The Great American Road Automotive History Films MP4 Download DVD Set
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55 Films In An Over 12 Hour Celebration Of The American Automotive Industry And The Driving Pleasures Of The American Highway! Presented In The Highest DVD Quality MPG Video Format Of 9.1 MBPS In An MP4 Video Download Or Archival Quality 4 Disc All Regions Format DVD Set!
July 28, 2023: Updated And Expanded: Updated With THE HEARTBEAT OF AMERICA, And Expanded From A 3 Disc To A 4 Disc DVD Set!
January 23, 2022: Updated With RENEWING THE PAST: 1100 NEW YORK AVENUE!
Contents:
A COACH FOR CINDERELLA (1936, 9:20)
A beautiful cartoon that shows us how Chevrolet would have built Cinderella's coach had they been given the job rather than a magical pumpkin!
AMERICAN HARVEST (1955, 29:51)
Chevrolet produced this film in order to exhibit their car company's power and influence over the American economy, the geogaphic and agricultural landscape if helped to connect and even to create, and the full range of industry that combine all these elements to manufacture their automobiles and propel the lifestyle of the culture within which this economic complex operates.
BRIDGING SAN FRANCISCO BAY (1937, 16:41)
The building of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as seen through the eyes of the United States Steel Corporation.
BUILDING A HIGHWAY (1948, 10:18)
The process of construction of a two lane intrastate highway 1940s style, from breaking ground to surface finishing, is here exposed.
CALIFORNIA STATE HIGHWAY 101 OPENING (1929, 3:42 [Silent])
Newsreel footage of the extraordinary events surrounding the opening of the San Francisco - San Mateo County highway, including 50,000 people attending a parade from the San Francisco Civic Center, San Francisco Mayor James "Sunny Jim" Rolph & various aerial dignitaries.
CAUGHT MAPPING (1940, 8:50)
The art and science of cartography, the drawing of maps, put to use in the creation of road maps for use by motorists in the days before the Interstate Highway System, with special emphasis on the importance of "road scouts" in checking drawn maps before they are approved for printing.
CHEVROLET ADVERTISING RINGS THE BELL (1950, 11:30 [Silent])
Though the soundtrack is missing, this beautiful Kodachrome film short chronicles the various advertising media outlets Chevrolet was using to get the word out about how great their cars were.
CONQUERING ROADS (1937, 8:48)
The complicated world of 1930s era intrastate highway engineering, complete with quaintnesses like traffic circles, venerables like cloverleaf junctions, and inevitables like good-ole railroad trestles.
DESIGN FOR DREAMING (1956, 9:14)
The famed General Motors Motorama film of the Populuxe series where the future of things consumable, from automobilies to kitchens, are brought to you in association with Frigidaire.
FREEDOM OF THE AMERICAN ROAD (1955, 26:40)
In an effort to drum up support for the Interstate Highway System, Henry Ford II introduced this film to present the efforts of communities throughout the United States to improve their roads and highways - from San Francisco Bay to Boston's Route 128, from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to St. Joseph Missouri, and those points in-between. A fine film with classic shots of classic cars & motorways.
FROM DAWN TO SUNSET (1937, 24:55)
In the 1930s, if you had a steady paying job, you had reason to feel fortunate! General Motors thought so, too, and they wanted their workers to know it and have no doubt or confusion (or lack of gratitude) about it, so they had Handy Jam produce this film so that they would realize the wonderful lives they had and that they better all well appreciate it.
GIVE YOURSELF THE GREEN LIGHT (1954, 24:07)
The grand color film General Motors sponsored to convince the entire country that the Interstate Highway system was in the best interests of the country at large and the communities it traversed in particular. Simply outstanding!
GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE OPENING (1936, 4:33 [Silent])
Strikingly moving images of the opening of the what was then the world's longest suspension bridge.
HENRY FORD'S MIRROR OF AMERICA (1962, 35:58)
Rare, extraordinary archival footage from the Ford Film Collection of the history, culture, manufacturing techniques and the life of automotive man between approximately 1915 and 1930, with particular emphasis on early film manufacture, early New York City, Coney Island, rail and trolly traffic, World War I tanks, classic early automobile and roadway footage, archetypical crash and stunt film, early Ford airplanes & more!
HIGHWAY HEARING (1956, 29:32)
The fictional town of Connorsville is to be tranversed by a superhighway, and the resistance of the locals is overcome by highway offiicials who convince them at a town meeting that it's all for the best of the community.
