[CR]Nulli Secundus, Hetchins history

(Example: History)

From: "Thomas Rawson" <twrawson@comcast.net>
To: <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>, <pariscycles@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 10:25:08 -0800
cc: Len Ingram <len@nutwood30.free-online.co.uk>
cc: Len Ingram
Subject: [CR]Nulli Secundus, Hetchins history

Wow Mick,

You may have just named the missing link! Think Im not alone - hope I didnt miss something in the various Hetchins dialogues and histories, but I/we have been wondering exactly what or who was the source of the proprietary latin series lug sets.

Charles Vaughn! Dixon-Vaughn! Could this be it?

One of the more interesting dialogues we've had off and on, has probed what exactly was the circumstance that caused the end of the Latins. Did Hetchins decide market forces were changing and no longer ordered the lugs or did their supplier just go out of business as kind of a "buggy whip" story, if you follow B School case studies.

Some of us have been working on a Hetchins model timeline spreadsheet. At last count, and this will surprise some folks, there were 55 distinct models! Laying out what we think is known on a single chart is kind of a revealing exercise. We can list all the various models and when they started. Nice sharp data points. The Latin Series (which is only 14 of the 55 models), "officially" started in 1950 or thereabouts. But the line gets a little fuzzy when we try to document model end dates. Essentially models end in the history via the last date of a known model in the Registry. The Latins mostly "died out" in the late 1960s but there are at least three Phase 2 Magnum Opuses dating to early 80s.

The questions we've had fun with are when did it (the Latin series) end, and why. My excitement over your Dixon-Vaughn info is, assuming the possibility these folks were the main source of supply for Latin lugs, does someone then know the condition of this company and whether it was they who pulled the plug on the Latin lugs or Hetchins themselves?

Cheers
Tom Rawson
Oakland, CA