Frederick Law Olmsted
(from www.FrederickLawOlmstead.com)
During the later half of the nineteenth century cities in America underwent tremendous changes. More people were moving to the cities than ever before. It became evident that cities needed to be transformed into more hospitable places, and not just centers of commerce. No longer could the leaders of society or the City fathers sit back and watch the Cities operate. Towards the end of the 1850s city beautification became an issue that more and more leaders followed and explored. The theory behind this movement was that the more aesthetically pleasing you make a city, the more people will want to live in that city, and the happier they will be.
One of the greatest champions of the City Beautiful movement was Frederick law Olmsted. Olmsted was the leading landscape architect of the post-Civil War generation, and has long been acknowledged as the founder of American landscape architecture.
Frederick Law Olmsted (1822 - 1903) was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was raised as a gentleman, and while he never fully attended college, he did become a very learned man. When he was 18, Olmsted moved to New York to begin a career as a scientific farmer. Soon after that career failed to take off, he toured Europe with his brother, served as a merchant seaman, and traveled throughout the southern United States as a newspaper correspondent, publishing several books as an outgrowth of that career.
Through several connections gained as a columnist with the New Yorker, Olmsted was able to gain the appointed as the Superintendent of Central Park, New York City, in 1857, early in the development of that park project. He soon met Calvert Vaux, who had been working on a design for the park with Andrew Jackson Downing. When Downing died, Vaux approached OImsted about collaborating on the project. Their plan, titled Greensward, was ultimately selected as the winning design.
In 1859, Olmsted married the widow of his brother, John, and he adopted her children. In 1861, Olmsted obtained a leave of absence from his duties at Central Park so that he could serve as the Executive Secretary (the head of administration) of United States Sanitary Commission, an early version of the Red Cross, which was responsible for aiding the well-being of the soldiers of the Union Army during the Civil War. In 1863, he was offered the position manager at the Mariposa Estate in California, a gold mining venture north of San Francisco, and he left the organization. He later returned to New York when the project failed, joining Vaux in designing Prospect Park (1865-1873), Chicago's Riverside subdivision, Buffalo's park system (1868-1876), and the Niagara Reservation at Niagara Falls (1887). In 1883, he departed New York City and relocated to Brookline, Massachusetts with his practice. Olmsted had begun work on a park system for the City of Boston, eventually he focused much of his time on the Emerald Necklace. This along with his work on the design of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago were among the last of Olmsted's projects. In 1895, due to failing health Olmsted turned the firm over to his partners, and soon senility forced him to be confined in the McLean Hospital at Waverly, Massachusetts. Ironically, Olmsted had designed the grounds of the institution.
Frederick Law Olmsted died on August 28, 1903. The landscape architecture firm he founded was continued by his sons and their successors until 1980. Subsequently, his home and office were purchased by the National Park Service and opened to the public as museum. His papers are now housed in the Library of Congress, while the Olmsted National Historic site preserves the drawings and plans for much of Olmsted and his firm's body of work.
Monday, February 13, 2017
We have one of these cars. It goes to the history of the WozPin, and the longevity of keeping something around. Lots of fun in this car of ours, and it's still parked in the driveway. Now, to find the next worthy owner.
Ford Mustang SVO
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2012) |
| Third generation | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Ford Motor Company |
| Production | 1984–1986 |
| Assembly | Dearborn, Michigan |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 3-door liftback |
| Layout | FR layout |
| Platform | Ford Fox platform |
| Related | Ford LTD Ford Thunderbird Mercury Capri Mercury Marquis Mercury Cougar Lincoln Continental Lincoln Mark VII Ford Mustang |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 2.3L I4 |
| Transmission | 5-speed manual |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 100.5 in (2,553 mm) |
| Length | 179.6 in (4,562 mm) |
| Width | 69.1 in (1,755 mm) |
| Height | 52.1 in (1,323 mm) |
| Chronology | |
| Successor | Ford Mustang SVT Cobra |
History
In the wake of the oil crisis of the 1970s, the American muscle car had effectively died off, the result of ever-rising fuel costs and the advent of more strict safety and emissions controls imposed worldwide. As a result, the "big three" automakers (Ford, General Motors and Chrysler Corporation), for whom muscle cars had been a steady and reliable source of income, began to suffer somewhat financially. Many of the great vehicles of the muscle car era had been either completely discontinued or had been painstakingly detuned to help keep them in compliance with new Federal emissions regulations and the rising demand for better gas mileage. The Mustang, although still in production, had suffered greatly through this time; diminished power output and Ford's seemingly complete inability to come up with an attractive body style in the post-fastback era were major issues.Ford began to make a major push forward with the Mustang in 1982, nearly completely reinventing every aspect of the vehicle, which included putting a new emphasis on the model's sporty nature. Just prior to this, in the fall of 1981, Ford decided to form a division that could oversee both the company's racing program and the production of limited-edition, high-performance street-legal vehicles based on or taking technology from the race vehicles. Officially, the division was called the Special Vehicle Operations Department, but the public came to know them as simply SVO (S-V-O). Tasked with developing something that was both plainly American and competent to compete with entry-level European sports cars of the day, the team went to work on the new Mustang, deeming that it was the most obvious choice as a platform basis for a high-performance vehicle.
