin.com/2023/09/republicans-uaw-strike-hawley-trump-scott/

Quoth Senator Scott: "I think Ronald Reagan gave us a great example when federal employees decided they were going to strike. He said, you strike, you’re fired. Simple concept to me. To the extent that we can use that once again, absolutely":

https://twitter.com/American_Bridge/status/1704136706574741988

The GOP's workerism is a tissue-thin fake. They can never and will never support real worker power. That creates an opportunity for Biden and Democrats to seize:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/18/co-determination/#now-make-me-do-it

Reversing two generations of anti-worker politics is a marathon, not a sprint. The strikes are going to run for months, even years. Every worker will be called upon to support their striking siblings, every day. We can do it. Solidarity now. Solidarity forever.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/21/eight-and-skate/#strike-to-rule

#pluralistic #strikes #uaw #labor #automakers #big three #big car #eight and skate #work to rule #tactics

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wheelsgoroundincircles · 5 months

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Ford Fortyniner

The Ford Fortyniner. The car that, remarkably, saved Ford. Even though Ford should have made a lot of money through its war contacts, by 1947 the company was in dire financial straits and desperately needed a new car to capture the public's imagination and bank accounts. The 46/47/48 models were just reruns of the prewar cars and had become old fashioned and Henry Ford II was rushed into the top job to try and save the company. The Fortyniner was revoutionary. It was the world's first complete three box design (the famed 1947 Raymond Loewy designed Studebaker was really two and a half boxes as the boot was, in retrospect, half-hearted where as the 49er's was pretty much the same size as the bonnet) and the full length pontoon mudguards gave the car a futuristic look. There was nothing else like it — GM and Chrysler, like Studebaker — played it safe with the three box look, but Ford was totally committed. The centre spinner or bullet was the masterstroke. Mechanically it was upgraded with Ford waving goodbye to the old transverse leaf spring system that had served it since the first Model T.

It was a car to lust after. Sales boomed.

Oddly, one was entered for the 1949 Monte Carlo Rally. But then, so to was a British Ford V8 Pilot.

#car #cars #ford #Ford Fortyniner #Fortyniner

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keplercryptids · 1 year

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A Quick Breakdown of a Few Non-D&D TTRPGs (and how they compare to D&D)

hi it's me, your local ttrpg player and forever-GM, encouraging y'all to play something other than d&d. i wanted to share about a few ttrpgs in particular and how they compare to the d&d experience. this might be useful to some who want to try a non-d&d system with a little more guidance than "all of these look cool." i'm focusing on the three systems i have the most experience with, and i'm not going to delve into the game mechanics, but rather focus on the game experience.

also, hey!! if you learned to play d&d, i promise you, you can learn another system. d&d is complicated and often expensive, but other ttrpgs aren't necessarily like that! most ttrpgs, in fact, are much simpler than d&d and easier to learn. so don't let the barriers you may have faced with d&d discourage you from trying a new system.

Savage Worlds

experience: player in a homebrewed setting for about a year.

overview: savage worlds is a setting-neutral system, so it really lends itself to homebrewed worlds. character creation is looser and more flexible in some ways than d&d. you piece together the character you want rather than using a set class/race. i would say the biggest difference between savage worlds and d&d is what the name itself implies. the world can be savage! the dice are swingy in this game. you might be great at a skill, but it doesn't guarantee success the way it pretty much does in d&d. wins and losses tend to be bigger and more dramatic.

what i love: your "class" feels more customized to what you want. savage worlds rules can be implemented in all kinds of settings and worlds which is cool. "balance" isn't really an issue the way it is in d&d (but be prepared for those swingy dice!). combat can be deadlier in some ways, but the system doesn't rely on combat the way d&d does.

