Friday, January 26, 2024

it's rare to see a Tuk Tuk used with anger ( though the last Indiana Jones movie had a great scene ) but here comes one in a Dev Patel movie




finally, something fun to share... Farbs. Mattel / Hot Wheels was selling these in 1971, and Kellogs even had one if kids mailed away for it


the series was the brainchild of independent toy designer Eddy Goldfarb; the series was named after Goldfarb as tribute.

 While the series was manufactured by Mattel and feature wheels also used on Hot Wheels products these were not officially branded as Hot Wheels products.

It turns out, Eddy, was a WW2 submariner, a radar and sonar operator on the USS Batfish, SS 310 from 43 to 45! 

Eddy enlisted in 1942, and is the last surviving crewmember of the Batfish. In its seven war patrols, the Batfish is credited with sinking nine Japanese ships, including three Imperial Japanese Navy submarines in a 76-hour period, in February 1945 — a feat unsurpassed to this day 

AND Eddy is most famous for inventing the Yakity Yak Talking Teeth! (plus 795 other toys!) 
https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2023/12/1/23984756/eddy-goldfarb-102-year-old-toy-inventor-documentary-yakity-yak-talking-teeth-kerplunk-games







https://hotwheels.fandom.com/wiki/Bye-A-Nose  says this was a prototype, and didn't make it to production



One Farbs track set Mattel produced with the cars was actually a Kellogg's Cereal promotion featuring the Hy Gear model and a short piece of Hot Wheels track, along with a green plastic boot that would "kick" the car down the track. It was called the "Booter Booster Set".






murals inside the BLE Union building in Cleveland




May 1939, delegates of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen heading to a convention in Cleveland

https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/789

Tender and switch engine at an Illinois Central railyard, Nov 1942

https://www.shorpy.com/node/27308

Locomotives in the Illinois Central railyard. Jack Delano for the Office of War Information, Nov 1942 (looks great as computer wallpaper)



Thursday, January 25, 2024

big dozers and excavators were put to work to create earthworks to prevent lava flows from getting to the city of Grindavik Iceland








On December 27, 1935, the United States Army Air Corps, stationed at the time in Oahu, sent ten bombers to Mauna Loa. 

Twenty 600-pound bombs, containing 300 pounds of TNT-explosive, were dropped on the volcano. 



Geologist E.G. Wingate proposed to "attack the flow channel by dynamiting" and so be more precise and effective in the operation. This didn't happen, as the lava flow stopped six days after the first bomb raid as the summit eruption continued to ease.

Despite the first unsatisfying results, bombs were tried on Mauna Loa a second time in 1942. This time the vents feeding the lava flow were targeted, but again the direct hits were few. Three days after the bombing, the vents partially collapsed by natural processes and caused the main lava flow to stop.

Pontiac sponsored the US Ski Team to compete for the Roch Cup in 1968, and these two images, and one sales ad, seem to be the only evidence of it (thank you Steve!)

 


1968 Pontiac advert illustration


XJ 13 replica


thanks George!

Michelin tire and wood spoke wheel at auction

 https://bid.richmondauctions.com/lots/view/4-CAFLY4/michelin-tire-rack-sign-complete-w-tire-bibendum

really good condition oil can, I can't recall seeing a graphic like this in great condition before


I've never seen this MotoMeter sign before


https://bid.richmondauctions.com/lots/view/4-CAFG4Y/early-boyce-motometer-framed-sst-sign

a quadtrac on a plane headed to Antarctica!

 from the book "Revolutionary Red Tractors" by Lee Klancher & Katie Free

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=802458545260885&set=a.577513834422025

nice gen 1 Demon

 https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10219086067700933&set=pcb.1056897578905931

the other kind of snow blower

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=756495949862551&set=a.465432078968941

57 Chev snow plow... because you can get a job done, or you can do it with style

 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=890544506408933&set=a.130051392458252

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

deuce 5 window recently found, is undergoing resurrection in Spokane





and now for something different, a prototype 1958 Lamborghini Agricole DL 30C


one of 10 or so prototypes made that included both a set of wheels and a set of tracks, the wheels allow the prototype to be driven on the road when needed, with no concern about damaging the asphalt.


This 1969 Shelby GT350 was stolen shortly after it was delivered in 1969 and damaged badly enough that the insurance car wrote it off and paid out the owner, and sent the car to the junkyard


The owner was cashed out, and the car was destined for the scrapheap.

 This is where ABC Auto Wreckers of San Leandro, California came into the picture. Jerry Lecatse bought the car and set to work turning it into a race car eligible to compete in the SCCA B Production Class. 

 The original 428 was removed and replaced with a Boss 302 with a more rules-friendly displacement of 302 cubic inches 

In 1982 the car was bought to return it to its earlier SCCA racing specification. But, before work could begin, the car was damaged in a storage facility fire along with 14 other vehicles. 

 The car remained in damaged condition in a new storage facility until Goeringer met famous hot-rodder Doane Spencer, they got to talking about the car and struck a deal to finish it together, repairing the parts that needed it with a donor chassis. Spencer would sadly pass away in 1995 and the project wouldn’t see completion until 2012.

did you know there is a Greyhound Bus Museum? It is open from late May to mid-September, and has outside exhibits of a 1921 Flag Stop Station and 1940 Art Deco Terminal


The Greyhound Bus Museum came from one man who stumbled upon the abandoned bus station in Hibbing, the birthplace of Greyhound

It took nearly 20 years to get funding from the state, but by then Nicolelli had a wealth of Greyhound memorabilia. There are badges, uniforms, awards (like the 1961 Gold Steering Wheel for Safe Driving) and of course, buses.

Greyhound had it's start with 2 guys, and a 1914 7 passenger Hupmobile they couldn't sell on their part time car sales job, so, instead they used it to haul miners on short trips from Alice to Hibbing. 15 cents one way, 25 cents round trip