A 1903 headline in the Marin Independent Journal asked: “Shall the automobile be excluded from Marin County?” Marin County supervisors had received a petition seeking a ban on automobiles in Marin. Cars had “their place and a future,” the initiative claimed, but “not in Marin County.” Residents opposed them because of the “danger, annoyance and anxiety” they cause. The county’s endless “hills, valleys and winding roads” cannot accommodate the vehicles. The automobiles “frighten” and sometimes stampede the horses that transport riders and buggies in Marin’s “horse-loving” county. And cars can “never be more than a plaything” for a few Marin residents with a lot of money and free time. Although the supervisors voted down the petition, it was a serious challenge at the time.
The county has come a long way since then. Cars have not only been allowed, but they’ve proliferated, with public transportation making only modest inroads. Besides their explosion all over the county from the earliest days, the “golden days of auto ferries,” from the 1920s to the 1940s, gave cars back and forth access between Marin and both San Francisco and Richmond. This accelerated in 1937 with the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge and then again in 1956 when the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge opened. In 1961, county supervisors were pressured into withdrawing from the Bay Area Rapid Transit master plan, thus sinking BART’s extension into Marin and the cars and traffic it would have eliminated.
Arguably, Marin has become a singular car culture. For better or worse, we love our cars. But not just the autos we drive. Marin residents have long had a love affair with vintage automobiles. A few of us collect vehicles and join vintage auto clubs, but many more of us flock to the classic car shows featured annually in most of our cities and towns. Among the older ones, San Rafael has hosted the May Madness classic car show and parade for 36 years, Novato has sponsored the Nostalgia Days cruise and car show for 29 years, Tiburon has run its classic car show for 25 years, and Greenbrae’s Bon Air Invitational Car Show is in its 17th year.
Newer shows include the San Anselmo Classic Cars; classic car shows in West Marin; a car show in the San Geronimo Valley; Marinwood’s classic car show and barbecue; Corte Madera’s EV and classic car show; and Marin City’s Labor Day car show and community gathering. Besides the vehicles, the shows typically feature food and drinks, live music and even auto parades.
For more sustained interest, the Marin Coupe & Roadster Club of the 51-50 Foundation has been running since 1949. Marin Motor Socials are regularly held at the Strawberry Village in Mill Valley, and Novato’s Cars and Coffee has been meeting the first Sunday of every month for 13 years. Marin classic car enthusiasts of all ages also attend the annual vintage car races at the nearby Sonoma Raceway.
But Marin’s fascination with vintage cars has an even longer history. The photo above was taken 50 years ago, in the 1970s, when a group of residents displayed their classic vehicles, dating from another 50 years earlier, in the 1920s. The back of the photo shows a scribbled note identifying the two people examining the map on the front/left vehicle: Ann Canziani and Eldon Halseth. Since these two were also labeled as president and tour director, respectively, it’s likely the assembled group was a classic car club whose members toured their vehicles around the county.
A proliferation of automakers arose in the early 20th century. But by the 1920s, the manufacturers had shrunk, and the big three companies were already dominant: Ford, Chrysler (including Dodge) and General Motors (including Chevy, Buick, Cadillac and Oldsmobile). Two Fords appear in the foreground, but the photo obscures the makes and models of the other vehicles.
Regardless, what is it about old cars? Why have Marin residents been fascinated by classic automobiles and by vintage car clubs and shows? Certainly the autos draw the attention of the mechanically inclined: those who can appreciate the engineering and technology — sometimes ahead of its time — built into the motors and bodies of these cars. Others seem lured by the often-unique designs the autos feature; they’re impressed by the aesthetics or even just the fun of seeing wild fins springing out of the back of an old Plymouth or the bug-eyed headlamps on a Ford Model T. Rather than today’s auto uniformity, old cars had a style and personality, often unique to each carmaker.
For some, vintage cars represent a time when you could get your hands dirty fixing your vehicle before computerization. Auto owners get to showcase and tell stories about their hard work in restoring and maintaining their cars. Car shows often sponsor contests for the best car. Vintage autos provide a much-needed sense of community not only for owners and car enthusiasts but also for everyone drawn into the shows.
Vintage autos contribute to historic preservation. They not only illustrate the history of the industry but also provide tangible representations of the nation’s history when few other indicators survive. They can make us think about towns and roads as they existed when those cars were introduced or reflect on what was going on in the country at the time. What role did the cars play in the Roaring Twenties or during Prohibition and the Great Depression? Does the VW bug evoke the 1960s counterculture and the Cadillac El Dorado the nation’s postwar prosperity?
Classic cars are nostalgic. They satisfy our desire for lost adventure and an escape to simpler times. We may have emotional attachments to cars we once drove ourselves or to personal experiences in and around old cars. They can help us relive our youth or connect generations: “My grandma drove that car!” For some, the cars seem more tactile, and we can remember more engaged driving experiences than we have today.
With these motivations in mind, we can well understand the contemporary appeal of vintage cars and can only imagine that our historic predecessors, such as those in this photo, had been similarly inspired.
(Originally published as a History Watch article in the Marin Independent Journal)
Robert Elias is emeritus professor of politics at the University of San Francisco and editor of the Mill Valley Historical Society Review. Images in History Watch appear courtesy of the Marin History Museum and can be purchased by calling 415-382-1182 or emailing info@marinhistory.org.