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<h1>Gatsby's Ride</h1>
-It's 2022 now, and Jay Gatsby lived and died 100 years ago. I first read F.
-Scott Fitzgerald's classic _The Great Gatsby_ in high school, right before the
-2013 film with Leonardo DiCaprio came out. It was one of the few "school books"
-that my friends and I were actually really into. It was fun having the film
-trailers to help visualize what we were reading. As a car guy, 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 early teens and twenties.
-Gatsby's car plays an important role in the plot (which I won't spoil but come
-on, it's only been around longer than you or I have). But I find the car's
+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.
-This is what Fitzgerald has to say about Gatsby's car:
+## 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
@@ -21,16 +24,89 @@ This is what Fitzgerald has to say about Gatsby's car:
> 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 times. 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,
-probably open-air, lots of accessory boxes, and Gatsby's trademark flamboyant
-colors. And it's fast (your typical Model T Ford topped out at about 40-45 MPH).
+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.
-<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>
+> 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.
+
+![1920 chassis 40FW tourer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/1924_Rolls-Royce_Silver_Ghost_Labourdette_-_Flickr_-_edvvc.jpg/1920px-1924_Rolls-Royce_Silver_Ghost_Labourdette_-_Flickr_-_edvvc.jpg)
+
+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.
![Gatsby's Rolls](https://www.imcdb.org/i003884.jpg)
+
+## 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 Great Gatsby (1949)](https://jerrygarrett.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/screen-shot-2013-04-03-at-7-03-37-pm.png)
+
+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.
+
![Gatsby's Dusenberg](https://www.imcdb.org/i505296.jpg)
+
+<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/)