Saturday, August 30, 2025
in Biddeford Maine there is a very old diner, the Palace Diner, and it's not only the oldest diner in the state, but the oldest restaurant as well
The original owner, Louis Lachance, was a locomotive engineer before switching to restaurateur and operating the diner until 1962.
The car was built specifically for Biddeford and has stood at several spots, all within a block of the current Franklin Street location, since then. It was a training dining car, and was made into a full-blown diner.
Summit Diner opened in 1928 and is possibly the oldest diner in New Jersey, out of the 500 in state. It's inside an old railroad car, and it made it onto the list of 30 best diners in the country.
https://summitdinernj.com
https://sueadler.com/the-summit-diner-a-landmark-with-a-hollywood-connection
https://www.tastingtable.com/1942900/old-school-diners-worth-visiting
Update Sept 12th:
The already-risky work of fire crews battling a wildfire in England's North York Moors National Park has been made all the more dangerous by World War II-era bombs and tank shells hidden under the dense, dry vegetation.
A local fire official said Wednesday that there had been nearly 20 explosions as the fire burns through brush to detonate the hidden weapons.
The Langdale Moor fire, which started on August 11, has charred about 10 square miles in the picturesque coastal region of North Yorkshire. Emergency fire crews have been tackling the blaze, aided by local farmers and game keepers who've swung into action with water tanks and tractors, dousing brush and helping cut fire breaks through the moorland, which is covered largely by dense shrubs and grass.
Dyson said part of the active fire area was a tank training ground during the 1940s, explaining why so many weapons were still lurking under the first layers of the rugged landscape.
There is still a U.K. military site, the RAF Fylingdales radar station, in the immediate area. Britain's Ministry of Defense in London said an explosive ordnance disposal team had found "various World War II-era unexploded ordnance items," declaring them to be "inert practice projectiles."
A one-of-a-kind restaurant, the city-owned Airstream trailer, is being closed this year, due to a zoning mistake by the city, Sunsets at Pismo Beach, on Pismo Pier
Pismo Beach added Airstream trailers in 2018 as part of the Pier Plaza Upgrade project, this one cost the city $151,458
in 2019 the city put out a request for proposals to lease a handful of Airstream trailers lining the pier for visitor-serving vendors, that's when Sunsets at Pismo opened
According to the staff report, over the past five years, Pismo Beach has collected more than $217,000 from the business from licensing fees, along with 2% of gross sales revenue paid to the city as part of the lease agreement.
However, an unnoticed clerical error by the city dating back more than 20 years has led to the unexpected end of Sunsets’ business.
But here's the raw deal: the piece of beach that the Airstream sits above on the pier was zoned as open space in 2003, meaning a business is not allowed to operate there.
French e-mobility company Cixi has been working on a three-wheeled vehicle called Vigoz that's based on its chainless pedaling system.
The company says that its Pedaling Energy Recovery System essentially "converts human power into bicycle propulsion through electricity, enabling the rider to intuitively control speed and braking by pedaling." So energy from pedaling is recovered at the crank and converted into electricity to drive a hub motor.
A 1929 Dodge Model DA was driven from Uruguay to California to New York, in 1967, after a lifetime as a taxi. No one builds them like that anymore.
A 1929 Dodge Model DA four-door sedan, a right-hand-drive export model, with a six-cylinder flathead engine, wire wheels, dual side-mount spares, and a trunk mounted on the rear bumper used as a taxi in Montevideo, Uruguay, was driven up the Pan-American Highway to the United States in 1967 or ’68.
after arriving in California, it was driven around the U.S. before settling in Brooklyn, New York.
The owner painted a white map on the dark blue car, and at most major stops he added the places he visited. In New York, everyone he encountered marveled at the accomplishment. Once established in Brooklyn, he started R.S. Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Company.
Nissan, is in a world of hurt...
Mercedes-Benz’s pension trust is poised to divest its approximately $346m shareholding in Nissan Motor, which equates to a 3.8% stake in the Japanese automaker, reported Reuters
This move by the German car manufacturer adds to the existing pressure on Nissan’s share price, which has seen a 24% decline this year.
