Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Peugeot's new concept cars have a cool gadget to drive me nuts... it takes the steering wheel away from the human when in "autonomous made" so there's no way to prevent a crash (thanks Mike!)
https://www.peugeot.co.za/brand-and-technology/concept-car/peugeot-instinct-concept/the-responsive-i-cockpit.html
Fine, that disappearing steering wheel is a neat trick, folding down and sliding into the dash - but since I don't trust a self driving car any farther than I can throw it... I am certain that preventing the driver from grabbing a steering wheel and instantly changing the direction in a collision course is a bad idea
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
1938, the Golden Train for taking the Right Hand of Saint Stephen ( it really was a mummified hand ) around to people across the country of Hungary for the 900th anniversary of Saint Stephen's death
"For the transportation of the Holy Right, a richly decorated railway carriage with walls and floor of the ornamental hall were covered with purple velvet, and its ceiling was covered with white silk.
Built by MÁV, the Golden Train, together with the wagons connected to it, the golden carriage, the Hungarian design and ornamentation and the Hungarian industry was a masterpiece.
According to the description, the golden car was not only distinguished by its special exterior and interior decoration, but also by its shape from other high-speed coaches, "
Nothing about the fate of the gold car after 1944 is known. Various legends circulate about it's disappearance. Some say it is rusty in an underground aircraft hangar in Bavaria. Others saw it as a burnt-out wagon last seen on one of the car tracks on the Dunakeszi vehicle repair. More likely, all that gold was stolen off it during WW2
http://bacs-kiskun-leveltar.hu/V3/SP07_mbn/Tanulmanyok/hacs-02t-1.html
https://www.szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu/aranyvonat-ami-a-szent-jobbot-vitte/
https://www.napi.hu/magyar_vallalatok/aranyvonat-eucharisztikus-kongresszus.675942.html
https://docplayer.hu/11348888-The-gold-star-home-szekesfehervar-observes-975-th-anniversary-of-st-stephen-s-death-the-gold-star-home.html
the 1908 Mors Grand Prix Car, the last of the big Mors cars, quickly made it's way to Argentina, where it broke down during a race, and was pushed into a barn and forgotten
The Mors automobile factory was an early French car manufacturer. It was one of the first to take part in automobile racing, beginning in 1897, due to the belief of the company founder, Émile Mors, in racing's technical and promotional benefits. By the turn of the century, automobile racing had become largely a contest between Mors and Panhard et Levassor.
André Citroën became chairman of Mors in 1908 and restored the company's viability. In 1925, Citroën bought Mors outright and closed it down, using its factory for the production of his Citroën automobiles.
775 cu in, 4 cylinder
https://petrolicious.com/films/1908-mors-grand-prix-car-mors-ianua-vitae
https://revsinstitute.org/the-collection/1908-mors-grand-prix-car/
the Stewart-Warner company made South Wind heaters for American cars from the thirties to the fifties, they worked by burning gasoline vapor under a vacuum so leaking fumes would not occur.
Unhappy with the inefficiency his car heater, Canadian-born Chicagoan named Harry J. McCollum invented a car heater that burned raw gasoline, the Southwind Heater.
Gasoline drawn from the carburetor float bowl by engine vacuum was piped through a thin copper tube into a firing chamber, where it was atomized and ignited by a glow plug. The resulting horizontal flame could be adjusted with a knob that controlled the fuel orifice. The flame warmed a finned oven section inside the heater, and an electric fan blew air over the oven and into the car.
Combustion gases were drawn back into the engine intake manifold, again by vacuum. Thermostats made sure that the glow plug turned off after ignition and that the fan didn't come on too soon."
In the early 1930's McCollum took his invention to Chicago's Stewart-Warner plant and demonstrated it to the chief engineer. The company had made speedometers that were first used on original Ford Model Ts, and subsequently became established as a leading supplier of automotive instruments.
http://southwindheater.com/Profile.html
https://www.liveabout.com/southwind-heaters-toasty-warm-90-seconds-726160
a good article to read, about an ordinary car, not a special, unique, or rare car... just a 1941 Chevy Master Deluxe coupe
Martha Wilson talked her boyfriend into boarding an eastbound train with her so they could pick up the car in Michigan and drive it home, in July, to San Francisco
Why go get it? Why not have Chevrolet deliver it to her dealership instead?
She’d already worked out with the salesman what everything would cost her—all the added fees and what her insurance and payments would be. She negotiated the price and came up with the financing. The one thing she just couldn’t get past was the $117 line item labeled “freight.” Some 10 percent of the price of the car, just to ship it from Flint to California.
In 1983, after Martha died, the car was shipped up to her niece in Medford, Oregon. In 2013, after Lisa’s mother died, Lisa was looking to sell it. Lisa had some of Martha’s story, and all of the paperwork that came with the car.
Other than replacing the radiator, the hoses and belts, the brake lines, and the ancient bias-ply tires - there wasn't much else to do mechanically. The 216-cubic-inch six-cylinder had 64,000 miles on it and still ran perfectly. Even the vacuum shift came back to life pretty easily.
My favorite bit of paperwork from Martha’s ownership is a handwritten log that begins on August 4, 1941, in Flint, at “Mile 0.” She tracked the whole trip, which ends on August 12 at 1:30 a.m. with their arrival at her basement apartment on Moscow Street in San Francisco after 2589 miles and $28.75 spent on 132.5 gallons of gas.
