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Revs Program at Stanford - preserving the meaning of the Automobile

The automobile in the "auto" biography.

Recently Stanford University hosted a gathering of experts, collectors, racers, historians, philanthropists and others to discuss the importance of the automobile. Not just the past, present or future, but what it means to society from a cultural and technological standpoint as well as technology in itself.


This was not a gathering of actual cars although there was a special Bentley on display, a 1933 “Eddie Hall” boat-tail of which an innovative “auto” biography was created. For the modern fans of speed, a Lamborghini SV670 happened to be nearby too. It was not an art display although past literature and advertisements are sometimes art-worthy. What it was is a series of presentations about the impact of the automobile and preserving and celebrating its history and future.

The intent of Revs is to continue research and teaching of automotive topics across various schools such as humanities, fine arts, social sciences, design, science and engineering. Also, it is to encourage the crossover and interaction to professions, enthusiasts, collectors, scholars, scientists and students. The automobile is an understudied icon of our culture. We live and die with, from and because of The Car.

The Revs Program at Stanford and The Revs Institute of Automotive Research in Naples, Florida were founded by Miles Collier. Among other accomplishments and talents, Mr. Collier is an investor, philanthropist, and a noted authority on vintage automobiles. He is obviously a visionary as well.

The Executive Director of Revs is Sven Beiker who also holds the title of Executive Director Center for Automotive Research at Stanford. He also holds teaching positions in Stanford's School of Engineering and the Graduate School of Business and previously, Dr. Beiker was with the BMW Group for over 13 years.

Besides other notable contributors and scholars, two other affliates that are more likely known to automotive enthusiasts are Duncan Dayton, professional race car driver and American LeMans Team owner. The other is noted racing journalist, author, consultant and film producer Doug Nye.

A multi-faceted, multi-media library is the resource that will be utilized to preserve and share the knowledge of the automobile. Take a closer look at http://www.stanford.edu/group/revs/.

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