A quick look at the 2015 Grand National Roadster Show, 2015... get there early, it's about 5 or 6 hours to cover completely. (gates open at 10am)

the biggest surprise and coolest vehicle was Ron Berry's Surf Seeker

and the winner of the America's Most Beautiful Roadster was this '33

this is the dual grilled Lincoln Zephyr from the Lee Roy Hartung collection, you probably recognize it from the auction news http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2011/11/private-car-collection-of-lee-roy.html

the Suede Palace just as they opened the doors, 1st time I've ever been in there without a crowd around every car.

a recreation of the Grasshopper

a couple of cars in the contention for the AMBR award

and great news, James Hetfield has Rick Dore working on another masterpiece above... based on the design of the Figoni and Falashi 1938 Delahaye 165 cabriolet

and I think that the above is the only dual rear window I've ever seen

plus recreations of Norm Grabowski's Lightning Bug, and below, the original Moonshiner of Mickey Himsl

and I was also happy to see this for the first time, Tommy Ivo's trailer! I wish more of the trailers and transporters were brought to car shows.... they get as much attention (as Don Prudhomme proved) as the show cars

Flying Legends Air Show 2014, Duxford England

thanks Mike!

Nice new improvement in jack stands!

Found on https://www.facebook.com/pages/C10-Trucks/442473129180758?fref=nf

Cool car names, if they were parked together

Kia Soul, Dodge Demon, Dodge Free Spirit, Dodge Warlock, Dodge Hellcat,

and if Kia and Dodge both had a recall on the Soul and Demon? The headline might read, Demons and Souls recalled by car companies for defects

yeah, this level of awesome happnes

found on http://darkdraggon.tumblr.com/

this guy was having a great day!

Found on http://darkdraggon.tumblr.com/

What took us so long to find this Nissan?

Found on https://www.facebook.com/ifinglovethis?fref=nf

17,000 posts so far... that's a good start and warm up. Hang around, or check back....

It's only getting better

The New York Central "Mercury"

Wow, that is beautiful... and notice the "white wall" wheels

Found on https://www.facebook.com/ifinglovethis?fref=nf

David emailed me the following:
In the 1930s, the railroads introduced Streamlined Passenger trains to bring excitement and to lure passengers to back the rails, as the recent lowering of the prices of cars (Model T etc) had discouraged spending money on riding trains when a used car was quite affordable.

Other railroad companies (like the Burlington Route did with its Zephyrs,
 the Union Pacific did with its "City" streamliner trains,
 the Illinios Central's did with its Green Diamond trains,
and the Baltimore  and Ohio did with its Royal Blue/Abraham Lincoln trains )
spent "big money" purchasing a new diesel locomotive and streamlined train sets during the depression, the frugal New York Central turned to Henry Dreyfuss, an industrial designer, for its “clean lined” design.

( His contemporaries were John Fredrick Harbeson of GM's Electro-Motive Diesel division, Otto Kuhler, Raymond Loewy and Brooks Stevens - the last two designed for Studebaker)
Loewy train design: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/11/raymond-loewys-120th-birthday-is-google.html
Stevens designed the Olympain Hiawatha observation cars: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/08/olympian-hiawatha-railroad-observation.html
the GM Electro motive Aerotrain: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/12/gm-aerotrain.html

The locomotive shops in Albany, NY upgraded the spoke-type driving wheels with disc-type driving wheels (for better balance for higher rotational speed), roller bearings, and were given "White walls" and centers to contrast with the I-beam connecting rods.

 The wheels and rods were illuminated at night to "add visual excitement" for the introduction of the new 1936 trains. Passenger cars were rebuilt from 1920s commuter coaches and upgraded to beautiful matched Streamlined passenger cars by the railroad's Indianapolis Car shops.

 Running between (appropriately) Detroit, MI and Cleveland, OH, via Toledo, OH, the train was scheduled at 165 miles in 165 minutes westbound for Detroit and 170 minutes Eastbound, (including stops).

 More details are available in the book The Art of the Streamliner, http://www.amazon.com/Art-Streamliner-Bob-Johnston/dp/1586631462/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422157548&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Art+of+the+Streamliner  by Bob Johnson and Joe Welsh, with Mike Schafer

A very thorough article on the streamliner era is on http://streamlinermemories.info/?p=325

Sometimes things go wrong... like putting out a car on fire

very simple road grader made from a Model T... is there anything a Model T didn't do in the vehicular world?

Found on http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/506218/512452.html?1422029411

awwww

Found on https://www.facebook.com/danny.vansevern?fref=photo

1907 Indian tri car from the E J Cole collection

Found on https://www.facebook.com/IndianMotorcycleMuseumAustralia?fref=photo

newsflash..... surprise find in a Florida canal sheds a clue on a 1978 missing persons case

1969 Dodge Coronet was found in a canal at the intersection of the 595 and the I 75 about 10 miles West of Fort Lauderdale, it has been there since two teens disappeared in 1978, after leaving a concert.

