https://dailytimewaster.blogspot.com/2022/01/a-mechanic-totaled-34-million-ferrari.html
Saturday, January 22, 2022
1954 Austin Somerset gasser "Dragnasty" pulls a 9.50 in the 1/4 mile
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/austin-somerset-gasser-build-dragnasty.859106/page-53
Snoop Dog driving in his car, listening to his hit, “The Next Episode ” in a commercial for the Superbowl Half time show, created and directed by F. Gary Gray
all of these musicians are talented, but I only get a kick out of Snoop Dogg. For one thing, he's a fan of cool 1960s cars, and owns (according to the internet) a 66 Pontiac, 67 and 68 Cadillac, and 68 Riviera, for another, my favorite songs he's made are relaxed and chill
learning something new every day, the late 70s Pontiac Esprit sales and marketing effort to make the boring cars that didn't have the Trans Am bird and motor appealing enough to boost sales, was nothing but a color choice
Simply boring, but they chose to call these V6 Pontiacs, a Yellow Bird, Red Bird, and Sky Bird - as no doubt the idea of naming a car a Blue Bird wasn't going to fly. Yes, I said that.
Factually, Blue Bird was already trademarked, probably by the bus company https://cartype.com/pages/2016/pontiac_firebird_sky_bird__1978
photos from https://autopolis.wordpress.com/2013/03/30/1977-1980-pontiac-firebird-esprit-special-editions-birds-of-a-different-color/ but only because I learned of the Sky Bird from https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1977-pontiac-firebird-esprit-sky-bird-pretty-bird/
And Curbside found out about the Sky Bird from watching C.H.I.P.s, which had a dozen background cars, which were used in a lot of scenes, just to make it appear that the show wasn't filmed on back lots or empty streets a permit for filming would empty so no bystanders were involved, and one of the background cars was a Sky Bird.
A facebook friend posted this photo of his Great Grandfather Evans at his Steam Engine, back in the 1800's, he was the Engineer
what a great photo (please, ignore the glare) to pass down in the family!
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5133655203335740&set=a.950708041630498
the MCACN people are looking for malaise era cars for a new fun show
so if you own or know of a prime example of a Malaise Era Muscle car and would like to join us, please send pictures and information to bashton426@gmail.com. As always, we will accept only the best of the best and the rarest of the rare. We have no intention of lowering our standards, so if it isn't prime, please don't ask, and as always, priority will be given to factory stock vehicles, unless it is Day2 Dealer modified, aka Nickey and Yenko.
cops spraypainting suspects impounded cars, with swatikas, and smiley faces, colluding with the tow truck company to wind out the clock on the one year statute of limitations for litigation had expired? Yes. The District Attorney has pressed charges, so, there's enough evidence for a conviction of 13 Torrance California police officers
I learned today that Joe Sherlock had already written his goodbye post, it was posted today, here it is, very eloquent
Recent health events have led me to conclude that it's time for me to stop blogging. I've decided to disconnect the battery, drain the oil and put The View Through The Windshield up on blocks.
In early December, I suffered a major heart attack and arrived at the hospital by ambulance. Surgery was attempted and was stopped because my other organs were affected. After numerous attempts to increase my blood pressure and organ function, I elected to be given palliative care only and arrived home a week later. I am now in hospice care. My prognosis is grim, so any prayers or good thoughts you'd like to send my way would be appreciated.
Hospice is doing a good job for me and I have lots of family support. While I can't get around without an electric mobility scooter, I am relatively pain-free, although I am taking a bit of supplemental oxygen as I write this.
I can no longer drive or walk more than a few feet without getting winded. Sadly, there will be no more drives for me in my old '39 Plymouth coupe, nor am I able to work the controls of my model train layout.
Most of us do not leave behind lasting markers of our presence on this earth. The garden projects, home remodeling work, business reports, spreadsheets and other little footprints disappear with the passage of time. We can only hope that the good deeds we've done, the lessons and values we've passed along to our children and grandchildren and/or the societal changes we've helped to create will somehow make an impact on subsequent generations.
When one visits the great cathedrals of Europe and marvels at their massive magnificence, a little research will often disclose the name of each master builder. But not much else. Yet, what makes these structures so interesting are the details which reveal themselves upon close examination. The 15th Century artists who carved detailed cornices, lifelike statuary, gilded ceiling bosses and fanciful gargoyles at York Minster are long dead and their names forgotten. But they live on through their work over five centuries later.
This blog is perhaps my version of those gilded ceilings and fanciful gargoyles, and I've asked that it remains available as an archive, including my collection of essays and car drawings.
I sincerely thank those loyal readers who have been 'regulars' at The View Through The Windshield as well as the many who have offered favorable comments and encouragement during my blogging years. I wish all of you the best that life has to offer.
