Saturday, February 03, 2024

there's no way any corporation nowadays would take the liability insurance out to sell these in my opinion





how incredibly random and neat! Hard to believe I've never seen a hobby horse with wheels



interesting that someone still has one of these running, and made a cool trailer for it


 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10228122430220027&set=gm.1466691267215070&idorvanity=369770523573822

French seaside holiday triporteur rental, 1965


Adorable!


https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=2686310084871403&set=pcb.2777184912445386

In a 1968 episode of the "Beverly Hillbillies" Jethro makes a hot rod, and challenges Granny to a drag race. Granny accepts and, after filling the gas tank with her moonshine, blows the doors off of Jethro's hot rod.


Friday, February 02, 2024

halfway through a paintjob, but out driving around. Weird


seen on walkabout a couple days ago

a 4 door Maverick and it's a daily driver... how astonishing! 

these not as big as the Los Angeles flood channels, but, would be cool for a scene in a movie like the motorcycle scene in T2, there is even a car ramp down into it



that's not a blizzard of snow, it's just more confetti than I've ever seen in a parade


this was Mexico City, 2 million people lined the route to shower JFK and Jackie, as they were the first Catholic couple to lead the USA, and visit Mexico, where Jackie spoke fluent speeches in Spanish. 


And without the confetti

the best way for an electric car to save gas is to get out of the way of all the gas-powered cars on the road.

nicely decorated fire engines



amphibian tractor on display at "Treasury House" exhibition in Washington, D.C.




https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A201968/datastream/IMAGE/view

just last week i learned what parts of a B 29 were built by DeSoto, and just now I found a photo of workers spraying paint on wing sections of bomber planes at the DeSoto Bomber Plant.

 https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A201907

Thursday, February 01, 2024

great idea for a subtle bit of humor ... paint the traction bar to look like PVC pipe



there are a lot of amusing photos on https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094128502089

Leyland Beaver and trailer with bodywork by Brockhouse. Loading the top fixed deck of the trailer entailed this interesting adjoining of drawing vehicle and trailer – which required the drawbar to be moved out the way.



52 Nash Airflyte Greenbrier Wagon


wtf! Hamilton is switching to Ferrari after a career driving for Mercedes... that's really startling

Mercedes noted in its statement that Hamilton chose to activate a release option in his contract, which was renewed for two years just this past August.

He was with Mercedes 11 years, (2013-2023, and won the championship 6 times. 

unmodified 87 Mustang 5.0 GT with only 19k miles... did you know these were only factory-rated at 225 hp and 300 ft lbs of torque?

good torque, but sure ain't much power

 https://fordauthority.com/2024/02/1987-ford-mustang-gt-with-just-19k-miles-up-for-auction/#google_vignette

Its bid to 13,5  https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3RbYdDvX/1987-ford-mustang-gt-coupe

EVs vs guard rails

Given the fact that over 100,000 run-off crashes in the U.S. each year involve barriers, there has been a study to discover just how American guardrails stand up to today’s heavy EVs

To do this, researchers performed a crash test using a Rivian R1T pickup traveling at 60 mph and a guardrail, with somewhat alarming results. 

 The 7,000-pound pickup essentially “tore through” the guardrail – which is made from 12-gauge corrugated steel attached to 6-inch deep steel posts – and didn’t slow down much after the fact

Supan Auto Livery and Supan Transfer and Moving, offering bus and taxi service between 1918-1925.


derailed in 1974, but was put back to working order, and recently, was restored



this bottom unit, #117C became #106 

facebook is a good source of hobbyist's photos for nearly every hobby there is, and has a lot of trains and railroad pages... just came across a new one today



bonus, there's in IH Travelall rail inspector! 

bed bugs


Notice the little kid, who probably pulled his little wagon to the library, sitting on the steps reading a book. Awww, a Kid who likes to read and enjoy some escape from the daily grind

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=585271396967660&set=pb.100064544148618.-2207520000&type=3

another thing I get a kick out of, is the 60s local radio or tv station vans... here's the "News Cruiser" on the spot getting coverage of the Beatles 2nd Detroit concert (best way to get free access to the best concerts, work for a radio station)


Wednesday, January 31, 2024

really damn basic, but got the job done


1967 album covers were simple, but visually effective and evocative - Merle Haggard And The Strangers - I'm A Lonesome Fugitive

Jeep Heritage, a restoration and custom upgrade company near Austin, has made a time capsule 1980 Golden Hawk, and for about 195k, its for sale




If you recall, last week I posted about hundreds of protesting German Farmers. Now? There are French Farmers protesting, and they have a better publicity dept, who realized they needed a celeb to help get some sympathy and attention for their cause. They picked Jeremy Clarkson



French farmers, who have been blockading Paris with their tractors for the past week to protest the economic crisis facing the country’s agricultural sector, and the Jan 26th govt cut of the agricultural diesel fuel subsidy, have found an unlikely hero in Jeremy Clarkson.

