Car and Driver magazine says that Hurricane Harvey destroyed about a million cars, more than any other single event in history

Houston, the 4th most populous city, was hit with nearly 52 inches of rain. At least 88 people were killed, and thousands lost their homes.

Houston has 2.3 million residents and spreads out over 627.5 square miles. Throw in the suburbs, and the metro region expands to 6.3 million residents and almost 1300 square miles.

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles had more than 3.5 million cars registered in Houston’s Harris County during 2016

In fact, there were so many cars floating (or sinking) that tow trucks were coming in from out of state to reap the harvest. Insurance Auto Auctions, a major player in the U.S. auto-salvage game, alone contracted with a reported 1000 wreckers.

McRee Ford is owned and run by the family who started the business in 1947, it’s physically the sort of dealership that Ford would want all its stores to be. At least when it’s not submerged. “The water came in everywhere,” recalls Dale, McRee’s great-grandson. “We had to destroy $61,000 worth of new tires. Drilled holes in all of them. The insides of tires aren’t made to get wet.”

Just days after the storm ended, the dealership was back in business selling new cars again. In addition to the post-Harvey demand for new vehicles, Ford’s “Texas Is Family” promotion, which offered employee pricing to anyone who lost a vehicle to the flood, made September the best month yet for new-car sales at McRee—385 units.

How many vehicles were destroyed or damaged during Harvey is easy to speculate about, but tough to pin down. And it depends on who is counting. Insurance companies seemed quick to total out cars touched by water. But not everyone carries comprehensive insurance, and no one knows how many flooded cars were simply abandoned or how many are being kept on the road by owners who can’t afford anything else.

How many vehicles were destroyed or damaged during Harvey is easy to speculate about, but tough to pin down. And it depends on who is counting. Insurance companies seemed quick to total out cars touched by water. But not everyone carries comprehensive insurance, and no one knows how many flooded cars were simply abandoned or how many are being kept on the road by owners who can’t afford anything else.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/hurricane-harvey-destroyed-more-vehicles-than-any-single-event-in-america-this-is-the-aftermath-feature

Now... that part about drilling holes in 61 thousand dollars worth of tires. Not a joke.

"Due to the likelihood of damage to the inner structure of a tire by contaminants, un-mounted tires that have been immersed in flood water should be discarded. All other un-mounted tires should be inspected for debris damage by a qualified tire professional before being placed in service. Inner tubes that have been exposed to flood waters should also be discarded." http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/tech-bulletins/tires-and-tubes-affected-by-flood-waters


Tires that have been submerged in salt water would not likely be damaged, however, if the tire is not thoroughly cleaned before installation, the rim can become corroded. If there are other contaminants in the salt water, such as oil or other petroleum products, this could damage the tire and render it unsalable, depending on the concentration of the contaminant and time of exposure. Continental Tire the Americas, LLC recommends that a tire that has been exposed to unknown or high concentrations of petroleum products, beyond USTMA (formerly RMA) repair guidelines, be scrapped.

http://generaltire.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/863/~/psib-09-17-tires-exposed-to-salt-%2F-flood-water

So, pure water isn't what's the problem with new tires in stock, it's the unknown factor of what contaminants and the unknown trouble that might happen, and no tire maker will take a risk on getting sued. Not for what costs a tire maker 30 or 40 dollars to replace. A car owner will pay 130-200 for that tire, because of the profits that keep the industry going, but the tire makers can replace new tires fast, easy, and cheap. So, they say destroy any tires that were in a flood. 

Tucker Torpedo concept art


John Tucker, Preston Tucker’s grandson, said he’s ended up collecting a good amount of memorabilia related to his grandfather’s venture. Among that collection are a number of concept drawings by both Lawson and Tremulis, some of which he’ll display as part of this year’s Royal Oak Historical Society Museum’s exhibit on automotive concept art.

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2018/07/26/auto-renderings-exhibit-to-focus-on-early-tucker-designs/

though they began the complete restoration years ago, and won't finish for years, the Smithsonian Magazine just ran an article on the B17 over the gas station in Milwaukie Oregon


by John Margolies

The Library of Congress credits Margolies with shaping the postmodernist movement, and digitized his work in 2016, making it available as public domain.


https://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/Came-Roost-Oregon-180969502/

I've been posting about it since 2013. In 2015 they really got to work, and took it all apart https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/03/update-on-oregon-gas-station-b-17.html


In the summer of 2013 they sent the cockpit roof and tail turret to a master craftsman repairman in Atlanta.   In the fall of 2013 the pulled the rudder and elevators.

