"Where The Honk Of The Motor Horn Is Heard"

The more things change.... look closely and you'll see that this car is plugged in to recharge. That's right, it's the Chevy Volt's great grandaddy, circa 1919. You'll rarely find me writing about cars, but I was curious about the beginnings of the Detroit Auto Show (now known as the North American International Auto Show), so I did a little digging, and ended up.... guess where? on Belle Isle.

It started with a bicycle guy, William Metzger. He and his partner Stanley Huber operated the biggest, most successful bicycle shop in Detroit in the early 1890's. Below, a later motorcycle and bicycle shop he owned...

In 1895, he went to an automobile show in London. He returned to Detroit convinced that automobiles were the future, sold his shares in the bicycle shop, and in 1897 opened Detroit's first independent car dealership. In 1899, Metzger included several steam and electric vehicles in a show with bicycles, firearms, and sporting goods. Below, Metzger's car, adorned with greenery, in a bicentenary parade, 1901... and see his home in Boston Edison here.

In 1907, the Detroit Auto Dealers Association formed, and the Detroit Auto show was officially born.

During the first decade of the twentieth century, the American Automobile Association was hard at work promoting cars in its own way. In 1904, the AAA started a "reliability" race for cars from the east coast to the St. Louis World's Fair. The following year, telephone exchange magnate Charles Glidden put up $2,000 prize money for the winner. In 1909, the DADA's influence brought the Glidden Reliability Tour to Detroit, and to Belle Isle for a parade.

 The official pathfinder car for the 1909 tour was a product of William Metzger's latest venture, the EMF.
Shown below, the 1912 EMF, from Wikimedia Commons.

By 1911, the Detroit Auto Show was held at the Wayne Hotel Gardens. From the Michigan Manufacturer, January 14th, 1911:

A year ago both floors of the Wayne Gardens were crowded to the last inch. This year the pinch for room will be worse than ever.

The 1911 exhibit will, however, be wonderful and interesting, even to the people who have to constantly dodge testing cars on the streets in this city, where the honk of the motor horn is heard above the pound of the anvil.

Each year the men who make and sell cars have to strive to make their particular car more attractive, more durable, more economical to maintain and more complete in detail to tempt the eye of a curious and educated-buying public.

The result is that the merits of a car rests on the finer points of construction. The car that was a rich man's plaything a few years ago is now doing dray duty for the shopman around the corner.

Careful study has brought the manufacturing end down to the fine point where a better and cheaper car can be turned out. The man of moderate means can now own and operate a car that will compare favorably with the more expensive car owned by his millionaire friend.

The use of the motor car for commercial purposes has long ago passed the experimental stage. It is only a question of time when the commercial vehicle will be adapted for every use in the country and in the city.

The universal popularity of the motor car in all countries and in all climes has opened up a great field and, despite all that has been said to the contrary, it will take years to reap the harvest.

....the more things remain the same.

I'll be following the 1909 Glidden Tour in Detroit and on Belle Isle later this week.

From the National Automotive History Collection, Detroit Public Library

All photos from the Library of Congress, unless captioned otherwise.