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<h1>Gatsby's Ride</h1>
<p>It's almost the end of 2022. That means Jay Gatsby lived and died 100 years ago
within F. Scott Fitzgerald's <em>The Great Gatsby</em>. 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<h2>Rolls-Royce <em>40/50</em>: the novel</h2>
<p>This is what Fitzgerald has to say about Gatsby's car through Nick:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>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.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>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.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>‘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...’</p>
<p>'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.'</p>
</blockquote>
<p>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.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>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.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Assuming it is a new model, top-of-the-line Rolls-Royce, Gatsby was most likely
driving around in a yellow Rolls-Royce <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Silver_Ghost"><em>40/50 "Silver Ghost"</em></a>, 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 <em>22</em> in 1922.
The engine and chassis remained mostly unchanged but the body style varied
somewhat as years went by, becoming sleeker and more streamlined.</p>
<p><img src="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" alt="1920 chassis 40FW tourer" title="" /></p>
<p>Coincidentally, by 1922 the <em>40/50</em> 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.</p>
<h2>Rolls-Royce <em>Phantom</em>: <em>The Great Gatsby (1974)</em></h2>
<p>Fast-forward to the early 1970s and film producers are sourcing props and
vehicles for <em>The Great Gatsby</em> (1974), this time starring Robert Redford. They
selected and repainted a slightly newer model Rolls, the first <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Phantom_I"><em>Phantom</em></a>. While
it wasn't a period correct choice, I certainly think the <em>Phantom</em> was a better
looking Rolls than the <em>Silver Ghost</em>.</p>
<p>The <em>Phantom</em> 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.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.imcdb.org/i003884.jpg" alt="Gatsby's Rolls" title="" /></p>
<h2><em>Model J</em> Duesenberg: <em>The Great Gatsby (1946, 2013)</em></h2>
<p>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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duesenberg_Model_J"><em>Model J</em> Duesenberg</a>.</p>
<p><img src="https://jerrygarrett.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/screen-shot-2013-04-03-at-7-03-37-pm.png" alt="The Great Gatsby (1949)" title="" /></p>
<p>The choice of a Duesenberg <em>Model J</em> was and continues to be an interesting one.
For one, the <em>Model J</em> 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.</p>
<p><a href="https://jerrygarrett.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/secrets-of-the-great-gatsbys-fabulous-cars/">If you're concerned about historical accuracy</a>, there's zero chance of Gatsby
driving a <em>Model J</em> 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.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.imcdb.org/i505296.jpg" alt="Gatsby's Duesenberg" title="" /></p>
<p>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 <em>new money</em>, as opposed to
Tom Buchanan's <em>old money</em>. 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
<em>present</em> 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
<em>Duesenbergs</em>. The most expensive, fastest cars in America.
</p>
<p>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.</p>
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