Happy Motoring. God Bless. Godspeed. Joe Sherlock
In early December, I suffered a major heart attack and arrived at the hospital by ambulance. Surgery was attempted and was stopped because my other organs were affected. After numerous attempts to increase my blood pressure and organ function, I elected to be given palliative care only and arrived home a week later. I am now in hospice care. My prognosis is grim, so any prayers or good thoughts you'd like to send my way would be appreciated.
Hospice is doing a good job for me and I have lots of family support. While I can't get around without an electric mobility scooter, I am relatively pain-free, although I am taking a bit of supplemental oxygen as I write this.
I can no longer drive or walk more than a few feet without getting winded. Sadly, there will be no more drives for me in my old '39 Plymouth coupe, nor am I able to work the controls of my model train layout.
Most of us do not leave behind lasting markers of our presence on this earth. The garden projects, home remodeling work, business reports, spreadsheets and other little footprints disappear with the passage of time. We can only hope that the good deeds we've done, the lessons and values we've passed along to our children and grandchildren and/or the societal changes we've helped to create will somehow make an impact on subsequent generations.
When one visits the great cathedrals of Europe and marvels at their massive magnificence, a little research will often disclose the name of each master builder. But not much else. Yet, what makes these structures so interesting are the details which reveal themselves upon close examination. The 15th Century artists who carved detailed cornices, lifelike statuary, gilded ceiling bosses and fanciful gargoyles at York Minster are long dead and their names forgotten. But they live on through their work over five centuries later.
This blog is perhaps my version of those gilded ceilings and fanciful gargoyles, and I've asked that it remains available as an archive, including my collection of essays and car drawings.
I sincerely thank those loyal readers who have been 'regulars' at The View Through The Windshield as well as the many who have offered favorable comments and encouragement during my blogging years. I wish all of you the best that life has to offer.
Happy Motoring. God Bless. Godspeed. Joe Sherlock
looks like the future of Postal Carrier vehicles is this unusual looking thing from Oshkosh
The Oshkosh Defense USPS carrier beat out two other finalists to replace the long-running Grumman Long Life Vehicle (LLV) last February, scoring a lucrative contract that’s worth a whopping $6 billion over ten years. In spite of some legal troubles and political opposition, the new Oshkosh Defense USPS carrier is on track to become the next Post Office mail delivery vehicle, and now, a full-scale design model of the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) being unloaded for a commercial shoot has been spotted in Saticoy, California, for the very first time by a Reddit user.
https://fordauthority.com/2022/01/ford-powered-oshkosh-defense-usps-carrier-spotted-for-first-time/
2022 has been rife with celebs dying, and I wanted to memorialize one that no newspaper or magazine, or Entertaintiment Weekly is going to mention... Marlan Davis. Hot Rod's tech editor for most of my life.
honestly, I didn't read many of his tech articles, I'm not that focused on cams, transmissions, and I don't give a shit about Chevy heads.
But damn it, I respect the work. The world was a better place with Marlan deciphering the engine trigonometry and stuff.
Hs started working for Hot Rod as a mailroom gopher in the summer of 77, and spent 42 years focused on everything mechanical, and it was luck that landed his family as the neighbor of Dick Day, publisher of Hot Rod in the late 70s, but it was tenacity and extraordinary work ethic that made him the exceptional stand out in Hot Rod's pool of talented employees.
https://www.motortrend.com/features/remembering-marlan-davis
Fyi, Bob D'Olivio passed away in July 2021
I'm not familiar with him, or his work, but I'm certain many of you are, as he worked for Petersen Publishing from 1951 to 1996
Because he worked for Petersen, and not Hot Rod specifically, he also photograhed for all the magazines in the Petersen Publishing company, who published Guns & Ammo, Teen, Photographic, Skin Diver, and dozens more.
As a result, D'Olivo swam with Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan of movie fame); photographed Sandra Dee and Annette Funicello at home; created scenes for The Beach Boys, Ricky Nelson, Fabian, and more; worked with Zsa Zsa Gabor, Natalie Wood, Lloyd Bridges, James Garner, and Jack LaLanne; and even photographed Ronald Reagan at his ranch post-presidency.
https://www.motortrend.com/features/david-freiburger-remembers-bob-dolivo
Friday, January 21, 2022
the Westminster Bridge - Big Ben challenge. 1160 feet of distance in 46 seconds .
When Florence Ilott began working at the House of Commons in the early 1930s, she learned that the staff there had set a standing challenge: to run across Westminster Bridge in the time it took Big Ben to strike noon. An amateur sprinter, Ilott donned her running gear and on April 14, 1934, became the first person to fulfill the challenge
Ilott’s grandson, author and publisher Scott Pack, wrote a Twitter thread about his grandmother, and while researching it, made a delightful discovery
lawyers and MBAs
There were three lawyers and three MBAs traveling by train to a conference. At the station, the three MBAs each buy tickets and watch as the three lawyers buy only a single ticket. ‘How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?’ asks an MBA. ‘Watch and you’ll see’ answers a lawyer.