KNIGHTS ON THE HIGHWAY (1938, 8:55)
The means and methods by which truckers of the day could and did drive safely at night.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY DEDICATION (1915, 1:03)
My beloved Lincoln Highway (I grew up in Edison, New Jersey, which it traverses), the very first transcontintental interstate highway, and which begins at Columbus Circle in New York City, is here historically dedicated at its terminus in Lincoln Park in San Francisco.
MASTER HANDS (1936, 27:20)
From the town that gave us the United Auto Workers and Michael Moore, Handy Jam does another propaganda piece for General Motors in their Flint, Michigan plant to dramatize the same reasons workers there ought to appreciate their jobs as they gave in FROM DAWN TO SUNSET above. That the town broke down two months later into sit-down strikes celebrated through the newsreels worldwide is not simply incidental.
PONTIAC STYLING (1955, 9:15)
An excellent exposition of all the features of the 1955 model year Pontiac line of General Motor's automobiles.
SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE GROUNDBREAKING (1932, 7:43 [Silent])
The official proceedings of the precedings of the building of this bridge, attended by such dignitaries as the then President Hoover, California Governor James Rolph, Miss Alameda, Miss San Leandro, Miss San Francisco and a bevy of silver-spaded workers.
THE CORVAIR IN ACTION (1960, 6:25)
The car Ralph Nader loved to hate as unsafe and dangerous is here lionized in this promotional film, not only for its salable qualities but also for its safety features.
TO NEW HORIZONS (1940, 22:59)
THIS is the complete renowned motion picture that the famous 1939 World's Fair "World of Tomorrow" films clips of futuristic cars travelling on far-out superhighways of "the wonder world of 1960" (!) that you've seen in so many documentaries come from. Simply a must-see!
TWO FORD FREEDOM (1956, 1:38)
A Ford Corporation ad promoting the idea of the two car family as a means of selling cars of their 1956 line of automobiles.
WHEELS OF PROGRESS (1927, 13:41 [Silent])
A Jazz Age restrospective of American transportation intended to suggest the pressing need for more & better road systems.
CHEVROLET SALES CONVENTION MUSICAL (1954, COLOR, 15:15)
Rare & wonderfully strange song & dance motivational film for the Chevrolet sales force.
CLOSE HARMONY (1942, 10:35)
A film sponsored by General Motors where, in the midst of this attempt to show the positive need for good labor/management relations in America's burgeoning arms industry, resort is still had to the tired old alienating "step 'n fetch it" character Black Americans & the American public both have had to put up with for generations.
OLDSMOBILE "PLAYLETS" (1942, 5:00)
Six film shorts, five selling the last cars General Motor's Oldsmobile had available for sale "for the duration", and one proclaiming the company and worker's commitment to defense during the Second World War.
STEAM DRIVEN VEHICLES (1932, Silent, 16:26)
The Besler Corporation was proud of its steam driven trains, and they were wont to show that pride off in this film - but not only that, they also wanted you to know all about their steam driven automobiles and aircraft, too!
TEST TUBE TALE (1941, 9:26)
Better living through industrial chemistry, brought by the wonders of nylon and other synthetic materials, is celebrated in this film, while the gathering gloom of the Second World War is felt if never mentioned.
TRIUMPH OF AMERICA (Black/White, 1933, 21:24)
Chevrolet's vintage view into the auto industry's history and manufacturing techniques.
VICTORY IS OUR BUSINESS (1942, 10:09)
General Motor's classic worker motivational film encouraging workers to give all in the great struggle that was World War II.
CHEVROLET LEADER NEWS (Black/White, 15 Films)
A collection of films, each over 8 minutes in length, showing to the movie going public all the interesting, utilitarian and fun things drivers could do and drive to with their Chevrolet automobile.
THE AUTOMOBILE IN AMERICA: A TIME OF CHALLENGE (Black/White, 1971, 12:50)
A Hearst newsreel feature on the historical development of the automobile in America and the challenges the US auto industry faced in 1971 from foreign imports, pollution controls and the environmental effects of the US highway system on the American landscape.
THE SECRET LIFE OF MACHINES: THE SECRET LIFE OF THE CAR (Color, 1990, 22:30)
An excellent installment of the beloved Channel 4 TV series the documents the story behind the story of the machines people use in everyday life.
