Saturday, January 21, 2023

there's a facebook page for so many things, and one is for people who are looking to get their old muscle car back, or their dad's old car, after selling it decades ago






https://www.facebook.com/lostmusclecars/

Grandmother's 66 Belvedere 2, parked in '85

 


https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1319777435467632&set=pcb.5597144850407464

some people are die hard Mustang, some are Camaro... but how can anyone see a 69 Super Bee and not think, that's a damn good looking muscle car?

I can't recall if any other car came with a racing hood, made of fiberglass, that lifted off, and was sold by dealerships to anyone over the age of 18

colorized photos just amaze me

 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=716559756504074&set=a.197924875034234

Gary's high school car, the 37 Chrysler sitting beside his dad’s 57 4-barrel carb 283 (that he learned to drive in) and next his mom’s 4-speed 61 Corvair Monza. thanks Gary!


the 2023 MCACN will have a special display, the 68-71 Big Block Ford and Mercury Muscle. No Mustangs, Galaxies or Cougars - it's for Torinos, Cyclones, etc

 https://www.mcacn.com/

Skip the first 10 seconds, it's a stupid preview preview (trust me) and enjoy the 1930s cars in Marlowe's movie trailer




Drive Thru at Carl's Jr. in Mammoth Lakes, CA last night. They've had about 400 inches of snow so far this winter


nice gimmick for drawing in looky loos


odd way to park at the gas pump


Back in 1959, Wally Troy built his ideal sports car from scratch, with a tube chassis with aluminum bodywork, 3 spd, and dual quad 283. It's open-wheel design made it into Oct 1960 Hot Rod


The open-wheel, aluminum body was crafted by a talented, Springfield-based body man named Cecil Funk, with a silhouette that echoed exotic sports cars. Aircraft-style Plexiglas windscreens and Dayton wire wheels added custom-car flavor, and the car was highlighted in a four-page feature in Hot Rod magazine in October 1960

there is a website dedicated to speedsters, of all brands, by someone that wrote a book about the speedster style.


the site includes a lot of brands, like Oldsmobile, Mercer, Stutz, Knox, Stanly, National, etc etc
the site is a side effect of the book the author wrote, and Hagerty did a book review on it https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/the-definitive-book-on-classic-speedsters-requires-a-slow-roll
 



the 1917 Locomobile speedsters could be had in several styles, three had interesting names, the Fishtail, the Canoe, and the Gunboat.

 https://www.classicspeedsters.com/blog/2022/6/3/locomobile-and-speedsterism-pt-2

Friday, January 20, 2023

You can't fool me, that's not a tunnel, that is a road runner trap!


https://dailytimewaster.blogspot.com/2023/01/friday-open-road_20.html

very small (1/125 scale) Hot Wheels vehicles produced in 1972. There were 8 different vehicles which were originally made for Shell Oil Company as a promotional item which one would receive after fueling up their car





this is going to make a good banner


https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/images-of-vintage-gas-stations-pre-65.1033288/page-33#post-13367713

this must be what is called "A Sign Of The Times"

 

water hazard in Caliente Nevada, some hit it full throttle, some pussy foot across... but it's a coffee and donuts video to me. At 1:15 it's clear that a lot of that water went into the carb, as it even lifted the hood...


https://www.goodwood.com/grr/race/modern/2023/1/video-treacherous-water-crossing-causes-rally-chaos

the same videographer made a terrific video of trophy truck racing and wrecking, and at minute 3, it's super impressive



In 1979, an excavating company owner bought four or five new Trans Ams as investments, one ended up at the Oct '22 Mecum. Now it's headed to get flipped at Barrett Jackson next weekend

cool street sign marks the birthplace of the game Scrabble

The location of the beloved word game’s humble origin, in a church basement in Queens, is today commemorated with a creative street sign that includes the Scrabble value for each letter of 35th Avenue

The New York City Department of Transportation relayed that they had no clue who had put it up in the first place. There was no record of the original historical marker.

New York made an effort to crack down on toll violations, and found one particular idiot, who hasn't bothered to register his vehicle, another idiot was found to have skipped past $57,000 in tolls, that have now caught up to him. It's probably cheaper for him to get a new car.


On one single day last week, MTA Bridges and Tunnels officers nabbed a grand total of 21 violators – 17 of whom were stopped on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. 

 As for one Ford Mustang driver caught in the bust – a 30-year-old – he was also driving sans registration, which only added to his list of transgressions

Those officers discovered that this bunch had racked up a whopping $400,000 in unpaid tolls and fines over the years, and wound up issuing 28 summonses to the offenders. Their vehicles were impounded too.

A Mazda CX-5 that was stopped during the crackdown, had more than 500 violations dating back to May 2021, which adds up to a whopping $57,000 in unpaid tolls.

Thursday, January 19, 2023

there was so little traffic, and it moved so slowly, that they didn't care that a gas station was in the center of University Street, in Seattle, 1918

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/images-of-vintage-gas-stations-pre-65.1033288/page-31#post-13293492

after WW2 ended... a true story

At the close of the war my dad was among with some other young Army Air Force guys who where stuck at an air base in England. 
All the good planes had flown back to the USA., but these guys, they wanted to go home very badly. So they asked the commander if they put together a plane from parts of the crashed planes, could they fly it home. 
He stated if you can find a pilot.... because all the pilots where gone. There WAS one kid who was 19 and just got out of the hospital, who said he'd fly it.

So they built a plane out of parts and pieces, got the bomber ready, loaded it with fuel and and flew that cobbled plane across the Atlantic. When they arrived in New York it was after dark, they circled to land and that plane shuddered, shook, and almost stopped. The pilot went full throttle and it gained speed. then they looked and all the lights were out. The guy flying it forgot about the landing gear, which caught the high tension power lines.

They circled until they lined vehicles up on the runway for lights. After they landed the guy flying said that's the first bomber I ever flew, I only flew a corsair. 

The MP's rounded them up, and since they had no paperwork they were charged with stealing a plane, and leaving base without a pass. They got sent to await a court marshall. The guy in charge there had them change their address to local towns and gave them all a discharge. No travel pay. But back then it was a sin to not give a solder a ride, so they hitch hiked rides home without severance or travel pay. 

But they all had this awesome story. 


and adventures like this are why people should write their autobiographies, because most people have some cool adventures, and unless they are written down or photographed, they disappear like they never happened.

looks like there was a publicity photo of the Curtis trailers during a road trip, Florida, 1936



https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/images-of-vintage-gas-stations-pre-65.1033288/page-27

an Argentinean manufactured Ford Taunus Ghia in front of the oldest Catholic Church in Ecuador (2nd oldest in South America.) Built in 1534. Thanks Gary and Matius!


poster series by H.M. Bateman for Shell in the early 1920s, named Concentration, Recommendation, Discrimination, Determination







Bateman moved to the island of Malta in his later years, where he enjoyed a quite life as a painter. His work was a major influence on Harvey Kurtzman, who in turn influenced scores of important cartoonists and humorists.


You can see a variety of his other work at https://pbase.com/csw62/bateman

Did you hear about the awesome revenge story of how a guy returned home from work on Friday to find some house party person's car parked in his drive way?

he decided to get revenge on the driver by parking right behind them, ultimately blocking them in until he decided to move his car, parked legally, in HIS driveway. 

"I came home from work to find someone on our block was having a large party and someone decided they were entitled to park in my driveway.

"Keep in mind my driveway is a single car width lined with a retaining wall on both sides and a garage at the end.

"It is essentially impossible for a tow truck to come pull them out without property damage.

"Seeing this and the lack of street parking I took this as a cue to park right behind them in my driveway."

The man received a knock on the door a few hours later from the "entitled parker" demanding him to move his car so she could drive away - but he wasn't in the mood for any of that.

"Seeing as they were demanding, I informed them that I had been drinking and would not move my car," he added

"The entitled parker then decides to call the police to get them to force me to move.

"When the police knocked on my door, I was sure to grab a beer from the fridge before I answered to talk to the officer.

"I had informed him that after I got home I was unwinding and had been drinking and was in no shape to drive.

"At this point their hands were tied because they couldn’t tow her car out, I’m in no shape to drive, and I’m legally parked in my driveway."

Continuing his revenge, he informed the woman that he wasn't due back into work until Tuesday - so she was welcome to collect her car then.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/man-hailed-petty-revenge-after-28977085

Railroad service into Asbury Park began in 1875, but there was one problem, the station at Asbury Park was built on land donated by the Methodist Church, so trains could not stop within the city of Asbury Park on Sundays due to religion

Railroad service into Asbury Park began in 1875 with the construction of an extension of the New York and Long Branch Railroad (NY&LB), a subsidiary of the Central Railroad of New Jersey and the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The NY&LB began as a railroad between Elizabethport (in Elizabeth, Union County) to Long Branch, finished in 1875. The railroad was extended through the city of Asbury Park on August 25.

 However, the station at Asbury Park was built on land donated by the Ocean Grove Campmeeting Association, a part of the Methodist Church. The new station was built for the purposes of serving both Asbury Park and Ocean Grove. However, the railroad obeyed the request of the Campmeeting Association that trains could not stop within the city of Asbury Park on Sundays due to religious requirements, despite the fact that the Asbury Park–Ocean Grove station produced the most revenue of any station on the line.

And Sunday was the one day that New Yorker blue collar workers had off, and wanted to get to the Jersey seaside for r n r. 

the Construction Expo (CONEXPO) is going to be in Las Vegas in March 14th to 18th, 1800 exhibitors



I've been wanting to see this for years, and this year I'm going to go for it on the Friday

 https://www.conexpoconagg.com

The US DOT has released the NHTSA investigation findings of the Model S-caused pileup in San Francisco on Thanksgiving Day. The accident in the Bay Bridge tunnel has occurred with Tesla's Full Self-Driving Beta mode active

The Model S decided to merge into the fast lane, turning a left blinker on, then moved there and started sudden deceleration to a speed of 7 mph as if being pulled over, causing vehicles behind it to bump or crash into each other.

is carpooling something that an adult and a baby can do? Or is carpooling, and using the carpooling and High Occupancy Vehicle lanes, something set aside for getting more drivers off the roads, and more cars... so, isn't using kids to get your carpool lane access, illegal? What about pregnant women? Why are motorcycles legally HOV lane users?

I think this is an example that can be used to show that as long as you are looking for a way to use the carpool lanes, and avoid slow traffic, and traffic jams, there are options. 

I may be wrong, but I think you can even pay for a carpool lane pass, and drive in those HOV lanes alone, as long as you pay the govt the bribe they require. I believe that's what the E Z Pass is. 

Anyway, what triggered this question? 


A new Virginia bill would recognize a fetus as vehicle passenger when determining occupancy in carpool lanes. If passed, a pregnant woman's unborn baby would count as a passenger when driving on Virginia's expressways.
Well, that's complicated by the political mess that is whether the US Govt decides that an unborn baby is a human (you already know they can't define what a woman is (I kid you not)) or isn't. If it's a human, though not born, and not breathing, then abortion is murdering a human, and premeditated. If it's not a human until it breaths air, then, abortion is birth control. So, if the govt is going to decide on the actual status of an unborn baby... it ought to make it clear that there will be one definitive measurement of "life" and "human" and all the rest of the facets of that complicated issue. Because as it currently stands (as far as I understand it) if a pregnant woman is killed the baby's death is an additional count of killing a human. 

Sigh... there just isn't anything simple until the method of using words, and their definitions, is agreed to by a society. Frankly, there are too many crazy morons in any country to set the fundamental foundation of communication in the basis of any societies commonality. 

life is complicated with such problems, and there are too many people who will not agree with others, about many things... including a social structure, a logical and reasonable government, establishing taxes, and how the govt uses those... whether or not religion ought to be in the govt structure, and whether a secular govt can tax the religions. Most people can not agree on most topics. Was OJ guilty? Should we build reactor's for generating electricity? Is the earth flat? Is NASA a waste of taxes? Is the 2nd amendment clearly stating that the govt must not hinder a citizens gun ownership and acquisition? Are aliens visiting earth in space ships? Are ghosts real? Or Bigfoot?

Two police officers are charged with extortion, stealing drugs, guns and cash, and soliciting bribes during traffic stops (what? corrupt, guilty as hell, and caught in the at?) "THAT'S the Chicago way!"


Two police officers in south suburban Phoenix Ill are facing charges of extortion, theft and soliciting bribes, accused of shaking down motorists during the course of traffic stops

Where the hell is Phoenix Ill?  It's Chicago. 


A federal grand jury returned a four count indictment against Phoenix Police Sergeant Jarret Snowden, 34, and patrol Officer Antoine Larry, 46, The 10 page indictment alleges the two engaged in criminal conspiracy between 2020 and 2022, agreeing, "to corruptly solicit and obtain cash payments and other things of value, including controlled substances, from occupants of vehicles that LARRY and SNOWDEN encountered during traffic stops, in exchange for reducing, dropping or declining to press charges against the occupants..."

The two would take illegal guns, drugs or other contraband and then demand cash bribes in exchange for "reducing, dropping or declining to press charges" and allowing the drivers to keep their cars instead of having them impounded, the indictment states.

Because the police, and the police unions are corrupt, these two indicted, and busted, cops, are not fired. Not in jail. Nope. Police don't get treated like criminals... they get administrative leave. 


"the two engaged in criminal conspiracy between 2020 and 2022," and not a single one of their police co-workers, or internal affairs, arrested them for this criminal activity. 

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

there's a new and effective way to give very specific directions to where you are, so someone can find you... regardless of where you are, in those typical circumstances where finding someone in a crowd is necessary, like, at a big outdoor event with no landmarks, such as concerts, Burning Man, race tracks, etc, or when you need a taxi to find you

here are some examples, and business associates above... because it's a lot easier to find a specific place, with a 10 foot square area location.

Postal zip codes are vague, street address searches drop pins in the center of buildings and many places, like entrances, parks and beaches don’t have an address. With what3words, you can find or share any precise 3m square in the world using just three words. 

Like Burning Man for example


also there are obvious issues with street address names, because the English language and lazy govt workers all combine to result in problems caused by using the words Avenue, Street, Boulevard, Court, etc... so, it makes SENSE that using a grid system, that has a SIMPLE method that is easy to remember, and communicate, to designate a simple place.  As someone that was using GPS coordinates in latitude and longitude, as a professional Navy quartermaster navigations type, I can tell you that it's just overly complicated to use lat and long to achieve a precise location on the planet... you need charts or maps that ALSO use lat and long. 

What3Words doesn't. And, telling someone 3 words is a lot easier for them to hear, understand, and not forget or mistake, when you want them to know how to find a specific location. 

I like it. 

https://what3words.com/business/navigation

I'm digging it, and if you were to want your friends to find you on a beach, or at a car show like GNRS or SEMA, I think you'd find it's a good idea too. Plus it has a free app.

Franklin shop hoist, is cool, with wheels.



the neon glory of Dueck used cars... would be so much better if the photographer had only used color film to photograph it with... yes, it existed at the time. It's existed in various types, since about 1890s

 Small sign in the far right of the photo, says Dueck Chevrolet Oldsmobile, it's in Vancouver Canada



Look at the size of the demonstration Goodyear in the showroom floor nearest to the camera, far right of the photo


https://www.facebook.com/EricBrightonNostalgia/photos/143898881339509