#Crazy Tale of The Dale - Murder, Fraud & More | The Bad Blonde Car History

A story of an eco friendly car company involving murder, fraud, and three wheels prototype.

With so many twists and turns in the tale of the Dale it is hard to know where to begin. But I think it is best to paint a picture of the times.

It is the 1970s, the world is in the middle of an energy crisis, and gas prices are skyrocketing. Those times are always an opportunity for smaller and fuel efficient cars. Americans were scared that they were running out of oil and didn’t want anything to do with gas guzzlers.

Two years before the gas crisis mayhem, inventor and motorcycle enthusiast Dale Clifft had tossed a 305cc Honda Super Bike, metal tubing, and Naugahyde together to create a simple commuter bike. Dale considered his commuter a success BUT he had no real intentions of mass producing it.

That is where Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael (who goes by Liz) enters the scene. This woman would not be what she seems. She immediately recognized the potential of the commuter bike, promising Dale Clifft $1,001 and millions in royalties though Clif would never see any of that royalty money.

To the press and the public, Liz’s story was incredible. She was a Nasa engineer’s widow with five kids, who had built her first car at 18 AND went on to get her mechanical engineering degree. It was her dream to “rule the auto industry like a queen”

Liz would get Dale Clifft on board and found the 20th Century Motor Car Corporation to produce the tricycle commuter that would be named the Dale.

With the Dale she would capitalize on the consumers worries of an unending gas crisis.

Liz touted that the Dale would have an 850cc motorcycle engine capable of 70mpg and this maximum efficiency vehicle would be available for less that $2,000. This was awe inducing to consumers, contemporary cars were ranging 11 mpg.

With a low $500 deposit and the headline mpg, folks were ready to go bananas for this banana on wheels.

BUT, was the Dale actually capable of 70 mpg? In theory potentially.

Something like that could have been groundbreaking and earth shattering for the Big Three and Liz was mightily paranoid about the fact. It was said by employees that the 20th Century Motor Car Corporation factory was laden with body guards and security at every turn.

(I bet that the Big Three did look into it JUST to discover that the whole thing was a sham.)

Another important moment of the times was the 70s feminist movement. With a story like Liz’s, warrior widow looking to take on the auto industry and save the environment at the same time, the media were captivated. That coupled with Geraldine’s adeptness at controlling the Dale’s narrative, the 20th Century Motor Corporation was going full speed ahead.

With so much media attention and what would appear very little fact checking, Liz was embolden to make more and more grandiose claims about the Dale’s features and capabilities. Claiming the Dale was made of “rocket structural resin” dubbed “rigidex” of which she claimed was 9x times stronger than steel.

Best part was that Liz was so over confident about this Rigidex that she decided to show a demonstration of it’s strength. She took her engineers and a sample of it out to a shooting range and shot it. Firing a revolver at the Rigidex and completely shattering it.

Regardless of that poor showing, Liz and 20th Century Motor Car Corporation marched right on taking deposits and orders, and it would sound like the company was heading in the right direction? But they had a little problem. They had no car.

June of 1975 was the set date for the first Dale to roll off the assembly. While not a complex car, the car did require fabrication that the inexperienced development team at 20th Century couldn’t deliver.

Finally the media that was crazy for Liz and her story, started to get a little suspicious of this break through company and their undelivered car.

A group of news reporters developed a plan to hire a retired car engineer to join them on a planned factory tour with Liz covering the development of the anticipated Dale. They basically slipped him a hundo and asked him to figure out if the Dale was a scam.

Immediately after the tour, on live air, the engineer said that things weren’t lining up with the Dale and Liz’s statements.

You would think that this would create public outrage and plummet sale orders for the Dale? Well it didn’t. The public kept putting down deposits and one reporter claimed that it increased them by 200%.

But Liz and 20th Century were about to find themselves in trouble. Legally, if you take a deposit on a product that doesn’t quite exist, you have to put that money into a specific account. Naturally, Liz was doing no such thing.

The media claiming the Dale was a scam caught the attention of the California State government which led to them to send the 20th Century Motor Car Corporation a cease and desist letter. Mandating that they do not take anymore pre-orders for the Dale.

Liz jumped quick on the offensive. Blaming the Big Three, the auto industry and their government cronies. She claimed saboteurs had infiltrated the 20th Century Motor Car Corporation, fires started,  stolen plans, busted locks, fake reports sent to the government.

All of this, while consumers continued to give over their deposits and Liz continued to take them. A direct violation of the state.

The local ABC news station, captured a deposit made on camera resulting in the 20th Century offices being closed down for the day. The tensions between the fraud carmaker and the news station were festering. One reporter of ABC was offered a cash bribe from Liz herself.