RENEWING THE PAST: 1100 NEW YORK AVE (Color, 1991, 29 Minutes)
Eminent television broadcast journalist Jim Lehrer narrates this documentary on the history and restoration of The Old Greyhound Terminal, a bus terminal serving Greyhound Lines located at 1100 New York Avenue NW in Northwest, Washington, D.C. from 1940 to the 1980s. It was used extensively during World War II to transport servicemen, and played a part in the Civil Rights Movement. It was saved through the intervention of preservationists such as Jim Lehrer. Most of the building was incorporated in the new 1100 New York Avenue high-rise office building when it was built in 1991, and this documentary celebrates that historic architectural and engineering achievement.
THE HEARTBEAT OF AMERICA (Color, October 12, 1993, 1 Hour 28 Minutes)
An analysis of the fantastic decline of General Motors (GM) from the world's largest and most profitable automobile manufacturer to nearly going bankrupt, caused by a long series of poor decisions regarding manufacturing, quality, design, public relations, investments, business practices, shortsightedness and arrogance. Frontline's producer/director Stephen Talbot and correspondent Robert Krulwich go on-site, in-studio and into the archives with revelations about the company, and its attempts to revitalize itself, with the controversial hire of cost-cutting executive Jose Ignacio Lopez; the outstanding promising startup (though, unknown at this time, ultimately doomed) of GM's Saturn Corporation automobile manufacturing division; the support of the Clinton administration; and the promised but reneged-on immediate investment and switchover to electric vehicles (which might in some small way atone for GM's destruction of America's entire electric trolley infrastructure in an effort to sell more cars, tires and gasoline). Features frequent enlightening exclusive interviews with writer/historian Brad Snell; NPR radio talk show "Car Talk" hosts Tom Magliozzi and Ray Magliozzi; David E. Cole, Chairman Emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) and son of GM's powerful Chevrolet executive Ed Cole; consumer protection advocate, Ralph Nader, who rose to fame for his criticism of Ed Cole's undermined Chevrolet Corvair project in his book "Unsafe at Any Speed"; GM Executive VP Elmer Johnson; GM board member Ross Perot; California pension fund chief Dale Hanson, who heavily invested the pension in GM; automobile industry financial analyst Maryann Keller; California Air Resources Board chief Jananne Sharpless; and more!
Development of the automobile started as early as the 17th century with the invention of the first steam-powered vehicle, which led to the creation of the first steam-powered automobile capable of human transportation, built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769. Inventors began to branch out at the start of the 19th century, creating the de Rivas engine, one of the first internal combustion engines, and an early electric motor. Samuel Brown later tested the first industrially applied internal combustion engine in 1826. The Ford Model T and Volkswagen Beetle are among the most mass-produced car models in history. Development was hindered in the mid-19th century by a backlash against large vehicles, yet progress continued on some internal combustion engines. The engine evolved as engineers created two- and four-cycle combustion engines and began using gasoline as fuel. Production vehicles began appearing in 1887, when Karl Benz developed a petrol or gasoline-powered automobile and made several identical copies. Recent automobile production is marked by the Ford Model T, created by the Ford Motor Company in 1908, which became the first automobile to be mass-produced on a moving assembly line.
The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue. The automotive industry does not include industries dedicated to the maintenance of automobiles following delivery to the end-user, such as automobile repair shops and motor fuel filling stations. The word automotive comes from the Greek autos (self), and Latin motivus (of motion), referring to any form of self-powered vehicle. This term, as proposed by Elmer Sperry (1860-1930), first came into use with reference to automobiles in 1898.