This of course, is a severely editted version of the story
Just another cool story found in Hagerty magazine, by the Hagerty collector car insurance company. You can read the magazine online if you'd like.
https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2019/01/21/mans-quest-to-preserve-history-in-41-chevy
Models I only just now learned of, the Night Runner, and the Yellow Fever
400 produced, painted in Brilliant Black exterior paint, comes with Dark Nickel Pearl finish 22-inch wheels, black chrome grill inserts, unique Night Runner Badging, a black center stack and center console bezel overlay, and a serialized Night Runner dash plaque. Only available as a 2006 regular cab or 2006 Quad cab SRT 10 Dodge truck
the Yellow Fever Edition of the Ram SRT-10 was built for only 2005, and was limited to 500 and only 300 are the longer crew-cab configuration.
8.3L Viper V-10 500 HP engine with an air-box intake and cast valve covers, a scooped hood with a special fanged hood stripe, rear spoiler and Leer fiberglass tonneau cover.
This was backed by an automatic transmission, all-wheel drive, 4-wheel disc brakes, 22-inch spoked aluminum wheels, wide Pirelli tires, specialized suspension parts and power steering.
Styling is Solar Yellow paint, black graphics and V-10 notations. Raised Viper logos are also found on various components inside and out. Inside, these unique machines received exclusive suede and leather upholstery done in a combination of black and yellow materials, with special callouts denoting the V-10 powerplant on the seat headrests.
https://www.mecum.com/lots/SC0517-294324/2005-dodge-ram-srt-10-yellow-fever-edition/
scoreboard kill markers also were tallied on big guns
each ring marked a plane shot down, and the flags of the country of the plane were painted on the band
https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/xf-vict.html
a few B 24 crew members went on to be celebrities, like Walter Matthau and Robert Altman or, had been celebs before signing up in the Army like Sabu
Sabu was a ball turret gunner
best known for his role as Abu in the 1940 British film The Thief of Bagdad, and Mowgli in the 1942 hit movie, Jungle Book
When his American citizenship came through in 1944 he joined the Army as a tail gunner and ball turret gunner on B-24 Liberators. He flew several dozen missions with the 370th Bombardment Squadron of the 307th Bomb Group in the Pacific, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his valor and bravery, 40 missions total
Robert Altman was a co-pilot and went on to direct movies in Hollywood, like MASH (he was a Mayflower descendant)
Altman flew more than 50 bombing missions as a crewman on a B-24 Liberator with the 307th Bomb Group in Borneo and the Dutch East Indies.
Walter Matthau, B-24 Radio Operator/Gunner
Served as a radio cryptographer with the 453rd Bomb Group. SSgt Walter Matthow (not an actor at the time) served under Jimmy Stewart.
http://www.b24bestweb.com/b24bestweb-Famous.htm
By the way, Sean Penn's dad was a B 24 bombardier with the 8th AF / 458th BG / 755th BS on "GWEN"
best known for his role as Abu in the 1940 British film The Thief of Bagdad, and Mowgli in the 1942 hit movie, Jungle Book
When his American citizenship came through in 1944 he joined the Army as a tail gunner and ball turret gunner on B-24 Liberators. He flew several dozen missions with the 370th Bombardment Squadron of the 307th Bomb Group in the Pacific, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his valor and bravery, 40 missions total
Robert Altman was a co-pilot and went on to direct movies in Hollywood, like MASH (he was a Mayflower descendant)
Altman flew more than 50 bombing missions as a crewman on a B-24 Liberator with the 307th Bomb Group in Borneo and the Dutch East Indies.
Walter Matthau, B-24 Radio Operator/Gunner
Served as a radio cryptographer with the 453rd Bomb Group. SSgt Walter Matthow (not an actor at the time) served under Jimmy Stewart.
http://www.b24bestweb.com/b24bestweb-Famous.htm
By the way, Sean Penn's dad was a B 24 bombardier with the 8th AF / 458th BG / 755th BS on "GWEN"
cool nose art, 1944, B24 ‘Tepee Time Gal’ San Giovanni Airfield, Foggia, Italy, 1944-45.
https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/airgunner-b24-bomber-1944/
And there haven't been many bombers that have had this many different photos of it... it's because they were good buddies with the squadron photographer:
"(Info Contributor - Seymour Gaynes - Navigator)
I was the Navigator on the original crew who flew TEPEE TIME GAL in the 743rd Sq / 455th Group out of Cerignola.
The C. O. promised us the first plane brought over by a replacement crew and TEPEE TIME GAL was that plane. It had that beautiful picture of an Indian girl already painted on it but it had the god awful name WATTACROK, which may have seemed great to that replacement crew, but we soon blacked that out and re-named it.
Our E. M. had become close friends with a squadron photographer (who was also an artist) and they came up with TEPEE TIME GAL. We each got our name painted next to our position. On the right side near the nose, there is a Jewish Star of David and my nick name, "SAMMY"."
looks like they named the engines, and have some art up by the top turret gun
http://www.b24bestweb.com/tepeetimegal4.htm
When there's a storm, and they send out a bucket truck for a small repair, you better keep that dumb SOB on some plywood sheets... and then he won't get stuck, cause when he gets stuck, they send out a winch truck, and then he gets stuck, so they send out another... and you're left with ditches the whole damn length of your yard
looks like a lovely place, must be nice to have no neighbors within noise distance... and trees
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