Just A Car Guy: 8/17/08

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Daytona Florida's annual Turkey Run, hot rod show

You and I must love the same sort of unusual stuff, and hot rods, and race stuff... or we wouldn't both look at the stuff I have here, right?

Well, you will enjoy his writing more, and his photos just as much, and for a great description by one who's been there, let me turn you over to John at http://oleragtop.blogspot.com/2008/08/eye-candy-at-turkey-rod-run.html

Cool light green, wonder what it started as? Early 50 shoebox Ford? I was close! It's a 49 Aussie Ford Ute... Thanks to Dan for knowing right where to get the story... in Mike Kelly’s Cruise News, author Ken Caskey of Kidd Darrin’s Restorations & Custom Built Cars in Melbourne, Florida spotlighted the Ford Ute. http://www.cruisenewsonline.com/49FordUteAustralianUtility/49FordUteAustralianUtilityFeature.html

Hot rodded Chrysler Airflow or Airstream!

Ummm, Opel? Alfa? Nope... Dan got this one too! First the Ute then this one! Man's on a roll... this is a Saab 96... for a photo of a stock one to compare it with http://www.saabhistory.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/saab_96_rac_front.jpg

http://www.turkeyrun.com/turkeyrun/Turkey_Run_Home.html

With thanks and appreciation for http://oleragtop.blogspot.com/

You can also see a gallery here: http://www.motor-klassik.de/aktuell/sport_U_veranstaltungen/hxcms_article_508777_14702.hbs

I want to thank "Anonymous" commentor for pointing out the similarities in the following, very astute!

This is from the Indian motorbike and sidecar at National City Kimball park car show

the Plymouth is on Randy's 1930 from the June post on his fantastic car.

Comments are now enabled!

Hooray! I just noticed that something I tried made the darn things work. And figured out how to read them without looking through all the posts to find the ones with comments!

David Santos of Sao João da Madeira, Aveiro, Portugal thought this would be a good place to congratulate Olympic athletes.
Dude! Really? Put down the crack pipe! Step away from the koolaid! Lay down until the feeling passes!

I've asked repeatedly for anyone to email me with comments, and very few have. I think it's very interesting to dialog with you guys, but to have a guy use the comment section here to send congrads to Olympic athletes is disturbing... I can't imagine in what circumstances any of them are going to pause in training or competition to read the comments here David.

amazing analytical video comparison between the Nissan GT-R and the Ford GT (40)

http://www.webridestv.com/videos/

A good question to banter over when talking to car people, Who has designed the best looking cars in the past 100 years?

I arrived at that question when looking at http://www.ridelust.com/designer-century-most-beautiful-cars/#more-1423 which may be accurate, in awarding Giorgetto Giugiaro the honorific. I'm not debating Ridelust on this, just offering this premise to you for bench racing the next time you are among other knowledgeable automotive people who can offer their thoughts.

Sadly, I don't know of anyone I can discuss car designers with who is topically knowledgeable on them. I'm no expert, but I can hold my own by knowing the cars, car names and manufacturers, and possibly remember the names of designers if someone else jogs my memory, and the cars they worked on.

I offer Chip Foose, Dick Teague, Pininfarina, Bill Mitchell, Harley Earl, Virgil Exner, Marcello Gandini, Raymond Loewy, J Mays, Buckminster Fuller, Paul Jr, Larry Shinoda, Elwood Engel, Henrik Fisker, Syd Mead, Freeman Thomas and others I'd recognize if someone mentioned them

“Auto racing was born the day the second automobile was built.”

If you are near Philiadelphia, you might want to see this museum of race cars.

"There are few illustrations of the effects of competition as dramatic, and beautiful, as the evolution of the racing sports car. This is the theme of our exhibition. Here you can learn how racing improves the breed. "

The Simeone Foundation Museum is Dr. Fred Simeone’s personal collection of 60 amazing race legends from the 1909 American Underslung to Le Mans winners to modern day race cars.

http://www.simeonefoundation.org/ via http://www.ridelust.com

Have you ever seen anyone this laid back in heavy traffic?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klteYv1Uv9A

The amount of cars switching lanes in close proximity to each other isn't a bother to most of us in huge cities of over a million people, but the guy on the cycle appears to be oblivious to the fact he's in traffic at all! Imagine him on a chair, bench, or couch instead of on his motorbike in traffic! See what I mean?

a few gems from the world of unholy modified cars.