As of Tuesday morning, all major highways into Paris were blocked by some 500 tractors and similar operations were underway around other key French cities. Three separate convoys were also attempting to blockade the Rungis wholesale food market south of Paris which is the source of fresh food for the French capital.
 
French farmers say their sector is on the brink of collapse as incomes fall due to rising environmental regulations, red tape and competition from cheaper imports, all issues Clarkson has talked about in his show in relation to British farming.

“We need one of our French celebrities to do the same thing as Jeremy Clarkson in Amazon Prime Series Clarkson’s Farm,” protesting French farmer Robi Leduc told a reporter

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/french-farmers-block-roads-with-tractors-press-government-for-action

In Belgium, farmers angry with EU environmental policies and cheap imports, plan to block access roads to the Zeebrugge container port in Belgium from Tuesday.

Since 2022, farmers in northern (the Netherlands, Germany), southern (Italy) and eastern Europe (Poland, Romania, and Lithuania) have been setting up shop outside government quarters and camping tractors and forestry trucks on main roads.

The French protests follow similar action in other European countries, including Germany and Poland, ahead of European Parliament elections in June in which the far right, for whom farmers represent a growing constituency, is seen making gains.

French farmers have vowed to blockade the Paris region until their demands are met, keeping up the pressure ahead of an extraordinary European summit on 1 February. On Wednesday, over one hundred roads were blocked and 10,000 people demonstrating across the country, according to the French interior ministry. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, just named to lead the government, is grappling with his first crisis, with grievances focused on new environmental norms, fuel taxes, free trade and wages.

In France, the government, wary of seeing the protests escalate and with an eye on the European elections, has already dropped plans to gradually reduce subsidies on agricultural diesel and promised to ease environmental regulations.

https://theconversation.com/french-tractor-protests-are-the-latest-rebellion-of-eu-farmers-against-unfair-competition-and-red-tape-will-their-strategy-pay-off-222212
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2024-01-29/france-wants-eu-law-changes-this-week-to-help-protesting-farmers-minister

interesting Maserati was converted into a fire truck for F1 race track

 The conversion of these Maserati Quattroportes was the idea of CEA, an Italian fire extinguisher manufacturer, who hired Italian coachbuilder Grazia to build it. Grazia didn't modify the chassis but instead chopped the roof off from the B-pillar back and turned it into a two-door pickup, similar to an Australian ute. 

 All five of the Maserati firetruck conversions were sold following their service in F1 and have exchanged hands several times since then.

Masshole news flash that surprises no one... "Massachusetts troopers were charged with taking bribes"

Two current and two former Massachusetts State Police troopers were among six people charged Tuesday in a scheme to allegedly take bribes including a new snowblower and driveway

2 retired state troopers were arrested in Florida Monday. In addition to the 2 active duty Massachusetts troopers, they face more than 70 counts on a range of charges including conspiracy to falsify records, extortion and making false statements.

I get a kick out of the creative imaginations that sell their junk car on Craigslist with the most fun description, I heard this one yesterday from Bry


interesting situation, guy finally tracks down his dad's Road Runner... and the owner won't sell, will only trade, so he has to find a similar or better car to buy to trade to the guy for his dad's car.

 

These are not rare, a 69 383 bucket seat Road Runner with the 4 speed... 

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10220237027996404&set=pcb.2127760447394242

I think the only way the owner will be happy and trade, is if this guy tells HIM to find the right car, and then pay for it, deliver it, and drive his dad's car home. 

Gary Larsen and his comic humor was just incredibly smart

 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=410308948020906&set=a.302268658824936

an unusual and interesting type of petroliana I haven't seen before... awards from Goodyear to service stations for tire sales



The NYC MTA could save $268 million a year by speeding up buses by just 15 percent. Which would occur simply by getting the MTA employees, and NYPD, to quit parking in the bus lane!


that's a nice custom Mustang... they even did the tail lights


https://nisseboxx.tumblr.com/

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

interesting book, and good read. Quite the page turner, IF you want to learn about what it was like for the secret service when protecting Jackie Kennedy on vacations and visits to rulers of other countries


being the 1st lady, Jackie was friends with the richest people in the world, such as the owner of Fiat, Agnelli, and would vacation with his family


I had no idea that JFK had a golf cart at one of the homes... a place called Glen Ora that I'd never learned of before now. Instead of using Camp David, the Kennedy's bought a 130 acre place nearby-ish, so that Jackie and the kids would be free from paparazzi and enjoy the horse riding.