The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these highways were coordinated among the states, they are sometimes called Federal Highways, but the roadways were built and have always been maintained by state or local governments since their initial designation in 1926. The route numbers and locations are coordinated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The only federal involvement in AASHTO is a nonvoting seat for the United States Department of Transportation. Generally, most north-to-south highways are odd-numbered, with the lowest numbers in the east and the highest in the west. Similarly, east-to-west highways are typically even-numbered, with the lowest numbers in the north, and the highest in the south. Some exceptions exist, however, such as spur routes (for instance, US 522 is signed north-to-south, while its parent US 22 is signed east-to-west). Major north–south routes have numbers ending in "1" or "5", while major east–west routes have numbers ending in "0". Three-digit numbered highways are generally spur routes of parent highways (thus U.S. Route 264 [US 264] is a spur off US 64). Some divided routes (such as US 19E and US 19W) exist to provide two alignments for one route. Special routes, which can be labeled as alternate, bypass or business, depending on the intended use, provide a parallel routing to the mainline U.S. Highway. Before the U.S. Routes were designated, auto trails designated by auto trail associations were the main means of marking roads through the United States. In 1925, the Joint Board on Interstate Highways, recommended by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), worked to form a national numbering system to rationalize the roads. After several meetings, a final report was approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in November 1925. They received complaints from across the country about the assignment of routes, so the board made several modifications; the U.S. Highway System was approved on November 11, 1926. As a result of compromises made to get the U.S. Highway System approved, many routes were divided, with alignments to serve different towns. In subsequent years, AASHTO called for such splits to be eliminated. Expansion of the U.S. Highway System continued until 1956, when the Interstate Highway System was laid out and began construction under the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. After construction was completed, many U.S. Routes were replaced by Interstate Highways for through traffic. Despite the Interstate System, U.S. Highways still form many important regional connections, and new routes are still being added.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Construction of the system was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. The system extends throughout the contiguous United States and has routes in Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. The U.S. federal government first funded roadways through the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916, and began an effort to construct a national road grid with the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921. After Dwight D. Eisenhower became president in 1953, his administration developed a proposal for an interstate highway system, eventually resulting in the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. Construction of the Interstate Highway System was proclaimed complete in 1992, though some planned routes were canceled and several routes have stretches that do not fully conform with federal standards. The cost of construction of the Interstate Highway System was approximately $114 billion (equivalent to $530 billion in 2019). The original system has been expanded numerous times through the creation of new designations and the extension of existing designations. Though much of their construction was funded by the federal government, Interstate Highways are owned by the state in which they were built. All Interstates must meet specific standards such as having controlled access, avoiding at-grade intersections, and complying with federal traffic sign specifications. Interstate Highways use a numbering scheme in which primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers, and shorter routes are assigned three-digit numbers where the last two digits match the parent route. The Interstate Highway System is partially financed through the Highway Trust Fund, which itself is funded by a federal fuel tax. Though federal legislation initially banned the collection of tolls, some Interstate routes are toll roads. As of 2018, about one-quarter of all vehicle miles driven in the country used the Interstate Highway System, which had a total length of 48,440 miles (77,960 km). Several future routes are in development.
55 Films In An Over 12 Hour Celebration Of The American Automotive Industry And The Driving Pleasures Of The American Highway! Presented In The Highest DVD Quality MPG Video Format Of 9.1 MBPS In An MP4 Video Download Or Archival Quality 4 Disc All Regions Format DVD Set!
July 28, 2023: Updated And Expanded: Updated With THE HEARTBEAT OF AMERICA, And Expanded From A 3 Disc To A 4 Disc DVD Set!
January 23, 2022: Updated With RENEWING THE PAST: 1100 NEW YORK AVENUE!
Contents:
A COACH FOR CINDERELLA (1936, 9:20)
A beautiful cartoon that shows us how Chevrolet would have built Cinderella's coach had they been given the job rather than a magical pumpkin!
AMERICAN HARVEST (1955, 29:51)
Chevrolet produced this film in order to exhibit their car company's power and influence over the American economy, the geogaphic and agricultural landscape if helped to connect and even to create, and the full range of industry that combine all these elements to manufacture their automobiles and propel the lifestyle of the culture within which this economic complex operates.
BRIDGING SAN FRANCISCO BAY (1937, 16:41)
The building of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as seen through the eyes of the United States Steel Corporation.
BUILDING A HIGHWAY (1948, 10:18)
The process of construction of a two lane intrastate highway 1940s style, from breaking ground to surface finishing, is here exposed.
CALIFORNIA STATE HIGHWAY 101 OPENING (1929, 3:42 [Silent])
Newsreel footage of the extraordinary events surrounding the opening of the San Francisco - San Mateo County highway, including 50,000 people attending a parade from the San Francisco Civic Center, San Francisco Mayor James "Sunny Jim" Rolph & various aerial dignitaries.
CAUGHT MAPPING (1940, 8:50)
The art and science of cartography, the drawing of maps, put to use in the creation of road maps for use by motorists in the days before the Interstate Highway System, with special emphasis on the importance of "road scouts" in checking drawn maps before they are approved for printing.
CHEVROLET ADVERTISING RINGS THE BELL (1950, 11:30 [Silent])
Though the soundtrack is missing, this beautiful Kodachrome film short chronicles the various advertising media outlets Chevrolet was using to get the word out about how great their cars were.
