https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10239246435403114&set=p.10239246435403114&type=3
Saturday, November 15, 2025
panel delivery with dualies, in 1936
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10239246435403114&set=p.10239246435403114&type=3
Paweł Czarnecki’s small but mighty, mid-engine rally-inspired custom FIAT 126B is the 2025 Hot Wheels Legends International Tour winner!
Celebrating car builders worldwide, the 2025 Hot Wheels Legends Tour visited 16 countries, including 11 regional stops across the US. New Tour stops this year included Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg), Peru, and Turkey. Over the course of the Tour, Hot Wheels designers and local automotive experts evaluated thousands of vehicle entries, with millions of fans attending events across the globe.
Czarnecki said he put in more than 2,500 hours building and an additional 800 hours of 3D printing of components to make a car that perfectly embodies the “Garage Spirit” mentality that the Hot Wheels judges look for in every submission, Mattel said.
“Powered by a Fiat Uno 1.4 Turbo producing 200 horsepower, paired with a Nissan 200SX GT28 turbocharger and a built Fiat Punto GT gearbox, it delivers rally-ready performance. The car features a custom coil over suspension, a body widened by 18.5 inches, period-correct HTN Motorsport three-piece wheels, Fiat Uno brakes, a flip-forward hood for rapid repairs and adjustments, and a full roll cage—blending historical inspiration with modern fabrication to bring this Polish rally vision to life.”
this is far out.... Car and Driver found the history of the Hotchkis E Max Challenger!
In 1970 Charlene Bebko was about to graduate from Penn State, and her parents paid for a new car as a graduation gift, so she went to a Dodge dealership in Erie, Pennsylvania, and checked off options for a new Dodge Challenger.
At the end of the 70s, Charlene was building a career and working in Philadelphia, with a company car, and sold the Chally.
Hotchkis bought the Chally on eBay in the mid-2000s, used it as a testbed for the development of suspension packages for E-Body cars.
Fully reworked under the skin, but with its 340-cubic-inch engine only mildly overbored, the Dodge debuted at SEMA in 2008 as the E-Max.
Hotchkis sold it a month ago, and Charlene bought it, for 66k
The UK’s Ministry of Defense has its own team of driving examiners, but 36 of those examiners are being temporarily drafted to help the UK fix its crazy driving test backlog
This fairly drastic move is aimed at cutting horrendous wait times for test in the UK. The average time between booking a test and taking it across the country’s 319 test centers was 22 weeks as of June.
But a shortage of examiners is only partly responsible for the long wait times. Another major factor is the swarm of automated bots that instantly gobble up newly released test slots, leaving genuine learners locked out.
These bots are used by third-party resellers who then list the £62 ($81) tests for as much as £500 ($660), often advertising them on social media or private booking sites.
https://www.carscoops.com/2025/11/uk-drafts-in-military-examiners-to-clear-driving-test-backlog/
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is busy trying to recruit hundreds of permanent examiners to plug the shortage, but existing employees are leaving almost as fast as new ones are signing up. To make sure those that join hang around they’ll be offered £5,000 ($6,600) “retention payments” from next year, the BBC says.
These bots are used by third-party resellers who then list the £62 ($81) tests for as much as £500 ($660), often advertising them on social media or private booking sites.
https://www.carscoops.com/2025/11/uk-drafts-in-military-examiners-to-clear-driving-test-backlog/
An elevated border highway under construction in Tijuana to link the city’s coastal neighborhoods to Tijuana’s airport, allowing drivers to bypass the San Ysidro Port of Entry and busy downtown areas, is now partly open but not 1/2 way completed
Construction began 2 years ago, and it was supposed to be done by now, but the Mexico govt reports it will open in stages
Delays are attributed to issues such as land-ownership disputes, the need to relocate underground utilities, and difficult terrain.
The project is currently targeting a completion date of late 2026.
This abandoned 1970 Porsche 911 Targa spent more than three decades sitting in the same spot in Idaho,
Originally sold through legendary Porsche dealer Vasek Polak in California, the car racked up 101,000 miles on adventures across the western United States and into Canada.
Porsche 911 Targas in good condition can fetch anywhere from around $80,000 to well over $100,000, depending on condition
Whatever the seller asked for it, was likely the right amount
Cleaning out pine cones is not a big deal though, based on the photos
the fastest posted speed limit in the United States is on the 41-mile stretch of Texas State Highway 130, a toll road southeast of Austin, it has a posted speed limit of 85 mph
The state spent time thoughtfully selecting this corridor and building it with a wide footprint, few side accesses, and clear lines of sight. The 85 mph speed limit was officially sanctioned in 2012.
