Who was the CLYMER who wrote the Model T Books?

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2013: Who was the CLYMER who wrote the Model T Books?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Daniel M. Chapasko on Friday, December 06, 2013 - 09:18 pm:

I was in Berthoud Colorado Library looking for the Clymer who wrote Automotive Literature. I thought he was from Berthoud, Colorado. The library did not have any books on him and they never heard of him. Do I have the right Clymer. Does anyone have Clymer literature?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Timothy Hales on Friday, December 06, 2013 - 09:32 pm:

I have a book by Floyd Clymer Henry's Wonderful Model T from 1955


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kerry van Ekeren (Australia) on Friday, December 06, 2013 - 09:33 pm:

Floyd Clymer, born in Indianapolis, died in Los Angeles, lived in between ??


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roger Karlsson, southern Sweden on Friday, December 06, 2013 - 09:37 pm:

1895-1970. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Clymer


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred Dimock, Newfields NH, USA on Friday, December 06, 2013 - 09:58 pm:

Kerry.
Floyd must have been an amazing man!
He actually lived between his birth and death!
Most of the folks I know just exist. :-)

(Sorry not much to do while waiting for an airplane. :-) )


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Richard Eagle Ida Fls on Friday, December 06, 2013 - 10:03 pm:

I think he was a kid auto salesman who was selling Fords and Maxwells in Berthoud when he was very young, maybe 11. His father was a Doctor.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Friday, December 06, 2013 - 10:19 pm:

From Hemmings:
In terms of his sheer volume of work, Clymer is likely the most prolific automotive publisher. This much is certain: Clymer knew his stuff when it came to old cars: In 1904, at age 10, Clymer was selling new Reos, Maxwells and Cadillacs in his hometown of Berthoud, Colorado, to which his father, a physician, had moved the family after Floyd was born in Indianapolis.

Clymer and his younger brother, Elmer, made an unsuccessful reliability run from Denver to Spokane in 1904 that ended with their Flanders 20 breaking down repeatedly on the open plains of Wyoming and being hauled to Washington aboard a railroad flatcar. By then, however, Clymer had discovered motorcycles and immediately proved to be a prodigy. By 1916, he was a member of the Harley-Davidson factory team. He set a world 100-mile record that same year, in addition to a Pikes Peak record, but was eventually forced out of competitive riding by a back injury. Undaunted, he turned to promoting AMA motorcycle races in the Midwest and elsewhere.


Here's the full article: http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2005/05/01/hmn_feature25.html


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Dallas TX on Friday, December 06, 2013 - 10:22 pm:

Floyd Clymer knew Henry Ford personally and corresponded with him through most of Henry's career. Floyd wrote many books on the Model T, and relates many first person stories concerning himself and Henry.

Here is a direct quote from Joseph "Floyd" Clymer:

""The Model K was not successful from a sales standpoint. Henry Ford declared he would never again build a high priced car, and that, furthermore, he would never again build a six cylinder model. He kept his word. For as long as he was in charge of Ford Motor Company, six cylinder engines were taboo."


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By A. J. "Art" Bell on Friday, December 06, 2013 - 10:27 pm:

Floyd Clymer, whose last attempt to resurrect the Indian motorcycle’s ghost
ended when he died in 1970. His claimed acquisition of the rights to the “Indian”
name in 1968 was somewhat contested, but his lawyer (Alan Newman) obtained
the operation from Floyd’s widow, and built Indian badged mini bikes in Taiwan
until 1976.

1972 - 70cc Indian ‘Super Enduro’
Taiwan chassis – Minarelli engine – Hooker exhaust.



