I sat in a waiting room yesterday and had no car magazines in my car so the only thing they had I cared to read was Nov. 2011 issue of Automobile magazine it was a 100 yr Chevrolet anniversery special issue.It had a small section in it about Chevy failures my being a Ford junky I had to read this . In 1923 Charles Kettering worked for them and helped them do design work on an air cooled engine like V-W later mastered and motorcycles of the era used it had fewer moving parts and was going to revolutionize the industry. 500 of them left the factory and 100 of those reached customers hands . Apparently those motors used copper cooling fins on the engines like radiators have and experienced major detonation problems so bad that Chevrolet was determined to buy them all back they got them all but 2 now I must assume they must have been lost in accidents . The articale went on to say that they ended up "DUMPING MOST OF THEM IN LAKE ERIE !" What ? Now me being some what of a history geek with a deep interest in ship wrecks and lost treasure my mind started to race . All books I've read about ship wrecks on Lake Erie say how well they are all preserved in the cold water one book contained a lot of photos with the zebra mussels invading the lake the water is amazingly clear. It had photos of a civil war era tug boat in decent shape after all those years under water. Should we get a fishing boat a with big crane and the best under water fish finder radar ? WE could look for pile of about 498 Chevy coupes from 1923 with little or no miles on them we know the motors would be junk after being under water besides the fact it was a shitty design.But we would Hot Rod them any how anybody know any retired Chevrolet employees that may have helped dump them ? WOW anybody know any die hard fishing addicts that know Lake Erie ?
There was an article and pics of new 1929? Nash cars in one of the Great Lakes, in the 70s The divers reported that "the lights were still shiny like they were new". So they hauled 2 up, a coupe and a sedan, and they were rusted so thin, they could poke a finger through the body skin.
Yep... the only ones to survive are the ones in extremely deep water with low oxygen numbers and cold temperatures. Plenty of cars removed from the lakes in Wisconsin due to Ice fishing accidents were so thin you could see light through the many pinholes! Case in point was the 1950 Ford removed from a Madison Lake with the remains of the two occupants sifting through the metal. (I'll find the article) http://www.channel3000.com/news/9657949/detail.html http://video.channel3000.com/watch.php?id=4877 However the Aircraft removed from the deep waters of Lake Michigan fared much better because of the Cold temps and low oxygen content. (two separate videos... see how good they look after sitting in the deep end of the pool!) http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6778499 http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7146023
Well Lake Erie is a lot shallower and gets warmer than the rest of the lakes which have very deep centers. Some war of 1812 ships are beautifully preserved in Lake Ontario. Look up Scourge and Hamilton. I'm sure cars in Erie won't be in good shape.
Yeah, Lake Erie would be the last of the Great Lakes to haul out a car as noted, it's the shallowest and therefor doesn't get as cold with more oxygen available. I know that there certainly are cars at the bottom. One of my dad's fishing poles also if anyone would happen to find it.
Also heard about a ferry boat that went down in the early 20s with a cargo of cars including brand new Kissels. And a freighter full of new cars that sank in the late 30s. Both in the Great Lakes.
The car Ferry was found south of Milwaukee close to Racine by Miller Fisheries vessel back in 1960's... now most of the of the ship locations are marked with GPS coordinates for sport divers and historical memorials.
also in lake michigan in deep cold water the deepest area of erie is in the shipping channel avg deph 60 feet
I think I read about those Chevrolets being dumped 50 years ago in some magazine article. Today they would probably haul new cars with similar issues to the scrap yard and stand by and watch as they were compacted in the crusher and then haul the remains off to the smelter.
You guys sure came can suck the fun out of true crazy storys . Like I said I read a lot about the lakes yes Lake Erie is the warmest and shallowest of the great lakes being carved out by glaciers. It gets some of the worst storms because its shallow . The wooden ships in the northern lakes are some of the best preserved wooden shipwrecks in all the world . They are guarded and prized by divers who guard them like the national treasures that they are dont touch and no souveniers from the sights . I was trying to get some wild imaginations going to hear some crazy responses . But maybe they got dumped in the northern most part of Lake Erie then who knows maybe ......? What if ....?
http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/78392/enlarge Leave them rest in peace, ugly lil things. Bang one out of new steel if you want.
If you really want to see one... two of the copper cooled Chevies escaped the dragnet, one because Henry Ford bought it to see what the competition was up to, and wouldn't sell it. It is still in the Henry Ford museum. Where the other one went I do not know. Kettering designed some copper cooled engines for Delco lighting plants as well. Quite a few of them survive. The largest was a 4 cylinder job very similar to the car engine in layout but smaller.
I live REAL cose to Lake Erie and the only thing of historical nature coming out has been pieces of ship wrecks. I doubt very much that any cars would last..The currents and sand have likely buried what might have remained. Although,we did dig up a brass rad and assort. Model T parts once in a guys flower bed..go figure. Rick.
When the air hits them they will fall apart or will fall apart shortly after. depending on where they are they could be covering in several feet of silt, there is silt in the lake in certain areas.
I once went on a Buffalo exploration ..Came home with a front engine dragster..LOL..LOL Rick =======================================
Here is an Amphicar I helped save a few years ago. It went down in 52' of fresh water in a lake called "Stockbridge Bowl" in oston. Spent 17 years on the bottom and now is living hapilly restored in Florida. These are as she came out of the water. The last pic is from the magnetometer when it waslocated sitting upright. They wanted to start it, but it was flooded! Seriously, I have that engine and many parts. It was preserved very well.
A couple years ago they pulled a 1925 Bugatti out of a Swiss lake. It was pretty far gone. Cool story, though: http://www.classiccaradventures.com/2010/01/bugatti-lake-find-up-for-auction/
One of the 2 Chevy Copper Cooled survivors is sitting in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI. There are a handfull of the Radiator emblems and a head or two also still in collectors hands.
I saw that car at Retromobile Paris a couple of years ago. It was extensively corroded but went for $370,000. Knowing those vintage car guys it will end up as 5 or 6 "genuine" Bugattis - all with matching numbers.
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