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<h1>Gatsby's Ride</h1>
It's almost the end of 2022. That means Jay Gatsby lived and died 100 years ago
within F. Scott Fitzgerald's _The Great Gatsby_. I first read the roaring
twenties classic in high school, right before the 2013 film with Leonardo
DiCaprio came out. It was one of the only reading assignments that my friend
group really enjoyed. It was fun having the film trailers to help visualize what
we were reading. As a historic vehicle enthusiast, one of the attractions of the
story was the time period and, more specifically, its cars.
The characters drive a variety of classics from the late teens and early
twenties. Gatsby's car plays an important role in the plot (which I won't spoil
but come on, it's been around longer than you or I have). But I find this car's
description and its recreation in film over the years to be wildly different and
fascinating. So let's take a closer look at Gatsby's ride.
## Rolls-Royce _40/50_: the novel
This is what Fitzgerald has to say about Gatsby's car through Nick:
> I'd seen it. Everybody had seen it. It was a rich cream color, bright with
> nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant
> hatboxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of
> windshields that mirrored a dozen suns. Sitting down behind many layers of
> glass in a sort of green leather conservatory we started to town.
What an awesome description. And it's exactly what you'd expect from cars of the
rich and famous from the early to mid twenties: nickel plating, multiple
windshields or even cowls, probably open-air, and lots of accessory boxes. This
is the first time the car is mentioned and the only time it's described as
"cream-colored." The rest of the small snippets throughout describe it as a
topless car with yellow paint and green leather upholstery.
> ‘Shall we all go in my car?’ suggested Gatsby. He felt the hot, green leather
> of the seat. ‘I ought to have left it in the shade...’
> 'It was a yellow car,' he said, 'big yellow car. New... No, but the car passed
> me down the road, going faster'n forty. Going fifty, sixty.'
There's not much more to go on except the color is repeated a few more times.
And it's fast, considering your typical Model T Ford topped out at about 40-45
MPH. We also get a brief description of two of Gatsby's cars, one of which has a
specific make and model.
> On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from
> the city, between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his sta-
> tion wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains.
It's not surprising that a millionaire bootlegger like Gatsby has more than one
car. The first is a Rolls-Royce, the typecast rich man's car. The other, a
station wagon, is literally used as a depot shuttle for party guests. We can
safely assume that the station wagon is not Gatsby's personal car being used to
shuttle guests around, even though it's also colored yellow. If these are the
only two cars Gatsby owns, then the Rolls must be the cream-colored "circus
wagon", although more likely than not Gatsby has more than just a couple of cars
in his garage.
Assuming it is a new model, top-of-the-line Rolls-Royce, Gatsby was most likely
driving around in a yellow Rolls-Royce _40/50_, produced from late 1906 to 1926.
Starting in 1908 it was the only model produced by Rolls during this time until
the introduction of the smaller, cheaper _22_ in 1922. The engine and chassis
remained mostly unchanged but the body style varied somewhat as years went by,
becoming sleeker and more streamlined.
Coincidentally, by 1922 the _40/50_ sales were languishing compared to newer,
faster automobiles being produced by Rolls' competitors. The description of the
car certainly fits however, with the nickel-plated grill and accessories,
dual-cowl touring bodies, and leather upholstery.
## Rolls-Royce Phantom: _The Great Gatsby (1974)_
Fast-forward to the early 1970s and film producers are sourcing props and
vehicles for another _The Great Gatsby_, this time starring Robert Redford.
## Model J Dusenberg: _The Great Gatsby (1946, 2013)_
A silent film was produced for Fitzgerald's book in 1926 but no known copies of
it exist. The earliest watchable adaptation was released in 1946. Now Gatsby
(Alan Ladd) was driving around in a supercharged Model J Dusenberg.
The choice of a Dusenberg Model J was and continues to be an interesting one.
For one, the Model J wasn't produced until 1928. All chassis were produced
between 1928 and 1929 and then bodied and sold throughout the early 1930s during
the Depression. If you're concerned about historical accuracy, there's zero
chance of Gatsby driving a Model J in 1922. Heck, the novel itself was published
in 1926, two years prior to production. Couple that with the specific mention of
Rolls-Royce by name in the text, and it's a hard sell.
If you're less concerned like me, however, this is a much more appropriate car
for Gatsby to drive.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZgAf9AuNc6Q" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Keep in mind this is a man who wears suits of silver and gold. His mansion is
not traditional; it's castle-like and filled with rowdy parties. He's West Egg,
he's "New Money", and he drives the millionaire-playboy's Dusenberg Model J. The
car for the rich man who wants to present as wealthy and popular, not
traditional and subdued. Gatsby is not chauffeured
---
- [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Silver_Ghost#History)
- [2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby#Film)
- [3](https://jerrygarrett.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/secrets-of-the-great-gatsbys-fabulous-cars/)
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