Here is some early history from his early years . . .
http://users.senet.com.au/~mitchell/bikes/california/html/clymer.htm

And from the flyleaf of the book
Henry's Wonderful Model T
Written by Floyd Clymer
And published in 1955

”Floyd Clymer literally grew up with the American automobile. For
over half a century he has driven, tested, raced, sold, restored, and
written about them. President Theodore Roosevelt called Clymer
"the world's youngest auto mobile dealer" in 1906, when,
at the age of eleven, Clymer sold 26 Reos, Cadillacs, and Maxwells.
He also manufactured an automobile accessory, the Clymer Windshield
Spotlight, which enjoyed considerable popularity over the years. His
affection for the Model T is of long standing. He sold and raced
Model T's for years and was a personal acquaintance of Henry Ford.
Today Mr. Clymer writes a monthly column for Popular Mechanics,
publishes two automotive magazines, and heads an automotive
publishing concern which produced over 125 books on his favorite
subject. Mr. Henry Edmunds of the Ford Archives recently told Mr.
Clymer that although thousands of books were in the library of Mr.
Ford's home at Fairlane, among the very few books found in his
desk when it was opened after his death was a complete set of
Clymer's Historical Motor Scrapbooks, which the author considers
a real tribute.”

Regards
Art


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kerry van Ekeren (Australia) on Friday, December 06, 2013 - 11:47 pm:

Fred, I agree I fit that bill, just 'exist'
Royce,
It would be of interest to who owns his (Ford)publications?, the publishing company owns the Copyright and the contents was reprinted by permission of the Ford Motor Company letter #1004.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Dallas TX on Friday, December 06, 2013 - 11:53 pm:

http://velocepress.com/authors/clymer.php


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave Huson, Berthoud, Co. on Saturday, December 07, 2013 - 12:35 am:

Dan:

The people in the Berthoud library must be pretty stupid, there is a huge mural across the street from them with Floyd's picture selling antique cars. There is a large restaurant up the street from them called Clymers. They must be new in town because I have never talked to anyone in Berthoud that didn't know who Clymer was.
By the way I have some books by Clymer that you can borrow anytime you want.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By DAVID SPENCE on Saturday, December 07, 2013 - 03:05 am:

I am also interested in the Clymer name , my 1915 Touring was originally owned by Frank B Clymer , does anyone know of his connection with the family , I have tried but never had a great deal of success finding anything .


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Daniel M. Chapasko on Saturday, December 07, 2013 - 07:16 am:

BERTHOUD LIBRARY.... You would think they had at least one book of their famous native son. They don't. It is a very nice new library with a great staff....they just don't have anything on Floyd Clymer. Maybe I will sponsor a Floyd Clymer day in Berthoud this Spring. Would anyone come?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Fretschl Oshkosh Wi on Saturday, December 07, 2013 - 08:47 am:

Another great car book were the Dyke's Automobile Encyclopedia. I wonder who was A.L. Dyke was ?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Larry Smith on Saturday, December 07, 2013 - 11:35 am:

I met Floyd Clymer several times when I was young. He had a store up on Virgil Ave in Los Angeles, where he sold his books and other automotive stuff. He was a guest speaker at one of our early Chev Club meetings up in North Hollywood back in the early '60s.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Philip Berg on Saturday, December 07, 2013 - 05:13 pm:

Not sure if the current Clymer manuals are of Floyd decent but here is my claim to fame.

My 1980 Suzuki GS550E was used as a cover bike for one their manuals. Photo shoot happened in a church parking lot a block from my house. I sold the bike to help finance my coupelet preservation.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By James A. Golden on Saturday, December 07, 2013 - 08:55 pm:

Floyd Clymer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born: October 26, 1895, Indianapolis, Indiana
Died: January 22, 1970 (aged 74) Los Angeles, California
Occupation: Motorsports racer, dealer and publisher
Also known for Clymer repair manual series
Awards Motorcycle Hall of Fame

Floyd Clymer, a pioneer in the sport of motorcycling, was a racer, a motorcycle dealer and distributor, a magazine publisher, a racing promoter, an author, and a motorcycle manufacturer.

He was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.