Blades in the Dark

experience: GM of a campaign for several months.

overview: blades in the dark is about a group of scoundrels, being scoundrel-y. my favorite line from the player's handbook is that you should play your character like you're driving a stolen car, and i just love that metaphor so much. blades is a game where you play bad people doing bad things (crime). you roll a number of d6s and if you get a 1-3, you fail; a 4-5, you succeed with a complication; a 6 is a total success. what this means in-game is that almost every roll you make results in something bad happening. this leads to a chaotic game experience where the pressure is constantly building until something explodes.

what i love: as a GM, i never prepped for more than 15 minutes before a session. you don't need to prep at all as a GM (either way, be prepared to improv your ass off!). the mechanics are also a delight and i know i will use some of them in most of my games moving forward (clocks! clocks are genius). it also has more of a collaborative feel than d&d. you and your players are making it up as you go and it FEELS that way, which is so fun.

Pathfinder Second Edition

experience: GM of a published adventure for just a few weeks!

overview: this is probably the system most similar to d&d. a lot of the skills, dice mechanics, spells etc will be familiar to you. if you like d&d mechanically but want more crunch and more balance, pf2e is a great option. it's definitely more complicated than d&d, but i don't think it's too complicated, if that makes sense. combat is easier to balance from the GM side and feels more dynamic in many ways at level 1 than d&d at any level. also pf2e has a sense of humor??? it's hard to describe but so many of the feats, spells and monster abilities are FUN in a way that's lacking in d&d. i plan to run my next campaign in pf2e and am excited to delve into using it for a homebrew setting.

what i love: character customization is off the fucking charts. if you're a 5e player, you'll be astounded at just how many skills and abilities you get every level-up. also, it's a game that's balanced, which as a GM i've noticed right away. combat is fun to run (i have NEVER said that about 5e lmao) and feels like you're actually playing a game, rather than giving a presentation the way a lot of 5e combat feels as a dm. every monster stat block is interesting and unique. and there's a rule for everything, which i personally like.

anyway, i hope this was useful! get out there and try a new ttrpg system, okay??

#ttrpg talk #dnd talk #ttrpgs #ttrpg community #blades in the dark #pathfinder 2nd edition #savage worlds #long post

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nochi-quinn · 10 months

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candela obscura chapter 1 episode 2: hey entire table what the fuck

still enjoying matt in shirtsleeves

still weird that his wrists are naked

are his sideburns going grey? like under the bulk of his hair

this is a scene that jumped into matt's head fully formed and he has to give all the details

source: been there

auggie!

that's my son!

vexnvax syndrome strikes again

going 'yum' just as charlotte's art pops up: correct

if there's one thing anjali's going to do it's play a hot lady in period clothing

"I've been smoking since I was eight" "then you can find your own smokes"

"sir, ma'am - " "doctor"

mala: the three genders

is "otherwhere" like ffxiv and "anyroad" or is it like. a place.

if there's one thing laura's gonna do it's try to get a magical item out of the GM

thank you, howard

witcher potion

auggie, whose friend turned into an ice ghost not even a month ago: fuck you, werewolves aren't real

arlo: maybe SOME PEOPLE - not me - are just SHY - I'm not tho - and have TROUBLE with PEOPLE - except me, I'm fine

bidet

"let matthew know" snickersnort

"what's my name?"

your name is also matthew

I don't know why "make a sneak" makes me smile but it does

howard just faceplants in the background

the story's too long to tell here but one time a woman brained herself on a hamster cage in petsmart and that's all I could think of with the guard blocking auggie

this voice is very endearing

not weird but WEIRD weird

all this for a loaf of bread?

matt making up names off the top of his head

aha! drugs

oh no

Quite Betrothed

fate dating au

"have you ever seen boiled bacon?" revolting!

