Rambler Four Trivia Question of the Week: 1. What was the last model year to see the Rambler name on an American automobile? 2. On February 24, 1909 this automobile company, a distant cousin of Rambler, was founded in Detroit, Michigan. In 1957, this company merged with Nash-Kelvinator to form American Motors. Hint: One of these cars appeared as a featured star car in the animated movie 'Cars'. 3. This American cartoonist, best known for his comic strip 'Li'l Abner' was born on September 28, 1909. Can you name him? 4. Born August 10, 1909, Clarence Leonidas ________, was responsible for the design and production of guitars bearing names such as 'Stratocaster', 'Esquire' and 'Telecaster'. Can you fill in the blank with his last name?

Answers to this week's trivia questions, plus additional images from the 1909 Rambler sales brochure, may be found at The FIN MAN's web site at http://www.thefinman.com.


Lord, he must have been born a Ramblin' man, for Tom Jeffrey was constantly on the roll. Born in Stoke, Devon England in 1845, he emigrated to the U.S. at the age of eighteen, settling in Chicago, Illinois where he was "connected with the business of manufacturing telescopes". After a stint working as a model maker for the U.S. Patent Office, he joined with partner R. Philip Gormully, in 1878, to form the Gormully & Jeffery Mfg. Company which would go on to become the second largest bicycle manufacturer in the United States. A consummate tinkerer and inventor, Jeffery was responsible for a number of innovative products and in 1882 obtained a patent for the 'clincher rim', a tire and rim design which kept tires from coming off the rims of wheels used on bicycles and other modes of transportation.

Never one to rest on his laurels, after his success in the bicycle business, Jeffery was ready to move on. He was fascinated with the rapidly growing automobile manufacturing business and soon, partly due to constant prodding by his son Charles, ventured forth into the business of automobile manufacturing, establishing Thomas B. Jeffery & Company in Kenosha, Wisconsin for the sole purpose of building automobiles.

I won't even bother to mention options, for, as you might imagine, they were few and far between in those days. Typical of the lot were headlamps (oil burning), extra straps to hold luggage, an assist handle here and there. Entertainment? Heck, radios weren't even thought of yet. Driving was a challenge in itself, much less having the distraction of Bing Crosby or some other pop artist of the day playing in the background!

Did you notice the pretty, white rubber tires on the Rambler illustrated above? No, that was not an option, that was just the natural color of the rubber used to make tires. If Westley's had been in business back then, they would surely have been doing a bang up job with their 'Bleach White' tire cleaner, for not only were the tires white, the roads were, for the most part, unpaved (as in 'dirt roads'). In later years, additives and dyes would be used to color the tires gray, red and black.

Another oddity of the Rambler, and one that is not recognizable in the dead on side view above, was the fact that it was a right hand drive car. You may not know this, but many American cars had the steering wheels on the right side rather than the left as they are in modern times. The very earliest automobiles were often steered by a tiller rather than a steering wheel. Tom Jeffery wanted to get away from the tiller and adopt the new 'steering wheel', but was reluctant to build it with left hand steering, fearing that the general public would not be receptive to the new idea of left hand steering.

While another well known auto maker of the day, Henry Ford, believed in building cars which nearly anyone could afford - Jeffery followed his rule of quality first which had driven the marketing strategy for his successful bicycle business. Advertising of the day proclaimed the Rambler as 'The Right Car at The Right Price'. The seven passenger, four cylinder Rambler Fifty-Five touring car shown above, was Rambler's top-of-the line model for '09 and sold for $2,500.00. That's somewhere in the neighborhood of $60,000 in '09 dollars... a 'right price' perhaps for some, but not all.

The 'Rambler' automobile was built during three periods-- 1897-1914, the Thomas Jeffery years; 1950-1957, the 'Nash-Kelvinator' years and 1958-1969, the American Motors years.

For the answers to this week's trivia questions and other Rambler images, visit the FIN MAN's web site at http://www.thefinman.com. To e-mail him, click on this link: mailto:the_fin_man@msn.com.

'The FIN MAN'TM is available for your group's special occasion. In addition to his seminar schedule, he has been a guest speaker at group meetings including car clubs, engineering clubs and other professional associations. He has also acted as host or emcee at a number of special events including trivia parties, holiday parties, social and professional club events, benefits and fund raisers. There are still a few open dates for December, 2008 and we are now accepting bookings for calendar year 2009. During his appearances, he presents an overview of the collector car hobby plus a detailed look at American cars from the fifties and sixties. His program includes a fascinating Power Point presentation with images of collectible automobiles and various associated nostalgia and Americana. Guests also have the opportunity to play "FINS for FUN," the video game he produced in 1987 which inspired his nickname, in which players compete to identify the year, make and model of cars from tightly cropped photos of fins and taillights. Those who score the highest win auto-related prizes donated by supporting Fin Man sponsors. Be sure to sign up for the program which is being presented at the secluded YMCA Trout Lodge in April and May of 2009. For more information, click on this link: http://groups.msn.com/the-fin-man/seminaragenda.msnw.

Bruce Kunz is a member of the Society of Automotive Historians, the St. Louis Chapter of the Buick Club of America and the Monte Carlo Owners Association of America. He welcomes your comments and suggestions. To e-mail him, click here > mailto:the_fin_man@msn.com.