That led him to begin investigating her past, discovering that none of the Universities Liz claimed to have studied at even knew her name and had zero record of her attendance.

The walls of 20th century motor car corporation were beginning to crumble. Liz couldn’t pay her employees. BUT even though paychecks were bouncing, employees still believed in the Dale project.

Liz with her big personality and dreams had made them believers of this car that would change the landscape of the auto industry and they were still believers in the Dale.

A sliver of hope presented itself… Japanese investors. Japan’s automotive sector was booming and they were interested in this potentially ground breaking commuter car.

But the Japanese wanted proof that the car was even a thing.. Liz ordered her team to get a completely working prototype finished and they miraculously did.

They took the prototype to a parking lot to demonstrate it’s ability to the Japanese investors. And it worked! It started, it drove, and the investors were interested UNTIL, the driver in an attempt to dissuade any concerns about the tricycle’s stability, took a hard turn resulting in the Dale tipping on it’s side and scraping it’s body on the asphalt. The investors were not impressed and moved on.

Liz was furious! She is quoted to have called the test drive “an abortion on three wheels”

One of the engineers said this kind of stability flaw could have easily been worked out in testing however the company was out of time and without the Japanese investors, they were out of money.

BUT if you thought things could not get worse, right around the time of the failed test drive, a man was murdered in the offices of the 20th century motor car corporation. He was shot three times in the head!

20th Century employee, Jack Oliver, shot 20th Century salesman, William D. Miller three times in the head. They apparently had a past. The two had served time together in prison.

It is said that the guy that got capped had devised a plan to murder one of the securities and exchange commission investigators digging into 20th Century and Oliver tried to stop him, they argued, both drew guns, and then Oliver shot Miller in the head three times.

That could not have been good optics for the carmaker.

Even with fraud reports, government investigations, and a full blown mob style murder, consumers were still forking up deposits to get their hands on the Dale. The Price is Right show even gave away a Dale as a prize.

Soon Liz and nine other employees were indicted on charges of fraud as investigators believed the Dale would never be more than a proto-type.

With those charges, Liz and her family went on the run. The media caught wind of the story and it made national news, BUT not for the reason you would think. Not the false promised commuter car, the murder, or any of the other mayhem that was at 20th century.

You see the police got a warrant to search Liz’s home. They found wigs, padded bras, and what the police put in their report as a “device used by female impersonators to disguise their sex.”

It was at this point that the authorities and the press learned that Liz was in fact a transgender woman who had been wanted on numerous charges, from counterfeiting to theft. These were charges brought on while she was still a man, Jerry Dean Michael. She had been selling vacuum cleaners, taking deposits and never delivering the product. A similar scam to the Dale. While she was Jerry Dean Micheal she  had married 4x times and, if I counted correctly, had 10x children amongst those wives.

A few months after going on the run, she was caught in Florida and sent back to California. The state didn’t know whether to try her as a man or woman. It was a landmark case of the 1970s.

Liz declined a court appointed lawyer and represented herself. She was found guilty on 26 counts. It is estimated that consumers and investors were defrauded of approx. $1-3 Million.. She was sentenced to 2-20 years in men’s prison and to pay $30k in restitution.

BUT this isn’t the end of the story, in 1980 Liz would escape while out on bail and wouldn’t found till 1989. When a Unsolved Mysteries episode led to her capture.

She was found selling roadside flowers in Dale, Texas. She would be jailed and pass away from cancer in 2004.