This move by the German car manufacturer adds to the existing pressure on Nissan’s share price, which has seen a 24% decline this year.
https://www.just-auto.com/news/mercedes-benz-to-sell-346m-nissan-stake-amid-challenges/
it was confirmed that thousands of owners of vehicles with VC-Turbo engines have filed a class action lawsuit against the brand. What is happening? It seems that Nissan knew that one of its variable compression systems had been defective for years and still decided to go ahead with the model and sell it
Friday, August 29, 2025
Ford has lost a lawsuit over asbestos exposure, and yet, did not take the logical precautions, and in August 2024, asbestos was found in Ford’s UK-based Parts Distribution Center resulting in it being shut down
Sadly, I know a family friend that died from mesothelioma, no doubt, many of you do to.
Recently Ford lost a lawsuit, and the appeal, because the jury rightfully decided that Ford was liable for the mesothelioma of a former parts department employee at a Ford-Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Orchard Park, New York
Joseph Skrzynski worked at the dealership between 1975-1980, and was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2021, a result from his handling of brake components from Ford over the course of that time period.
“During this five-year period, Skrzynski was exposed to asbestos on a daily basis,” according to his legal brief, “when he opened and handled boxes of Ford brakes and clutches; wiped dust off of the parts counter that accumulated from the manipulation of these boxes and from the brake work being performed in the adjacent garage; stood in close proximity to mechanics on over 1,000 occasions as they performed brake repair and replacement, including blowouts and sanding; and when the garage and equipment were swept, cleaned, and maintained at the end of the day.”
https://fordauthority.com/2025/08/ford-asbestos-lawsuit-verdict-upheld-by-ny-appeals-court
Only 3 years ago, in 2023, Ford was found responsible for a woman's death from asbestos exposure from Ford brake pads: https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2022/11/jury-agrees-with-family-of-dead-woman.html
Thursday, August 28, 2025
it's been 14 years since the last time I came across any photos of this '37 Reo Speed Tanker
The futuristic Australian body design was built by Martin and King Coachbuilders on top of a REO Speedwagon Model 2LM forward control bus chassis’ designed to improve fuel efficiency and was introduced by the Vacuum Oil Company in 1937, by an unknown Melbourne artist's concept art.
The capacity of the four internal tanks was 1075 Imperial gallons, and the tire size was 7.50 x 20. Enough of the trucks were built to be assigned to each of the seven Capitol Cities in Australia (probably for the units advertising value).
The discharge hoses were stored in the chrome tubes that started at the rear of the headlights and followed the catwalk on each side of the body.
The truck appeared at the Coronation International Motor Show. A
The truck appeared at the Coronation International Motor Show. A
piece in the May 25th, 1937 The Argus, of Melbourne, had the following sentence. “On the Reo stand is the most extraordinary vehicle in the show — a fully streamlined tanker which looks as if it is several years ahead of its time.”
Sept 1923, Tommy Milton heading for the Beverly Hills board track to race, in the HCS Special, a 1923 Miller 122, the first Miller (chassis and engine) to win the Indy 500 (thank you Dave!)
Blind in one eye from birth, Milton drove for Fred and Augie Duesenberg's team and scored his first win in 1917 on the concrete oval at Providence, Rhode Island.
Milton was at Daytona Beach in 1920 to run a 'Beach car', a twin-engined Duesenberg designed specifically by Milton to break the land speed record, which it did, 5 mph over de Palma's record
Milton raced at some demonstration runs Havana with other early racing superstars Barney Oldfield and Ralph de Palma in 1920 as well
Milton won the AAA board track title in 1920 and '21 and during the height of the board track era between 1917-'25 Milton won twenty-three AAA championship races, including the 1921 and '23 Indy 500s.
The above Miller has a logo on the cowl above the word special, and on the grill, it's actually the logo of Harry Stutz
Tommy Milton was the inspiration in 1926 of Finn Frolich's scupture placed in front of Richfield gas stations https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2011/08/finn-frolich-architect-and-scuptor-of.html
high school was never this cool where I grew up, and only the smallest fraction of my graduating class had a car they owned or could borrow from parents, to drive to school
Fremont Ross High School (Thanks Marc!)
https://bhs.burnetcisd.net/apps/news/article/1078441
I only learned of this in 2020, and did a post about it https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2020/05/some-high-schools-allow-their-seniors.html
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Awwww , this is the cutest thing I think we'll see all month
It even has a windscreen on the handlebars!
You're likely to be familiar with "American Gothic" but have you seen the other interesting paintings that Grant Wood (1891-1941) made? Or heard of the ice wagons?
