9781422278178

DREAM CARS

Chrysler executive Bob Rodgers had the youth market in mind when he put the 1955 C-300 model on the market. This limited edition hemi-hardtop with the Imperial grille had already established a national reputation on the stock car racing circuit.

shortly thereafter, it won the famous endurance run three years in a row, in 1955, ’56, and ’57. In light of these racing achievements, Queen Elizabeth II knighted Lyons, whose Jaguar company then prevailed as the international leader of the sports car industry. Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler are considered to be the founding fathers of the modern automobile. It was Benz who convinced his contemporaries that gasoline-powered engines were the wave of the future. Daimler took this innovation a step further when he patented a water-cooled engine. Benz didn’t care for auto racing, considering it not only dangerous but undignified. Daimler, however, was of a different mind. He concentrated on building pow- erful engines and putting them in all manner of vehicles. Despite his personal convictions, Benz felt compelled to contend with Daimler on the race course. The Daimler Mercedes was the top-rated Grand

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