Why is the Self Starter called the Self Starter?

[chrisntam]

Why is the Self Starter called the Self Starter?

Member #29206 is wondering if it's time for a re-title.

Are we forever linked to the past, or is that the point of the club?

Not ruffling feathers, just wondering......

chris.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I believe it is because Cadillac were the first to use the Self Starter, after Kettering invented it.

As to why change the name?   With so many car club magazines being produced these days, it would be difficult to pick a new name that didn't clash with another.

Bruce.

[savemy67]

What is old is new again.

According to Maurice Hendry in his book on Cadillac, Henry Leland was chagrined to learn that someone had been injured using a crank to start a car, so he set to work procuring a self-starter for Cadillac motor cars.  In those days, starting a car with a self-starter was often a function of stepping on or pressing a button.  By the late fifties, starting a car became as easy as turning a key in a lock.  In the late '00s, cars once again began using starter buttons that one presses, instead of turning keys.  Regardless, virtually all cars today use a self-starter to fire the engine, so, after 103 years, I think the title, Self-Starter is still apropos.

Christopher Winter

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

According to Maurice Hendry in his book on Cadillac, Henry Leland was chagrined to learn that someone had been injured using a crank...

Just to clarify, the individual in question was a personal friend of H M Leland and the car he had been attempting to start was a Cadillac.

Ultimately the man perished due to his injuries.

Henry Leland was not just dismayed, but deeply shaken by the tragic mishap as a result and subsequently became adamant that never again would a Cadillac car maim or kill an owner in such a manner - thus the self starter was born.

As a side note, Cadillac was also the first manufacturer with electric lighting & ignition which, along with the self starter all appeared for the first time in a production motorcar - all in the same year of 1912.

"Cadillac's introduction of electric self-starting on its refined 1912 models marked a major advance in automobile design. In itself, automatic electric starting constituted an unprecedented breakthrough in automotive engineering. When combined with improved ignition and electric lighting, all controlled from a centralized Delco electrical system, these remarkably advanced features immediately catapulted Cadillac far ahead of every other make of car in existence in sophistication and convenience."

- Walter M P McCall, 80 Years of Cadillac & La Salle

That said, I personally cannot imagine a more appropriate name for the Cadillac & La Salle Club magazine than The Self Starter.

[R Schroeder]

To extend on what Eric said;
The story of the man who died.

http://www.motorera.com/history/hist06.htm

[Walter Youshock]

The self starter also earned Cadillac it's second Dewar Trophy.  No other car had accomplished that feat and Cadillac was the first American car to win it for interchangeable parts in 1908.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

Why is the Self Starter called the Self Starter?

Member #29206 is wondering if it's time for a re-title.

Are we forever linked to the past, or is that the point of the club?

Not ruffling feathers, just wondering......

To answer your question - as one of the primary endeavors of the CLC is not only to honor but preserve the legacy of the Cadillac Motor Car Division and as to whether the Club is forever linked to the past, my answer is a resounding yes - among the many other aspects of Cadillac & La Salle collectibility to which the Club is also linked.

As to whether the CLC magazine be renamed, my answer would be an equally fervent no.

Thank you for the interesting discussion.

Eric

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

The Australian CLC Magazine is titled "La Cad"

Bruce.

[Jeff Hansen]

The Valley Forge Region newsletter is titled The Goddess.

To answer the question from the OP, the club's newsletter was first called The Self-Starter in February 1959.  Our official publication was just called the Club Bulletin before that.  I seem to recall reading in a document on the Club's history that there was a contest to name the newsletter and the selected winner was The Self-Starter.  The newsletter was comprised of 8.5 x 11 pages stapled at the corner until December 1985.  With the January 1986 issue, the newsletter was then changed to the magazine format we enjoy today.

Jeff

edited to add information on the origin of the name.

[David Greenburg]

The New Zealand newsletter is "Finz" which is coincidentally part of my personal email. Not sure who started using it first. And the Peach State (Georgia) Region newsletter is the "Tailfin."

[Jon Riley #13576]

Why is the Self Starter called the Self Starter?

Member #29206 is wondering if it's time for a re-title.

Are we forever linked to the past, or is that the point of the club?

Not ruffling feathers, just wondering......

chris.

