Auto History Parked Safely in Detroit
Long before the Honda, Toyota and Mazda there was the Fujioka, a small car created in Los Angeles especially for export to Japan.
Made from 1922-23, the Fujioka was designed by two veterans of the Pierce-Arrow car company, Earl Spencer and George Morrow, and named for Fred Fujioka, an investor in the project, owner of the F & K Garage in Los Angeles and an official of the Japanese-American Automobile Club of Southern California.
Only a few models were made. But Fujioka was one of 81 different makes of automobiles manufactured in Los Angeles during the early part of the century, a time when cars were made in 44 California locations.
The Arrowbil came out of Santa Monica; the Clyde and Coyote Specials were born in Redondo Beach. Others from the Los Angeles area were the Anthony, James, Henry, Cal Six, Crist, Daisy, Eagle, Kennedy and Poppy.
Information and photographs on these cars--and more than 2,000 other models made in the United States--are part of the Detroit Public Library’s National Automotive History Collection. It contains more than 1 million catalogued items.
Until 10 months ago, the library had stored 200 tons of material about autos--including manuals, catalogues, sales material, photographs, magazines, books, personal papers of automobile pioneers, pamphlets, company records and private collections--in boxes scattered throughout the building.
Renovated Wing
An 8,700-square-foot wing, half the fourth floor, now houses the collection. Chrysler, Ford, General Motors and the Friends of the Detroit Public Library provided the necessary funding for the wing’s $350,000 renovation.
“This is the largest automotive history collection in existence and it’s right where it should be--in the automobile capital of the world,” said John McAlpine, a retired automobile advertising executive and one of the collection’s 25 trustees. “The Smithsonian tried to get it, but we’ve managed to keep it where it belongs.”
Ever since the Detroit Public Library acquired its first book on the automobile in 1896, John Henry Knight’s “Notes on Motor Carriages: With Hints for Purchasers and Users,” it has been amassing photographs and printed material on the machine that has changed the world.
Nearly all the major car companies, the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Assn. and several other organizations have used the Detroit Public Library to store their records. Also housed here are the personal papers of many who played prominent roles in the auto industry, including those of Charles and Frank Duryea, the country’s first car manufacturers.
The Nathan Lazernick collection, more than 100,000 photographs taken between 1898 and the 1920s, chronicles the early days of the automobile industry. Here too are the records and photographs of the Charles Glidden historic road tours.
Records of the landmark George Baldwin Selden Patent Case can be found in the archives. Selden, a lawyer and inventor, filed for a patent on the automobile in 1877, said Joe Karshner, another trustee who worked in GM’s public relations department for 31 years.
The patent was issued 1895 but Selden produced only one car, Karshner said. “All other car manufacturers had to pay him a royalty on their product.”
Henry Ford refused to do so, a decision that led to the Selden patent case. After a five-year battle, “Ford eventually won,” Karshner said, noting the library has complete records of the case.
Other Forms of Transportation
There are also comprehensive records on bicycles, carriages, early steam-driven vehicles and other forms of transportation predating the car. The collection also includes buses, trucks and motorcycles.
Most automobile periodicals can be found here, beginning with the 1899 issue of Motor Age, and there are file cases of jokes and cartoons about cars, even sheet music containing songs about them.
The contribution the auto industry made to World War I and World War II production is documented in industry and government archives covering both periods.
Reprints of photos are available for a nominal fee and, three times a year, the library publishes Wheels, the Journal of the National Automotive History Collection.
