Saturday, October 08, 2022

when you have no time to wait for a tug tractor, and your own way to back away from the airport gates


National Air Races, Cleveland

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10160397946424306&set=a.487455259305

looks like the Hot Rod Magazine archives are done posting to facebook, but they did put some cool stuff up to look through.



Bela Lugosi Jr, son of the famous actor, chose a unique supercharged Shelby GT350 Mustang back in 1977 as his performance piece.  Photographed by Gray Baskerville and featured in the November 1977 issue of Hot Rod. He drove it on the streets of Los Angeles and on the track with the Shelby club







I just learned the origin of the Z06 is “Zora’s Option 6.”




Corvette’s patron saint (and after 1967, chief engineer) Zora Arkus-Duntov following the arrival of the (Ford) Shelby Cobras in 1962, understood that Corvette owners needed competition parts to safeguard their Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) A-Production turf.

Avoided alerting GM’s upper management but still drew potential competitors, with a new-for-1963 racing package codenamed “Zora’s Option 6” listed as a regular-production-option.


In October 1962, 3 Z06s faced off against one of the first Shelby Cobras at the Los Angeles Times three-hour invitational road race staged in Riverside, 

The Cobra driven by Bill Krause was competitively quick but DNFed after 90 minutes with a failed rear hub carrier. 


The Corvette fielded by Mickey Thompson and driven by Doug Hooper—beat a Porsche 356 to seize an overall victory.

So shortly after, Chevrolet Engineering purchased one of the early Shelby Cobras, a white car acquired for Arkus-Duntov’s evaluation. 

The Cobra’s 900-pound weight advantage inspired his 1963 Corvette Grand Sport, a hoped-for 100-car run of ultra-light sports cars which GM nipped in the bud after only five were built.

Wrap your mind around the fact that a Cobra was owned by Chevy Engineering.... led to the Vette GS. I'd love to know what happened to the Cobra after Chevy parted with it

inheriting his grandfather's 59 Caddy De Ville



https://www.facebook.com/1959cadillaccoupedeville the facebook page is a very cool 59 Caddy focused page

3 take aways from a facebook post about a 3 month summer of Tesla rentals

the tires can only be fixed by Tesla, the tires are delicate
the range anxiety is a BIG problem
not enough range. 160-180 miles per charge, 1 hour for a supercharger. 


This is from someone with no issues to deal with, no hate or love for Tesla, just someone who could afford to give them a trial run, one for him, one for his wife. They rented them for the summer. 

Friday, October 07, 2022

about as close as people have gotten to becoming wheeled centaurs: South Africa's stance bikes and spinning






skip to 3:35 




if this seems like a strange thing, tell me why the hell anyone rides a unicycle

when some piece of junk like this gets in traffic ahead of you, back off. Either it is going to try to get you to crash into it for insurance claim on YOUR insurance, or they simply are accident prone

 

way cool stuff at auction... pssst! Hey, Santa?




I will have to see if either of these transits are going to be less than a 100... I am currently refinishing an oak tripod that someone removed the transit from, and painted horribly




oh wow... you might want to sit down if you're a lover of carpentry and wood tool chests. These are up for auction, for the next two weeks


I wish there was a gallery of photos, or a video, or either or both of these, but there isn't
 

I'll be danged, there WAS a better method for lifting horse wagons, chuck wagons, stage coaches, and conestogas than the ol' log and boulder method... a wagon jack. I've never seen or heard of one before now

https://www.finetoolj.com/auction/list-auctions?start=200

tool collectors near York Pa will want to jump at this sale... hell, if you even like to LOOK at antique cool tools, these are complete eye candy. 2 weeks left for bidding.


