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The first 100 parking meters go into use on July 16th, 1935 in Oklahoma City, OK. Photo from marisamct.blogspot.com.br
Welcome back to Rod Authority’s Trivia Tuesday for the day after the biggest eclipse of this generation. No, I’m not talking about a non-compact car made by Mitsubishi. Show of hands, how many of you stayed up later than usual to watch the eclipse? I did, but thanks to cloudy skies, I got to watch it online. Today we’re going to find out interesting facts such as where was the first parking meter, and what colors the first Vettes were available in.
Where Was the First Parking Meter Installed?
The first parking meter that we’re aware of was installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was installed at the corner of Robinson Avenue and what was then First Street. The Park-O-Meter Number 1 was the brainchild of a man who went by the name of Carl C. Magee. Carl moved to Oklahoma City from New Mexico in 1927. History buffs may recall his name as being that of the reporter from Albuquerque that exposed the Teapot Dome Scandal that involved then Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall.
The villain himself: Carl Magee, the inventor of the parking meter. Image frommarisamct.blogspot.com.br
Magee moved to Oklahoma City to start a new newspaper, the Oklahoma News. He noticed that there was a growing shortage of parking available in the city and determined to do something about it. His prototype Park-O-Meter went on display in May of 1935. The Dual Parking Meter Company began installing these meters in July of that year (The 16th to be exact). Reaction to the meters was fairly negative, as can be expected. They cost a nickel an hour. By the 1940s there were more than 140,000 of these beasts installed throughout the country. Gee, thanks Carl. The first meter is currently on display in the Statehood Gallery of the Oklahoma Historical Society.
The Corvette Has Been Known As a “Street Legal Racer.” What Was Ford’s Answer in the 60s?
By themselves, Ford and its engineers weren’t able to come up with anything to compete with the Corvette in decade of the 1960s. However, there was a man with a strange (for a guy) name who could. Luckily for Ford, and us, they got together. Carroll Shelby was, even then, pretty well-known in automotive circles, and he was about to become even more well-known.
This collaboration between Shelby and Ford gave us the Mustang GT 350, and later, the GT 500. The GT 350 was introduced in 1965 and produced a respectable 306 HP. They were painted Wimbledon White and had Guardsman Blue rocker stripes. It’s a common myth that most of Gt 350s were delivered to dealers with the “Le Mans” stripes (which were optional) already down the top, only 28-percent of them did. There were only 562 GT 350s produced in 1965. Although the stripes were even rarer than the cars, it’s almost impossible to find one today without these stripes.
The 1953 Corvette is loosely based off one of Harley Earle’s prototypes/concept cars. Only 300 were built. Image from www.barrett-jackson.com
OK Vette Aficionados: True or False-The 1953 Models Were Available in More Than One Color?
Decidedly FALSE. In 1953, the Chevrolet Corvette was, like the original Fords only available from the factory in one color and that was Polo White with a red interior. What many people aren’t aware of is that the first model Corvette, the ’53, was really nothing more than a cobbled together experiment. Today it’s hard to believe that only 300 of these iconic cars were produced that year. The first car of the production rolled off the factory line on June 30th, 1953.
Another interesting piece of trivia concerning the first ever Corvette is that the entire production run is said to have taken place in the back of a customer delivery garage in Flint, Mich. Numbers one and two were engineering test cars, and were supposedly destroyed. Only 225 of the 300 are known to remain in existence today.