The interstates were built in 1948-52 when suspensions and brakes, sucked. Steering wasn't engineered very well either, the amount of slop in steering boxes was still getting adjusted by a set screw. Tires were bias ply garbage, brakes were manual, not power, steering was manual, not power
frankly, it's time for logical rational thinking to come to bear on the overlooked aspect of typical average ordinary commuter cars in 2025, vs the cars that speed limits were referencing when the speed limits were set.
Example, a 1940 Ford, Chevy, Pontiac, Plymouth, Nash, Studebaker, Packard, etc were common cars in 1952.
Example, a 1940 Ford, Chevy, Pontiac, Plymouth, Nash, Studebaker, Packard, etc were common cars in 1952.
The interstates were built in 1948-52 when suspensions and brakes, sucked. Steering wasn't engineered very well either, the amount of slop in steering boxes was still getting adjusted by a set screw. Tires were bias ply garbage, brakes were manual, not power, steering was manual, not power
So, speed limits that we have today haven't changed much in 75 years, (from 1950-2025) but cars have come so far from what they were, more than the difference between the best race cars in 1950 and commuters of 1950. In my opinion, a basic Honda right now could outperform a 1950 Gran Prix car. A Dodge Hellcat right now can easily outperform a top fueler of 1950. A Hyundai Stinger would beat a race 1955 Corvette.
So what is the basis for setting a speed limit on the interstate when they were made? Braking distance? Steering?
How can the speed limit based on standard 1940s cars and semis (lets not forget them!) logically be applied to vehicles like a commuter car, like a Camry, or a Volvo semi, when vehicles on the road today are on average, 15 years old, have radial tires with double the contact patch of a 1950s commuter, with better rubber compounds, and better tread pattern for steering and braking...
And in the 70s the oil crisis drove the speed limits down for gas/oil - but that no longer applies based on the oil glut of 2020 that brought a barrel of oil to -35, every oil container in the country was full, and can be any time the oil companies go back to full output.
Why shouldn't the speed limit outside of city limits be 85 or 90 for commuters?
Not that I think many people are driving long distance on interstates, obviously few people drive between cites in the interstates, most people drive under 14000 miles a year, and a round trip for me to Vegas from San Diego is 700... that's just one days driving. Most people are not road tripping to other big cities for SEMA.
But when getting from A to B, especially for cargo transportation, when everything we order on Amazon is getting moved by semis, and the airlines are in chaos, and the FAA isn't paying the air traffic controllers, it would be better to not be limited to 65 or 70 mph when getting across midwest states - no, I'm not talking about Rhode frickin Island, or Hawaii. I'm talking about California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, north and south Dakota, Nebraska, etc etc. getting 10 or 20 miles farther every hour adds up when you're driving 5 hours straight.
5 hours at 20 miles more per hour, takes a 350 mile trip from a 5 hour trip to a 4 hour trip. That's math.
repair shop management from owners and managers perspective, and why they won't always take on a job... and how to get around that, if you want to read a lot. I read enough to learn it's in here
https://www.facebook.com/groups/667188938853705
There's too much to summarize, but basically? Don't tell a shop that the problem, is something anyone else has tried to fix.
You have the right to remain silent. Do that.
Problem no one has been able to fix, so you're taking it to this place in hopes they will try? They won't do that if they hear it's already been through other shops, which may have complicated the problem, or, worst case, found that the customer won't pay what it takes, or that the problem is impossible to repair based on parts availability or timeline of how long the vehicle takes up space until parts arrive from supplies with problems.
Repair shops want easy, simple, straightforward profitable work to roll in, pay up, and go away. Nothing difficult, impossible, or time consuming. Shop management is trained to avoid the less profitable stuff
In 1942, Frank Szymanski switched from making cars on an assembly line to assembling B17 bombers for Boeing. He then realized that Boeing did not have a clue how to build wings for B17 quickly, perfectly, efficiently... so he showed them how to reduce the time from 20 hours to 2.
his ability to see the obvious, that management was oblivious to because they do paperwork, not stepping onto the assembly line and earning some calluses, brought the production of B17s from 14 planes a month to over 362.
And Boeing was weeks away from losing the contract, because their production was too slow
Hot rivets on one end of the wing would cause just enough thermal expansion that rivet holes on the other end of the wing wouldn't line up.