Big antique tool sale, Friday Oct. 21st, York, PA. 
 The Brown Antique Tool Auction @browntoolauctions  https://www.finetoolj.com/

 This will be held at the Wyndham Garden (hotel

 This sale will contain 100s of Starrett tools, many “new in the box” and some selected prized STANLEY like a #1 and #9, ivory rules, a Davis Level & Tool hacksaw, machinist tools by Stevens, Sawyer and Standard. Small vices, lathes, rope knurling tool sets, etc. All tools are in fine or new condition


the Naples Florida train station depot and transportation museum





one of 5 Collier County museums (I posted about Barron Collier https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/07/a-quick-history-of-revs-institute-scca.html) owning 1.5 million acres of south Florida... 

Thursday, October 06, 2022

The Kopp–Etchells Effect



In desert conditions, helicopter rotors are sometimes surrounded by sparkling rings. When flying sand strikes the abrasion strips on the leading edges of the blades, clouds of eroded titanium particles ignite as they’re exposed to oxygen.

The effect is most visible at night when the aircraft is near the ground, but it’s been observed as high as 1700 feet. It’s named after Benjamin Kopp and Joseph Etchells, two soldiers killed in combat in Afghanistan in July 2009.

https://rangersremembered.com/portfolio/cpl-benjamin-kopp/ Kopp was on his 3rd deployment, he was from Minnesota

fascinating article over at the Drive.com, they wrote up the history and connection of car makers with refrigerators and appliances.

I was familiar with IH making fridges, and the Kelvinator - Nash connection, but didn't know Ford owned Philco, or that GM and Chrysler owned fridge companies Frigidaire and Airtemp

the retail store "Unclaimed Baggage" in Alabama, has worked with airlines and other travel and transportation companies for five decades, and it began with a borrowed pickup truck and a $300 loan. They had a "50 Years, 50 States" road tour with the truck!




Doyle Owens was struck with an idea in 1970, so he borrowed a 1965 pickup truck and a $300, and  headed up to Washington D.C. and bought his first load of unclaimed baggage from Trailways Bus Line. He then sold the contents on card tables in an old rented house - the venture was an instant success! With his family’s blessing, he left his full-time insurance job, and Unclaimed Baggage Center was born.

Initially the business opened on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Doyle, his wife Sue, and their two sons worked tirelessly to prepare the luggage contents for sale. Doyle’s entrepreneurial spirit took flight as he landed his first airline contract with Eastern Airlines. As larger volumes and more unusual items started flowing in, the business expanded its hours of operation to six days a week. Gradually, Unclaimed Baggage formed relationships with all other domestic airlines, solidifying its position as the country’s only lost luggage store.

Doyle's son Bryan and his wife Sharon purchased the business and began a remodel project that expanded Unclaimed Baggage to cover more than a city block. The business added a cafe and a Museum of Found Treasures, making it a true shopping and tourist destination.

    
Then, in 1995, Oprah featured Unclaimed Baggage Center as one of America's “best-kept shopping secrets.” More media and curious visitors quickly followed from every corner of the globe to see the one-of-a-kind-store. The store has been featured in publications ranging from Vogue to HuffPost, Buzzfeed, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times and showcased on TODAY, the Travel Channel and many more.

After the pandemic forced the shop to head online — and delay its anniversary festivities — Unclaimed Baggage has embarked on a cross-country tour to “connect with our amazing customers from all over the country.”          


the 1965 Chevrolet truck named after Unclaimed Baggage's founder, Hugo, went on the summer tour commencing in May 2022 and brought one-of-a-kind experiences to fans across all 50 states, in 9,000 miles, in all 48 contiguous states and met fans in 52 cities.

"From our store in Scottsboro, Alabama to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, from the St. Louis Arch to Boston's Fenway Park, Unclaimed Baggage literally put itself on the map this summer," said Bryan Owens, owner of Unclaimed Baggage and son of the organization's founder, Hugo Doyle Owens. "The '50 Years, 50 States' road tour was an expression of gratitude for the fans, team members and community who have supported this family-run business over the course of its 52-year history, and it was a remarkable experience."