They all board the train. The MBAs take their respective seats but all three lawyers cram into a restroom and close the door behind them. Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the restroom door and says, ‘Ticket, please.’ The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.
The MBAs see this and agree it was quite a clever idea. So after the conference, the MBAs decide to copy the lawyers on the return trip and save some money (being clever with money and all that). When they get to the station, they buy a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment, the lawyers don’t buy a ticket at all. ‘How are you going to travel without a ticket?’ asks one perplexed MBA. ‘This time we can’t tell you,’ says one of the lawyers, ‘it’s a professional secret.’
When they all board the train the three MBAs cram into a restroom and the three lawyers cram into another one nearby. The train departs. Shortly afterward, one of the lawyers leaves his restroom and walks over to the restroom where the MBAs are hiding. He knocks on the door and says, ‘Ticket please.’
— Marc Galanter, Lowering the Bar: Lawyer Jokes and Legal Culture, 2005
They all board the train. The MBAs take their respective seats but all three lawyers cram into a restroom and close the door behind them. Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the restroom door and says, ‘Ticket, please.’ The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.
The MBAs see this and agree it was quite a clever idea. So after the conference, the MBAs decide to copy the lawyers on the return trip and save some money (being clever with money and all that). When they get to the station, they buy a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment, the lawyers don’t buy a ticket at all. ‘How are you going to travel without a ticket?’ asks one perplexed MBA. ‘This time we can’t tell you,’ says one of the lawyers, ‘it’s a professional secret.’
When they all board the train the three MBAs cram into a restroom and the three lawyers cram into another one nearby. The train departs. Shortly afterward, one of the lawyers leaves his restroom and walks over to the restroom where the MBAs are hiding. He knocks on the door and says, ‘Ticket please.’
— Marc Galanter, Lowering the Bar: Lawyer Jokes and Legal Culture, 2005
Thursday, January 20, 2022
anyone want to trade a lot of money for a 1957 Lotus 11? It's got 18 days left on Ebay Thanks Doug!
Bought in 1959-60 without engine, body or identity as part of a purchase / trade of Lotus Eleven car & parts between someone in the NYC area and Lee Lilley in Miami.
Purchased from Lilley soon after by Burrel Besancon of Ft. Lauderdale to use as a parts car to his racing Eleven.
Sold by Besancon in 1967 as a rolling chassis to Julian “Pop” Mericle who built it into a special for SCCA D/Sports Racing using a Devin body and DKW 750cc engine. Raced as the”Mericle Special” from 1968 to ‘72, being invited once to the SCCA national runoffs at Daytona but did not participate.
The Lotus/Devin/DKW was sold by Mericle to Rick Habersin of Miami (1972) who raced it in local SCCA events and a few times on the Hialeah Speedway dirt oval.
Car purchased by Andy Anderson in 1974 for use in SCCA Drivers School. Car purchased next by Jay Sloane in 1975 for use in SCCA Drivers School. After 15-minutes on track the DKW engine blew-up, ending the car’s racing period.
Over the next two decades Sloane met and interviewed each previous owner from 1960-on as his research finally revealed the chassis number.
WW2 bombing buried a cake in a German house (which seems to have fell into the basement), and it was just recently discovered , t
Researchers found the eerily preserved artifact in the basement of a home that collapsed following the British bombing raid in March 1942 , which the British carried out in retaliation for a 1940 Nazi bombing raid on the English city of Coventry. What’s left of the hazelnut-and-almond cake includes remnants of nut fillings, as well as a wax paper covering.
The Lübeck’s archaeology department says that a cavity formed under the building’s rubble protected the cake from the heat and ensured it wasn’t crushed. Seventy-nine years later, the sweet treat is “blackened by soot but still easily recognizable,”
a man on a bicycle “improves his efficiency rating to No. 1 among moving creatures and machines”
In a 1973 Scientific American article on bicycle technology, Oxford engineering lecturer S.S. Wilson showed that a man on a bicycle “improves his efficiency rating to No. 1 among moving creatures and machines”:
“When one compares the energy consumed in moving a certain distance as a function of body weight for a variety of animals and machines, one finds that an unaided walking man does fairly well (consuming about .75 calorie per gram per kilometer), but he is not as efficient as a horse, a salmon or a jet transport. With the aid of a bicycle, however, the man’s energy consumption for a given distance is reduced to about a fifth (roughly .15 calorie per gram per kilometer).”
Wednesday, January 19, 2022
John Wayne's 1971 Honda SL350 Is About To Go Up For Auction
This particular 1971 SL350 has been fully restored, and looks quite nice in the photos presented here to accompany its upcoming auction. There’s no mention of any paperwork regarding the restoration, but it does come with the California ownership transfer document showing that Wayne purchased it directly from American Honda Motor Company on December 21, 1971. Total mileage is unknown.