And Boeing was weeks away from losing the contract, because their production was too slow
What was the initial problem Boeing wasn't clued into? Heat expansion.
Hot rivets on one end of the wing would cause just enough thermal expansion that rivet holes on the other end of the wing wouldn't line up.
So, he demonstrated that starting the installation around the main structure points, with the workers spread out, reduced thermal expansion, placing hot rivets at various distant points, where the metal was cool, spread the heat out, reduced the amount in any one area, and the rivet holes didn't get shifted elsewhere on the wing.
If you want to listen to 40 minutes, plus commercials, etc that never seem to answer the question, until 70 percent of the way through the video, doesn't even start to address the issue until 14 minutes into the video after wasting your time with history, flashbacks, etc... then here it is, and as always, increase the play speed from 1.0 to 1.25 because video makers are deliberately slowing down the speed to waste your time for stats to earn more from You Tube
I've been asked why I don't bother with You Tube videos and BS like that to make money. Here's one reason... you tubers do STUPID shit to get traffic (destroying a car, even a junkyard car is stupid, but a newish Ferrari? Asshole move)
I've posted before about the Montana sales tax loophole... https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2017/09/how-rich-are-getting-out-of-paying.html
An indictment in the Tennessee circuit court for Williamson County says Detwiler “did unlawfully and willfully attempt in any manner to evade or defeat any tax due the State of Tennessee in an amount of five hundred dollars ($500) or more, to-wit: sales tax due on the purchase of a 2020 Ferrari F8 Tributo.”
The supercar in question is almost certainly the $400,000 exotic that caught fire while speeding through a corn field in an August 2023 video. Detwiler made it clear in February of the same year that he bought the Ferrari “just to destroy it,” posting another video of a self-described durability test where he used it to “feed farm animals, go fishing, and make sensitive people upset.” It’s worth noting that the F8 Tributo was wearing Montana plates when it caught fire; many supercar owners register their vehicles in Montana as the state doesn’t collect sales tax.
The supercar in question is almost certainly the $400,000 exotic that caught fire while speeding through a corn field in an August 2023 video. Detwiler made it clear in February of the same year that he bought the Ferrari “just to destroy it,” posting another video of a self-described durability test where he used it to “feed farm animals, go fishing, and make sensitive people upset.” It’s worth noting that the F8 Tributo was wearing Montana plates when it caught fire; many supercar owners register their vehicles in Montana as the state doesn’t collect sales tax.
Dublin researchers came to the obvious conclusion that reducing cars and prioritizing pedestrians makes streets safer. (Yes, and ships are safer in port, but that's not what streets or ships are for (John A. Shedd - 1928) )
What morons have not figured out that streets - are for cars, not pedestrians, not cyclists, not baby strollers, not wheel chairs, or electric bikes, or skateboards?
Why does anyone fund any research to review the obvious?
Anyone who wants safety for anything other than cars, can simply create a new thing for those things to move on. Elevated train tracks did wonders for getting trains and cars/bicycles/pedestrians separated, and elevated sidewalks are perfect for getting cycles off the roads, so make more of those, and use them for skateboarders, pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchairs and baby strollers.
Problem solved. And I didn't need to waste money or get a damn university degree in research to figure out the obvious
photos of celebs at airports in the 70s
Burt and a Mopar
Phil Jackson in a Checker taxi
How much free publicity did rock and roll musicians give Jack Daniels in the 70s and 80s?
Marlon Brando in 1959
Elton John, hell of a gifted musician, and I don't think much of his last couple decades of music, but damn, in the 70s? Saturday Nights All Right for Fighting, Philadelphia Freedom, and Tiny Dancer.... ? Loved those. Island Girl, I'm Still Standing, I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues, Sad Songs (Say So Much), Blue Eyes, and Little Jeannie
How about that Dodge ladder truck?!
(news for photography enthusiasts!) photography enthusiast and Academy Award-winning actor, Jeff Bridges, has brought an old fashioned camera company back from the dead. The factory burned down even... and film cameras? Obsolete.
Bridges and his company have gone to great lengths to revive the Widelux panoramic film camera in a way that honors its heritage. While its creators say there will be “many small improvements” in the new version, one notable improvement, the knobs are better built than before, while preserving the original Panon Widelux F8’s DNA.