Individuals, groups, or organizations interested in providing sponsorship for the B-17 Alliance Group project please contact: AllianceMuseum@B17AllianceGroup.org


the top gun turret was removed and replaced with a replica by the confederate Air Force from Falcon Field Arizona. They installed it into the B-17 Sentimental Journey. For swapping the turret , the confederate Air Force refurbished all the plexiglass in the Bomber 

Friday, August 03, 2018

if there weren't things to see that you'd never heard of, and the rest of the world was just more of the same, it would be so damn boring. But, that's not gonna happen yet, here's something new


this type of solid front axle pivoting in the middle, is basic horse wagon steering by the way. There's a reason car makers chose to pivot on the wheels themselves, and not on the middle of the chassis, but I don't recall what it is. Probably turning radius

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1793574907345481&set=a.214907511878903.47076.100000789666713&type=3&permPage=1

Thanks to PDV for the link to the video!

I didn't need the homework, but, I wanted to know, whats the deal with the Thrush woodpecker, the Clay Smith Cams woodpecker "Mr Horsepower" and Woody Woodpecker?



http://www.claysmithcams.com/registered-trademark/

Mr. Horsepower is the cartoon mascot and logo of Clay Smith Cams, an auto shop established in 1931. He is a sneering, cigar-smoking bird with red feathers and a yellow beak. The image is a caricature of legendary hot rod guru Clay Smith (1915-1954), well known for his red hair

https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2014/02/clay-smith-aka-mr-horsepower-woody.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Horsepower

The Thrush woodpecker (nearly) ALWAYS faces left, with a circle behind it.  I flipped this one in photoshop to get a better comparison with the other two company's logos


Thrush mufflers, a division of Tenneco corp, which was founded in 1940.N Tenneco also owns Monroe, Walker, Rancho, DynoMax, and Clevite Elastomers

The Thrush brand gained prominence in the late 1960s thanks to the deep, throaty sound of its canister-shaped glasspack mufflers, which enthusiasts by the thousands mounted beneath  performance muscle cars.

http://www.tenneco-cleanair.com/de/produkte_services
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenneco
http://www.brakeandfrontend.com/legendary-thrush-muffler-woodpecker-turning-40/
https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/10/how-bout-this-thrush-in-its-heyday.html

Both the Clay Smith and Thrush camps claim the woodpecker in the movie "Raising Arizona"
The logos are so confusing, one dumbass wrote:
The "cigar-smoking woody woodpecker tattoo" was originally the logo of Clay Smith Cams in 1950s, a company making high performance engine parts. The logo, with the trademark clenched cigar, represents Smith himself and is known as "Mr. Horsepower". Smith closed the business in the 1960s and the logo was adopted by what is now Tenneco for their Thrush muffler line.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0718552/trivia



Woody Woodpecker was created in 1940 by Lantz and storyboard artist Ben "Bugs" Hardaway, who had previously laid the groundwork for two other screwball characters, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, at the Warner Bros. cartoon studio in the late 1930s.
Woody was originally voiced by prolific voice actor Mel Blanc
Woody's character and design evolved over the years, from an insane bird with an unusually garish design to a more refined looking and acting character.
In 1998 and 1999, Woody appeared on the nose of the Williams Formula One Team, and in 2000, he became the official team mascot of the Honda Motorcycle Racing Team.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Woodpecker

bonus round:
Isky had an angry red bird with a yellow beak logo too




Looks like Honest Charlie might have been spoofing Mr Horsepower


is Coop's Old Crow significantly similar? Or derivative?

The Nickel Plate Road (2-8-4 Berkshire) 757, in Pennsylvania, is halfway to it's financial goal necessary to cosmetically restore it and move it to bellevue Ohio, to the Mad River & NKP Train Museum (thanks Marc!)

!

It was built by the Lima Locomotive Works in 1944 and was last operated on June 15, 1958. As steam locomotives were retired on the Nickel Plate, several were saved by the railroad as monuments to the towns along the line and donated accordingly. 757 was saved for Bellevue, Ohio, Nickel Plate's largest classification terminal. Unfortunately, at that time, Bellevue did not have a railroad museum and the city was unable to provide and fund a display site.

the RRMPA and the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission has agreed that 757 does not have as strong a connection to Pennsylvania's railroading history as some of their other locomotives and railroad cars, which also require considerable attention. They have made the difficult decision to deaccession 757 from their collection, with the intention of transferring the locomotive to an organization that has a better connection to the locomotive's history and is willing and able to immediately restore it.

They've raised about 120k, and have about 130k left and someone has let them know that any donations in the month of Aug 2018 will be anonymously matched.

The Mad River and NKP Railroad Museum is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization

https://bringback757.org/
http://www.madrivermuseum.org/news.html

The FBI out of New York busted a $4.5 million classic car scammer ring (thanks Gary!)

Eastern Europeans launched the nationwide fraud ring in November 2016 and the scheme involved posting fake classic car ads online, luring buyers, and setting up shell corporations to transfer money out of the U.S.

