John Beltz
John Beltz (1926–1972) was Oldsmobile's chief engineer in 1964 and one of the prime movers of the Oldsmobile Toronado and 442 project. Beltz was promoted to Oldsmobile general manager at age 43 in 1969 when Harold N. Metzel retired. Beltz died in May 1972 from cancer at the age of 46. He was revered in the automotive industry as a visionary ahead of his time. Throughout his career, Beltz became known as much for his engineering brilliance as his charisma, his always clever sense of humor and impeccable taste in cars. According to legend, John Beltz and his staff led Oldsmobile through undoubtedly its best years and the Oldsmobiles from 1949 to 72 define Olds as the Rocket division of GM. It is said that during his time at the helm of Oldsmobile, Beltz represented Michigan and the auto industry in its purest form, when cars were king and the auto industry worker, both blue and white-collar, was the lifeblood of the state. Beltz was featured in the July 1969 issue of Hot Rod ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produced over 35 million vehicles, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory alone. During its time as a division of General Motors, Oldsmobile slotted into the middle of GM's five (passenger car) divisions (above Chevrolet and Pontiac, but below Buick and Cadillac), and was noted for several groundbreaking technologies and designs. Oldsmobile's sales peaked at over one million annually from 1983 to 1986, but by the 1990s the division faced growing competition from premium import brands, and sales steadily declined. When it shut down in 2004, Oldsmobile was the oldest surviving American automobile marque, and one of the oldest in the world, after Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, Renault, Fiat, Opel, Autocar and Tatra (i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oldsmobile Toronado
The Oldsmobile Toronado is a personal luxury car manufactured and marketed by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors from 1966 to 1992 over four generations. The Toronado was noted for its transaxle version of GM's Turbo-Hydramatic transmission, making it the first U.S.-produced front-wheel drive automobile since the demise of the Cord 810/812 in 1937. Sharing the GM E platform introduced by the rear-wheel drive Buick Riviera in 1963 and adopted for the front-wheel drive 1967 Cadillac Eldorado, the three models shared the E platform for most of the Toronado's 26-year history. The name "Toronado" had no prior meaning and was originally selected for a 1963 Chevrolet show car. First generation (1966–1970) The Toronado began as a design painting by Oldsmobile stylist David North in 1962. His "Flame Red Car" was a compact sports/personal car never intended for production. A few weeks after the design was finished, however, Oldsmobile division was informed it would be permitt ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Harold N
Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts and entertainment * Harold (film), ''Harold'' (film), a 2008 comedy film * ''Harold'', an 1876 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson * ''Harold, the Last of the Saxons'', an 1848 book by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton * ''Harold or the Norman Conquest'', an opera by Frederic Cowen * ''Harold'', an 1885 opera by Eduard Nápravník * Harold, a character from the cartoon List of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy characters#Harold, ''The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy'' *Harold & Kumar, a US movie; Harold/Harry is the main actor in the show. Places ;In the United States * Alpine, Los Angeles County, California, an erstwhile settlement that was also known as Harold * Harold, Florida, an unincorporated community * Harold, Kentucky, an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hot Rod Magazine
''Hot Rod'' is a monthly American car magazine devoted to hot rodding, drag racing, and muscle cars—modifying automobiles for performance and appearance. History ''Hot Rod'' is the oldest magazine devoted to hot rodding, having been published since January 1948. Robert E. Petersen founded the magazine and his Petersen Publishing Company was the original publisher. The first editor of ''Hot Rod'' was Wally Parks, who went on to found the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). Petersen Publishing was sold to British publisher EMAP in 1998, who then sold the former Petersen magazines to Primedia in 2001. Today it is published by Motor Trend Group, formerly known as TEN: The Enthusiast Network and Source Interlink Media. Source Interlink acquired the magazine along with Primedia's Consumer Magazine division in 2007. ''Hot Rod'' has a strategic relationship with Universal Technical Institute, referring to UTI as its sponsor. In March 1948, ''Hot Rod'' published the first appearance ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Car Connection
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pron ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Car And Driver Magazine
''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased prior owner Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in 2011. It was founded as ''Sports Cars Illustrated.'' The magazine is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. History ''Car and Driver'' was founded as ''Sports Cars Illustrated'' in 1955. In its early years, the magazine focused primarily on small, imported sports cars. In 1961, editor Karl Ludvigsen renamed the magazine ''Car and Driver'' to show a more general automotive focus. ''Car and Driver'' once featured Bruce McCall, Jean Shepherd, and Brock Yates as columnists, and P. J. O'Rourke as a frequent contributor. Former editors include William Jeanes and David E. Davis, Jr., the latter of whom led some employees to defect in 1985 to create ''Automobile''. Rather than electing a Car of the Year, ''Car and Driver'' publishes its top ten picks each year ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Winding Road (magazine)
''Winding Road'' is a digital automotive enthusiast magazine owned by NextScreen LLC, of Austin, Texas, which also publishes various consumer electronics related titles digitally and in print. Overview ''Winding Roads monthly digital magazine focuses on enthusiast-oriented vehicles, and passionate drivers. WindingRoad.com serves as a companion site for the magazine, offering daily industry news, timely new car drive reviews, and resources for the in-market auto consumer. ''Winding Road'' is freely available to read in its online form, or can be had as an advertisement-free PDF file for purchase at NextNewsStand.com. Mobile versions of ''Winding Road'' can also be had for the Apple iPad and the Amazon Kindle. Background The magazine has been published continuously online since January 2005, beginning life as the brainchild of NextScreen CEO Thomas B. Martin. In early 2006, Martin brought an instant dose of industry credibility to ''Winding Road'' by hiring David E. Davis Jr. i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1926 Births
Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos (general), Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Kingdom of Hejaz, Hejaz. ** Bảo Đại, Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of Vietnam. * January 12 – Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll premiere their radio program ''Sam 'n' Henry'', in which the two white performers portray two black characters from Harlem looking to strike it rich in the big city (it is a precursor to Gosden and Correll's more popular later program, ''Amos 'n' Andy''). * January 16 – A BBC comic radio play broadcast by Ronald Knox, about a workers' revolution, causes a panic in London. * January 21 – The Belgian Parliament accepts the Locarno Treaties. * January 26 – Scottish inventor John Logie Baird demonstrates a mechanical television system at his London laboratory for members of the Royal Institution and a report ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1972 Deaths
Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * February 19 – Battle of Lugdunum: Emperor Septimius Severus defeats the self-proclaimed emperor Clodius Albinus at Lugdunum (modern Lyon). Albinus commits suicide; legionaries sack the town. * Septimius Severus returns to Rome and has about 30 of Albinus's supporters in the Senate executed. After his victory he declares himself the adopted son of the late Marcus Aurelius. * Septimius Severus forms new naval units, manning all the triremes in Italy with heavily armed troops for war in the East. His soldiers embark ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |