A New Year and Fresh Starts
Excerpted from The Gallery Times, January 2025, by Darrel Burnett
Every new year automatically brings with it a fresh reset completely independent of the past –a chance to start anew.
A fresh start is exactly what the automobile received in the month of January 126 years ago. The word “automobile” officially appeared in print in the January 3rd, 1899, edition of The New York Times. That ubiquitous word now known worldwide was a cross-cultural marriage of the Greek word “auto” meaning self and the French word “mobile” translating to “moving.”
Just think how fortunate we are that other references to the horseless carriage like autowain, autotruck, quadracycle, or, my personal favorite, hippomobile didn’t stick!
January authored other innovations like the first enclosed car when Hudson introduced the Model 54 hardtop on January 11th, 1913:
The first VW Beetle appeared on American shores January 17th,1949, to a less than rousing reception I might add:
Only 2 — that’s right, a mere 2 VW Beetles sold in America that first year. But it wasn’t long before the Beetle picked up momentum, eventually peaking at 570,000 units sold in the U.S. in 1970.
Just 3 years after the curtain rose on the Beetle in the U.S., Chevrolet introduced an experiment to see if America would embrace a two-seater sports car:
The Corvette debuted at the elegant Waldorf Astoria Hotel January 16th, 1953, and is still going strong 72 years later!
I am honored to add one more to the list of January milestones, the introduction of my friend and colleague Aaron Geitner who succeeds me as the new Executive Director of The Automobile Gallery & Event Center:
Aaron is a 20-year veteran of the business world, including roles as the Director of Development and Marketing at Exceptional Equestrians, Inc., and Director of the Vehicle Program, Marketing, and Public Relations at Rawhide Youth Services.
Aaron also brings an extensive background in the automotive world to the Gallery as the former Vice President of Sales & Operations for the Russ Darrow Group, one of the largest automobile dealerships in the state of Wisconsin.
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with Aaron for a number of years in our respective organizations and I’m excited to have Aaron lead the continued the growth and success of The Automobile Gallery & Event Center for future generations.
As for me, I have been honored to be involved with The Automobile Gallery & Event Center since before we officially opened our doors January 1st, 2016, including the past several years as Executive Director.
Though I am stepping away from the day-to-day leadership of The Automobile Gallery & Event Center to free up time to pursue other passions in my life, I’m pleased to be moving into the role of Director of Curation & Preservation. This will allow me to focus on building our world-class collection of automobiles and trucks.