Victims responded to ads for Jags, Porsches, and Ferraris on popular car sale sites, and once the two parties agreed on a final price, the defendants would direct the buyers to automotive transportation companies. The transport companies were actually the shell corporations ready to receive payment and wait for one of the criminals to withdraw the funds. Victims never received the car they thought was being delivered.

Upon receiving payment, the group would begin withdrawing money from the shell corporations' bank accounts sometimes the same day victims wired money. The money was then sent to various Eastern European countries.

http://www.foxnews.com/auto/2018/08/03/4-5-million-classic-car-fraud-scheme-shut-down-by-fbi.html

Baiting rich guys with Porsches is like promising to give crack to crackheads. 

A teenage guy working at a grocery store for the past two years saved up enough money to buy a 2008 Trail Blazer, and then? It turns out to be stolen, and the guy is now without cash or car



He just graduated high school, and will beginning college this fall, and he finally had saved enough money as well as selling his cherished Camaro to buy a more reliable vehicle during the Michigan winters.

The police or trying to find the guy who sold the stolen Chevy, and it’s looking like this isn’t the first car he’s sold that ended up stolen. He is somehow getting REAL titles, and making everything match up like it’s just another person selling their used car.

A GoFundMe account https://www.gofundme.com/5w6a24o  has been set up to help him recoup his losses.

https://powernationtv.com/post/teenager-is-out-thousands-after-unknowingly-buying-stolen-craigslist-car
https://www.wxyz.com/news/region/washtenaw-county/ypsilanti-teen-out-thousand-after-buying-stolen-car-off-craigslist

In 1906, at the age of 15, Generoso Papa left his tiny farming village in Italy and arrived in New York City with just $10 in his pocket, no place to stay, and only a few words of English. He became the 1st self made millionaire Italian immigrant to the USA






He landed a job for $3 a week carrying water to the men who were constructing the Pennsylvania Railroads East River tunnel. He worked as a laborer on construction jobs and toiled in the sand pits for five years while going to night school. In 1911, he joined the newly-formed Colonial Sand and Stone Co., becoming its superintendent.

By 1915, he had changed his given name from Papa to Pope, become a U.S. citizen, married Italian immigrant Catherine Richichi, and fathered three children, Fortune, Anthony, and Generoso Jr.

When the company was threatened with bankruptcy in 1916, Generoso audaciously persuaded the owners and creditors to give him a chance to restore solvency and strengthen the business. He took personal responsibility for the company’s debts in return for full management and half ownership of the firm. Working 12 to 16 hours a day out of a tiny shack, the steadfast, stocky immigrant survived on a daily lunch of a half loaf of bread garnished with green peppers.

Through ambition and brains, he found new customers, fought off the competition, paid the company’s debt, and expanded the business. Within two years Generoso had become president of Colonial and by 1926, the company had taken over most of the leading sand dealerships in New York.

Generoso fashioned alliances with politicians who helped him achieve his goal of becoming a key figure in New York politics and the construction industry. At the age of 36, Generoso was the millionaire owner of Colonial, the country’s largest sand and gravel business, providing the concrete for much of New York City’s skyline, including Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, airports and subways.

In 1928, Generoso purchased America’s largest Italian-language daily newspaper, Il Progresso Italo-Americano. By launching a publishing career, he bolstered his influence by becoming the most dominant Italian-born leader in New York. His dominion was so commanding that his blessings were vital to political candidates, civic officials, and religious leaders if they ever hoped to succeed.

http://gpfny.org/
http://forums.aths.org/PrintTopic141214.aspx

Does anyone have more info, and links to, a bunch 1920’s AutoCar dump trucks that sat for decades after the Fredella Quarry in Glens Falls, New York closed?

All of the AutoCar trucks were essentially complete and most were under cover in sheds and outbuildings associated with the quarry.  After about seven or eight decades of abandonment none of the trucks at the quarry had been vandalized or molested.

 most of these trucks were just sitting under cover….eventually covered in dust.

 The AutoCar trucks were auctioned off after being rescued from the quarry.

One of them was fully restored and shown at Macungie PA truck show.

https://poststar.com/news/local/quarry-sees-conversion/article_4a743dcb-922d-5c1b-90cb-a545f43bc36c.html


Car and Driver has a pretty fun sounding idea going on... Battle of the Beaters, the Craigslist Cup



the idea is that 3 to 6 buddies all pony up a couple thou, buy some cheap identical cars as far as make and model.

Pick some destination to road trip to, and see if they cars will make it.

Once the road trip is over at the destination, then beat on the cars some more, drag race, gravel pit race, rally race through old tow rut roads, or whatever. Make a day of it, make some memories.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/battle-of-the-beaters-v-the-geo-metro-craigslist-cup