Motor Musings

You know how every adventure movie has that one scene with the mining cart? You know, the one where the hero loses the brakes in the cart and goes careening down into the mine. Eddie Rickenbacker did that.

You know when Snoopy gets up on his doghouse and dons his scarf and goggles and becomes the World War I flying Ace? Eddie Rickenbacker did that.

Have you ever wanted to own a famous racetrack? Maybe the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indy 500? Eddie Rickenbacker did that.

Have you ever wanted to run an airline, taking it from a financial mess to the first profitable airline in America? Eddie Rickenbacker did that. The airline was Eastern, and it was the first to operate without government subsidy.

You know how a lot of movies have someone shipwrecked for days at a time, clinging to a life raft, hoping against hope for rescue? Eddie Rickenbacker did that. He spent 26 days in a three person raft adrift in the ocean after a plane crash during World War II.

Now to the point of this post: have you ever wanted to own a car company? Eddie Rickenbacker did that. His Rickenbacker Straight Eight was the first production car sold with four wheel brakes, in 1923.

To summarize:

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Rickenbacker, Ace of Aces, Who’s who