About 35 miles south of our great city, there is the charming “small town” of Waxahachie. Like all communities in North Texas, that small town is growing rapidly. Steve Chapman’s family arrived in Texas in 1850, settled in Waxahachie in 1908, and the Chapman name has been attached to integrity and public service for the intervening 175 years.
Steve graduated from SMU Law School in 1965. One year later, he was appointed Waxahachie City Attorney, an office he would hold for the next
53 years.
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Steve’s 1931 Cadillac Fleetwood convertible was a dream come true for the young lawyer in 1968. Priced new at a lofty $2,945 ($62,284 today), it was the height of sporty elegance and state-of-the-art motoring. A 353 cubic inch V8 powers the beautiful machine. There is incredible attention to detail everywhere. It has a rumble seat for two extra passengers on a sunny day, plus a storage compartment for golf clubs. And…it is unrestored! A box of documentation confirms the early owner’s focus on proper maintenance, which included an engine overhaul 88 years ago. For 57 years, it has been garaged at the same address that has been the family home since 1948.
Steve’s grandson, Sumner Smith, inherited the attorney and car genes. He graduated SMU Law School exactly 60 years after Steve, and he loves cars, powerful ones at that … currently doing some fast hauling in a new 700 horsepower Ford F150.
This is a family with a long, stable history watching their community grow and witnessing dramatic change throughout more than a century. This got me thinking about those changes in the context of everyday life and cars.
Between 1850, when the Chapmans came to Texas, and 1900, a trip from Arlington to Waxahachie was a 10-hour journey in a horse-drawn buggy at 4 miles per hour. In 1908, Henry Ford brought affordable gas-powered motoring to the public with the Model T, which could make that same 40-mile trip in an hour … perhaps the most significant revolution in automobile history! By 1931, a Cadillac like Steve’s could run reliably at 50 to 60 miles an hour, and the world was definitely shrinking.
Technology is a game-changer. Today, the state-of-the-art seems to be the all-electric car. Hard to believe that the first electric car dates to experiments in Scotland around 1832 … a century before Steve’s Cadillac. The first marketable electric was the Electrobat, built in Philadelphia in 1894. So … electrics are an old concept. What is new and truly revolutionary is the modern, self-driving car.
Like all of us over a certain age, driving in an ultra-fast-moving, congested environment is a daunting task. Navigating exits at 70 mph can be a little scary. Steve still loves to drive, and he values his independence. Sumner is up on the latest, and together they became fascinated with self-driving capability made available by Tesla and is now showing up on cars from all the major manufacturers.
Steve did his homework and, with Sumner’s prodding, he bought a 2025 Tesla Model Y with the fully automated self-driving option.
And, after hearing his story, I might be next in line!
Steve drove to downtown Dallas for a mid-morning meeting, which ran long and put him heading southwest in the middle of rush hour traffic congestion. He pushed the self-drive icon on the glass screen that constitutes the dashboard and commanded, “Go Home.” The car made the complete trip to Waxahachie, choosing the most efficient route without any steering, braking, or navigation input from the driver. It even parked itself in Steve’s garage, right next to his 94-year-old Cadillac.
In 1912, Cadillac introduced the self-starter, which was certainly revolutionary. No more dangerous and difficult hand cranking to start. Women were free to travel with the turn of a key and the push of a button. This invention killed the demand for electric cars.
Self-driving technology is today’s revolution, and it will soon be available on all cars and trucks. The technology is incredibly efficient and precise, and it will only become more capable and affordable … just like our smartphones. It has the potential to make personal ground transportation more effortless and safer than ever imagined. There are over 30 global positioning earth-orbiting satellites that can track our every move. That technology linked to our cars is today’s revolution.
Steve and Sumner both recall realizing their fascination with cars at the same age … about ten. Steve was intrigued with the styling and history; Sumner was taken with power and particularly the sound of powerful gasoline engines. Who could have predicted this new technology that is inevitable and welcome? I join them and countless other enthusiasts who appreciate the power, sound, and excitement that are part of our love affair with internal combustion engine cars. Can you imagine the Indy 500 or a local drag race without the roar of thousands of explosions per minute?
I join Steve and Sumner, hoping that the future can accommodate electricity and gasoline, and the revolutionary technology that is speeding our way.
