Wednesday, December 31, 2014
when Super Stocks were sold to the public, for completely cool prices. Yeah, less powerful than a 2015 Challenger Hellcat, but wow, strictly race car w/o comfort
Found on Facebook, I bet it was Petty Mower, but it might have been another acquaintance
logging road.... in both senses of the word
All hard work and nothing easy about this photo.... that generation had little to no comfort in life. No toilet paper, no power chain saws, no cold beer, and everything was hard manual labor. They didn't even have decent suspension, shock absorbers, engine oiling, or brakes. Rough life.
Photo found on http://lecontainer.blogspot.com/
different location, same tractor. It's a Garford.
Found on https://www.facebook.com/marc.tudeau?fref=nf
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Yikes! 2nd disaster to destroy cars this year... how incredible will the next method need to be to top sinkholes and mountains of salt?
the cars that got crushed and pushed were the next door Lexus dealers inventory
A wall collapsed at the Morton Salt building in Chicago Tuesday afternoon around 2 p.m. 1301 N. Elston in the North Side of Chicago
Found on http://fox5sandiego.com/2014/12/30/factory-wall-collapses-burying-cars-with-salt/
http://dnainfo.com/chicago/20141230/river-west/morton-salt-plant-wall-collapses-pouring-salt-on-acura-dealership-cars
Oh to be a hobby racer in the 60's!
Bev Spencer's passion for automobile racing and Ferraris led him to become a Ferrari dealer in San Francisco and ultimately to campaign ex-factory Ferrari competition cars at tracks up and down the west coast during the '60s.
Found on https://www.facebook.com/groups/505973489414476/
Like his father, Roy Spencer is deeply involved with cars. “I was 5-10 years old during the early-mid ‘60s and went to many races with my father, along with my three older brothers.” Today, Roy Spencer is also the family historian. “I’ve been keeping track of our family archives for 40 years. The collection has just been sitting around in the meantime. I had digitized a few of the images that related to my father’s cars,” says son Roy. “And then, about twelve years ago, I obtained the ‘Motor Binders’ collection and related racing ephemera.”
The MotorBinder collection has revealed a number of outstanding and unique images of the legends of the ‘50s and ‘60s. And the Spencer family archives reveal some of the most legendary Ferraris in some very interesting settings. When my father arrived home the day he purchased his 1958 Testa Rossa in early 1962, we all got rides around the neighborhood. He had driven it home from nearby San Carlos ‘as-is’ from its last race with full numbers and decals. He was still in his business suit… I’m hoping to share this unique view of the era with enthusiasts young and old.”
Phil Hill driving one of Bev's Ferrari
So, with all the photos, and desire to get them into the hands of people that want to see them, he sold a book on Kickstarter
http://www.velocetoday.com/bev-spencer-legacy/ and https://www.facebook.com/motorbinder/photos_stream
http://www.amazon.com/MotorBinder-Classic-photographs-Golden-Racing/dp/0615970591/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419976085&sr=8-1&keywords=MotorBinder+by+Roy+Spencer
It turns out a photo gallery of Ron Pratte's collection has been online since 2009
And I did not know his Futurliner had the Pontiac Bonneville concept show car
Full gallery at https://www.flickr.com/photos/120085489@N03/sets/72157642259265175/
Dan at Hemmings Blog has compiled a list of those that passed the finish line in 2014
Tom Magliozzi. When Magliozzi – one half of the Click and Clack brothers from NPR’s Car Talk radio show – died in November, media outlets from the New York Times to The Hollywood Reporter covered the news, and more than a few of them included reminisces of howling laughter at the jokes and assorted tomfoolery the brothers got into on their show. More than just a Boston accent and a Dodge Dart lover, though, Magliozzi knew his cars from his years owning and operating the Good News Garage, and probably got more people poking their heads under their cars’ hoods than any other radio host in history.
Andy Granatelli. Though he never raced in the Indianapolis 500, Granatelli – who died in late December 2013 – earned the nickname “Mister 500″ for all of his years of involvement with the race, either as a car owner, promoter, or simply for his enduring presence there. His career in motorsports extends far beyond the 500, though, from his hot rod aftermarket parts business to his time as a promoter for STP, and his work with Studebaker and Paxton. He also prepped race cars in "The Love bug" http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/01/where-can-you-find-andy-granatelli-bill.html and was at Nixon's White House Race Car Day http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/01/nixon-had-race-cars-over-to-white-house.html
Jack Brabham. To this day, Brabham remains the only driver to win a Formula 1 championship in a car bearing his name, which should say something both about the man’s driving abilities (along with the fact that the Australian won three Formula 1 championships) and his engineering and design proficiencies.