"I have moments where new information makes me somewhat uncomfortable" autism mood

"I'm gonna touch it" to "this was a mistake" pipeline

if any of them were gonna succeed this seems like where you would want to succeed

yeah, DEAD SCIENTISTS, HOWARD

howard is now craving bacon

I WAS JOKING

I also enjoy this voice very much

aha. veterans.

he is An Doctor

bottom table is ND as f u c k

channeling patrick loller from tiktok: "if you thank me for my service you have to give me $5"

pocket bacon!

yeah see, $5

"we're not doing Get Help"

and that's just what the couple did to the room!

oh shit it's the fuzz

"our first victorian shit!" robbie what

joke three people in the world will get: you can only poop in the designated areas

the whole table: howard no robbie: HOWARD YES

nose punch go CRUNCH

"HOWARD WENT ROGUE"

howard said acab

what is anjali feeding her dice

robbie do you want to tempt the wrath of the whatever

the secretary's a werewolf

with a very cute accent

"he was a horn player" "I bet he was"

"s e x u a l i n t e r c o u r s e"

howard

"I wanna take his badge" fearne lives

he ran into a doorknob"

"WHY DID YOU TALK"

"stairs is faster" confused me until I remembered some people can actually walk down stairs instead of having to take them one at a time, one foot then the other, while clinging to the rail for dear life

laura

the way my brain autofilled "stayed open during the pandemic"

"is he a tall lanky boy" tailed by slenderman

grumbles in public transportation

everybody gets to punch a cop!

cable car fun fact: I was reading dashiell hammet for the first time and had to google what a broadway car was bc he said it like 90 times in the first three pages

and I'm STILL not sure I got it right

"how do you know I'm OUP" "the everything about you"

"my name is gertrude! I mean ethel!"

"spend all the drives! you won't need them later!"

"steal the man of the cloth's cloth!"

[witcher voice] for your discretion

"if only you knew how I was making my money"

ty for not popping your shoulders out on stream anjali

(I originally said "popping them out" and decided specificity was necessary)

this music is a+

"first name trio" is a good name for a band

disco elysium crossover

"she's having an idea….and it hurts" mood

"SHE DID IT" my crackpot theory is vindicated

that is certainly a way to put it

eddie? eyes emoji?

ashley very quietly reaching for her pencil

bacon plague!

banana spiders

"make sure you bring your hand with you"

c o n s u m e

"I've been working on this really great YA novel" MATTHEW I have already snorted lemonade through my nose once tonight, you can't say shit like that

ARLO

AUGGIE

I love them

why was my only thought AT THE OPERA TONIGHT

"do I recognize her as a TA?" "she's an ex-student" you get how that's worse, right

you have buried the lede slightly arlo

anjali: "I shouldn't curse" matt: who told you that shit

"that's poor people talk"

classism!

arlo

"THAT MAN TOUCHED MY BREAST"

"JEEEEEEEMY GOD"

we never should have given matt buttons

matt you live in LA you're giving them all trauma

kickin buddies

[pounding table] werewolf weREWOLF

that's. not a werewolf.

that's a bloodborne monster

just the panicked yelling dlkfjls

I too yell wordlessly when forced to make decisions

"until it was trying to merge with your body" hate THAT wording

hey matt what the fuck

HEY MATT WHAT THE FUCK

"if I'm still aliVE YOU NERDS HELP ME" bakugocore

"its own viscosity" despise it

hey. hey howard. whatcha doin.

[justin mcelroy voice] DON'T DRILL A HOLE IN YOUR HEAD

DON'T YOU PUN RIGHT NOW

hey robbie what the F U C K

"a gun! :D"

hey. hey arlo. hey arlo whatcha doin

some fullmetal alchemist shit is what

I hate everything about this

laura has just decided all her characters are coloring books now

"this arm doesn't have function anymore" oh mood

"takE IT, ROBBIE"

"you just do. what other choice is there?" hey I don't need this right now

hey howard what the fuck

HOWARD'S HAUNTED

see this is why you don't drill a hole in your head, you get ghosts

#candela obscura #critical role #spoilers #crititag #candelatag #liveblog #reaction post

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bearded-snorlax · 10 months

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Anyway, shoutout to the homophobic lady that got mad about our pride decorations and called my GM a "useless fucking f****t." I hope you crash your car, you miserable old twat.

