Saturday, January 04, 2025

I was curious about Sun distributor tuner and engine analyzers, and what happened to that company, it turns out, Snap On bought Sun


 https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/01/business/company-news-snap-on-tools-to-buy-sun-electric-for-110-million.html

Kal-Equip Co. maker of high quality automobile tuning equipment from 1955 to 1979 in Otsego, Michigan

 



And other companies licensed the equipment and sold it under their own brands, like Firestone, who I've previously posted, sold tools made by Proto etc








I missed out on winning this at auction/estate sale. Damn, it would have been a fantastic piece of garage art! The guy who won it at auction, got it for 70 bucks




See the whole catalog at https://archive.org/details/kal-equip-co-catalog-f-600/page/n27/mode/2up in a digital flip book

Kal-Equip was 1st used as a trademark in 1955, and they filed for the trademark in 1958  

Tunemaster was first used in 1960  https://trademarks.justia.com/720/62/kal-equip-72062399.html 

Some equipment was labeled Kal Tunemaster, and some was BK Tunemaster, which I'll guess is Bal Kamp

similar to the Sun Electronic Engine Performance Tester/ Master Motor Tester / Tune-Up Tester, might have been bought by NAPA / Balkamp. The trademark was cancelled in 1988

It looks like there was an attempt to pivot, and work under the trademark Peerless, and then the company was sold to Actron who sold through Sears. 

Albanite, a word on Edison spark plugs I've been curious about since 2007 when I saw it for the 1st time, just 6 months after starting this blog!

 I posted this photo in a gallery of the Hotel Del Coronado laundry delivery Cadillac https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2007/04/cadillac-with-hotel-del-logo-on-side.html 

Occasionally I take a look to see if anyone has the answer online yet, and finally someone added the info to the internet. 

It's still surprising to me that only 25 years after the internet kicked off in it's current form, people treat it like it's always been around, and that it has everything there is to know. But it's still in it's infancy, and facts, photos, and information are still being added and uploaded every day. 

Anyway, Andrew commented on some forum, that Albanite is " was a trade name for the insulator material used by the company. The clay was mined from a specific site, and once baked into hardened porcelean, provided what they perceived as a special anti-fouling, superior insulative material for the core of the spark plug." 

https://www.smokstak.com/forum/threads/what-is-albanite.72593

the new Wallace and Gromit movie (on Netflix) is a hoot, and looks like it's the best one yet "Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl"



the getaway car is a bunch of fun, because the bad guys took the wheels, engine, etc from the delivery truck, so, the head bad guy, Feathers McGraw, had to improvise when he needed to use it for a getaway and had his robot minions power it








It's seriously amazing on the visuals, the complex scenes and sets.... and they have several cool things that are regular features and favorite things of mine, trains! Canal river boats! Outboards! Car chases! and a get away car! 


Taco Tuesday! Great license plate!

 

this is another cool example of great woodworking, from Baldwin Toy Co of Nebraska, which has been making wood toys since 1976

 














Steve Baldwin has been creating wooden toys since the late 1960s. He started as an industrial arts teacher, which eventually led to a woodworking hobby. In 1976, that hobby became a profession when he started Baldwin Toy Co  

is a 1965 Shelby GT 350 Mustang a sports car? Seems like not everyone agrees with me on what qualifies as a "sports car"

 I call the Camaro, a sports car.... and BOOM! Instantly got pushback from a couple guys. 

Ok, not EVERY Camaro is a sports car! BUT, I don't think about every one of them. I think about the cool ones. Life's too damn short to give a shit about the lousy cars. 

I have a 68-69 Z 28 in mind when I think of Camaros, and the newest Camaros, on the track in the Optima Challenge. 

When someone commented that the Camaro was, at best, a Pony Car, maybe a muscle car... well, damn, I'm not the only one who has a specific car, or year of the car, in mind. Reggie Jackson knows they are muscle cars, he owned at least 1 ZL1 Camaro, and Don Yenko knew they were muscle cars. No one denies they are pony cars. That's not even this conversation. 

So, why deny they are sports cars? Just to wind me up and see if I'll vent? Ok

Don't tell Don Yenko, Roger Penske, Mark Donohue, and the SCCA that a Camaro isn't a sports car. 

There's not a lot of difference between the C7 Corvettes and the last gen of Camaros, and I think you'll agree that seriously makes the recent Camaros sports cars, else why else would so many of them be at the Optima Challenge? But no, the 70s Camaros, the 80s and 90s Camaros? Not so much, not unless they were track prepped like the IROC racers

You might argue that if it has to be track prepped and race ready to be a sports car than it isn't one, well, that's going to blow the argument that some have made that just being a British, Italian, or German 2 seater drop top or roadster, built with greater breaking and suspension, they are automatically a sports car. 