Clymer is well known for publishing an annual yearbook for the Indianapolis 500 from 1946-1968. He also produced a number of books on vintage cars, including Those Wonderful Old Automobiles, Henry's Wonderful Model T, Treasury of Early American Automobiles and a series of Historical Motor Scrapbooks.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gilbert V. I. Fitzhugh on Saturday, December 07, 2013 - 09:54 pm:

The September-October issue of Antique Automobile, the AACA's national magazine, has a good article about Floyd Clymer and his publications.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Keith Gumbinger, Kenosha, WI on Saturday, December 07, 2013 - 10:13 pm:

Larry - You mention above that Floyd Clymer was a guest speaker at one of your Early Chev. Club meetings. I'm just wondering if he spoke about one of his favorite topics: Model T Fords??

Just sayin' :-)

Keith


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dane Hawley Near Melbourne Australia on Sunday, December 08, 2013 - 04:48 am:

As a lad in the late 1950's I did everything that I could to find out as much as I could about Model T's and Ford history. Apart from searching for, and buying books, I wrote to many people in various parts of the world. Among those people was Floyd Clymer and we corresponded for quite a time. I found him to be a fount of knowledge and, besides that, always seemed to make the time to clearly answer my various questions. I even joined his 'Worldwide Old Car Club' and subscribed, for a while to his magazine 'Automobile Topics'. A great bloke in my opinion.

Dane.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Dallas TX on Sunday, December 08, 2013 - 09:53 am:

My dad was a dealer for Clymer Motorbooks in the 1950's. We had stacks of "Automobile Topics" magazines which I devoured in order to read the Antique Automobile section in each issue.

It is remarkable all the contributions that Floyd Clymer made to so many facets of automobile and motorcycle history. He is indeed one of the most credible sources of first person accounts of Ford history, since he knew Henry and competed against the local Ford dealer in Berthoud.

Here are just a few of the Clymer published items in my collection. Many of the reproduction manuals for Model A,B,C,F,N,R,S,K would not exist if Clymer had not searched out copies of them to reproduce in the 1950's.



How many of us can say they knew Henry Ford personally?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Verne Shirk on Sunday, December 08, 2013 - 10:42 am:

Floyd Clymer was national president of the Horseless Carriage Club in 1956. Along about that time, he came to Wichita, Kansas, for the Wichita Regional Group - HCCA Joyland Show. My dad made a "home movie" of the event. There is at least one scene with Floyd in it. The Joyland Shows were popular in the 1950's. It was a field day that featured car games.

Other events that took place at the Joyland Shows over the years included a visit by Tom McCahill (an automotive editor for Mechanics Illustrated) and a photo op with Ford's 999 racer with you in the drivers seat!

Joyland was a local amusement park that was built/owned/operated by Herb Ottaway (also famous for his steam car restorations, the design of the Ottaway burner for steam car boilers, a 6-cyl Indian motocycle, and the inventor of a gasoline powered pogo stick). Joyland Park had a field to the side of it that was just right for a car event.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Erik Johnson on Sunday, December 08, 2013 - 12:26 pm:

Note Charles Hendy mentioned in the clipping that Royce posted.

That is the same Charles Hendy discussed in a recent post:

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/331880/405694.html?1386278493


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By George Clipner-Los Angeles on Sunday, December 08, 2013 - 10:55 pm:

Martin Vowell met the guy in his younger days. Floyd talked him into getting into Model Ts.
Perhaps Martin would care to share a few stories.
Think he got a few parts from him too.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rob Heyen - Nebraska on Thursday, December 12, 2013 - 09:32 am:

"Seattle Times", June 19, 1910



Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Keith Townsend ; ^ ) Gresham, Orygun on Friday, December 13, 2013 - 12:53 am:

I always enjoy reading about Floyd Clymer.

After he arrived in Walla Walla (The town so nice they named it twice) he got a job selling Fords at the Dahlen Bros. Agency in the McBride building at 10 East Poplar Street between First and Second Streets. He was probably hired in late 1910 and sold cars for Harold Dahlen until 1911.

You may be asking what is the significance of Floyd Clymer selling Model Ts at Dahlen Bros? Well, it just so happens that my 1911 was purchased new from Dahlen Bros!



: ^ )
Keith


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