the bridge drive
(the
Woodrow Wilson Bridge dedication)
Article from The Steering Wheel, Chesapeake Bay Region, CCCA, Spring 2006,
The Silver Ghost Tourer, The Silver Ghost Association, 06-3,
The Flying Lady, The Rolls-Royce Owners Club, September/October, 06-05,
and The Bulletin, the Classic Car Club of America, October, 2006.
for those who came in late…
80JH is a 1923 Rolls-Royce Springfield Silver Ghost
that was given to former President Woodrow Wilson as a 67th birthday
present, on December 28th, 1923. The car was delivered with two bodies, an Oxford six-passenger
touring body with an extended windshield, and a special limousine body that
duplicated the dimensions of the body on the 1919 Pierce-Arrow limousine that
was President Wilson’s White House car.
He rode in the Rolls-Royce once, on his birthday. President Wilson had been in very poor
health since leaving the White House, and he died in early February 1924. Edith Wilson kept the car until 1932,
when it was traded in on a Packard.
80JH,
being delivered on December 28th, 1923. Woodrow, Edith,
and Margaret Wilson, in the back seat of 80JH.
photos courtesy of John deCampi.
A Princeton student named Walter Compton
subsequently purchased the car from the Packard agency. Mr. Compton then sold a half-interest
in the car to fellow student (and future brother-in-law) Charles Emerson.
Compton and Emerson had the car “updated” in Indiana in 1933: the high
windshield was cut down, a Packard top was installed, the front seat was
modified, and the steering column was lowered. Mr. Compton was quoted as saying, “We made a very sporty car
out of it.” Marriage and a growing
family prompted Compton to give his half-interest in the car to Emerson. When Emerson likewise married and began
a family, 80JH was then sold to George Waterman, who kept the car for several
years. It was sold to Bentley Warren just after WW II.
In the early 1950s, Bentley Warren felt that the car
was getting somewhat mechanically tired.
He was able to purchase a Springfield Silver Ghost with a good chassis
(394XH) and engine (21-219), but a tired sedan body. A common practice at that time, the body, firewall and
bonnet were moved from 80JH to 394XH.
Bentley Warren sold the complete car to Donald Hurter in the mid-1960s,
keeping the original chassis (albeit without the correct firewall) and engine
(22-155). Don Hurter restored the
car mechanically, but never did much with the body.
Ted Leonard, a collector in Rhode Island, purchased
the car in the mid-1970s. He was
also able to purchase the original chassis and engine from Bentley Warren at
the same time. When he restored
the car, the original Oxford touring body was reunited with chassis 80JH, but
the other engine (21-219) remained with the car. (For more details of the
history of 80JH, see Phil Brooks’ article in the 2006 RROC Desk Diary.)
And why was the bridge named for Woodrow
Wilson? President Wilson was an
avid fan of the automobile. In
1916, recognizing the need for better roads, he signed a Federal Highway Aid
Bill. He was the first member of
the Lincoln Highway Association, and liked his White House Pierce-Arrow
limousine well enough that he purchased the car from the government when he
left the White House in 1921.
The current Woodrow Wilson Bridge was built between
1958 and 1961, and was dedicated on December 28th, 1961 (Woodrow
Wilson’s birthday, and coincidentally the very day Edith Wilson died). The original bridge was designed to
carry 75,000 cars per day. By
1988, it was carrying more than twice its intended load, and recently, that had
grown to almost three times. In
the mid-1980s, the critical need for a larger and more substantial crossing
became clear. In 2000, after years
of debate, planning and design, the Federal Highway Administration and
Maryland, Virginia and District of Columbia transportation departments began
construction on the first of two new spans, which will replace the existing
bridge when complete.
here's where the fun begins…
In mid-April 2006, I received a
call from Andy Diem, Chairman of the Chesapeake Region of the RROC. He had received an email from Meg
Nowack, Curator of the Woodrow Wilson House in Northwest DC. The Wilson House was about to receive
80JH on loan for the next two years.
