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San Francisco circa 1928. "DeSoto sedan cresting hill." Last seen here a year ago, making steady progress up Webster Street toward points unknown. 5x7 inch glass negative by automotive impresario Christopher Helin. View full size.
I presume it's being chased by a 1928 Ford, driven by Steve McQueen's father.
Even for Bay Area drivers, it can still be "exciting" at times! For extra fun, try navigating through SF hill streets with a manual transmission after the clutch throwout mechanism failed part way through the trip (my Datsun 510 in the early 70's). Shifting without the clutch is tricky, but learnable. Stopping at an intersection and starting out again is insane!
[My baptism of fire was in the 70s in a Datsun 1200 on Gough which, if you were brave and wanted to avoid congested Van Ness, you took to catch the Central Freeway to continue south on 101. You tried to time it to arrive first at the stop signs so you could pull up over the hump rather than being stuck on the incline. -tterrace]
Exactly, TT! And pre-280, that was the only reasonable way through the City, north- or south-bound. Starting the engine in gear made that placement a requirement...
but I can't help but wonder, how were the cars transported in the early days. Flatbed? Inside box cars? In your archives do you have any photos of the actual loading and unloading of the cars that make it to San Francisco where, apparently, all car makers wanted their new models photographed.
I flew into San Francisco once for a convention and after a few days rented a car to drive up to Oregon. I picked the car up near this very street, and when I came out of the garage I was actually afraid I'd slide backward if I stopped. I'm sure you get used to it, but for a flatlander, the first time on those hills is a very scary experience.
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