The American Super Car AMX/3 | The Bad Blonde Car History

Let's talk about the mid-engine V8 American sports car dream by AMC (American Motor Corporation that you likely have not heard of. The American Super Car AMX/3 | The Bad Blonde Car History #AMX3 #AMC #SUPERCAR The ambitious project started in 1969 with dreams of mass-production that would not quite take flight. Let’s first start our story with AMC’s background and financial situation, AMC was the underdog of the American automotive scene. They had suffered significantly in sales during the 1960s but saw an opportunity in targeting the younger markets with sports options. They needed a halo car. Keep in mind the mid-60s were an era of baby boomers coming of driving age and the birth of the pony cars. 1968 AMC came out with the Javelin with great press fanfare but lackluster sales. The AMC executives decided they needed to sport up the image with the addition of a high-performance mid-engine sports car. First they would showcase the AMX/2, heavily influenced by the De Tomaso Mangusta. Though the AMX/2 would garner attention as a show car it had no prospect of production. At this time the De Tomaso Pantera was in development and AMC had clear sights on it for competition. Ford had a leg up with plans to distribute it through it’s wide dealer network. Legendary designer, Dick Teague along with Bob Nixon designed the AMX/2 which notably the AMC execs were pleased but not certain that the AMX/3 should be designed in-house. They arranged a competition between Teague and his team against Italdesign Founder and famed designer, Giorgetto Giugiaro. Under Giorgetto’s belt were designs such as BMW M1, Lotus Esprit S1, Delorean, Mangusta, and the Iso Grifo. Teague and his team were not playing around, they improved on their design completed a fully developed fiberglass mock-up and won. For financial reasons, AMC made the decision to outsource production and development to European operations. Thus hopefully keeping the production costs and sales price low. Initially, they considered German coachbuilder Karmann who had already been assembling Javelins for European markets since 1968. Then they had discussions with BMW. And then it gets a little muddled. Italdesign with Giorgetto Giugiaro was commissioned to manage the project. Salvatore Diomante, who was involved in the fabrication of the prototypes, remembers that it was Karmann who commissioned ItalDesign to manage the project and that it was, in turn, Giugiaro who commissioned Bizzarrini to develop the chassis for the first car. And BMW would jump back into the fold with development. My apologies if that is a fuddled explanation. Lots of talented ingredients in that soup. An AMX3 was tested at Monza reaching 170 mph, equivalent speeds to the Ferraris of the day. In 1970 AMC presented the AMX/3 to the press with acclaim.. Just to note, they debuted the car in Rome and in New York EACH day just one day before scheduled press days for the Pantera. Though despite of the strong press and public reactions to the AMX/3, AMC would pull the project. With an already struggling, AMC, they didn’t see the AMX/3 proving itself financially worth it. The AMX/3 reported target price was $12k, a few grand more than the Pantera… Which eventually Ford with all it’s financial backing wasn’t able to keep the Pantera on the market. In total nine chassis were constructed with six cars being completed, a seventh later on with leftover parts. The AMX3 #1 was found and is in the process of being restored, you can watch the process on a youtube channel called We the Committee

Apollo GT - The American Ferrari | The Bad Blonde Car History

Apollo GT - The American Ferrari | The Bad Blonde Car History This story begins with International Motor Cars and a dream to create the American Ferrari. To paint a picture of the times, 50s-60s enjoyed a flood of European sportscars and roadsters. Though the difficulty of finding a corner station mechanic that could work on your import was few and far between. A genius solution to that? Hybrid. European body with American power. For example, the Cobra, the Sunbeam tiger, Bizarrini, Jensen Interceptor, Iso Grifo and Italia. A young California engineer, Milt Brown wanted to create the American answer to the influx of European sports cars of the times. (Little photo of Milt and I harassing everyone’s ears at the Quail about the Apollo). While on his honeymoon and attending the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix, Milt Brown was on the search for a coach builder when he met Frank Reisner of Intermeccanica in Turin Italy. Turin Italy was a veritable hot bed of coachbuilders. Three years later the first Apollos where hand formed and shipped by sea to Oakland California to be installed with a powerful and reliable Buick V8. The beauty of this, you could take your Apollo to your local Buick dealer and have it worked on. Initial concept was drawn up by Ron Plescia but would be honed and finalized the Franco Scaglione. When International Motor Cars would decide to build a spider prototype to grab attention at the 1963 San Francisco Auto Show they would employ Scaglione. Only 5 spiders remain in existence. Base price was $6,000 and that low price would be what would eventually lead to the fall of International Motor Car. I have four episodes of radio show interviews with George Finley who had jumped ship from Ford/Lincoln to steer the sales and marketing department of this exciting start up. George once told me he was making a deal to sell an Apollo to the head of Mattel at the time, and the gentleman told George if this is hand built in Italy you better raise the price. Ned Davis’ theory behind the price tag was to be close to the Jaguar XKE however, the XKE was mass produced as opposed to the handmade Apollo. International Motor Car company would complete 42 cars before financial strain ceased production. The fall of Apollo according the George happened quite quickly, he was out on a test drive with an Apollo making a sale when he made a phone call to the office. Ned Davis told him to not come back with the car. Milt was in Turin Italy with his family, goes to pick up his American Express airline ticket and they say his card has been canceled and tickets invalid. George sold the car and sent 4 grand of the sale via Western Union to help get Milt and his family out of Italy. Through contract with IMC, Reisner was allowed to send chassis to Vanguard Industries in Texas to be sold as the Vetta Ventura. 19 bodies went out but only 11 cars were completed, the remainder being built up by a garage called Precision Motors as late as 1971. Then Apollo International Company would attempt to carry on the Apollo name. 24 bodies were shipped to Pasadena, but only 14 were built up; six were purchased and constructed by the shop foreman and the remaining four, left unspoken for at LA docks, were sold off in a customs auction. In total, 76 coupes created and 11 spiders, likely half that in existence.

