The Society of Automotive Historians is pleased to welcome the following new members:
Bob Byers, of Minnetonka, Minnesota, has always been interested in all things automotive – especially the history of design and the people involved. His casual online research has often led him to the SAH website. Bob has been an author for Automobile Quarterly and has submitted candidates for the Automotive Hall of Fame. His current project is the restoration of a 1953 Studebaker Champion Hardtop.
Robert Louis Brandon Edwards, who hails from Lakewood, Ohio, is a doctoral candidate in Historic Preservation in the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University. He is an architectural historian, designer, and historic preservationist. Edwards received a Bachelor of Architectural Studies with a focus in Historic Preservation from the State University of New York and a Master of Architectural History with a Certificate in Preservation from the University of Virginia. His doctoral practice focuses on preserving the experiences of African Americans who traveled by Greyhound bus during the second wave of the Great Migration (1940-1970), through archival and scholarly research and the restoration of a 1947 Greyhound bus designed by Raymond Loewy.
73-year-old retired English automotive engineer Ray Ellender worked for Aston Martin from 1975-1986 and Lotus from 1986-1991 before setting up his own engineering consultancy in England. Ellender now lives in Saint Georges les BX France and is in the process of writing a book about motor sport [mainly] and the motor industry [to some extent] in the 1940s, including the war period, which for Europeans started in 1939. He would like to cover the worldwide picture, including the USA, not just Europe, which factored into his decision to join the SAH. However, he has been distracted recently by a couple of other projects: sports car racing in the 1950s and 60s, and Formula Ford in Britain and Europe.
Ellender considers himself fortunate to have a large library, including a full set of Autosport and Motor Sport magazines, and most Motoring News periodicals from 1868-1996. His collection [which he refers to as his ‘museum’] also includes model cars which have taken up much of his time.
Residents of Mount Ulla, North Carolina, Jim & Deb Kowalczyk have a shared interest in all automobiles, old and new, foreign and domestic. Jim’s preference, however, is for pre-war autos. He has been in the automobile business for 52 years doing auto interiors and tops. Jim has owned his own auto interior and top restoration shop for over 35 years. He has worked on many fantastic autos through the years. Some of Jim’s favorites include Duesenberg, Rolls Royce, and Packard. He has always been fascinated about the history behind automobiles, how they originated and who owned them. Jim hopes that through SAH membership he will learn much more about these fabulous machines.
Based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, Randy Stern is an automotive journalist and content creator with a regular history column on his website, Victory & Reseda. He is celebrating his 25th anniversary in the media business, as well as the outlet’s 15th year. Randy’s interest in history is focused on his memory of the automobiles that shaped his life from birth into the Malaise Era and beyond.
Doug Watts, of Sarasota, Florida, has been a hobbyist/restorer for over 50 years, having done a number of stock and street rod restorations. His current interest is Studebaker. Doug is the editor of Fly Hubcaps, the newsletter of the Central Florida Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club. He does quite a bit of research on Studebaker and its competitors and enjoys writing about models often overlooked in the motoring press of the day.
William Artzberger – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mike Chase – Santa Rosa, California
Felipe Fontana – Barcelona SPAIN
Thomas Hansberry – Hanover, New Hampshire
Steve Maltsberger – San Antonio, Texas
Donald Osborne – Tiverton, Rhode Island
Robert Snyder – Portland, Oregon
Max Sweet – McPherson, Kansas
Correction: In the January Newsletter, the residence of new member James Risk was mistakenly listed as Lexington, Kentucky. James resides in Lexington, South Carolina.