Saturday, December 09, 2023
illustrations of John Alcorn
Turn-Of-The-Century Fire Engine, 1969, editorial
You might realize these are by the same artist that did the 7UP advertising I posted https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2021/01/so-very-late-60s-and-1970-its-art-its.html as well as the Eve cigarette art, and Breck shampoo art
A standing ovation for Gary Sinise (just a wonderful guy!) and American Airlines
His foundation took over 1,800 family members - children and surviving spouses. The presenting sponsor, American Airlines, provided 11 chartered planes!
if you missed the glory days of the SYFY channel on cable about 15 years ago, you probably haven't heard of the tv show Warehouse 13 (like the one the Ark of the Covenant at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark was stored in)
in the show's narration, this vehicle was made by Edison for Henry Ford, and you can see the steering wheel is a Fatman tilt wheel
It was a FUN tv show, in the same zone of Voyagers, Quantum Leap, Back to the Future, and other romps through adventures to correct things that are going wrong. The cast is superb, from CCH Pounder, and Eddie McClintock to the many guest star actors you're already familiar with, like Lindsay Wagner, Mark Sheppard, Rene Aberjornois, James Masters, Anthony Michael Hall, Tia Carrere, Kate Mulgrew, Roger Rees, and Brent Spiner among a long list of others you might know, like Kelly Hu, Aaron Ashmore, Jamie Murray
Friday, December 08, 2023
Karin "Jan" Smithers, best known for playing Bailey on WKRP in Cincinnati, was discovered when a Newsweek photographer took a photo of high school senior models on a motorcycle
This was the photo that started it all for Karin Jan Smithers, in Woodland Hills, CA in 1966.
It took the assistance of half a dozen people and months of dead ends to track down "Jan" Smithers, by far the most famous of the six teenagers Newsweek profiled in 1966. She chose Jan as her Hollywood fame name
After appearing on the cover of Newsweek's teen issue—blond, sun-kissed, seated on a motorcycle and flashing a killer smile—Smithers and her mother soon got all kinds of calls from "many, many" Hollywood agents hoping to represent her, and she decided it might be interesting to do acting. Jan and her mother went to meet some Hollywood agents but Jan was always interested in Art. She opted for Choinard Art Institute. A little later on she decided to pursue acting.
She then was on the back page of Hot Rod Magazine (see why I'm posting about her?!) of March 1967
same ad ran in Motor Trend Aug 67
and from there, Jan’s family was contacted by Hollywood agents and modeling reps. Work in TV began in 1973 and continued until 1987, with stops on The Love Boat, Starsky & Hutch, Murder, She Wrote, and Mike Hammer. She spent ten years married to James Brolin from ‘86 to 1995
The roles of Baily and Jennifer on WKRP are likely to have been influenced by the Ginger and Mary Ann roles on Gilligan's Island
“What is it you young people want, anyway?
“We want to be free…to ride our machines…without bein’ hassled... by THE MAN!”
50 years later, Newsweek interviewed her about the decades and fame: https://www.newsweek.com/2016/05/27/jan-smithers-newsweek-teens-issue-457672.html
Mobil 1 might be entering the video and news realm of autoenthusiasts
Stay tuned as each episode of the series is unveiled on Wednesdays on the Mobil 1 YouTube channel, starting with the driver of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, Kevin Harvick and continuing with Tony Stewart, four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and current Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner.
Dear Driver,
You asked to hear from Mobil 1™. Good call. Because if you love driving as much as we do, then we’ve got the club for you. The Mobil 1 DR1VRS CLUB™ is a community of passionate driving lovers from all across the country. As a member, you’ll receive early access, exclusive offers, and a subscription to The Scenic Route – an ongoing series featuring unique driving content, events, and stories handpicked just for you.