#homophobes die in fire challenge

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awesome-casuallyfamouscollector · 2 years

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The 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EUV electric crossover, USA, 2022. Source: GM

Trim and price: LT USD 28,195; Premier USD 32,695.

P.S. In the electric car market, this is a bargain! And, try to find a "cheap" ICE car with engine generating 150 kW (201 hp) and 266 lb-ft of torque. At least in the European ICE car market, you won't find anything "cheap" with engines of this power output...For example in Latvia, VW T-Roc crossover with 2.0 TSI engine, 140kW/190 hp will cost you 37 049 euros...In fact, fossil fuel vehicle of similar power output VW T-Roc in the European market is much more expensive than the electric Chevrolet Bolt EUV in the American car market. Despite the tax differences, the different regions of the world car market are quite closely connected and what happens in China or the USA sooner or later affects Europe and vice versa. Therefore, in fact, the electric car "revolution" or the rapid introduction of electric cars into the mass market is much, much closer than conservatives and oil industry-funded "skeptics" can imagine...

#GM #Chevrolet Bolt EUV #electric crossover #fossil fuel phase-out #electric vehicle #long range EV #made in america #USA #energy safety #russian defeat #affordable ev #competition

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carsthatnevermadeitetc · 5 months

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Opel Kadett Swinger, 1975. Opel were the only GM subsidiary to make a 2door saloon version of the General Motors T-Car. In 1975 Opel offered "Swinger" versions of numerous models, including the Kadett C. They were entry level versions with special graphics and it proved a popular option

#Opel #Opel Kadett Swinger #Opel Kadett #1975 #GM T-Car #General Motors T-Car #1970s #Swinger #special edition #3 box #2-door saloon

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anumberofhobbies · 19 days

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youtube

Apr 2, 2024 A woman learned her OnStar system is tracking things like acceleration events, high-speed events, and hard break events and GM has been sharing that data with data brokers. The full story: https://2wsb.tv/3vseD8d

After the lawsuit became public, GM announced it is severing ties with two data brokers. A GM spokesperson told Channel 2 Action News in a statement: “As of March 20th, OnStar smart driver customer data is no longer being shared with LexisNexis or Versick. Customer trust is a priority for us, and we are actively evaluating our privacy processes and policies.” Brooks said laws and regulations have not kept up with technology. “Right now, there are no federal laws requiring that automakers have privacy protections for their owners or cybersecurity protections on their vehicles,” Brooks said. Anyone can do what Clay did and request their LexisNexis consumer disclosure report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. “Never did I imagine it would be spying on us and sending information about driving habits. That’s just unbelievable,” Clay said. Gray also reached out to LexisNexis Risk Services who tells us auto insurance rates have been increasing across the board because of “more frequent and severe claims, rising costs to repair or replace vehicles, and riskier driving behaviors, such as speeding. With these increases, telematics-based insurance programs can be extremely valuable in helping consumers improve their driving and lower their risk.” It’s not just GM sharing data. In 2022 LexisNexis risk services said in a statement they were gathering data on more than 10 million cars and had contracts with 5 of the 10 largest auto insurers.

#Youtube

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blenny-giken · 19 days

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youtube

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#youtube

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rabbitcoolcars · 2 months

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1932 Graham Blue Streak

By the standard of 1932, the Graham Blue Streak was genuinely shocking. As soon as the wraps came off, it commanded the automotive world’s attention just like the Cord L-29 and the Ruxton had a few years earlier. But even in the heady atmosphere of 1929, the L-29 was exotica, the Graham was a mainstream family car. Since so many of its best bits were quickly copied, some of its impact is lost today, but it was the kind of aesthetic design that shifted the industry big time.