CONQUERING ROADS (1937, 8:48)
The complicated world of 1930s era intrastate highway engineering, complete with quaintnesses like traffic circles, venerables like cloverleaf junctions, and inevitables like good-ole railroad trestles.
DESIGN FOR DREAMING (1956, 9:14)
The famed General Motors Motorama film of the Populuxe series where the future of things consumable, from automobilies to kitchens, are brought to you in association with Frigidaire.
FREEDOM OF THE AMERICAN ROAD (1955, 26:40)
In an effort to drum up support for the Interstate Highway System, Henry Ford II introduced this film to present the efforts of communities throughout the United States to improve their roads and highways - from San Francisco Bay to Boston's Route 128, from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to St. Joseph Missouri, and those points in-between. A fine film with classic shots of classic cars & motorways.
FROM DAWN TO SUNSET (1937, 24:55)
In the 1930s, if you had a steady paying job, you had reason to feel fortunate! General Motors thought so, too, and they wanted their workers to know it and have no doubt or confusion (or lack of gratitude) about it, so they had Handy Jam produce this film so that they would realize the wonderful lives they had and that they better all well appreciate it.
GIVE YOURSELF THE GREEN LIGHT (1954, 24:07)
The grand color film General Motors sponsored to convince the entire country that the Interstate Highway system was in the best interests of the country at large and the communities it traversed in particular. Simply outstanding!
GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE OPENING (1936, 4:33 [Silent])
Strikingly moving images of the opening of the what was then the world's longest suspension bridge.
HENRY FORD'S MIRROR OF AMERICA (1962, 35:58)
Rare, extraordinary archival footage from the Ford Film Collection of the history, culture, manufacturing techniques and the life of automotive man between approximately 1915 and 1930, with particular emphasis on early film manufacture, early New York City, Coney Island, rail and trolly traffic, World War I tanks, classic early automobile and roadway footage, archetypical crash and stunt film, early Ford airplanes & more!
HIGHWAY HEARING (1956, 29:32)
The fictional town of Connorsville is to be tranversed by a superhighway, and the resistance of the locals is overcome by highway offiicials who convince them at a town meeting that it's all for the best of the community.
KNIGHTS ON THE HIGHWAY (1938, 8:55)
The means and methods by which truckers of the day could and did drive safely at night.
LINCOLN HIGHWAY DEDICATION (1915, 1:03)
My beloved Lincoln Highway (I grew up in Edison, New Jersey, which it traverses), the very first transcontintental interstate highway, and which begins at Columbus Circle in New York City, is here historically dedicated at its terminus in Lincoln Park in San Francisco.
MASTER HANDS (1936, 27:20)
From the town that gave us the United Auto Workers and Michael Moore, Handy Jam does another propaganda piece for General Motors in their Flint, Michigan plant to dramatize the same reasons workers there ought to appreciate their jobs as they gave in FROM DAWN TO SUNSET above. That the town broke down two months later into sit-down strikes celebrated through the newsreels worldwide is not simply incidental.
PONTIAC STYLING (1955, 9:15)
An excellent exposition of all the features of the 1955 model year Pontiac line of General Motor's automobiles.
SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE GROUNDBREAKING (1932, 7:43 [Silent])
The official proceedings of the precedings of the building of this bridge, attended by such dignitaries as the then President Hoover, California Governor James Rolph, Miss Alameda, Miss San Leandro, Miss San Francisco and a bevy of silver-spaded workers.
THE CORVAIR IN ACTION (1960, 6:25)
The car Ralph Nader loved to hate as unsafe and dangerous is here lionized in this promotional film, not only for its salable qualities but also for its safety features.
TO NEW HORIZONS (1940, 22:59)
THIS is the complete renowned motion picture that the famous 1939 World's Fair "World of Tomorrow" films clips of futuristic cars travelling on far-out superhighways of "the wonder world of 1960" (!) that you've seen in so many documentaries come from. Simply a must-see!
TWO FORD FREEDOM (1956, 1:38)
A Ford Corporation ad promoting the idea of the two car family as a means of selling cars of their 1956 line of automobiles.
WHEELS OF PROGRESS (1927, 13:41 [Silent])
A Jazz Age restrospective of American transportation intended to suggest the pressing need for more & better road systems.
CHEVROLET SALES CONVENTION MUSICAL (1954, COLOR, 15:15)
Rare & wonderfully strange song & dance motivational film for the Chevrolet sales force.