Grant Wood, Death on Ridge Road, 1935
As automobiles became more prevalent in the 1930s, so did car accidents. Ridge Road outside of Stone City was notoriously dangerous. The scene here closely resembles Jay Sigmund’s accident while traveling to visit Wood at the Stone City Arts Colony in 1933.
Shortly after his car wreck, Sigmund penned the poem Death Rides a Rubber-Shod Horse.
In 1934, Wood was hired as the head of Iowa’s Works Progress Administration (WPA)
For the state of Iowa, Grant Wood was the director, and he developed a team of artists who he felt were best qualified to paint the murals for Iowa State. He hired Christian Petersen, not to work on the library murals, but to carry out the commission Petersen had already obtained from President Hughes.
The PWAP lasted only a little over four months and employed only about 30 Iowa artists. Each artist was paid about $25 a week and most of them did not work for the entire life of the Project. Most of the artists who produced work for Iowa State did, however, maintain their PWAP employment over the four months. A few of them even continued working after their funding was guaranteed, so sincere was their zeal to complete the art they had started.
The PWAP lasted only a little over four months and employed only about 30 Iowa artists. Each artist was paid about $25 a week and most of them did not work for the entire life of the Project. Most of the artists who produced work for Iowa State did, however, maintain their PWAP employment over the four months. A few of them even continued working after their funding was guaranteed, so sincere was their zeal to complete the art they had started.
Wood borrowed his theme for When Tillage Begins, Other Arts Follow from a speech on agriculture delivered by Daniel Webster in 1840 at the State House in Boston.
Webster said, "When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers therefore are the founders of human civilization."
Wood had planned to create 17 mural panels for the library, but only 12 were completed. The panels were devoted to agriculture, mechanics and home economics.
In 1932, Wood helped establish the summer activity, Stone City Arts Colony
Inspired by prominent artist colonies in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Woodstock, New York, they leased 10 acres of idyllic Iowa farmland.
Archives of American Art called it a place where artists could “study together, work together, and play together.” Many colony residents lived in old ice wagons, some of which they painted with as much care as was given to any canvas.
It lasted only two summers due to financial challenges.
The tuition and room and board collected from students fell far short of paying the colony’s outstanding bills, and the colony ended its 1933 session in debt by almost $1,500.65 Ultimately, with the help of a grant from the Carnegie Corporation—a grant originally meant for the colony’s purchase of the Green estate in 1933—and the personal wealth of one of Wood’s friends, John C. Reid, the debts were eventually settled a year later.
This is Grant Wood, putting the finishing touches on his ice wagon painting, the scene includes mountains, streams, deer, and an Indian standing on one summit peering into the distance
Wood was no stranger to living like a gypsy, because he'd left he family farm at age 10, and had been a soldier in the Army in WW1.
To proclaim its discovery of a troop of artists camped out on an Iowa hillside in the summer of 1932, the Christian Science Monitor focused on the colony’s housing challenges
Indeed, housing for the hundred or so colony participants was in short supply in the tiny village. The bulk of the colony was located near the crest of a hill overlooking the village as it straddles the Wapsipinicon River.
There the colonists planted their artistic flag on the former estate owned by nineteenth-century quarrying mogul John Aloysius Green. The sturdy stone buildings Green left behind—an ice house, barn, water tower, and, most elaborate of all, the “Green mansion” itself—served as a combination of studio, gallery, and instructional and living space.
In the large Green mansion, female colonists roomed on the second floor, while male colonists bunked upstairs in the attic. The men who did not fit in the attic or could not afford the rooming costs pitched camp nearby in tents, or— as its most famous resident, Grant Wood, did—in old ice wagons hauled from Cedar Rapids to serve as temporary shelter.
Grant Wood, the Iowa-born artist who just two years earlier had made a name for himself with his now famous work, American Gothic, was the faculty director in 1932 and lived in one of ten ice wagons high above the village.
Helping to shape the Christian Science Monitor’s portrayal of the encampment as a gypsy caravan, Wood painted the outside of his wagon with a sweeping pastoral landscape in what would become his familiar style—fantastical scenes of sensually curving hillsides and farmscapes done in sharp, clearly defined lines. The other ice wagon residents followed suit
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/quarbullarchamer.3.4.1556810?journalCode=quarbullarchamer
FYI, Wood posed his sister and his Cedar Rapids dentist as the dour-faced figures in American Gothic
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