Society of
Automotive Historians

Category: News

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F1, From Circus to Media Spectacle

James Miller at the 2022 Argetsinger Symposium

James Miller’s engagement with F1 includes chatting about race strategy with Nicki Lauda at the 1977 USGP, where Lauda won his second world championship. Now it involves at-home viewing of real-time, in-car camera images on a flat-screen TV. Has Formula One left behind its gritty, dangerous and somewhat esoteric past to become a cross between the World Cup and Disneyland (think Miami)? How much of its new global popularity can be summed up as (perhaps merely) “media spectacle?” Miller is professor emeritus of communications at Hampshire College. He has studied new media as a Fulbright researcher in Paris and a visiting professor at MIT’s Media Lab.

Wheels Across the Pacific Symposium

The Automotive Historians Australia (AHA) and the SAH have co-convened a one-day online symposium for their members on September 18, 2022 in North America and March September 19, 2022 in Australia.

Fifteen to twenty minute presentations are being sought that address the shared transnational histories of the automotive industry, exploring ways in which the Australian and American auto industries shared expertise, skills, staff, design and studio practices, engineering, business and management structures, advertising, parts and components, and trade practices. Ten presentations are planned for the main session, and then three presentations and a round-table discussion for the second session.

Start time is scheduled for 5:00 PM EST on Sunday, September 18, 2022 in North America, concluding around 1:00 AM EST on Monday, September 19, for all thirteen sessions and the round-table. (4/8/22)

Click here for the Call for Papers (CFP). Abstracts are due June 30, 2022!

New Login Procedures for SAH Members

New procedures for logging in to the SAH website members’ area are now in place. When you login using the link at top left, you will see a different login box than you are used to and your password will have changed. 

Active members were sent an email about the new procedures on March 22 titled “Website Access Alert from the Society of Automotive Historians.”

The email provides members with instructions on the new permanent usernames and new changeable passwords that will need to be used from now on. All sections of the website are now back online and accessible.

Thank you all for your patience as we continue to upgrade the website. 

Sixth Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on Motor Racing History

An event geared to motor racing scholars and racing enthusiasts alike, the Sixth  Michael R. Argetsinger Symposium on International Motor Racing History, is scheduled for Friday, November 4th and Saturday, November 5th, 2022, at Watkins Glen, NY.

Over the last several years the Symposium, co-hosted by the International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC) and the SAH, has established itself as a unique and respected forum and gained a growing audience of scholars, students and enthusiasts.

The 2022 Argetsinger Symposium Keynote Speaker will be renowned NASCAR historian Buz McKim.

In conjunction with the in-person sessions held in  the Watkins Glen International Media Center, the symposium hopes to provide virtual capability to allow remote attendance for a modest fee. (3/7/22)

For more information see the Call for Papers (CFP).

Abstracts are due August 5, 2022!

2022 SAH Award Nominations Sought

Nominations for the 2022 SAH Awards are now being accepted.

All nominations are due April 15, 2022, with the exception of the Cugnot LOE (Language Other Than English) and the Scharchburg Awards, 

Nominations for the Cugnot LOE Award and the Scharchburg Student Paper Award are due June 15, 2022.

For more information about the various SAH awards, and for instructions on how to submit a nomination, please see our Awards section.  (3/27/22)

Cars Across the Pacific: Transnational Histories of the Automotive Industry

Plans are underway with our colleagues at the Automotive Historians Australia to convene a joint one-day hybrid symposium on 9/18/22 in North America and 9/19/22 in Australia. The event will tentatively consist of ten presentations over five hours, a one hour break, and then three presentations and a round-table discussion over two hours. This would all tentatively start in North America at 5:00 PM EST on Sunday, 9/18/22, and conclude around 1:00 AM EST. Details and Call for Papers to follow.  (3/23/22)

2021 SAH Award Winners

The 2021 SAH Awards have been announced by the Awards Committee.

NICOLAS-JOSEPH CUGNOT AWARD, ENGLISH

Henry Dominguez, The Cellini of Chrome: George Walker – Ford Motor Company’s First VP of Design (2020).

Presented for a books written in English that best advance the understanding of the history of the automobile.

CUGNOT AWARD OF DISTINCTION, ENGLISH

Gretchen Soren, Driving While Black: African-American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights (2020).

Presented for books written in English that best advance the understanding of the history of the automobile.

NICOLAS-JOSEPH CUGNOT AWARD, LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH

Erich Karsholt,Dansk Bilproduktion (2020).

Presented for a books that best advance the understanding of the history of the automobile, written in a language other than English.

CUGNOT AWARD OF DISTINCTION, LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH

Christian Rouxel, Fenaille & Despeaux, L’ancetre d’Esso (2020).

Presented for a book that best advance the understanding of the history of the automobile, written in a language other than English.

CARL BENZ AWARD 

Karl Ludvigsen, “The Origin of the Species,” The Automobile, June, 2020.

Presented for excellence in the presentation of automotive history as an article in a periodical.

CARL BENZ AWARD OF DISTINCTION

Karl Ludvigsen, “Fuhrmann’s Formidable Four-Cam,” Classic Porsche January, 2020.

Presented for excellence in the presentation of automotive history as an article in a periodical.

FRIEND OF AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY AWARD

Richard Lentinelto

Presented in recognition of an individual who over time has made a profound individual contribution to the automotive history community and the historical record.

RICHARD AND GRACE BRIGHAM AWARD 

The Automobile

In recognition of exemplary editorial, graphic or historical content published in a commercial, institutional or club periodical during 2020.

J.J BRADLEY DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

No award given this year.

Presented to museums, archives, and libraries for exemplary efforts in preserving motor vehicle resource materials.

THE E.P. INGERSOLL AWARD 

No award given this year.

Presented for the best presentation of automotive history in media other than print.

R.P SCHARCHBURG STUDENT PAPER AWARD

No award given this year.

Presented or the best graduate and undergraduate paper in automotive history.

Fall Meeting of the AACA in Hershey, October 4-7, 2022

The Eastern Division AACA Fall Meet will take place this year in Hershey, PA, October 4-7, 2022. 

For more information on the meet, see the AACA event page.

Note that, beginning this year, the Fall Meet will take place from Tuesday through Friday, and not Wednesday through Saturday as in previous years.

The SAH looks forward to resuming our customary Big-Tent presence at the meeting.

Hope to see you there!

Below, check out some videos of previous meets and books signing in the SAH tent.