Author Topic: History channel series: The Cars That Made America  (Read 364 times)

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Offline elagache

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History channel series: The Cars That Made America
« on: August 12, 2017, 11:10:39 AM »
Dear mid-60s Buick owners with a taste for automotive history,

Starting Sunday, the History Channel is airing a new series on the iconic cars and visionaries that created them.  Believe it or not the executive producer is: Dale Earnhardt Jr. !  Here is a link to webpages that describe the show:

http://www.history.com/shows/the-cars-that-made-america

Here is the description from the History Channel website:

Quote
“The Cars That Made America” – a three consecutive night, six-hour special event presented and executive produced by Dale Earnhardt Jr. premieres Sunday, August 13 at 8PM ET/PT and concludes on Tuesday, August 15 at 8PM ET/PT. The special uncovers the stories of the visionaries who built America’s vehicle landscape and chronicles the epic journey of how the biggest names of the automobile industry became the legendary household brands that car enthusiasts have grown to love. Through gritty, character-driven reenactments and never-before-seen archival footage, the special showcases the career trajectories of seven iconic and revolutionary figures: Henry Ford, Walter Chrysler, the Dodge Brothers, William Durant, Lee Iacocca and John Delorean. “The Cars That Made America” is produced for HISTORY by Magilla Entertainment.


It certainly looks worth catching the beginning and seeing if it is any good.

Cheers, Edouard  :occasion14:

Offline option B9

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Re: History channel series: The Cars That Made America
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2017, 07:42:11 PM »
  Thanks for the tip about the show, I will see what time its on here on the east coast. Tomorrow I will be meeting with the our BCA chapter members, I will tell them about it. Thanks Edouard. 
                              Tony
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Offline Mister T

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Re: History channel series: The Cars That Made America
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2017, 06:20:40 PM »
Appreciate the tip Edouard.  :thumbsup:  I've been watching far too much major league baseball lately, so this will be a nice diversion from balls and strikes!  :icon_biggrin:
Tom B

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Online GS66

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Re: History channel series: The Cars That Made America
« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2017, 06:29:49 PM »
Thank you, got it auto tuned.
Jim
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Offline elagache

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I'll get to it eventually! (Re: The Cars That Made America)
« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2017, 09:55:44 PM »
Dear Tony, Tom, Jim, and mid-60s Buick owners with TVs . . . .

Paradoxically or not, I have one of those TiVo DVRs so I'll let that "digest" the series.  Since I don't like to watch more than about 1 hour of TV at a sitting, odds are I'll nibble at it and eventually see the whole thing in a week or so - if it turns out to be worth seeing at all!  :laughing7:

Cheers, Edouard  :occasion14:

Offline elagache

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One of the better documentaries! (Re: The Cars That Made America)
« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2017, 04:35:18 PM »
Dear mid-60s Buick owners with an interest in history,

I finally dug into this series last night and was extremely pleased!   :icon_thumright:  In general the programming on the History Channel has been in decline, but this series is a hark back to some of their best work.  It has a reasonable balance between archive footage, reenactments, and interviews.  The quality of the material is as far as I can tell extremely good. If you missed it, it is supposed to be rebroadcast later this week or you can watch it online.  There are links to the episodes from the URL listed on my first posting.

Cheers, Edouard  :occasion14:

Online GS66

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Re: History channel series: The Cars That Made America
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2017, 06:34:13 PM »
Yes, I am finding it very interesting too, great job on it.
Jim
North Mankato, MN

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Offline Mister T

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Re: History channel series: The Cars That Made America
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2017, 09:31:05 PM »
It was a little humorous to see John DeLorean's reenactment of how the GTO came to be while using a 63 Wildcat 4 door hardtop.  :icon_biggrin:

Overall, it was rather interesting to watch.
Tom B

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Offline option B9

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Re: History channel series: The Cars That Made America
« Reply #8 on: August 17, 2017, 08:25:03 PM »
   Tom, Edouard and the  rest of the this Buick crazy bunch.. I only missed the first hour of the first episode. I thought the rest of the series was very good, they kept the auto history moving with Ford being the center and everything revolving it. And yes Tom I did catch that Buick standing in for a Pontiac, I guess they could not find a real Pontiac wherever they were shooting the scenes and figured no one will notice WRONG !! we all saw that big mistake. And how about the scenes with Hank Ford. He is always pouring a drink ! what's with all that drinking ? overkill on the alcohol. And there was a scene where the narrator is talking about the status ladder of GM vehicles, after Olds he went to Cadillac !! What happened to Buick ? (my blood pressure went up ) Since I missed the fist hour did they even mention that Buick is the cornerstone of GM ? If they put it on CD I would buy it for my boys to watch on a cold winter Saturday, since Automotive History is not taught in schools...I will have to catch that first hour that I missed. I will check my Verizon box and see when its on.
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 65 GS Convertible 401 White, Red interior, Black top.
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Offline elagache

