Automotive
The years Toufic Chamoun spent with the Ford Motor Company in Detroit had a profound impact on him directly, and on his career as a mechanical engineer and car enthusiast.
After the war, the United States of America of the 20s represented economic prosperity, a vision for the future, and the essence of progress— while the rest of the modern world was struggling to define its role and its future. He arrived as a young man with dashing good looks, an impeccable dress-code and the ability to speak multiple languages ready to absorb all that America had to offer.
He was reputed to have high-order intelligence which could be seen in his piercing eyes, and in his ability to process complex equations and orchestrate simple solutions.
These were the Roaring Twenties, and while cities such as Paris, New York and Berlin were focused on social and cultural break with tradition, Detroit burst into the national spotlight as the epicentre of the automobile industry.
Detroit was the fourth-largest city in the US, burgeoning with new businesses and every flavour of leisure. Prohibition had been passed and the underground developed the first speakeasies, and a host of nightclubs catering to different tastes and classes where Jazz was the lubricant of the night.
Working at the Ford Motor Company and on the different model cars presented an opportunity to understand the entire business ecosystem. Ford’s emphasis was on creating an affordable car for the masses became so popular at one point that a majority of Americans owned one.
The manufacturing of the Model T car was directly correlated to Ford’s revolutionary modernization of the manufacturing process.
Toufic Chamoun was enthralled with all aspects of the process, from the inner workings of the engine, to the functionality of the vehicle, and the design of the chassis. His fascination with automation proved to be seminal in his career where he created mechanical inventions that could automate analogue processes.
The Cadillac
The wealth inequality in the U.S of the 1920s was very pronounced, there was barely a middle class. The upper classes were the market orchestrators and lived lavish lifestyles, while the lower classes were oblivious to the idea of a stock market and investing, they were the blue-collar labourers living in poverty. Toufic Chamoun saw first-hand the earliest signs of the meaning of cars and how they relate to one’s identity.
While in Detroit he was enamoured with the Cadillac, one of the first luxury cars in the world and the American elite’s premier luxury brand. The Cadillac was at the forefront of technological advances with electrical systems and manual transmission; its V8 engine set the standard for the American automotive industry. While there, he immersed himself purely for pleasure into the Cadillac, its history, the engine, the design and its role in powering the upper classes.
Upon his return to Lebanon, he applied for his driver’s license and held Lebanon’s license number 34. Stories of his showmanship reverberated of him driving down the stairs of El Tell in Tripoli while onlookers watched with enthusiasm.
In 1926, he acquired his first sportscar convertible, a Ford Boatail Roadster and shipped it back with him to Lebanon. It had the license plate number 362. While the Ford car was his play-toy, his true passion was the beloved Cadillac. He began a lifelong relationship with the Cadillac brand and company, a loyalty that was reciprocated with invitations to Europe and the U.S. as a valued customer.
Over the years he would upgrade his Cadillac as the chassis changed. The 1946 Cadillac Fleetwood, followed by his Cadillac Coupe De Ville in the 50s, and in 1965 his red Cadillac Eldorado, often parked in front of the villa in summer. His last car before the war in the 70s was a hybrid design which he custom created; it was the chassis of a midnight blue Cadillac with the hood of a Rolls-Royce.