The Blue Streak is known for one thing above all —the introduction of fully enclosed (or “Valanced”) fenders—but there was much more to it than that. The whole design subtly evolved the shape of the automotive form, and while the fenders were a first on a mainstream production car, some of the other changes were due to innovation you couldn’t see, like the car’s new, and very different, frame design. It was also as good to drive as it was to look at.

The Indiana-born Graham Brothers, Joseph (born 1882), Robert (1885), and Ray (1887), were still relative newcomers to passenger cars when the Blue Streak was unveiled in December of 1931, but they were anything but novices. After getting their start in the glassmaking business (which later provided lots of residual income), they began producing truck conversion kits for Model T Fords in 1919, then started building their own trucks, then building trucks for Dodge, and ultimately selling their firm to (pre-Chrysler Corporation) Dodge.

They got big payouts, but departed Dodge in April of 1926, with a stipulation that they couldn’t make any trucks under their own name for five years. Without the Grahams, the financial firm that by then owned Dodge, Dillon-Read, floundered, which is why the company ultimately got bought by Chrysler, but the Grahams had moved on.

The following summer, they bought the Paige-Detroit concern of Dearborn, Michigan (maker of Paige and Jewett cars) in 1927 and morphed its products into their first car line (styled by LeBaron), announcing a new line of Grahams (and some warmed-over Paiges) for the 1928 model year. They were instantly successful, with 73,000 cars sold the first year and 77,000 in 1929, but then the depression came and sales crashed, to just over 20,000 in 1931. The Blue Streak was purposefully created to turn the tide.

While the Grahams were truck guys, they knew that style sold cars, particularly after the success of Harley Earl’s 1927 LaSalle and the high-profile changes it created at GM. Even a firm doing as well as Graham among smaller independent makes did not have the resources to hire an “Art & Colour” section the way GM (and soon, Chrysler) did, so instead they went in two directions. First, they had their engineers run wild with new ideas, and second, they turned to body supplier Murray and their ace designer Amos Northup, for style.

Northup began his career as a furniture and drapery designer in his native Ohio but later went to work for Pierce-Arrow in Buffalo, New York, first designing trucks, then car interiors, then exteriors and advertising design for the company. He parlayed that experience into designing the Wills St. Claire car but soon grew frustrated by C.H. Wills’ conservative style choices. He went to Murray in 1926 or early 1927, but he was frustrated there too.

In the 1920s, designers got no respect. It was engineers who commanded how cars were made. This was probably doubly true for Northup, who was short, unassuming, and nothing like the flamboyant Ray Dietrich (Murray’s lead designer when Northup joined) or Harley Earl.

He was underpaid too, and quit in 1928, and in his time away from Murray he designed the 1930 Hudson, the Willys “Plaidside” Roadster, and the company’s compact 1930 Whippet line. Murray hired him back, with a big raise, in 1929. His next major project was the 1931 REO Royale, a curvaceous design that today looks more like a car of 1932-33 thanks to Northup’s round shapes and streamlining. The Blue Streak was a natural next step.

The Blue Streak would not be radical in the same sense as the L-29. Its mechanical pieces were conventional and it used the typical two- and three-box shapes of the day, but all the details telegraphed the future.

Northup’s “Unified Design” idea was that the entire car should look harmonious as if it were one solid piece. The enclosed fenders were only part of that. Many of the trim pieces, and particularly the low-set headlights, were painted rather than chromed, and the body sat very low, with the curious absence of any real trace of the frame. The undercarriage was entirely hidden even at the rear. The windshield, grille, and hood vents were all angled identically. Optional disc wheels made them look even sleeker.

The lowness, of course, was down to the engineers. Northup’s visuals get the glory, but that frame was what enabled them. Chief engineer Louis Thorns devised new side rails with no forward kick-up, as was normal then, and a “banjo” arrangement through which the rear axle passed, rather than having the frame curve above the axle as was normal. The springs were mounted outboard, rather than under the frame, which necessitated a slightly wider-than-normal track.