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Barely past World War II!! (Re: The Cars That Made America)
« Reply #9 on: August 17, 2017, 09:02:02 PM »
Dear Jim, Tom, Tony, and mid-60s Buick owners who watch television,

I'm still behind on this show.  Because we have a TiVo DVR and tend to watch only about an hour a night, we have only gotten so far as Henry Ford Jr. taking control of Ford after World War II (barely.)

It was a little humorous to see John DeLorean's reenactment of how the GTO came to be while using a 63 Wildcat 4 door hardtop.  :icon_biggrin:


I still haven't reached this point.  That seems extremely strange.  There has to be a whole lot more 1964 GTOs than 1963 Buick Wildcats!  There is one in our area because I've seen it in a supermarket parking lot.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. has to know the difference and finding a 1964 GTO couldn't have been that hard, so something else has to be the explanation.  I was wondering if they had a GTO lined up that backed out at the last minute and used the Wildcat because they had to film on those days?  Hard to imagine any thing else that explains the faux pas.

   Tom, Edouard and the  rest of the this Buick crazy bunch.. I only missed the first hour of the first episode. I thought the rest of the series was very good, they kept the auto history moving with Ford being the center and everything revolving it.


It is a decent documentary, but I am seriously disappointed on the Ford emphasis and the quest for "dirt" rather than actually trying to document: "The cars that made America."  GM and Chrysler get some mention in terms of their cars and technology, but the documentary clearly focuses on Ford and the nasty dealings that were happening there.  The reenactments of Henry Ford brutalizing his son Edsel were so bad I finally had to forward past some of them.

And there was a scene where the narrator is talking about the status ladder of GM vehicles, after Olds he went to Cadillac !! What happened to Buick ? (my blood pressure went up ) Since I missed the fist hour did they even mention that Buick is the cornerstone of GM ?


Well, I just made a mistake and discovered that this documentary and others are being seriously "too economical with the truth."  This documentary claims that William Durant first ouster as chairman of GM was because of his attempt to create a Buick that would beat the model T.   If that was correct, then Buick was Durant's initial brand name for cars for the working man.  However, Wikipedia doesn't back up the documentary's claim:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_C._Durant

Instead, the explanation is simply that Durant was overextended on credit and the bankers who he owed money to forced him out.  So which is true?

Either way, there is clearly a identity crisis for Buick.  When Durant used Chevrolet eventually to regain control of GM, now Chevrolet was the working man's brand.  It isn't clear when Buick moved into a luxury car brand competing with Cadillac and Lincoln.  Sadly it is clear that when there is a choice, GM will protect Cadillac before Buick.  Not that long ago, Buick was forced to abandon their Suburban rebranding - the Rainier.  I can only assume because GM was concerned it would cut into Cadillac Escalade sales.  Buick has thus far avoided the fate of Oldsmobile, but GM doesn't seem to be willing to give Buick the respect it deserves as the first company in the GM organization.

We'll just have to see or . . . . . perhaps the second coming will simply just resolve all this . . . . after all, perhaps even Jesus would really rather drive a Buick!! 

Cheers, Edouard  :occasion14:


Offline elagache

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Really puzzled by the Wildcat (Re: The Cars That Made America)
« Reply #10 on: August 20, 2017, 09:24:12 AM »
Dear Tom and mid-60s Buick owners who watch television,

It was a little humorous to see John DeLorean's reenactment of how the GTO came to be while using a 63 Wildcat 4 door hardtop.  :icon_biggrin:

Okay I finally reached these scenes and . . . . .  :icon_scratch:

I cannot for the life of me imagine why they did this.  Certainly the product crew knew what a GTO looked like.  The archive footage is correct.  Also it does seem like they try to keep camera angles that avoid showing the Wildcat as a Buick.  The only thing I can imagine is some sort of trademark or property issue, but why would GM make that sort of stink?  If anybody finds out why this series made such a faux pas - I sure would like to know!

Cheers, Edouard  :occasion14: