#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

History of Bugatti - Part #1

History of Bugatti PT#1 | The Bad Blonde Car History Naturally we start our tale with the man behind the brand, Ettore Bugatti. An engineering talent that would go on to build one the most revered luxury car brand of it’s day. Though this story would be plagued with setbacks and tragedy. Early on it was clear Ettore’s talent steered more toward engineering and mechanics. At an early age he was able to comprehend complex designs. His father took note one day after Ettore repaired a broken tricycle, and helped foster that with apprenticeship at Prinetti & Stucchi a sewing machine and bicycle manufacturer when Ettore was just 17. Soon after Ettore would create his own motorized tricycle to enter into a competition from Paris to Boreaux. This Motor Tricycle was powered by two engines of the De Dion Company. The De Dion company is a prestigious name you hear through out automotive history. They were a prolific part supplier to many of the burgeoning early automotive manufactures around the turn of the century and after. His apprenticeship would open up to Ettore the world of engineering, automobiles, and speed. At the young age of 19, Ettore left his apprenticeship and set out to create his own automobile. Soon his skills would catch the attention of the De Deitrich company, he was soon hired on to design vehicles for them. He was only 19 when he received his first professional contract with De Deitrich. In 1903 for the Paris to Madrid race, Ettore would build a car so ahead of it’s time that it was rejected from the race. With this car, he placed the driver and the engine lower in the chassis, better for aerodynamics and center of gravity, a practice that was revolutionary at the time. He received harsh criticism and speculation from this. As popular, for the times was being seated higher in the automobile. understanding. Ettore Bugatti created the Bugatti Type 10 in 1909. Powered by a 1.2 liter 4 cylinder engine weighing in at 365kg which is essentially 804lbs and could reach 80km/per hour. An impressive feat for the time. With the success and confidence of the type 10, Ettore would establish Automobiles Ettore Bugatti in Molsheim, France. That location would go on to prove quite tragic for him after the war. Ettore was one of the first for many principles that are still used in today’s manufacturing, along with his beliefs on lightness, he also heavily believed in using racing success to drive sales. “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” With many wins under the Bugatti belt, he quickly became known as one of the best car designers in the country. All within the same year, he completed the groundbreaking type 10, founded his automobile company, and celebrated the birth of his only son Jean. Jean Bugatti would go on to be an incredibly talented automobile designer taken too soon by tragedy. Ettore was already ready for progress and would soon release the Bugatti Type 13. The Type 13 would take second place in the 1911 grand prix, garnering much attention and solidifying the Bugatti name in racing and automobiles. Unfortunately soon the entire world would come to a stop when WWI broke out, just like many other manufacturers Bugatti stopped production and redirected to war efforts. During this time, Ettore would work with the Duesenberg Brothers on the dramatic U-16 engine. The U-16 was essentially two straight line engines sharing a crank case. The engine did not catch on particularly well BUT it did lead to the creation of overhead camshaft and straight 8 engine designs. After the war ended, Bugatti went back to his factory, improved his type 13 engine and went on to win the 1920 lemans, 1921 Brescia, and continued to garner so many victories that the type 13 1924 Bugatti introduced the type 35, which would go on to win 1000 races and become Bugatti’s most successful race car. It was in 1926 Bugatti would introduce it’s first luxury vehicle, the type 41 Bugatti Royale. The Royal was the longest car of it’s time, and likely the most luxurious. Before their focus had mainly been on race vehicles. The costumers of the Royale were selected, only the most notable were chosen, kings, counts, and that is how it became known at the Royale. Post great depression, Bugatti would be back on track. Jean Bugatti was running the factory and making his own successful impression on the company. He was skilled just as his father and had a vision for Bugatti. Under him, he lead the company into the luxury car market and produced the famous Bugatti Atlantic, Royale, and the type 57G In 1937 and 1939, they would win 2 lemans in the Bugatti type 57G aka Tank. I was fortunate to see a type 57g at the Simeone Automotive Foundation Museum. In June of 1939, tragedy struck.. Jean Bugatti organized a road test with the Le Mans winning Type 57G. Jean was a hands on engineer and got behind the wheel, somehow a cyclist got on this closed track and to miss him Jean swerved, striking a tree and dying on impact.

History of the Lincoln Continental | The Bad Blonde Cars

Let’s dive into the history of the Lincoln Continental! If you love classic car content, be sure to subscribe to The Bad Blonde YouTube. Thank you to George Finley who is the owner of this fine car! Now, I will digress deeply if allowed to but today I will skim like a light rock on the deep majestic pond that is Henry Leland, the gentleman behind Lincoln. Henry Leland. The man the myth the legend. The man that created BOTH of American most competitive luxury vehicle lines, Cadillac and Lincoln.. He started his career in firearms manufacturing at Colt, engineering supplier for manufacturer that would become Oldsmobile, AND a fact I love to share he created the electric barber clippers. So it is 1917, Leland has already left Cadillac (and will talk about bit more about that in a bit), he and his son get a loan to start the Lincoln motor company.. and with that they also landed a 10 million dollar contract to create the liberty aircraft engine.. Now where did the name Lincoln arise? AFTER THE PRESIDENT! Abraham Lincoln was the first president Leland got to vote for. I do want to make a shout out to Leland being one of the first to introduce interchangeable parts within auto manufacturing – all of our lives automotive sector have been easier for that.. Sadly, in 1922 Lincoln becomes insolvent, and you know who was waiting in the murky waters to chomp? FORD! Old henry “dandelion on the side of the road eating” ford.. Okay so let’s paint the picture, it is 1902 and the Henry Ford Company is going bust. Ford has gotten into a tiff with his investors and he is out. One of Ford’s financial backers is like SHITT, damn it Ford, to be honest Ford’s later success with the Model T and Model A were inspite of himself, his backers call in Henry Leland to appraise the plant and equipment for liquidation. However, the clever Leland said, hold up! And he persuaded the finance dudes to let Leland start up manufacturing using his reliable single-cylinder engine. They said why not, and thus Cadillac Automobile Company was born. Cadillac would then be sold to GM… and you see where this is going. So that is why Ford of course HATED Henry Leland because he had created Cadillac out of his defunct company and thus lowballed him significantly for Lincoln. What is the Continental? It is NOT the hotel Christopher Walken made unwanted advances in… it is a series of mid-sized and full-sized luxury cars produced by Lincoln, a division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. The prototype continental design was created by E.T. “Bob” Gregorie, and inspired by Edsel Fords European travels – This was heavily based on the Lincoln Zephyr that was introduced in 1935 – which if you are starting off with this as your base point, it would hard to make something not aesthetically pleasing. It is said the initial sketch for the design was completed in an hour Why? Edsel Ford, who commissioned a coachbuilt 1939 Lincoln-Zephyr convertible, developed as a vacation vehicle to attract potential Lincoln buyers – He needed it done by March of 1939 so he could show it off on his vacation - Alright, so like I said, Edsel was inspired and wanted this European car quickly, and quickly her got it, the turn around on this continental prototype was but 6 months! Introduced in 1940, and let’s paint a little picture of life in the 1940s.. Cause you know I like to do that… War, Nazi Germany would begin the Blitzkrieg which actually took out quit a few beloved European car manufacturing plants, so lots of war stuff, the first Captain America comic book was published, Hattie McDaniel is the first African American woman to win an academy award for her performance in Gone with the Wind, also Franklin D. Roosevelt wins the election and becomes he first third-term president.. and MOST importantly, Chuck Norris was born. There 404 of these elite cars built in the first year, -Also, this was the year built examples were built with hand-hammered body panels and after that dies for machine-pressing would be constructed With that advance and success spurred Lincoln forward with over 1,200 built the following year. This was the car of the elite… Hollywood icons, the business elite, Frank Lloyd Wright owned one.. Now there wasn’t room within the trunk to store a spare tire, and that is how we arrived at this signature rear mounted “Continental” spare- tire feature --- And it’s what we’ve deemed classy ever since. Side note, while disappearing on American cars, the externally mounted, covered spare tire remained a feature on European-produced cars. Fun fact – In 1951 the NY Museum of Modern Art recognized the Lincoln Continental as an example of excellence as works of art… On that note, let’s take a another look.. -Of the 850 made for the 1941 model year, only 200 are still in existence.. What is powering this first generation beauty, is a 292 cid L head v12 – capable of 120hp – three speed manual transmission

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