History of Bugatti PT #2 | The Bad Blonde Car History

Join me for PT #2 of Bugatti's fascinating history. Subscribe to The Bad Blonde Car History for more automotive history content! #Bugatti #Bolide #thebadblonde It was in 1987 that Italian entrepreneur Roman Artioli purchased the rights to Bugatti. Quickly he went to work creating a beautiful manufacturing plant in Italy and design plans for the new Bugatti revival model, the Bugatti EB110. Who were the designers behind the initial concept before they would have conflicts with Artioli and skirt out the back door? Paolo Stanzani and Marcello Gandini, two famous designers of the Lamborghini Miura and the Countach. Nicola Materazzi would pick up the button and finish the EB 110. The EB 110 was ground breaking in style and one of breathtaking supercars that came out of the nineties along with the Jaguar XJ220, Lamborghini Diablo, Ferrari F50, and the McLaren F1. Powering the Bugatti EB110 was a 3.5litre, 5-valve per cylinder making it a 60-valve, quad turbocharged 60 degree v12 powering all four wheels through a six speed manual transmission. Materazzi served as chief designer for the Ferrari F40 and the Ferrari 288GTO. In 1991 Bugatti would unveil the EB 110 in France on the celebration of 110 years after Ettore’s day of birth. Just six months later they would introduce the EB 110 Super Sport, a more powerful and lighter version by 330lbs. The Super Sport could reach 221mph. The EB 110 Super Sport would garner a great deal of publicity when famous F1 drive, Michael Schumacher, purchased a yellow one…. BUT that would bite them in the rear when he crashed it and then blamed then on “inadequate brakes”.. It was repaired and he kept it till 2003. In 1993 Artioli would purchase Lotus Cars from General Motors and they would present to the public the EB112 prototype saloon… which I don’t find to be quite attractive. Roman Artioli’s Bugatti reign would hit hard times 1995 resulting in bankruptcy, a combination of the 1990s recession and strain caused by the purchase of Lotus Cars. Fast forward to 1998, Volkswagen Group acquires the Bugatti brand and jumps right in to creating a concept car, the EB 118. They commission gamed designer, Giorgetto Giugiaro, the man mostly credited for popularizing the wedge shape. Homeboy did the Iso Grifo, the DMC DeLorean, and the Lotus Esprit. The would introduce the EB118 powered by a w-18 engine, the EB 218 and 18/3 Chiron. In 2005, Bugatti went to work assembling its first regular production car, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 powered by a 8 liter quad turbocharged w16 engine at it’s original Bugatti factory location in Molsheim, France! In 2010, the Veyron Super Sport took the title of fastest production vehicle of all time with a speed of 267mph on the Ehra-Lession track in Germany BUT that was in dispute for a bit of time because when sold the Veyron had an electronic limiter of 258mph. That sorted through that somehow, and Veyron took the title and maintained it for seven years till taken by the Koenigsegg Agera RS. In 2016 we would see Bugatti Chiron would make headlines at the Geneva Motor Show. Based on the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo and named after the great Monegasque racer Louis Chiron. Chiron was one of the most successful Bugatti drivers of his time. He was not born into privilege. Chiron made his way to the top of the racing scene through skill and charm. He was a dance partner for the wealthy ladies lounging about at the Hotel de Paris. The Veyron quad-turbocharged W16 engine with multiple updates was carried over to the Chiron. Just like the Veyron, the Chiron features a carbon fibre body structure, independent suspension, and all wheel drive system. At a base price of 2.4 million, the first 200 of the Chiron were sold before the first one was even delivered! Two years later Bugatti would reveal a 40lb lighter track focused and stiffer supension, Chiron Sport. There would be a handful of Chiron variants: 2019- Chiron Super Sport 300+ - with only 30 examples created powered by a 1,600 PS (1,175 kW; 1,580 hp) quad-turbocharged W16 engine 2019 - Bugatti La Voiture Noire –nod to the design of the type 57 SC Atlantic 2022- Chiron Pur Sport - a handling-focused model which will be limited to 60 units. Revealed at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show, the Bugatti Divo named after Albert Divo a Bugatti Racer of the 1920s who took victory twice at the Targa Florio. Only 40 units of the track focused Divo were made, powered by 8.0 L (488 cu in) quad-turbocharged W16.. Only available via dealer special invite and sold out on the first day. . Bugatti announced they would produce it in December of 2020. Reported to be their last car powered by their iconic 8liter w16 engines and only 40 units produced. Le Bolide comes from the French term Le Bolide meaning the race car.