This made the Blue Streak a very good handler for its time, but it was also a double-edged sword. The much more rigid frame and huge decrease in body roll relative to other cars, aided by gigantic rubber bushings in the rear, meant much higher cornering limits than drivers were used to. This led to a reputation for snap oversteer among Graham salespeople, but the car was quick, with a 90-horsepower, 245.4-cid (4.0L) alloy-head straight eight and a fully-synchronized three-speed gearbox.

In the depths of the depression, many makes were trying to sell cars on durability and value, and while Graham had those attributes, the styling was the star of the show. Still, sales slid to just under 13,000 cars.

It did, however, send competitors scrambling. Virtually all of Graham’s competitors retooled at least their fenders for 1933 to match, forever hiding away the road dirt that would coat the inner areas of the fenders and taking the first step towards fully enclosed bodies, a streamlining process that would complete itself only after WW2. While everyone else tried to catch up, the ‘Streak got few changes for 1933. In 1934, they bolted on Superchargers.

#1932 Graham Blue Streak

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wheelsgoroundincircles · 9 months

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This 1970 Pontiac GTO convertible was first delivered to the A.C. Morris Garage of Summersville, West Virginia, and during prior ownership it underwent a body-off rotisserie refurbishment that was completed in 2006. The car is claimed to be one of just 241 examples that were ordered with 455ci V8 and an optional automatic transmission for the model year, and it is finished in Burgundy over red vinyl upholstery. Other equipment includes a four-barrel carburetor, a Ram Air hood, a power-operated convertible top, power steering, front disc brakes, and a 12-bolt rear end housing a Safe-T-Track limited-slip differential. Acquired by the selling dealer in 2013 out of Arizona, this GTO convertible is offered in Missouri with refurbishment photos, manufacturer’s literature, build sheets, a reproduction window sticker, documentation from Pontiac Historical Services, correspondence with the GM Heritage center, and a clean Missouri title.

The car was finished from the factory in Burgundy, and the body was stripped, mounted to a rotisserie jig, and repainted during the refurbishment, at which time a replacement convertible top was installed. Features include a color-matched Endura front bumper, a chrome rear bumper, a Ram Air hood, and quad exhaust outlets with polished finishers.

Rally II 14″ wheels are mounted with 215/70 Firestone Wide-Oval tires. Braking is provided by power-assisted front discs and rear drums, and the car was optioned with power steering when new.

The cabin has been retrimmed with red vinyl upholstery (2254) as well as color-coordinated carpets and interior trim. Equipment includes front bucket seats and a rear bench, a woodgrain steering wheel, an AM/FM radio, and an 8-track player. A pre-delivery-style instruction tag is attached to the steering column, and Pontiac-branded rubber floor mats line the front and rear footwells.

The turned metal and woodtone trim-accented cluster houses Rally instrumentation consisting of a 140-mph speedometer, a tachometer, and a combination gauge. The five-digit odometer shows under 96k miles, approximately 50 of which have been driven by the seller. True mileage is unknown.

The optional 455ci V8 features a four-barrel carburetor and a Ram Air hood, and it produced a factory-rated 360 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque when new. The engine stamping shown within the gallery ends in 0P121234, which matches the final eight digits of the car’s serial number. Additional identification numbers are presented in the gallery.

Power is sent to the rear wheels through an optional Turbo Hydramatic 400 three-speed automatic transmission and a 12-bolt rear end housing a Safe-T-Track limited-slip differential. Additional photos are provided in the gallery to illustrate the underside, drivetrain, and suspension components.

Photos showing various stages of the refurbishment are depicted above.

Additional items accompanying the car include manufacturer’s literature, build sheets, a reproduction window sticker, documentation from Pontiac Historical Services, and 2012 correspondence with the GM Heritage center confirming the car’s specifications and equipment, photos of which are provided in the gallery.

#car #cars #muscle car #american muscle #pontiac gto #gto

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