Danny & Coop’s Cheesesteaks... a new foodtruck which is donating the proceeds to charity - is a project between Bradley Cooper and Danny DiGiampietro, owner of Angelo’s Pizzeria in South Philadelphia
Cheesesteaks were priced at a bargain $10, and the line was long
Cooper and DiGiampietro are donating all proceeds from this pop-up event — scheduled to reprise Thursday — to a nonprofit helping to feed New Yorkers in need.
DiGiampietro would say only that he and Cooper hope to open a cheesesteak shop in New York, where they have been searching for locations for two years. “You know what they want in this neighborhood for 700 square feet?” DiGiampietro asked. “Eighteen thousand a month!” (That’s more than double the price for such a space on Walnut Street in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square.)
DiGiampietro would say only that he and Cooper hope to open a cheesesteak shop in New York, where they have been searching for locations for two years. “You know what they want in this neighborhood for 700 square feet?” DiGiampietro asked. “Eighteen thousand a month!” (That’s more than double the price for such a space on Walnut Street in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square.)
DiGiampietro said he is not leaving his Philadelphia shop, mentioned that Cooper chose Manhattan for the truck “to see if people want cheesesteaks in New York.”
Ford is coming out with a documentary on the Mustang GT3 and its intro to the new racing season
https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2023/12/08/get-ready-to-go-behind-the-scenes-in-new-mustang-gt3-documentary.html
Thursday, December 07, 2023
The Yellowstone Trail was the first transcontinental automobile highway through the upper United States, established in 1912.
It was an Auto Trail that ran from the Atlantic Ocean in Plymouth, Massachusetts, through Montana to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, to the Pacific Ocean in Seattle, Washington.
1903 Packard "Old Pacific" crossing the Nevada desert during the New York to San Francisco, it was the 1st vehicle (until proven otherwise) to cross the desert. With no maps and few roads east of the Mississippi, Old Pacific conquered mountains, desert, and swamps in an epic 63 day journey across America
The Model F Packard set out from San Francisco on June 20, 1903, it had been modified only slightly---the fenders had been removed, and it had been fitted with extra gasoline tanks and an additional low gear for negotiating mountains.
In addition to the canvas---to roll out and lay under the wheels to allow the car to traverse the most inhospitable tracts of soft sand---Fetch took along a pick and shovel and log chains to get the car through ruts.
More than once in the early weeks of the trip, Fetch found what appeared to be a well-groomed main road, only to learn after following it, sometimes for miles, that it led only to the entrance of a mine or some wealthy rancher’s spread.
More than once in the early weeks of the trip, Fetch found what appeared to be a well-groomed main road, only to learn after following it, sometimes for miles, that it led only to the entrance of a mine or some wealthy rancher’s spread.
East of Chicago there were more roads available to use, which helped the Packard conquer the second two thirds of America in the same amount of time as the first.
Tom McEwen's 1957 Nitro Funny Car
Kenny Youngblood painted the detail work and the fake grill, but the hood rockets and bumper bullets are aftermarket
funn
Wednesday, December 06, 2023
because it's still hard to wrap my head around Plymouth, a brand that never made anything but cars, had their label on this SUV. I still can't figure out why Mopar would go off brand like this
This one only has 19,459 actual miles
the new Paramount+ docuseries "Geddy Lee: Are Bass Players Human Too?" The four-part series features Geddy Lee engaging in random activities with fellow bassists in an effort to “show the world that a bass player can do many things,” in his own words.
In the other episodes, Lee will meet up with Les Claypool (Primus), Krist Novoselic (Nirvana), Robert Trujillo (Metallica), and Melissa Auf der Maur (ex-Smashing Pumpkins, ex-Hole).
“The idea for this show was born out of interviews I did for my first book, The Big, Beautiful Book of Bass,” commented Lee in a press release for the docu-series. “I was struck that these accomplished musicians also lived incredibly interesting, multifaceted lives offstage.”
https://consequence.net/2023/12/geddy-lee-are-bass-players-human-too-paramount-exclusive-clip-les-claypool/