1921 Oldsmobile Model 46 above is from Ridelust's The 50 Most Famous Cars Of All Time
and isn't part of the modified cars I refer to in the title of this post, but I contend it should be, for it's a shame to put a 1921 Olds on top of a monster truck frame

http://www.ridelust.com/modified-cars-the-evil-that-men-do/#more-2727

Forged internals

From http://despair.com/ Via http://www.ridelust.com/demotivational-posters/

5 funniest car commercials, most were immediately pulled from tv broadcasts... corporate sponsors can't be associated with humor

http://www.ridelust.com/the-5-greatest-car-commercials-ever/

And one that wasn't: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCe-1LYj_4o

Red-light cameras

are associated with increased crashes and that the timings at yellow lights are often set too short to increase tickets for red-light running.
http://www.ridelust.com/red-light-cameras-just-dont-work/
A 2001 paper by the Office of the Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives reported that red-light cameras are “a hidden tax levied on motorists.”

Which futher backs up my April post http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/04/six-us-cities-tamper-with-traffic.html

Most unusual car type vehicle ever, the only one used off planet

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Apollo_15_Lunar_Rover_final_resting_place.jpg

Some news

Andrea Pininfarina killed while riding his Vespa
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24147535-26017,00.html

Harley buys MV Agusta and Cagiva, and lays off HD employees at the same time. Huh, odd!
http://www.pittedchrome.com/2008/07/cal-rayborns-1968-daytona-harley.html

Almost record setting $7.92 million dollars for a 1937 Bugatti Type 37SC Atalante Coupe. That’s the 2nd highest price ever paid for an automobile in the United States.
http://www.ridelust.com/the-most-expensive-car-ever-auctioned-in-united-states/ Ridelist got it wrong on calling it the most paid, the Coburn Ferrari went for around $11 Million http://www.gizmag.com/coburn-ferrari-california-sets-world-record-auction-price/9369/

Chevy Silverado driven over 1 million miles, and then the owner ebays it.
http://www.ridelust.com/wisconsin-man-puts-1-million-miles-on-his-91-chevy-silverado-we-are-pretty-damn-impressed/

The Top 10 Most and Least Expensive Cars to Insure http://www.ridelust.com/the-top-10-most-and-least-expensive-cars-to-insure/#more-2146

Good biker website

http://www.pittedchrome.com/

Also a cool video of the inside of an engine cylinder during combustion, very cool! http://www.pittedchrome.com/2007/10/burn-baby-burn-combustion-video.html

As one who occasionaly has a good rant, I dig this rant against Harley, which makes some good points, maintains momentum, and gets in some good digs http://www.pittedchrome.com/2006/08/ugly-american-harley-davidson.html

motorcycle-friendly guard rails

the European Committee for Standardization voted to “develop a European Standard which reduces the impact severity of motorcyclist collisions with safety barriers."

This illustrates that most everything is outside our daily notice, but is very important to someone, and means life or death in this case. I gave it a bit of thought, and realized that the design of guard rails on highways is really important to the motorcyclists who have to avoid moron drivers who are usually causing bikers to crash.
http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2008/06/dani-pedrosa-flies-antiguardra.html
http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2008/06/europe-legislates-motorcyclefr.html

an off-road, gyroscopically balanced motor-bike with a caterpillar track

The Tuscan, contracted by the U.S. Forest Service, capable of climbing a 45-degree hill, featured a 20bhp single-cylinder engine with a four-speed gearbox; a front ski attachment for snow trails; and a detachable headlamp to double as a flashlight.