“Speedy” Bill Smith. Even if you only perused the Speedway Motors catalog over the years, you could see what sort of an influence Smith – who died in May – had on the racing and hot rodding world. As co-founder and operator of what he claimed to be the world’s oldest continuously operating speed shop (since 1952), Smith not only supplied and sponsored plenty of racers over the years, he also curated a much-lauded museum of extremely rare racing engines and other speed parts at the company’s headquarters in Nebraska.
James Garner. While most of the world knew Garner – who died in July – as a prolific actor, he also had a second career as a racer and team owner, with behind-the-wheel experience in Baja desert racing and behind-the-checkbook experience in endurance racing (American International Racing). http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/12/james-garners-american-intenational.html His 1966 film Grand Prix also remains a gearhead favorite to this day. He also was the Indy 500 pace car driver in 1975, 77, and 85
Dick Thompson. Known as the “flying dentist,” Thompson – who died in September – had the grit and the stamina to pursue a second career in both amateur and professional auto racing, almost entirely behind the wheel of a series of Chevrolet Corvettes, helping to legitimize that car as a capable sports car competitor. With such luminaries as John Fitch, Bill Mitchell, and Zora Arkus-Duntov backing him, Thompson became a legend among Corvette enthusiasts.
Mike Alexander. One of the famous Alexander brothers duo, Mike – who died in July – not only had a hand in such famous customs as the Dodge Deora and Chili Catallo’s Silver Sapphire, he also did design work for Ford through the Kar Kraft Design Center and for American Sunroof Corporation.
A.J. Watson. Indy car builder and mechanic, Watson’s cars are considered the last great front-engined cars to compete at Indianapolis. Watson – who died in May – did try driving early on in his career, but found greater success building his distinctive cars with offset engines for other racers, including Dick Rathmann, Rodger Ward, and A.J. Foyt.
Other notable deaths from 2014 include those of Corvette and AMC racing legend Jim Jeffords, Hagerty Insurance co-founder Frank Hagerty,
Ford director and scion William Clay Ford,
Don Garlits’s wife Pat Garlits,
funny car racer Raymond Beadle,
NHRA driver and crew chief Dale Armstrong,
Lister cars founder Brian Lister,
Hot Rod magazine’s Tom Medley,
Ramcharger Jim Thornton,
steam car collector Buck Boudeman,
and Mickey Thompson mechanic Fred “Fritz” Voigt.
From http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/12/30/racers-restorers-and-funny-men-a-toast-to-the-car-guys-who-passed-in-2014/
well, this is a cool bit of news, how to get cheaper air fares... simply.
Buy an airline ticket that has a layover at your actual destination. Say you want to fly from New York to San Francisco — you actually book a flight from New York to Lake Tahoe with a layover in San Francisco and get off there, without bothering to take the last leg of the flight.
If you can find some ticket with a less expensive cost because the airline is out to waste your time with layovers and route doglegs, you score, so long as you aren't putting any baggage onboard, and only buying a one way flight.
This isn't always the cheapest flight, but often is.
http://fox5sandiego.com/2014/12/30/united-airlines-sues-22-year-old-who-found-a-way-to-get-cheap-plane-tickets/
via Skiplagged.com
If you can find some ticket with a less expensive cost because the airline is out to waste your time with layovers and route doglegs, you score, so long as you aren't putting any baggage onboard, and only buying a one way flight.
This isn't always the cheapest flight, but often is.
http://fox5sandiego.com/2014/12/30/united-airlines-sues-22-year-old-who-found-a-way-to-get-cheap-plane-tickets/
via Skiplagged.com
Monday, December 29, 2014
21,600 mile original Z/28. Larry finally sold it to move to warmer climates. He was the original owner, buying it at at 16
it's spent the last 35 years just sitting, getting only 443 miles since 1978.
Jerry Heasley finds the best barn find stories!
http://www.hotrod.com/cars/barn-finds/1411-rare-finds-1969-chevy-camaro-z28/?adbid=10152465433767540&adbpl=fb&adbpr=13601527539&sm_id=social_aumohotrodsshub_default_20141229_38030017
I was reminded today of the incredible collection of race cars of Lindley Bothwell, and how much better Nik at CarrosAntigos.Wordpress.com posts than I do
I'm pretty sure all of the above images were taken at the Del Mar Racetrack here in San Diego county
and I'm pretty sure all the rest were taken at the Bothwell ranch near Burbank
All images from Nik's post from 2008 https://carrosantigos.wordpress.com/2008/12/14/a-colecao-de-carros-de-lindley-bothwell/
I've posted about the amazing collection several times across the past 8 years, but the Sports Illustrated issue of 1954 really nailed the story http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-1957-sports-illustrated-feature-on.html
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All of my posts about Lindley Bothwell and the "Speed Demons" are at http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/search/label/Bothwell