From 47e946e70117ecafa14222c08c374a304d44d46e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Adam T. Carpenter" Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2022 21:59:55 -0500 Subject: feat: publish gatsby feat: new drafts --- drafts/aiming-headlights.php | 1 + drafts/clock.md | 5 ++ drafts/maintenance.php | 1 + pages/blue.php | 19 +++++ posts/2022-12-02-gatsby's-ride.php | 138 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 5 files changed, 164 insertions(+) create mode 100644 drafts/aiming-headlights.php create mode 100644 drafts/clock.md create mode 100644 drafts/maintenance.php create mode 100644 pages/blue.php create mode 100644 posts/2022-12-02-gatsby's-ride.php diff --git a/drafts/aiming-headlights.php b/drafts/aiming-headlights.php new file mode 100644 index 0000000..79393dd --- /dev/null +++ b/drafts/aiming-headlights.php @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +Last week I aimed and adjusted the headlights on Ol' Blue. diff --git a/drafts/clock.md b/drafts/clock.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4fbb305 --- /dev/null +++ b/drafts/clock.md @@ -0,0 +1,5 @@ +# My Grandmother's Clock + +- family background +- literature +- setup diff --git a/drafts/maintenance.php b/drafts/maintenance.php new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1a9be39 --- /dev/null +++ b/drafts/maintenance.php @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +https://www.noemamag.com/the-disappearing-art-of-maintenance/ diff --git a/pages/blue.php b/pages/blue.php new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e58cb8 --- /dev/null +++ b/pages/blue.php @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ +

Ol' Blue

+ +

Ol' Blue

+ +

106000 mi

+ +
    +
  1. +
      +
    • Ice cream, tire rotation.
      • +
    • Ice cream, tire rotation.
      • +
    +
    2. +
  2. +
      +
    • Road trip, trans rebuild
      • +
    +
    3. +
diff --git a/posts/2022-12-02-gatsby's-ride.php b/posts/2022-12-02-gatsby's-ride.php new file mode 100644 index 0000000..19521b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/posts/2022-12-02-gatsby's-ride.php @@ -0,0 +1,138 @@ +

Gatsby's Ride

+ +

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 class car 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). 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 "Silver Ghost", 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

+ +

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 The Great Gatsby (1974), this time starring Robert Redford. They + selected and repainted a slightly newer model Rolls, the first Phantom. While + it wasn't a period correct choice, I certainly think the Phantom was a better + looking Rolls than the Silver Ghost.

+ +

The Phantom was produced not just in England but also in Springfield, MA. A + new overhead valve engine was offered along with a three speed transmission and + a central lubrication system for U.S. customers.

+ +

Gatsby's Rolls

+ +

Model J Duesenberg: 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. Gatsby (Alan + Ladd) was driving around in a supercharged Model J Duesenberg.

+ +

The Great Gatsby (1949)

+ +

The choice of a Duesenberg 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. The Duesenberg chassis were powered by straight eights with dual + overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. They were putting out over 250 + horsepower and capable of speeds of over 90 MPH. Later on in the 1930s they + would also be available supercharged.

+ +

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. First of all, + we're in a world of fiction. There's probably no such thing as T.J. Eckelberg or + Wilson's Garage in 1922 New York, so it sits fine with me that Gatsby would + drive something that looks and sounds like a Dusey. Second of all, it makes + sense for his character.

+ +

Gatsby's Duesenberg

+ +

The 2013 Baz Luhrmann film utilizes a replica supercharged Duesenberg which gets + a surprising amount of screen time. This movie actually sold the idea of Gatsby + driving a Duesenberg as character building. Gatsby is new money, as opposed to + Tom Buchanan's old money. Gatsby's non-traditional, no matter how hard he + tries to present himself as such. He's a bootlegger living in a castle-like + mansion with rowdy parties. He wears gold, silver, and pink suits. He wants to + present as wealthy, but he doesn't have generations of wealth and prestige + backing it up. So he emanates wealth like a young playboy millionaire. And what + did young playboy millionaires drive in the twenties and thirties? They didn't + drive the stuffy, English-built Rolls-Royces their fathers drove, with + horsepower quickly being surpassed by much more pedestrian vehicles. They drove + Duesenbergs. The most expensive, fastest cars in America. +

+ +

Big, high-tech, with luxurious, even gaudy coach-built bodies. That's the kind + of car Gatsby should drive. And that's why I like seeing even a replica on + screen.

+ + -- cgit v1.2.3