RECORDED LIVE ON June 11, 2023
The third lecture in the 2023 Marie Northrop Lecture Series was a discussion with Darryl Holter and Stephen Gee based on their new book Driving Force – Automobiles and the New American City 1900-1930 (Angel City Press).
Driving Force: Automobiles and the New American City 1900-1930 explores the explosive growth of L.A.’s passion for cars, ignited by an unlikely and visionary mix of entrepreneurs. Car dealers made the big difference, as they ventured into unknown territory. That “unknown territory” meant introducing the West Coast to the concept of dealerships with service bays for on-site car repairs; dealers conceived the notion of “used cars,” those vehicles buyers “traded in” so they could buy a new one; and dealers made commonplace the idea of financing cars, an idea that scared the car makers in Detroit until they saw the orders rolling in. Steps that dealers took to make buying cars affordable, possible and—most of all—desirable were ingenious ideas born in Los Angeles, ideas that turned the new American city into the brain center of automobile sales in America. Most importantly, car dealers were the early adopters who broadened the market and convinced the general public that cars were no longer simply a luxury, they were a modern necessity. And today, Los Angeles’s car culture has shaped the world’s preferences in automobiles.
About Darryl Holter
Darryl Holter is the author of Workers and Unions in Wisconsin: A Labor History and The Battle for Coal: Miners and the Nationalization of Coal-Mining in France. He is a musician and singer-songwriter, a former labor leader, an urban developer, an adjunct professor of history at the University of Southern California, and a member of the Professional Musicians Union Local 47 in Los Angeles. He has managed auto dealerships, including Felix Chevrolet, and was the founding chairperson of the Figueroa Corridor Business Improvement District.
About Stephen Gee
Stephen Gee is an award-winning writer and television producer based in Los Angeles. He is the author of Iconic Vision: John Parkinson, Architect of Los Angeles; Los Angeles Central Library: A History of Its Art and Architecture; and Los Angeles City Hall: An American Icon, and co-authored Driving Force. Gee has worked on numerous award-winning television productions and has directed and produced live coverage of high-profile news stories, including U.S. presidential elections, important court cases, Hollywood events, as well as disasters—including the 9/11 tragedy. A graduate of London’s City University, he began his career as a newspaper reporter in Norfolk, England. He has lived in Los Angeles since 1995.