The current plans were to have the car sitting in the driveway in front
of the house for the Wilson House’s annual Garden Party, have the car drive
dignitaries during the dedication ceremonies for the first span of the new
Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac River, and then participate in a driving
tour around the Dupont-Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhoods in Northwest DC where
the Wilson House is located. And
they needed someone to drive the car.
Knowing of my interest in cars of
this vintage, and that I have had a small (very small) amount of experience with
Silver Ghosts, he asked if I was interested. I believe I had to give the idea about two whole
milliseconds of thought before I said yes.
the first look…
80JH, in
the garage at 2340 S Street, NW, Washington, DC.
One week
after 80JH was delivered to DC, I was able to get down to look at the car for
the first time. Former RROC Big
Cheese Matt Sysak took the train from Philadelphia down to DC, and I picked him
up at Union Station. We met Andy
Diem at the Wilson House.
After looking the car over, we both quickly reached
the conclusion that Baby had received minimal (if any) maintenance over the
past few years. When we got the
car started, we heard one intake valve that appeared to be sticking. The car had been driven into the
garage, and I was asked to turn it around and back it in. I got it done, but the clutch was not
happy about backing up that inclined driveway. Over lunch, we began discussing a plan of attack for the
chassis maintenance.
the test drive…
…was just that, a spin around the
block a few times to determine if I thought the car would run well enough to
survive the bridge dedication ceremonies.
She performed fine, although I learned that the temperature gauge and
the speedometer don’t work. We
also heard some noises emanating from the right-rear wheel. Tapping the wheel spokes with a
screwdriver indicated that a significant percentage of those spokes were
‘dead’. Here we are putting her
away again…
photos courtesy of Bill Loewy
and now for a
bit of elbow grease…
A couple of days prior to the Garden
Party, I called Meg and asked if she felt like working late the next
evening. My plan was to do some
basic cleaning. When I told Matt
Sysak what I was planning, he almost begged me to change the oil while I was
there.
photos
courtesy of John Kelly, The Washington Post
I arrived about 4pm. While I began giving her a bath, Meg
asked what she could do. I handed
her a bottle of Bleche-White and a brush, and she got right to work on the
whitewalls. With that done, it was
time to start working on polishing the radiator, and the headlamps, and the
cowl lamps, and the door handles. And did I mention the tail lamp? Or the steering column? Or Eleanor? (Meg worked on her,
some.) We also removed the seats
and vacuumed the interior (there was a fair amount of evidence that critters
had taken up residence in the past).
When all that was finished, I backed the car back into the garage, and I
drained the crankcase and put in six quarts of fresh oil (I could almost hear Matt
sighing with relief). I departed at 9:30pm.
the garden
party…
The Wilson House holds an annual
Garden Party as a fundraiser. This
year was the debut of the Ghost at the beginning of her two-year tenure here in
DC. This was easy, start her up,
put her in the circle in front of the house, and put her away again when the
party was finished. I also got a
personal tour of the house, including the servant’s floor, which are now used
for office space, and not included on the tour.
some
last-minute prep…
This included changing the wheel with
the questionable spokes (for which I had to acquire a proper wheel wrench, as
there were no tools with the car), and starting in on the chassis
lubrication. This included oiling
the clutch and throwout bearing, the distributor, and as many other oiling cups
as I could locate (and I know I didn’t find them all). When this was done, we took her out for
a short drive, and put her away.
The lubricated clutch seemed much happier backing up the driveway
(although the continuing education of the pilot may have contributed as well).
and it’s
showtime…
The day began hideously early (4am),
in order to get down to the Wilson House to meet the car hauler. We were
scheduled to be on the bridge by 7am.
Since Baby isn’t currently registered, I thought it was a good idea to
have the car trucked down and back.
Waiting for the flatbed with Andy Diem.
Loaded up and ready to roll.