Atchison went to a concert with Null, and, like so much in this case, there are conflicting reports about the show, Amaya said.

From there, Atchison reportedly had friends over to his house for a "get-together" since his parents were out of town, his sister said. "Wade and Dana got into an argument and my brother jumped into the car to blow off steam and she ended up jumping in the car with him," Amaya told ABC News.

A second search of the Florida canal where a 1969 Dodge was found has led to the discovery of human remains at the scene, police said today.

Harry "Wade" Atchison, 19, and his friend Dana Null, 15, were last seen driving away from his home in his car on the night of Oct. 7, 1978, and the first break in the case in decades came when his car was found on Wednesday.

Now, a dive team has recovered bones, police said, though they need to be tested by the medical examiner's office before any DNA matches can be confirmed. Atchison's sister, Donna Amaya, told ABC News that the investigator said the bones were from the lower half of person's body, "like a femer," but she was not given any further information.

Amaya said the discovery of her brother's car was when she truly believed that her brother was dead, and now after the discovery of remains, "it's a whole different ballgame."

Both Atchison's parents and Null's parents have since died but both have sisters who were notified when the car was discovered by a sanitation worker in the town of Sunrise on Wednesday.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/remains-found-car-linked-mysterious-1978-missing-teens/story?id=28431034

Factory drag racer, lightweight, and speed record setter in SS/F sold at auction for only 137,500

the only way to know what cool old race cars are still around is to look at the auction results.

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1968-FORD-MUSTANG-428-CJ-R-FASTBACK-180019

Not often a Hurst Olds shows up anywhere, this one just sold at auction for 77 thou

only 50 thousand miles....

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1969-OLDSMOBILE-HURST-2-DOOR-HARDTOP-182549

Wow, someone just took a loss on a new Viper they never took out of the factory wrapper, 2010 Viper GTS sold at 81 thou

They cost about 100 to 110 thou new, even back in 2010.

Someone, or some people decided it was time to sell off their Vipers, from the earliest, #61 (1992) that went for 43 thou....  to a '96, this 2010 and the 2002 Hennessey Venom, plus a 1300 mile 1997 that only went for 50 thou

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/2010-DODGE-VIPER-GTS-181356

Even a '96 Shelby RT/10 one of 19 sold at only 52 thou http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1996-DODGE-VIPER-RT/10-182128  and it only had 5 thousand miles. 

Pretty cool, a Route 66 classic Ford wrecker from Holbrooke Arizona

This started life as a fire truck and was converted into a wrecker for the Whiting Brothers Company, who owned over more than 40 service stations along Route 66 from New Mexico to California.

sold for only $27,500

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1955-FORD-F-600-TOW-TRUCK-181507

I suppose it was easy to predict this, a Hellcat bought and brought straight to auction. Sold for the current going rate of nearly 100 thou though.

Not a profitable move unless it was the dealership that pulled this stunt. They get them at MSRP I think, that's around 65 thou.

the markup is 95 thou... that is the profiteering on such a rare commodity

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/2015-DODGE-CHALLENGER-SRT-HELLCAT-181700

Did you hear of the Saudi Syclones? Didn't sell so they shipped them back to GM, who then sold them by lotto to GM employees

Similar to the GN these turbo charged V6 all wheel drive beasts spanked everything around when they rolled out of GM in 1991. Even the Vette lost.

They only made 2,995 trucks, and Car and Driver recorded it's 0-60mph sprint time of 4.3 seconds - quicker than any Ferrari or Corvette available. 113 of the 2,995 Syclone trucks were shipped out of the country as export sales. 31 of those export sales were returned unsold from Saudi Arabia to the GMC facility in Pontiac, Michigan. These were referred to as the "Saudi" Syclones. 30 were sold at lottery to GMC employees and one was used for parts.

and it only sold for 17 thou at auction

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1991-GMC-SYCLONE-PICKUP-182563

Vanderbilt Cup Races in Milwaukee - 1912

Terrific photo, found on https://www.facebook.com/isabelle.bracquemond.7?fref=photo

the largest earth moving grader ever made, the ACCO Grader

Learned of it on http://semitrckn.tumblr.com/ but the images are originally from  http://www.vincelewis.net/accograder.html  and all the known info about it can also be read there.

In a nutshell, an Italian company, ACCO, made this for Libya, but due to political issues it was never delivered, and wasted away for 30 years in Italy, until eventually, they got tired of storing it and dismantled it.

Weighing 160 tons, it had 2 engines, a 1000 hp in back, and a 700 hp in front, and the dual tires were needed to support the weight. The blade was 30 feet wide