Tuesday, September 08, 2026

there must be new management at Hagerty Ins Co, because today's experience was clearly not up to their usual standard of simple, clear, easy, and friendly.

 I get a statement in the mail, that my renewal will be about twice the amount I was charged last year. 


Since there is not a SINGLE thing that has changed, to my credit rating, my zip code, my driving record (Unless you count another year of trouble free and ticket free driving as IMPROVING my over all average years vs claims numerical factor, in my favor) not my cars indicated value, nor it's garage location or status (still in the garage, it hasn't moved in about 2 years, it's on jack stands) 

So I had to call to ask why. 

Feliza answered. And wouldn't give me a simple straight forward &^Y%*! answer.

That's right, I'm swearing... because I had to ask about 4 times to get enough clues from what she didn't say, and wouldn't state, to ask the right question that she couldn't dodge. 

340 last year, became 650 this year. Why? I haven't yet sent in a written mileage estimate of how many miles I'll drive this year, and they do NOT carry on from the last written estimate as something they will believe in perpetuity, in fact, after 12 months, they do not remember what my driving mileage has been, will be, ever was, or averaged. (less than 50 a year for about the last 10 years) (because I can't afford it, and did a BIG improvement that I went 3x over budget, and am paying down my credit card for) 

So, regardless of the annual photo sent in once a year of the speedometer, and it's garaged status, and the 20+ years of being a customer that they can look at the mileage and average it numerically... they instead, quoted me for 3500 miles. Which there is no logical reason for, and no evidence of my having driven my 69 R/T for, in over a decade, maybe, even in two decades, that car hasn't went more than 400 miles... total. 

But they went with %$@$^! 3500 miles of premium - about $650, and not the 341 they charged me last year, and the year before, for less than 100 miles.

And they do not have a Non Op insurance for garaged cars, unless you change your registration status with the DMV (waste of time) to Non Op

So until they receive a documented hard copy of an indication starting now that my previous 12 months of coverage is up, that I intend to drive it less than 100 miles, like the past couple of years, they simply send out a bill for 3500 miles of some cockamamie notion they decided is financially viable for THEM.

Lawyers, in laws, used car salesmen, and insurance people. Very difficult to get along with unless you have stupid amounts of money you simply don't care about, and gladly throw away

Louis Vuitton has been sponsoring racing since at least 2012


A rare 1939 Aston Martin C-type with coachwork by Bertelli won the Louis Vuitton Dolomites Classic Run. 

The car, driven by Gianandrea Redaelli, was one of 22 exceptional classics that completed the four-day journey from Venice through the Dolomites to Monza.

how about a movie about aliens in '50s biker gear who've come to conquer Earth?

lol, thank you Mike!

 

one of the few car models I've wanted to see in person, but have never found at a museum, car show, cruise or on the street while out walking around or driving around, the Buick Century Free Spirit, which had two sticker appearances






Seems that Parnelli drove it up Pikes Peak! 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/325807354304899686/

in 1964, a buddy agreed to smuggle his pal out of East Berlin... in the back of his Isetta. No, there is no trunk, there is no luggage area... he customized his engine area, removed the fuel tank, spare tire, rerouted the exhaust, and made a space big enough!


And they show how it was done on the new Grand Tour, episode 5. 




this is how much space he had to fit in


By the time the Berlin Wall fell in 1991, a total of nine people were smuggled to freedom curtesy of a BMW Isetta.

He removed the air filter, the heating system, the spare tire and the standard 13-liter fuel tank and replaced it with a tiny 2-liter canister—just enough fuel to cross the border. 
He stripped out t 

In 2019, BMW commemorated this historical event by releasing a cinematic short film about the ordeal titled "The Small Escape."


The smallest armored train ever built, shot down 3 German aircraft during World War 2. A 1/3rd scale steam locomotive clad in boiler plate, armed with WWI-era Lewis guns and anti-tank rifles, crewed by 7 soldiers, was conceived and built in the 1920s by millionaire racing car drivers


originally conceived and built in the 1920s by millionaire racing car drivers Captain Jack Howey and Count Louis Zborowski

Count Louis Zborowski had constructed a railway at Higham Park, his home at Bridge, Kent, and agreed to donate the rolling stock and infrastructure to the project. However, he was killed in a motor racing accident at the Monza Grand Prix on 19 October 1924 before the Romney Marsh site was chosen, and Howey continued the project alone.

This miniature train is officially credited with shooting down three German aircraft during the Battle of Britain. Its claims include:
 One Messerschmitt Bf 109 (The Luftwaffe's premier fighter)
One Heinkel He 111 (Bomber) 
One Dornier Do 17 (Bomber)



https://www.facebook.com/groups/132380976935515/posts/3486995978140648

there once was a lot more variety of interesting stuff on the railroads...



see this facebook page for ALL the variety! https://www.facebook.com/groups/751896323876937

Monday, September 07, 2026

Van Nuys cruise night

quite a curious roadside tourist cabin




in British Columbia, and showed a 1956 or 1957 Rambler Super sedan parked with the trunk open. It looks like cardboard was placed over the luggage to protect it from the dust. It appears like it had a New Jersey license plate that was used beginning in 1959, so they were a long way from home.

The small, log cabin type structures were likely a roadside motel, and may have been on the Alaska Highway.

Currently happening at World Ford/ Group 1 Ford in Pensacola. Thinking maybe having a Ram pull up with your product on a trailer and that sign attached to it might mean you wanna escalate his warranty claims

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=39016462331301206&set=a.101835249857399

1938, when traffic was so slow that they installed a gas station in the middle of the road

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=4699377383629265&set=gm.1811912826653212&idorvanity=319578812553295

photographer David Freund went on a mission to document the gas stations from '78 to '81, he called the photo series Gas Stop



might be the coolest thing I've seen all week


https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=27505841602424370&set=gm.1814188243092337&idorvanity=319578812553295

a neighborhood where all the street names are Harry Potter themed in Killeen Tx



I wonder, was this a mobile recap rig?

racing Maverick!

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=27896794156659728&set=gm.1844952006780617&idorvanity=226675368608297

good use for a worn out tire



clever stuff is shared on facebook, innovative ways of doing things


huh... advice from someone that led an interesting life


Refueling the Penske Sunoco Camaro at Watkins Glen, Aug '69. Hard to believe that they were ok with splashing a gallon over the trunk and his own shoes (that's going to ITCH!)


Sunday, September 06, 2026

I don't remember the last time I saw anyone stupid enough to drive without a registration sticker on a new license plate


well done license plate


Was the Grand Wagoneer so ugly, that Toyota felt the need to copy it? Why the hell did they make a "Grand Highlander?


That's just stupid

I saw this in traffic the other day, and find it very unusual for someone to cover all the country and region info... this one is from Mexico, and they have a decal that sticks to the inside of the back window, that's the same as the plate.


What the possible POINT of covering the words? They are duplicated on the window sticker... but Flock cameras don't get those, is my guess

I felt bad for this guy, whose vehicle must have died at the intersection... and he seems to be waiting for a tow truck to arrive, but... who stands outside their car to do that... at an intersection?

Since his grill is popped out, maybe he ran into something?

parked in an Iowa barn in the mid 60s and forgoitten








This, oddly, was a thing from 2018, and for some reason, these photos popped up yesterday, here's the post from then https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/01/1937-bmw-328-veritas-barnfind-is-on.html