“20 years ago, the Widelux factory burned down, so we decided rathe than let our favorite camera die, we’d bring her back to life,” Jeff Bridges says in the newly published video
“I think we see ourselves as the missing link between the history of analog photography and the future of analog photography. It’s not only about the Widelux, which is an amazing camera and a wonderful tool for artists, but it’s about the future of analog photography. Giving a new generation of photographers the tools to work on. It’s about the art and the craft of camera manufacturing and analog photography.”
about a decade ago, I happened to go to the San Diego museum of photography, in Balboa Park, and they were having and exhibit of Jeff's photos, most of which were taken on movie sets. They were really cool to see, because I both love photography, and Hollywood productions/pop culture/movies
just another cop arresting someone in clear violation of their constitutional rights... another day ending in Y. But this time? The donut eater, arrested another cop. Badly. And it's all on video, and the news! Once again, I ask.... why aren't officers TRAINED on the LAW, especially CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS?
and the donut eater? Arrested for drunk driving in 2019, but somehow? Kept his job in law enforcement. Try and wrap your mind around how a cop is busted, and pleads guilty to, drunk driving, but keeps his job, and not because he knows how to do his job when it comes to constitutional rights.
Not just any rights, the important ones that get all the headlines, the court cases won by the victims, and the payouts by the govt
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have proposed an $85 billion merger to create the nation’s first coast-to-coast rail network.
Chemical manufacturers and competing railroad BNSF have raised concerns about whether the merger would hurt competition and lead to higher rates.
The proposed merger announced this summer was designed to link Union Pacific’s vast rail network in the West with Norfolk’s rails that crisscross the Eastern United States. The combined railroad would include more than 50,000 miles of track in 43 states with connections to major ports on both coasts.
The railroads argued that this merger would streamline deliveries of raw materials and goods nationwide by eliminating delays when shipments are handed off between railroads.
The proposed merger announced this summer was designed to link Union Pacific’s vast rail network in the West with Norfolk’s rails that crisscross the Eastern United States. The combined railroad would include more than 50,000 miles of track in 43 states with connections to major ports on both coasts.
The railroads argued that this merger would streamline deliveries of raw materials and goods nationwide by eliminating delays when shipments are handed off between railroads.
brilliant researchers have used pragmatism and digital tools to study how Bronze Age engineers shaped routes through difficult terrain, and trace how ancient travelers moved across Greece, on the Mycenaean road network.
Across most cases, the strongest match came from the function designed for wheeled vehicles. This model accounts for “critical slope,” the point at which carts or wagons struggle to climb, forcing routes to curve or zigzag. The study found that Mycenaean roads in Messenia and the Berbati Valley aligned most closely with the simulated paths designed for wheeled transport.
The findings were revealing. For the Messenia road and for the M1 road from Mycenae in one of its possible routes, the function that produced paths most closely matching the real remains was, overwhelmingly, the critical slope cost function for wheeled vehicles (WCS).
This implies that Mycenaean builders prioritized the design of roads suitable for wheeled traffic — possibly war chariots or carts for transporting goods. The critical slopes that worked best in the model (between 3% and 9%) are consistent with the needs of a loaded wheeled vehicle.
Researchers say this suggests Mycenaean engineers planned their routes with carts in mind, likely to move goods, agricultural products, or military equipment across regions.
This implies that Mycenaean builders prioritized the design of roads suitable for wheeled traffic — possibly war chariots or carts for transporting goods. The critical slopes that worked best in the model (between 3% and 9%) are consistent with the needs of a loaded wheeled vehicle.
Researchers say this suggests Mycenaean engineers planned their routes with carts in mind, likely to move goods, agricultural products, or military equipment across regions.
They based their work on three segments of real Mycenaean roads, whose remains are still visible in the Greek landscape, serving as a perfect “testing ground” to calibrate the accuracy of the digital models.
Friday, November 14, 2025
Lotus, the little company with the most remarkable history of wins, races, drivers, and legendary competition - thank you Stephen!
Too damn many commercials in this video, too often, but damn, they sure did sum up the Lotus history better than any other video
the story of how a Mig drop tank went through a Peugeot
A decommissioned MiG-21 was bought by a private museum. Since it was in good condition and it was only about 65km from the base, they decided to tow it behind a tractor.
Friday night, the police assisted and regulated the traffic... and suddenly from the other direction, a Hungarian hunter was returning from hunting, well-fueled with brandy.
He suddenly saw too many police lights around him, panicked that they had him and he would lose his license, so he just stepped on the gas.... and if it weren't for that droptank, he would have managed to pass under the wing.
Luckily, he didn't have his seatbelt on so when he saw it at the last second, he managed to throw himself into the passenger seat before the tank went through the steering wheel and the driver's seat