There are simple too damn many hundreds of thousands of mediocre cars made by sports car companies that prove that having the manufacturer Lotus Porsche, Mercedes, Jaguar, etc etc, name plate doesn't make their cheap junk a real sports car.... so, yeah, being a car made by a sports car company doesn't automatically make a car a sports car, and being made by Chevy, Ford, Dodge, etc doesn't automatically exempt their cars from being a sports car. 

So, getting back to the Camaro. If it's not a sports car, then why is Mark Donohue in the SCCA Hall of fame? Hell, the SCCA has an award NAMED for Mark Donohue! 

That is BECAUSE in 1968 Donohue had an unprecedented 8 race winning streak, and Chevrolet won 10 out of 13 races. That's just one example of why I am stating that the Camaro, especially the 67-69 Z-28 is a sports car. 



So then the guy argues with me that the Camaro was racing in the sedan or other class... well, I reply, in WHAT EFFING RACING SERIES? Oh, yeah, the SPORTS CAR CLUB of AMERICA (SCCA) ergo, to race in the SCCA, I'll just take a stab in the dark and say that to get a membership/racing number/accepted on their series/race tracks/championships/Gran Prix, it's a damn sports car. 

I think you'll all agree that some stupid cars have been anointed as sports cars, including the Crosley Hot Shot.   https://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1657867_1657678,00.html 

Here's the argument I'm responding to
"SCCA does not have a class called "Sports Cars'. A Camaro could run under Sedan or Touring though. I assume you mention Penske and Donohue for their participation of racing Camaros in Trans-Am back in the day. But the TA series was originally known as the Trans-American Sedan Championship. The sedan word was dropped from the title, but sports car was never added."

Yes, let's take a moment.... and focus on that, that Trans Am Championship? THAT WAS THE SCCA's race, god damn it.  

The 1968 Trans-American Championship was the third running of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series.

So your argument about the mistake you made about the Trans Am races? Clarified now that you have been informed that THOSE were SCCA races. 

So, I repeat, Camaro = sports car. 

Also - if you skipped past what the letters SCCA stand for, and go right to the classes, then, maybe you missed that they are all SPORTS CARS. 

More of the argument I'm responding to: 
To me a sports car has only 2 seats and a top that drops. Otherwise it's a GT or something else.

Anyone else instantly think they've just read a statement that wasn't thought about first?

So, my response?
Then to you it's not a sports car if it's a hard top? Really? So, no hardtop Corvettes are sports cars, to you? No Porsches, BMWs, Jaguars, Mercedes gullwings, Abarth Fiats, NSX, AMX, Aston Martin, Audi R8, Callaway Corvettes, Vipers, Panteras, Ferraris, GT 40, Lamborghini, Lancia Stratos, Lotus, Maserati, McLarens, Morgans, Fiero, Spyker, and Toyota Supra are sports cars if they have a hardtop? Really? Did you want to stand by that ridiculous definition? 

He... well, I imagine he regretted his earlier hasty statement about a top that drops. Not that he backed off the denial of the Camaro as a sports car.. but here is his latest... 

 what the letters in SCCA stand for is really not important.

(I shit you not, I am not making that up, that's either stupid or ignorant, am I right?

Yes, I will stand by my statement. Because I said, "TO ME a sports car has only 2 seats and a top that folds down". I realize that most people don't agree with this. But that's ok, they don't have to. I like this traditional definition from way back when. But I can compromise my definition. Some of the cars you mention: Corvettes - soft top or hard top - ok, sports car. Porsche - depends on the car. 911, Cayman, Boxster - yes. The 924, 944, 928 - no, those are GTs. I think it's obvious about their SUVs. 

Not obvious to you, the Macan or Cayenne outperformed the 911, I remember posting about it a long time ago

Jaguar - only the drop tops and definitely not any of the sedans. An E-type convertible is a sports car, but a E-type coupe is a GT. 
NSX - ok, yes a sports car 
AMX - no. Muscle car 
Aston Martin - really? They were always marketed as a GT car.  ( I don't car how the car was marketed. You're telling me that James Bond wasn't driving a sports car? Really?
R8 - ok 
Ferrari - depends on the model.  They make GT cars and sports cars. I would contend they have made more GTs than sports cars.
 Morgan - most all of them are 2 seat drop tops so not sure why you mention them. (their new Aerocar
 Fiero - LOL... really? That's what they promised, but the early ones were just commuter cars. The sportiest versions were actually called the GT as I recall.  (Again, I don't care what a car was called, or marketed as, what a car IS matters, NOT what the advertising and marketing department called it to make sales happen. If it quacks like a duck, and waddles like a duck, if it doesn't, it don't matter what color the racing stripes are. 