Wayne’s 1971 Honda SL350 is due to cross the auction block at Sotheby’s Arizona on January 27, 2022. did you know that Met Life sold for nearly 4 billion dollars, to Zurich Insurance and Farmers
The business acquired includes 2.4 million MetLife Auto & Home policies, $3.6 billion of net written premiums (2019) and 3,500 employees, according to Zurich.
The Swiss insurer was to contribute $2.43 billion to the deal through its Farmers Group Inc (FGI) unit, while the Farmers Exchanges will contribute $1.51 billion, Zurich said.
Oil prices are at a 7-year high due to the usual nonsense about the Middle East
West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. oil benchmark, traded as high as $85.74 per barrel on Tuesday, a price last seen in October 2014.
someone in Missouri screwed up, and sent out the Bat-Alert... sort of
"Today, a routine test of Missouri’s Blue Alert system was inadvertently sent to wireless devices statewide. The Patrol regularly tests the Blue Alert system to ensure it works properly when needed. During the test, an option was incorrectly selected, allowing the message to be disseminated to the public. There is no Emergency Alert at this time. The Patrol appreciates the public’s understanding and support of the Emergency Alert program."
The alert warned people to look out for a purple and green 1978 Dodge 3700GT with a license plate "UKIDME". That matches the description of the cars driven by the Joker's goons in Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman" film starring Michael Keaton.
Bylines appearing in L&N Employees’ Magazine, a house organ of the Louisiana and Nashville Railroad, in the 1940s:
R.R. South Steele Raylor
Dick C. Lyon Lou Nash
L.M. Lynes C. Ross Tye
Lincoln Penn Cole Carr
M.T. Hopper Rowan House
Rowland Stock C.A. Boose
Railroading Heritage of Midwest America is buying the former National Railway Equipment shop complex, (90 acres large) in Silvis to use for the preservation of historic rail cars and engines, and with the goal to make it largest steam locomotive museum in the US
The 90-acre facility used to be the largest locomotive repair shop of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, and once renovated, city and organization leaders think it could be largest steam locomotive museum in the U.S.
Originally, the complex was built in 1902 as a service shop for the Rock Island, Chicago & Pacific Railroad
The Silvis complex includes a wheel shop, warehouse space, and multiple overhead cranes powerful enough to lift steam locomotive engines and passenger cars.
On Jan. 7, a $200,000 GT500 Shelby Mustang Cobra was stolen in Tulsa
The car has a black interior and fancy aftermarket gauges. It also has a voodoo camshaft sticker (a skull with the word Voodoo underneath) on the rear spoiler.
Detectives believe the people in the photos possible may be related to the theft of the car.
Fwiw, there's something called the McGirt ruling, and subsequent state appeals court rulings held that certain tribe's reservations were never disestablished and that therefore the state does not have jurisdiction to prosecute major crimes involving Native Americans in a large portion of eastern Oklahoma, including the city of Tulsa.
Ergo, when in the event that stolen cars are involved, there may be no resolution if a tribe has anything to do with it. That's not racist, that's a legal issue I think is important to know about. If there was a redhead ruling in courts that gave redheads the right to not be prosecuted for car thefts, I'd report about that too.
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
the civil war locomotive "Texas" was in the war's Great Locomotive Chase in April 1862. Its crew, running the locomotive backward, caught up with Union raiders who tried to destroy track between Big Shanty (now Kennesaw) and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
the Great Locomotive Chase involved the Texas and its more famous cousin, the General, and Disney made the story into a 1956 film.
The Lotus actually in the underwater scenes of the James Bond movie 'The Spy Who Loved Me,' was found in a storage unit, about bought for a 100 dollars
Back in 1989 a couple in Long Island, New York, paid about $100 for a storage unit without knowing the contents.
At first, “they really didn’t know what it was,” Doug Redenius, co-founder of the Ian Fleming Foundation, which authenticated the car, told NBC News in 2013 of the couple. They had never even seen a Bond film, according to CNBC, and “they had no idea how valuable their discovery was.”
The husband was planning to fix the car, but he got a call while hauling it home via CB radio. The man on the other end said, “You know you have a Bond car?” They rented the movie and realized what they had.
After getting the Lotus Esprit authenticated by the original builders, the couple put it up for auction in 2013 at RM Sotheby’s. It was sold to a secret buyer for $997,000. That buyer was Elon Musk.
89-year-old Willie Fulton, recently retired from the Ford Dearborn Stamping Plant after 68 years with Ford Motor Company.
He did not retire at age 65, he kept working another 24 years....
Many people I know haven't worked 24 years, not yet. But he had one job for 68 years. Most people, won't work 68 years.
This is quite amazing, HE is quite amazing.