CLOSE HARMONY (1942, 10:35)
A film sponsored by General Motors where, in the midst of this attempt to show the positive need for good labor/management relations in America's burgeoning arms industry, resort is still had to the tired old alienating "step 'n fetch it" character Black Americans & the American public both have had to put up with for generations.
OLDSMOBILE "PLAYLETS" (1942, 5:00)
Six film shorts, five selling the last cars General Motor's Oldsmobile had available for sale "for the duration", and one proclaiming the company and worker's commitment to defense during the Second World War.
STEAM DRIVEN VEHICLES (1932, Silent, 16:26)
The Besler Corporation was proud of its steam driven trains, and they were wont to show that pride off in this film - but not only that, they also wanted you to know all about their steam driven automobiles and aircraft, too!
TEST TUBE TALE (1941, 9:26)
Better living through industrial chemistry, brought by the wonders of nylon and other synthetic materials, is celebrated in this film, while the gathering gloom of the Second World War is felt if never mentioned.
TRIUMPH OF AMERICA (Black/White, 1933, 21:24)
Chevrolet's vintage view into the auto industry's history and manufacturing techniques.
VICTORY IS OUR BUSINESS (1942, 10:09)
General Motor's classic worker motivational film encouraging workers to give all in the great struggle that was World War II.
CHEVROLET LEADER NEWS (Black/White, 15 Films)
A collection of films, each over 8 minutes in length, showing to the movie going public all the interesting, utilitarian and fun things drivers could do and drive to with their Chevrolet automobile.
THE AUTOMOBILE IN AMERICA: A TIME OF CHALLENGE (Black/White, 1971, 12:50)
A Hearst newsreel feature on the historical development of the automobile in America and the challenges the US auto industry faced in 1971 from foreign imports, pollution controls and the environmental effects of the US highway system on the American landscape.
THE SECRET LIFE OF MACHINES: THE SECRET LIFE OF THE CAR (Color, 1990, 22:30)
An excellent installment of the beloved Channel 4 TV series the documents the story behind the story of the machines people use in everyday life.
RENEWING THE PAST: 1100 NEW YORK AVE (Color, 1991, 29 Minutes)
Eminent television broadcast journalist Jim Lehrer narrates this documentary on the history and restoration of The Old Greyhound Terminal, a bus terminal serving Greyhound Lines located at 1100 New York Avenue NW in Northwest, Washington, D.C. from 1940 to the 1980s. It was used extensively during World War II to transport servicemen, and played a part in the Civil Rights Movement. It was saved through the intervention of preservationists such as Jim Lehrer. Most of the building was incorporated in the new 1100 New York Avenue high-rise office building when it was built in 1991, and this documentary celebrates that historic architectural and engineering achievement.
THE HEARTBEAT OF AMERICA (Color, October 12, 1993, 1 Hour 28 Minutes)
An analysis of the fantastic decline of General Motors (GM) from the world's largest and most profitable automobile manufacturer to nearly going bankrupt, caused by a long series of poor decisions regarding manufacturing, quality, design, public relations, investments, business practices, shortsightedness and arrogance. Frontline's producer/director Stephen Talbot and correspondent Robert Krulwich go on-site, in-studio and into the archives with revelations about the company, and its attempts to revitalize itself, with the controversial hire of cost-cutting executive Jose Ignacio Lopez; the outstanding promising startup (though, unknown at this time, ultimately doomed) of GM's Saturn Corporation automobile manufacturing division; the support of the Clinton administration; and the promised but reneged-on immediate investment and switchover to electric vehicles (which might in some small way atone for GM's destruction of America's entire electric trolley infrastructure in an effort to sell more cars, tires and gasoline). Features frequent enlightening exclusive interviews with writer/historian Brad Snell; NPR radio talk show "Car Talk" hosts Tom Magliozzi and Ray Magliozzi; David E. Cole, Chairman Emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) and son of GM's powerful Chevrolet executive Ed Cole; consumer protection advocate, Ralph Nader, who rose to fame for his criticism of Ed Cole's undermined Chevrolet Corvair project in his book "Unsafe at Any Speed"; GM Executive VP Elmer Johnson; GM board member Ross Perot; California pension fund chief Dale Hanson, who heavily invested the pension in GM; automobile industry financial analyst Maryann Keller; California Air Resources Board chief Jananne Sharpless; and more!