Yes, that is the point of the club.  The focus of the club is the HISTORY of Cadillac. 

[Jay Friedman]

The Peach State Region newsletter is called the Tail Fin. 

Under Leland's direction, Charles Kettering was the engineer who developed the "Delco System", which consisted of the electric self starter, a generator, a storage battery, a rotating ignition distributor with contact points, an ignition coil and electric lighting.  Apparently his model for the starter motor was the type of electric motor used in cash registers. 

Many cars previous to this used a magneto (built into the flywheel) or a dry cell non-rechargeable battery with a timer for ignition.  Headlights were powered by various gases and, of course, starting was with a crank, pushing the car or by rolling it down a hill.  Interestingly, even though they have an electric starter, in case of battery failure many cars as late as the 1930s (like my '32 Ford) still have provision for a crank. 

[Gene Beaird]

Rename the newsletter?  Why?  It's apparently a VERY good conversation starter!   

[35-709]

".... in case of battery failure many cars as late as the 1930s (like my '32 Ford) still have provision for a crank."

My 1950 Jaguar Saloon has provision for a crank and was delivered with one in its tool kit --- but, of course, it is not a Cadillac.

[56 Eldorado]

The Saguaro Region Newsletter is the Standard.

[chrisntam]

In my world, a self starter is this:

self-start·er

noun

noun: self-starter; plural noun: self-starters

1.

a person who is sufficiently motivated or ambitious to start a new career or business or to pursue further education without the help of others.  "he was the self-starter who worked his way up from messenger boy to account executive"

2.

dated - the starter of a motor-vehicle engine.

In my 40 years around cars, never heard a starter called a self starter.  To me, a self starter is definition #1.  I guess I'm slow.  Let the chuckling begin...........

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Actually, the Starter Motor in an automobile is a Starting Motor.

There is no such thing as a "Self Starter" as in the automotive world, it would have to start something on its' own, without outside assistance.   And this is only happening with these Hybrid cars that get the computer to start the engine when the battery power is getting low, or the car needs the additional power of the charging motor.

In the Drag Racing world, a Remote Starting Motor is used to start a supercharged engine.

Calling the original Starter a Self Starter, would come from the fact that the driver was able to start the engine by himself (or herself) without getting an outside person to crank the engine.

Bruce.

[Jay Friedman]

Yes, it is a starting motor, but to parse that adjective as much possible, one could say that it is a "self" starter in the sense that no physical human effort is required to operate it, beyond turning a key, touching a button or stepping on a pedal.  I imagine that the word came about because compared to the bothersome and potentially dangerous operation involved in hand cranking a motor, the car was truly starting by itself.  Since to early users it must have seemed like a miraculous invention indeed, applying some electrical or other outside force such as compressed air is trivial by comparison and doesn't count as real effort. 

BTW: I spent some years in Nepal and northern India when young, where in the local languages the device is merely called a "self".  No additional words such as "starter or "motor" is appended, so the word stands alone as a noun.

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

2. dated - the starter of a motor-vehicle engine.

In my 40 years around cars, never heard a starter called a self starter.  To me, a self starter is definition #1.  I guess I'm slow.  Let the chuckling begin...........

Now you're deliberately being pedantic.

The fact that definition #2 of "self-starter" has disappeared from today's vernacular is not the point. The point of the term was to provide a distinction between automobiles with electric starting as opposed that those not so equipped. Since "crank starting" has disappeared on just about all cars manufactured for the past century, it comes as no surprise that the prefix "self" became redundant.

I am also astonished to find that definition #2 even continues to survive. That in itself speaks volumes about the significance of the self starter once had in the automotive industry which is all the more reason for its relevance to Cadillac, therefore the CLC.

Finally, "the self starter" indirectly provides a conversation "starter" - pardon the pun  - because over the years, many people have asked me the same question: "Why Self Starter?" which presents the opportunity to relate a bit about the Cadillac story!

As I have said, the name of the CLC magazine merely intended as a tribute to one of Cadillac's earliest & most innovative engineering developments -  which had been a hallmark of Cadillac for many many years.

*I strongly suggest you go back and read the quotation in italics cited in Reply #4.

[76eldo]

Why change something for the sake of change?

By the way, there actually is/was a "self starting" device.

Look up an accessory called a Startex.

Brian