Staff/Contact Info Advertise Classified Ads Submission Guidelines

 

MY SUN DAY NEWS

Proudly Serving the Community of
Sun City in Huntley
 

Cruising down Memory Lane

By Chris La Pelusa

HUNTLEY – Modern cars have computers. (In some cases, very intelligent computers). Modern cars talk to us, start remotely or with a push of a button (keys becoming archaic), tell you where to go (saving modern man from having to “ask for directions”), run on battery power, are voice-activated, can “sense” the road even if the modern driver doesn’t, and can call for help by themselves in the event of an accident.

For all this technology, it’s hard to believe that the history of automobiles is a short one. It wasn’t too long before Hybrids and SUVs that there were Packards and Thriftmasters and Model Ts, cars that weren’t assembled in a factory but shipped in pieces to the dealership for assembly there. Not too long ago in the grand scheme of things, at least. And like many towns in the Midwest, Huntley’s roots in automotive history go back to almost the very beginning.

From dirt roads to the Rt. 47 widening project, Huntley has been on the move, starting with Paul Kreutzer, who owned the first car in Huntley, a 1906 Thomas B. Jeffery he purchased in Belvidere for $1,150 cash on June 2 of the same year as the car’s make.

A pictorial history of Huntley’s automotive past is included in the print version of the Sun Day’s April 7 edition, and you may download an electronic copy (in PDF format) by clicking here. So from the Buick dealership that used to be where Strode’s Furniture now stands and the gas station and auto shop that is now Anchor Spa and Pool on Main Street to modern-day Drendel’s Corner and Tom Peck Ford, we hope you enjoy the scenic ride into Huntley’s automotive history.


Contributors: Material and information provided by and assembled with the help of Huntley Historians Jake Marino, Tom Conly, and Huntley Historian and Images of America Huntley author Nancy Bacheller. Other resources provided by the Huntley Area Public Library. Permission for use of photos credit in captions.





Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*