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Greetings and Welcome to The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg
New episodes tend to air over the local KMMR radio station @ 5 minutes past 4PM each M-F. And have been doing so, nearly every week since Sept 2018.
I'm D.J. Rasmussen, O.K.s friend since junior high, possibly your neighbor & this websites maintainer, whom strives to get each episode's show notes written, the transcript proofed and the audio posted to the internet within a few hours of that days KMMR air time. NOTE: recently been publishing most new releases by 4:30PM.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy the time we can spend together.
Wanna again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break, guys. New week. Get your cup of coffee, glass iced tea, bottle of water. Let's see what's happening.
OK Solberg:Spring wheat $5.54 a bushel. Nothing to brag about. 550lb steer calf and you can brag about this, I'll tell you. $5 to $5.55 a pound depending on their quality for fall delivery. And a 100lb fat lamb in Billings will give you a range there because all fat lambs are not created equal, $2.75 a pound all the way up to $3 and a nickel. But, guys, there's more, much more.
OK Solberg:It's time for Jay and Joe's Motor Monday, the day we look at horsepower one Monday at a time. Now I'm gonna gather us a bible verse, then listen to these interesting statistics on automobiles.
OK Solberg:Our bible verse, 3rd John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Again, 3rd John 1 verse 4. Walking in the truth. Guys, we want truth, don't we? Well, I got it for you today. Listen to this truth. Listen to these hard facts.
OK Solberg:The year America couldn't build cars fast enough. If you grew up in the 1960's or 1970's you probably remember a time when American automobile seemed to rule the roads completely. Today, we hear a lot about global competition, imports, and dozens of automotive brands. But but in the mid 1960's the automobile market looked very different.
OK Solberg:In 1965, General Motors alone controlled nearly half of the American automobile market. Ford held about a quarter and Chrysler roughly 14%. Together, the big 3 accounted for almost 9 out of every 10 cars sold in America. Foreign cars, well, were still a rarity in much of the country. Now here's something remarkable.
OK Solberg:In 1965 what were you doing in 1965? In 1965, Chevrolet built 2,375,118 automobiles. Ford wasn't far behind with 2,170,000. Now think about that for a moment. Those were not company totals including every division.
OK Solberg:Those were just the Ford and Chevrolet brands themselves. But the most astonishing number belong to a single model. Can you imagine which model sold the most in 1965? Joe? Jay?
OK Solberg:The Chevrolet Impala. In 1965, Chevrolet sold more than 1,000,000 Impalas. 1,074,925 to be exact. No other passenger car sold in North America has ever exceeded that figure in a single model year. Imagine one model selling over a million units in one year.
OK Solberg:Today, well, even today, that seems almost impossible. Chevrolet sold more than 1,000,000 Impalas in 1965. Now using the car's 213 inch overall length, if you line them up bumper to bumper, the chain would stretch about 3,600 miles.
OK Solberg:Now depending on which production figures historians use, the exact number may vary slightly, but the line would still be longer than the distance from New York to Los Angeles. And yet the horsepower wars were only beginning.
OK Solberg:Ford had introduced the Mustang in April '64. It became an instant sensation. By 1964, the Mustang had already sold more than 400,000 units. And by 1966, Ford would sell over a half a million Mustangs in a single year. The pony car craze had arrived, Chevrolet would answer with the Camaro, of course, for 1967.
OK Solberg:What's especially interesting is that Americans weren't just buying performance cars, they were buying everything, full size sedans, wagons, convertibles, hard docks, compact cars. The nation was growing, suburbs were expanding, highways were spreading across the landscape, and families often owned two cars for the very 1st time in history.
OK Solberg:The industry reflected that growth. Chevrolet production jumped from about 1,300,000 vehicles in 1961 to nearly 2,400,000 in 1965. Ford climbed from roughly 1,300,000 to more than 2,100,000 during that same time period.
OK Solberg:The factory simply could not stamp out cars fast enough. Now looking back, the mid 1960's may have been the high watermark of the American automobile industry. Gas was inexpensive. The interstate highway system was still expanding. Muscle cars were appearing.
OK Solberg:New models arrived every fall with dramatic styling changes. And perhaps most importantly, for many Americans, the automobile represented freedom itself. A set of keys meant independence, and a v eight, well, that meant excitement. Fun to remember when.
OK Solberg:So until next time, as you go out there, remember now. Don't be bitter.