 Anyway, back to the subject of the Camaro. I love Camaros, Firebirds, Mustangs, 442s, GTOs, Chargers, Challengers, etc. They can be fun and fast. They can be raced. I've even owned a few. But they are not "sports cars". In my opinion. (I didn't ask what your opinion was of the 442s, GTOs, Chargers, and Challengers, I pointed out that a hardtop Viper is indeed a sports car. Just admit it. )

Someone else emailed me to say that a mass marketed car wasn't a sports car. 
AND that "In order to race them thy had to build suspension that would keep them on the track but most people wouldn't like in their daily transportation."
Really? So, again, you're sure that you thought about that before hitting send? The Corvette, 911, etc are all mass marketed. 
No, they didn't build better suspensions to race them... anything can be raced. Fred Flinstones vehicle can be raced, Amish horse buggies can be raced. 
They built better suspensions to WIN races. And THAT is why all the sports car companies have RACE cars and gen pop cars. They DON'T take the gen pop cars to the ring to achieve impressive results, they only bring the race prepped cars. Same with the Vipers, Corvettes, BMWs, Porsches, Mercedes-AMG, Lamborghini, GTR, etc

And getting back to the Shelby GT 350 Mustang, which seems to annoy both those guys that it's called a GT, and it's a hard top, and a 4 seater... and I like this part the most, it proves that a Mustang could be a sports car.  The GT 350 was the B Prod champion 3 years in a row.  And it qualified as a sports car to the SCCA by tossing the back seat and putting in a spare tire in that place. 


Summed up, I think anyone that prefers to define what some term is, rigidly, screws up. Hot rods, Muscle cars, and Sports Cars all have too damn many variations to be defined in a short couple sentences... but, guess what? I was emailed all the dictionaries definitions of "sports car".  Here's what a bunch of desk bound admin types who can't use a clutch think a sports car is:
 
WEBSTER; a low small usually 2-passenger automobile designed for quick response, easy maneuverability, and high-speed driving . 
CAMBRIDGE; a fast, low car, often for two people only. 
DICTIONARY DOT COM; a small, high-powered automobile with long, low lines, usually seating two persons. 
OXFORD; a low, fast car, often with a roof that can be folded back. 
COLLINS; A sports car is a low, fast car, usually with room for only two people. 
BRITANNICA; a low, small car that seats two people and that is made for fast driving

I'd like you to keep in mind, these are just as likely to be the definitions of Hot Wheels, Matchbox, toys, and race cars. Hell, these definitions allow for those automobile sto have a pickup bed... you know, like a truck, El Camino, Ranchero, and that cool old Hudson truck that looked like a car with a bed, as the Webster and Dictionary.com definitions didn't mention "cars" just automobiles, as, to define something has to cover the whole category. Like the earliest "sports cars" which I'll say include the Stutz Bearcat, and most websites and writers will agree with me https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stutz_Bearcat  https://silodrome.com/stutz-bearcat-car/

Anyway, I've had my say, time for any of you who choose to, to say if a Camaro is a sports car, or not. use the comment section please, not my email. Most of you have had a couple more decades than I have to have formed an educated and experienced opinion on the Camaro's viability, or status, as a sports car 

Friday, January 03, 2025

Hmmm, I think it's likely that a good argument can be made that a great tour of pubs could be enjoyed by only stopping into the ones that are owned by celebs... you know about Clarkson's, and May's, but have you heard that Guy Martin bought one?

 

I realized the other day that I haven't heard about anything that Guy Martin's been up to for about 36 months, so I decided to look and see what he's been up to, and learned of the pub first.



It even has a Wall of Death! 




Then, I learned about the WW2 Lancaster bomber that he recently made a show about:


In June of 43, a Lancaster bomber was shot down in the Netherlands, and crashed in IJsselmeer lake. The bodies of 4 crew members washed ashore, but three airmen were never found – their remains assumed to still be in the wreckage of the plane.

In the summer of 2024,  the Dutch government funded attempts to recover the bomber from the lake, and find those missing airmen.

Guy helped build a massive caisson around the crash site, then it was drained to reveal the Lancaster for the first time in 80 years. 


Ian McKellen owns a bar in London too, most likely it's near the theater district... and very expensive.