With John Undeland, the PR guy who was in charge of the
dedication ceremonies.
Meg Nowack, Curator of the Woodrow Wilson House.
The bridge drive…
My passengers were Virginia Governor Tim Kaine,
Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich, District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams,
and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. Governor Kaine and Secretary Mineta walked from the Virginia
side of the bridge, and Governor Ehrlich and Mayor Williams walked from the
Maryland side. They all met in the
middle of the draw span and shook hands. At this point, we pulled up, my able
footman Andy Diem got out, opened the doors, and the dignitaries all got in the
car. Andy got to walk away as we
continued across the bridge. The
choreography for the ceremony had me driving past the podium and the
grandstand, turning the car around, driving back past the grandstand, and
parking next to the podium.
(L – R)
The Chauffeur, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, Maryland Governor
Robert Ehrlich, District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams, and Virginia
Governor Tim Kaine.
On the drive across, as we were heading downhill,
looking at the Virginia shoreline, someone in the back seat (I don’t know who)
said, “We should just keep on going.” To this, Secretary Mineta replied, “Yeah,
we could go to Five Guys (a local hamburger chain).” As part of the ceremony, I had to turn the car around and
drive it back toward the draw span, parking next to the podium. As I was backing the car up towards the
Jersey wall, someone in the back seat asked, “How are the brakes?” My response was, “Well, all two of them
work okay.” And then a different
voice in the back seat asked, “How well can you swim?”
80JH, following our fifteen minutes of fame.
We eased back past the grandstand, and I parked the car
next to the podium. After my passengers got out, my part in the production was
finished. We waited for the ribbon
cuttings (there were two, one for the Governors, the Mayor and the Secretary,
and a second for the other elected representatives present), and the inevitable
speeches. Fortunately, those were
kept mercifully brief. When the
ceremony was finished, I drove the car back to the other side of the bridge. We loaded her onto the flatbed, and
headed back to the Wilson House.
It began to sprinkle a bit during the drive, but we managed to dodge
that bullet. When we returned to
the Wilson House, the sun was shining brightly, but the pavement was very
wet. 80JH was then put away, to
await further cleaning and lubrication.
After the
ceremony, (L – R): Frank Aucella, Executive Director of the Woodrow Wilson
House; Meg Nowack, Curator of the Woodrow Wilson House; The Chauffeur; Andy
Diem, able footman and Chairman of the Chesapeake Region, RROC.
Putting
her away, after a busy day.
on the road again…
The “Road Rally on S Street” happened two weeks
later. This was a tour of the
Dupont-Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhoods in Northwest DC held in concert with the
Museum Walk Weekend. It was also
an event for the Chesapeake Region of the RROC, and about fifteen PMCs were in
attendance. With my continuing
concerns about the state of the car’s maintenance, the route was cut
short. Perhaps I was worrying for
nothing, as the car performed fine, and did not seem to run hot (I felt the
radiator when we returned to the Wilson House driveway). I did get to meet Jerauld Adams, the
friend of the Leonard family who got the car running. Jerauld told me that the car had been sitting in that barn
in Rhode Island for about eight years.
Starting
on the Road Rally. And
here we are on the street.
and for my next trick…
Vern Parker (no relation) writes a weekly column on
old cars for the Washington Times.
He features a different car each week, and has a show once each year for
those cars he has written about. I
have learned that 80JH was written up about fifteen years ago and is therefore
eligible to attend. My goal for
the summer is to get the chassis maintenance to the point that I would feel
comfortable enough to drive it out to this particular show. It’s about a twenty-mile round trip,
and I can do it all on local roads.
I’ll keep you posted…
I want to thank Phil Brooks for permission to use
his article, “President Wilson’s Birthday Present” in the RROC 2006 Desk Diary,
as source material.
Should you wish to see the car for yourself, it is on display at the Woodrow Wilson House, 2340 S Street, NW, Washington, DC 20008. Their website is http://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org