Friday, March 08, 2024

some original Carnegie Steel rail, still in service 127 years after rolling off the mill floor


 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=8084462241568647&set=gm.10159909441776964&idorvanity=12308561963

Ford is showing support for girls and women who are car enthusiasts, in automotive careers, or in racing, expanding what Ford as a brand means to women, on International Women’s Day (today)





But the short list is the Bronco Off-Roadeo Nevada, the Rebelle Rally, Ford Warriors in Pink, Ford Auto Tech Scholarship, and various sporting sponsorships

Goodyear is closing the Malaysia plant that it's been operating since 1972. Hey, 52 years is a damn good run for one factory.

Goodyear said the decision to shutter the plant is part of its Goodyear Forward corporate restructuring program, aimed at delivering $1 billion in cost reductions by 2025.

because there are a crazy number of mega wealthy people in the world, there is a comapny making 1/4 scale models of Ferraris, and selling them for 50k. Apiece. No engine.



Yes, they are hand made, using bucks, exactly like the full size versions. 

But why spend 50k on a car model for your shelf? 

Thursday, March 07, 2024

I don't think I've posted this interesting way to cut fire word from small diameter logs

 https://ogdaa.blogspot.com/2024/03/tuesdays-gifs.html

I'm guessing this isn't real, but will inspire someone to make one similar, and blow people's minds at car cruises and car shows!


 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2701654179981558&set=gm.7023208101134458&idorvanity=996045710517424

someone was restoring their 68 Charger, and took advantage of the opportunity to make some space in the rear wheel wells. Great idea!





https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1173774327364778&set=pcb.7022692134519388

I just learned of a LP vinyl record (and guitar) themed hotel in Boston, (next to Fenway Park) that has amps, guitars, a turntable and stereo in the lounge, plus a HUGE collection of albums in a loan library near the lobby, so you can check out what albums you want to listen to, take them to your room and enjoy


Even has a Flxible outside, and these 5 trailers! Why? I like this bit of clever thinking... because it takes the idea of the music experience to the bus and trailers that rock stars have traveled and stayed in

Th trailers and bus area is called Backstage. Found around the back of the main building, the site hosts ten classic travel trailers updated with a slew of modern amenities. 

The interior spaces of the RVs retain the hotel’s musical theme, evoking the feel of a personal trailer belonging to a famous rock star. Photos of bands and album covers adorn the walls, and a vinyl record player cranks out the tunes.






ABC has ordered a Tim Allen multicam comedy pilot, "Shifting Gears".

Allen is on board to star and executive produce the multi-cam sitcom pilot as Matt, a stubborn, widowed owner of a classic car restoration shop gets stuck with his estranged daughter moving back in, with her teenage kids (sadly, a sign of the past couple decades, grandparents raising grandkids)

First, Belgium, then France, Italy, Germany, Spain, now Poland is seeing farmers protest the lower cost and less regulated Ukrainian imports.. but these are not friendly or polite protests... this was angry, and outside the Polish parliament

Poland saw its most violent protest by farmers and supporters yet Wednesday as some participants threw stones at police and tried to push through barriers around parliament, injuring several officers, police said.

Police said they detained over a dozen people and prevented the protesters from getting through to the Sejm, the Polish parliament.

Farmers are angry over European Union climate policies and food imports from Ukraine that they say threaten their livelihoods. Such protests have occurred across the 27-member EU in recent weeks, but this one was decidedly angrier than earlier demonstrations in the central European nation.

Farmers on tractors blocked highways leading into Warsaw while thousands of their supporters gathered in front of the prime minister's office before marching to the parliament. Some trampled a European Union flag

Farmers were joined by miners, foresters, hunters and other supporters. They blew horns and set off firecrackers and smoke bombs, despite police warnings that the use of pyrotechnics was banned. Some protesters burned tires.

Did you hear about the micro motors used to cheat in the Tour De France?

Istvan Varjas, a Hungarian engineer, developed bicycle motors, and sold his 1st in 1998 for 2 million dollars/Euros and had to remain silent for 10 years.

Suspicions of motors hidden in the bike frames began when it was noticed in 2010, that riders were going  fast up hills while sitting down.

A dozen riders were suspected of cheating in 2012 with motors

the new editor-in-chief of Road & Track deleted a well-respected journalist's 5,000-word article about power and wealth in Formula 1 that was briefly published online.

Kate Wagner attended the United States Grand Prix in Austin last October. 

Then Wagner wrote the article, "Behind F1's Velvet Curtain," a compelling scene report. It examines how the obscene amounts of money flowing through F1 can warp reality, as well as the propagandistic way F1 is covered by subservient press corps.

Only hours after the story was published, it was removed from the Road & Track website. 

There was no explanation to readers as to why a 5,000-word feature suddenly vanished. 

The subtitle is "If you wanted to turn someone into a socialist you could do it in about an hour by taking them for a spin around the paddock of a Formula 1 race. The kind of money I saw will haunt me forever."

Yup, that hooked me, now I've got to read that article

1838 Conestoga wagon jack, two foot tall when retracted


 https://www.finetoolj.com/auction/list-auctions/viewbids/12791/b64-477

Honking from frustration at some moron how blocks traffic.... has no effect on getting them to move, but, annoys EVERYONE else around. So, someone in India devised a science experiment to reduce honking. It worked.

In 2013, behavioral scientists Anand Damani and Mayur Tekchandaney invented a device called Bleep that would make an annoying beeping noise inside the car every time a driver honked. To stop the beeping, drivers had to press a red button with a frowny face on it. “A little bit of medicine back to the driver,” Damani said in a TED Talk. They tested the device on drivers in Mumbai for six months and when Damani presented the results — no accidents and a 61 percent reduction in honking — the audience cheered.

I saw a Tesla truck yesterday in person... holy shit those are weird looking

 I thought about turning around and circling back to take a photo, but everyone already knows what they look like. 

It's one of those odd visual things where a photo doesn't cause you to feel the same about something as seeing it with your eyes does, like the Grand Canyon, or a skyscraper. 

It looks like a Hollywood movie prop, I kid you not. I can now understand why so many buyers jumped onto the list to get one right away

well, that's a bit drastic!


Wednesday, March 06, 2024

a tiny problem for a moment... until that bus gets moving along.

 

https://www.tumblr.com/hmmm-official/744225193313107968/hmmm-official-hmmm?source=share

1910 rolling steam shovel

 https://www.shorpy.com/node/26504

This dump truck ran on butane, not gasoline. 1941, Shasta Dam


https://www.shorpy.com/node/26558?size=_original#caption

Those angle iron pieces for the protective grill are stout... and looking at this closer, that isn't the hood, that's a steel or iron cover over the hood, to protect it from all the spills and accidental material dropped on it






Detroit Autorama


The toughest part of the build? “The windshield,” McCarl says, not missing a beat. “That’s number 13.” The glass just kept breaking when cut by traditional methods; water jetting, a new-school method, did the trick. “I refer to that as my $3000 windshield.”







Chrysler 300







AMC Concord wagon! 

Mike Clarahan's '67 Jaguar widebody

I get a kick out of discovering some special car model, like the ski team, the Olympics, and dealership specials. Here's one new to me, the St. Louis Blues Cuda