Development of the automobile started as early as the 17th century with the invention of the first steam-powered vehicle, which led to the creation of the first steam-powered automobile capable of human transportation, built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769. Inventors began to branch out at the start of the 19th century, creating the de Rivas engine, one of the first internal combustion engines, and an early electric motor. Samuel Brown later tested the first industrially applied internal combustion engine in 1826. The Ford Model T and Volkswagen Beetle are among the most mass-produced car models in history. Development was hindered in the mid-19th century by a backlash against large vehicles, yet progress continued on some internal combustion engines. The engine evolved as engineers created two- and four-cycle combustion engines and began using gasoline as fuel. Production vehicles began appearing in 1887, when Karl Benz developed a petrol or gasoline-powered automobile and made several identical copies. Recent automobile production is marked by the Ford Model T, created by the Ford Motor Company in 1908, which became the first automobile to be mass-produced on a moving assembly line.
The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue. The automotive industry does not include industries dedicated to the maintenance of automobiles following delivery to the end-user, such as automobile repair shops and motor fuel filling stations. The word automotive comes from the Greek autos (self), and Latin motivus (of motion), referring to any form of self-powered vehicle. This term, as proposed by Elmer Sperry (1860-1930), first came into use with reference to automobiles in 1898.
The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these highways were coordinated among the states, they are sometimes called Federal Highways, but the roadways were built and have always been maintained by state or local governments since their initial designation in 1926. The route numbers and locations are coordinated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The only federal involvement in AASHTO is a nonvoting seat for the United States Department of Transportation. Generally, most north-to-south highways are odd-numbered, with the lowest numbers in the east and the highest in the west. Similarly, east-to-west highways are typically even-numbered, with the lowest numbers in the north, and the highest in the south. Some exceptions exist, however, such as spur routes (for instance, US 522 is signed north-to-south, while its parent US 22 is signed east-to-west). Major north–south routes have numbers ending in "1" or "5", while major east–west routes have numbers ending in "0". Three-digit numbered highways are generally spur routes of parent highways (thus U.S. Route 264 [US 264] is a spur off US 64). Some divided routes (such as US 19E and US 19W) exist to provide two alignments for one route. Special routes, which can be labeled as alternate, bypass or business, depending on the intended use, provide a parallel routing to the mainline U.S. Highway. Before the U.S. Routes were designated, auto trails designated by auto trail associations were the main means of marking roads through the United States. In 1925, the Joint Board on Interstate Highways, recommended by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), worked to form a national numbering system to rationalize the roads. After several meetings, a final report was approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in November 1925. They received complaints from across the country about the assignment of routes, so the board made several modifications; the U.S. Highway System was approved on November 11, 1926. As a result of compromises made to get the U.S. Highway System approved, many routes were divided, with alignments to serve different towns. In subsequent years, AASHTO called for such splits to be eliminated. Expansion of the U.S. Highway System continued until 1956, when the Interstate Highway System was laid out and began construction under the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. After construction was completed, many U.S. Routes were replaced by Interstate Highways for through traffic. Despite the Interstate System, U.S. Highways still form many important regional connections, and new routes are still being added.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Construction of the system was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. The system extends throughout the contiguous United States and has routes in Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. The U.S. federal government first funded roadways through the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916, and began an effort to construct a national road grid with the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921. After Dwight D. Eisenhower became president in 1953, his administration developed a proposal for an interstate highway system, eventually resulting in the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. Construction of the Interstate Highway System was proclaimed complete in 1992, though some planned routes were canceled and several routes have stretches that do not fully conform with federal standards. The cost of construction of the Interstate Highway System was approximately $114 billion (equivalent to $530 billion in 2019). The original system has been expanded numerous times through the creation of new designations and the extension of existing designations. Though much of their construction was funded by the federal government, Interstate Highways are owned by the state in which they were built. All Interstates must meet specific standards such as having controlled access, avoiding at-grade intersections, and complying with federal traffic sign specifications. Interstate Highways use a numbering scheme in which primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers, and shorter routes are assigned three-digit numbers where the last two digits match the parent route. The Interstate Highway System is partially financed through the Highway Trust Fund, which itself is funded by a federal fuel tax. Though federal legislation initially banned the collection of tolls, some Interstate routes are toll roads. As of 2018, about one-quarter of all vehicle miles driven in the country used the Interstate Highway System, which had a total length of 48,440 miles (77,960 km). Several future routes are in development.