The top ten car stories of 2011 on Hover Motor Co.

2011 was a pretty good year for our little blog. I wrote 196 stories, and we picked up hundreds of thousands of page views. While the majority of the readers here are predictably from Kansas and Missouri, we had hundreds, usually thousands, of readers from all 50 states, and several more from countries all around the world.

It's easy to forget just how many people actually have access to this place. They don't call it the World Wide Web for nothin'!

Naturally, some stories did better than others. For example, I have a real passion for model car stories, so I spend a great deal of time setting up pictures and making fancy slideshows for them. But in spite of all the effort, they rarely get much reaction from readers. I like them, though, and since I'm the one writing all the stories, I'll probably continue to do them as long as I keep the lights on here.

So what did people like to read? I've compiled a list of the top ten stories as measured by page views on Hover Motor Company in 2011. Links are provided as well, just in case you want to relive them. Results are taken from the Google Analytics for this site, and span from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011. There are a couple of stories in there that were written in 2010, but they continued to generate enough page views to make it on the list. So, without further adieu, here are the top stories of 2011 ...

Know your Airflow. How one of the best cars of its day was also one of the biggest failures

If you want to talk about cars that were ahead of their time, the Art-Deco lines of Chrysler’s Airflow need to be at the top of your list.

To fully appreciate the story of the Airflow, you need to put it into context. Airflows were built between 1934 and 1937. As you look at the Airflow pictures on this page, think about what a ’34 Chevy or Ford looked like. Heck, look at the first two cars on the left on my granddad’s car lot in the header and you’ll see a ’39 Pontiac and a ’37 Plymouth. That’s pretty much how all cars looked back then. So the swoopy Airflow was a tremendous departure from what people were used to.

Downtown DeSoto open house reveals an unforgettable collection of automotive passion in downtown Clinton

When you think of great car collections, the Kansas City area may not be the first place that comes to mind. Yet, week after week, we are able to find some excellent shows and museums within a short drive.

Take the place I went this weekend. "Downtown DeSoto" is located about 75-miles south of KC in Clinton, Mo., and when it comes to truly fascinating collections, this one is hard to beat.

The collection is the work of Jim Raysik, who is also the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and GMC dealer in Clinton. And although there are some great cars, what really hits you is the meticulousness and completeness of the presentation.