Turbocharged Power
Still ultimately concerned with issues such as fuel consumption and emissions, SVO engineers opted to pass over the venerable production 5.0 liter V-8 in lieu of an updated, turbocharged, and stronger version of Ford's 2.3 liter inline four, originally used in the Pinto. Endowing the engine with an advanced, computer controlled fuel injection system and an intercooled turbocharger system helped push power output to 175 horsepower, fairly high for the time. In addition, a "fuel grade" switch was added to the dash, allowing the driver to adjust the vehicle's performance level depending on if premium or standard grade fuel was being used. A factory installed Hurst shifter was made standard in order to improve feel and quickness. With fine tuning and the addition of a new water-cooling system, power output rose to 200 horsepower (149 kW) for 1986 (205 horsepower (153 kW) for 439 85.5 SVOs). Also the 1985.5 and 1986 SVO had new "aero" headlights. These headlights were designed for the 1984 model, but regulations would not allow them to be used until the mid-1985 update. The vehicle's standard Borg-Warner 5-speed manual transmission was updated then as well, receiving revised gearing to match the new 3:73 rear end ratio,| Mustang SVO horsepower and torque ratings by year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Power | Torque | |||||
| 1984 | 175 hp (130 kW) @ 4400 rpm | 210 lb·ft (280 N·m) @ 3000 rpm | |||||
| 1985 | 175 hp (130 kW) @ 4400 rpm | 210 lb·ft (280 N·m) @ 3000 rpm | |||||
| 1985.5 | 205 hp (153 kW) @ 5000 rpm | 248 lb·ft (336 N·m) @ 3200 rpm | |||||
| 1986 | 200 hp (149 kW) @ 5000 rpm | 240 lb·ft (330 N·m) @ 3200 rpm | |||||
The Overall Package
In addition to the advanced engine, the SVO featured several key modifications over the standard Mustang to help increase performance. The front suspension geometry was modified, 15:1 ratio power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering system replaced the standard system, a limited slip, 3.45:1, 7.5" Traction-Lok axle was added for the first year of production (later models used a 3.73:1 ratio, 7.5" axle), a new, ventilated four-wheel-disc braking system (sourced from the Fox platform Lincoln Continental) replaced the GT's disc/drum setup (a first for the Mustang), specially designed pedals were used to aid "heel-and-toe" shifting and a complete Koni suspension system featuring specially tuned adjustable struts, shocks, and horizontal dampers replaced the setup used on the Mustang GT. Five-lug, 16 × 7 inch aluminum wheels wearing P225-50R16 VR Goodyear Eagle "Gatorback" tires were standard as well (originally shod with German Goodyear NCT tires, and later Gatorbacks). The rear disc brakes, the five lug hubs, the sixteen inch (406 mm) wheels, the quad-shock rear end (early 84 units used a solid steel traction bar with a rubber cover), and the Konis were used on the SVO before any other Mustang.Interior was only available in charcoal grey (leather or velour) and features included adjustable sport seats with lumbar supports, a leather-wrapped tilt steering wheel, shift lever, and emergency brake handle, power windows, door locks and A/C and a premium stereo system, options that weren't normally found on small American coupes. However, an optional Competition Prep package deleted many of those features to save weight.
The exterior had a unique front grille and hood that was only used on the SVO line, thinner side moldings, smoother sail panels behind the rear quarter windows, small rear wheel spats and a biplane spoiler that was also unique to the SVO. The pinstriped taillights introduced on the SVO were later used on the 1993 Cobra model as well.
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