The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 77

ii VY i 1 n- nnn n. Ft n. nr TO UL The Marathon: Nashville's Hometown Car The "automobile's evolving place in the presidency By Ed. Cassidy President Taft replaced the White House fleet of horses and buggies with automobiles. Here, he is In the "steam snorter," the first official presidential car.

illiam McKinley was the first president to try out a horseless carriage, taking a short ride in 1899 in a Stanley The first automobile totally manufactured in the South, the Marathon, was produced in Nashville, rolling out of the factory on the corner of 14th Avenue and Clinton Street in the autumn of 1910. Having relocated from Jackson, Marathon's move to Nashville was to be a key to the industrial development of the city. Seeing the auto industry as one of the most important of modern times, and realizing the capital return that would result from a local car manufacturer, citizens of Nashville were excited that Marathon might quickly improve Nashville's prosperity and visibility. Fueling this excitement was the thought of cars in Chicago, San Francisco and other principal cities bearing the Nashville name. Several smart marketing efforts in the Marathon's first year of production helped solidify its standing as an up-and-coming, yet legitimate vehicle: Marathons were sent to tour fairs in Memphis, Dallas, Macon, Little Rock and several other southern cities to help promote it regionally.

The president of Marathon, Exile Burkitt, opened a Marathon sales facility in Chicago. Marathon beat six other prominent autos to win first place at the Arkansas State Fair. The Marathon models, averaging $1,500 each, trounced competition listing at twice the price. Free advertising rolled in from Nashville Fire Department Chief AA Rosetta, who bragged that he could now race to a fire at 60 miles per hour in a Marathon! The success of these efforts, among others, drove the worth of Marathon stock from $200,000 in the autumn Turn to page 2, column 5 SU I A A Steamer. And though he still preferred to travel in his own privately-owned horse-drawn carriages, McKinley would take his final ride in an electric ambulance after being shot by an assassin in 1901.

By that time, automobiles were a common sight in the bigger cities of America. But President Theodore Roosevelt, an avid horseback rider, did not share in the growing popularity of the car with his fellow Americans. He refused to ride in an automobile to his 1901 inauguration. And though he had frequently campaigned in borrowed cars, Roosevelt declared after taking office, "I came to the inauguration in a horse-drawn vehicle and I will leave the presidency in it" It was not until 1909 that William Howard Taft the 27th president, instituted major changes and introduced the automobile into presidential transportation. Establishing an annual budget of $25,000 for transportation, Taft appointed George Robinson as presidential chauffeur and gave him $12,000 to purchase automobiles to replace the White House fleet of horses and buggies.

With no specific instructions as to make or model, Robinson first bought a seven-passenger, 40-horsepower White Model open touring car from the White Sewing Machine Company of Cleveland, Ohio. The White Company was quick to market the "official presidential car" to the public in the form of its Model "M-M," claiming it was built with the "Presidential Pattern" and slapping an enormous $5,000 price tag on the model. President Taft's official First Car was virtually no different from the model for sale to the public, save for the U.S. coat of arms hand painted on both sides. However, Taft's intense dislike of the press later inspired him to have Robinson install a foot-operated exhaust system that would House fleet he leased five new cars from the company.

This started the tradition of auto companies supplying White House cars at little or no cost to the government Coolidge started another White House tradition the following year when he ordered a 1924 Lincoln limousine, the first of a series that would transport U.S. presidents for decades to come. The long-standing tradition of specially designed Ford Lincolns transporting U.S. presidents began in an ironic way with an attempted assassination of a U.S. president The first Lincoln had appeared on the market in 1920, three years after Cadillac founder Henry Leland left General Motors to start his Lincoln Motor Company.

The 75-year-old Leland had selected the name of Lincoln in honor of President Abraham Lincoln, whom he had voted for in 1864. The first attempt on a president's life while in a car occurred in 1933 when an assassin shot at Franklin Delano Roosevelt while he rode in a Miami motorcade in an open convertible. While FDR was not hurt Chicago mayor Turn to page 2, column 1 ft added three new Pierce-Arrows to its fleet thereby establishing the luxury line as "Cars of State" until the 193Qs. That same year, Wilson became the first president to visit an automobile factory while in office (the Ford plant in Highland Park, Mich.) and in 1917 became the first president to join the American Automobile Association (he ordered AAA emblems displayed on all the White House cars). When Wilson left office in 1921, he purchased his favorite automobile from the White House fleet a Pierce-Arrow Model 48 vestibule sedan.

He continued to drive the car until his death in 1924. Warren Harding made several automotive firsts when he assumed the presidency. Not only was he the first president who could drive before he was elected to office, Harding was also the first to ride in a car rather than a carriage to his inauguration. And under strict new Secret Service guidelines, Harding was also the first president not allowed to drive while in office. Calvin Coolidge, known for his thriftiness, made a deal with the Pierce-Arrow Company when he took office in 1923.

Rather than pur release a steam cloud to engulf the car and prevent cameramen from getting photographs. In addition to the White Model Robinson procured three other cars for the White House fleet, including two Pierce-Arrow limousines and a Baker Victoria Phaeton electric runabout It was the Baker that became the favorite car of First Lady Helen Taft and future First Ladies Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Harding and Mrs. Coolidge.

In 1913, before he lost his reelection bid to Woodrow Wilson, Taft became the first president to earn a driver's license (from the state of Connecticut) thanks to instruction from Robinson. President Wilson and his first wife, on the other hand, arrived at the White House having never owned a car since Wilson had always considered automobiles an unnecessary luxury. After his first wife's death, President Wilson took to motoring for up to five hours a day throughout the Washington community to overcome his loneliness. He was always followed close behind by Secret Service agents in their own Cadillac. These motoring trips were cut short by the President's second wife, who felt he was not getting enough exercise, and later eliminated as Wilson felt the need to set an example and conserve gasoline for the war effort In 1916, the White House Marathon cars, the first to be completely built in the South, were produced In Nashville from 1910-14.

President Kennedy greets onlookers as he travels up West End Ave. during his visit to Nashville in 1963. r-x chase new cars for the White 1 sNV Cr.