Via: http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2008/04/tuscan-trailbike-it-was-never.html

Diamond T dualie getting restored

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2980134

Friday, August 22, 2008

I've posted before about the WW2 scrap drives in the US to get more metal to make into planes, tanks, etc... some stuff donated was rare cars

1933 Duesenberg Model J Judkins Berline, one of two made of this body type. This car was purchased new by Frank Yount at the 1933 Chicago Auto Show for his wife Pansy. She donated the car to a WWII scrap drive http://forums.aaca.org/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/531052/gonew/1/1933_Duesenberg_on_the_Scale#UNREAD
Thousands of average-income Americans across the nation reached into their china closets and donated family heirlooms made from metal to the WW II scrap drive as a sign of making a sacrifice. Families looked out their window and saw their second-hand automobiles that were not junk and still capable of providing transportation to their owners. Even though gasoline and tires were rationed, these vehicles were not totally worthless to their owners, yet they were donated to the scrap drive. The scrap drive was more than just a "junk" drive. People gave up items that had sentimental, utilitarian and monetary value. Sacrifices were made.Pansy Yount was the scion to the fortune left to her by her husband whom she deeply admired and respected. Pansy's social status as one of the wealthiest women in the world at that time required she do things in-line of what was expected of her in consideration of her social status. Pansy's desire to contribute to the war effort by participating in the scrap drive required she donate metal representative of value to the donor. For Pansy to collect junk in order to find somthing to contribute to the scrap drive would be considered below her dignity, besides, rich people don't keep junk. In order for Pansy to contribute to the scrap drive with some semblance of making a sacrifice, she would have to donate something representative of value - something like a Duesenberg. And she did. When she found the car got picked up by someone for their own edification she put a stop to that. Her car was going to be processed the same as everyone else's. Pansy had the money to afford whatever she wanted, and that Duesenberg was a symbol of what a person of her stature would contribute to the scrap drive.

Very good photographer, with an interesting style, Goodguys car show gallery on Flikr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebobblog/sets/72157600210196963/

and his blog http://www.thebobblog.com/

if you are a fan of micro cars, or car museums, you might like

http://microcarlover.blogspot.com/ and it's new, with very little content so far, but what it has is cool! Some photos on this site are from the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum.

http://www.microcarmuseum.com/ with large galleries of each car, and a description of each... the museum website has Messerschmitt, Goggomobil, F. M. R. Tg-500, NSU, Zeta, Atlas, Avocette and many more.

There will even be a book on Micro trucks! http://www.veloce.co.uk/shop/products/productDetail.php?prod_id=v4175&prod_group=Cars%20Vans%20&%20Trucks&PHPSESSID=7e8c11f9d1e745ac1ceb9b633ee1d0f3
Full colour photography, text and specs describe virtually unknown production micro trucks. Featured are rare Iso utility vehicles and Topolino Fiat vans, as well as more common production micro trucks from Autobianchi, Moto Guzzi, Vespa Ape, New Map Solyto and Diahatsu. 100 colour photos show many rare and extraordinary micro trucks.

I think I accidentally found Jim Wangers T/A

http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/04/some-really-nice-cars-i-dont-recall.html

is my post with several photos of it, and I just came across this http://www.justdashes.com/gto_2005.htm which shows the same car, minus the front plate. There weren't many of these made, and to see both of these with the same tires, paint, and rims, in So Cal, is more than coincidence I believe

Umm, the reason it's cool that it's likely Jim Wangers' car is that he is an icon of Pontiac muscle cars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_GTO

Photos from the "Just Dashes" company sponsored car shows

Customized to represent the owners belief that Chysler should build Barracudas again, I've read the problem at corporate is that since killing off Plymouth, Chrysler isn't sure about re-using Plymouth car names, as if we'd care about that.

A rare ALMQUIST flat-head blower, the circular air induction chamber narrows as it enters the engine, increasing the airflow.

I dig the innovative throttle linkage parts, more innovation with a few extra wrenches.

Via: http://www.justdashes.com/Events.htm

Really good So Cal photographer, specializes in Mopars!

Robert Genat Photography
Website: http://www.robertgenat.com// his portfolio
Blog: http://robergenat.blogspot.com// where he details the process, camera settings, and easy to use ideas on photography
http://openlibrary.org/a/OL67225A for a look at all the books he has made!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

A dragster that Dean Moon raced was at Escondido

The above photo is a favorite of mine, Tere took it.

The below has a significant feature, the eyes sticker on the speedometer face the wrong way, and are one of 6 stickers that are known to still exist after a run of errors that Dean went a long way to destroy all of.