Brass, Gas, and Class

The Connecticut River Valley is the cradle of American industry. Springfield, Massachusetts, and Hartford, Connecticut, both on the river, were hotbeds of innovation from the 18th century on. Springfield was home to the federal government’s foremost armory. The standardization that was the hallmark of U.S. factories at the turn of the last century began in the firearms industry and it is a straight line from the Springfield Armory to Cadillac’s Dewar Trophy for parts interchangeability.

Springfield is also well known to lovers of the internal combustion engine for a few reasons. Probably best known is the Indian Motocycle Company. If one is exclusively a connoisseur of the four-wheeled conveyance, then the city is probably better recollected as the home of the Duryea brothers, Charles and Frank, who are credited with the introduction of the gasoline-powered automobile in the United States. Cognoscenti of the Full Classics are also likely to recall Rolls-Royce of America, which operated in that city from shortly after World War I