Thanks to M Currie for recommending I look at the illustrations of Ray Kuns! His book covers and illustrations have style!

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/385574-ross-steering-box-222994-where-was-it-used-p-a-acd/

Kuns authored the books Automotive Essentials, Automotive Service, Automobile Racing, Automobile Engineering, Auto Mechanics, 

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=122116662932912410&set=pcb.3658436471116920

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1245547849305112&set=pcb.1245549732638257

https://johnnypersson.blogspot.com/2015/07/aventyret-fortsatter.html

And guys built to those plans...  this 1933 Ray Kuns designed race car was built to the 1933 American Automobile Association rules for Big Car Sprinters

 

This racer has a 92″ wheel base, Franklin steering box, ’34 Ford rear, 9/11 gears with safety hubs, Eskimo radiator, ’59AB Ford Flathead, 12v starter, ’49-’53 rods, adjustable lifters, ’59A oil pump, and a Edmonds intake

https://barnfinds.com/1933-ray-kuns-east-coast-8/

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=9348290125224405&set=pcb.3542199126073989

this 74 Corvette was hit while parked in front of this repair shop so, it went on the lift to fix, but life and business got in the way, and there it sat since 76 with only 1k miles on it.

The roof has been leaking and falling-in for over a decade

The car is rough from being neglected, but still wears it's original tires, hoses, filters, etc.

Shelves were erected around it, literally no way to get it out of there easily. It would legitimately take you a week to get the car out of there. 

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=25806224805641897&set=pcb.2925436724332132

Not exactly sure what was going on.... but I think everyone in town signed it at an airport, before it was sent to a pilot, via airmail.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10235458767024734&set=gm.26185161057752606&idorvanity=164403560255045

Finally, some cops remember they actually can do something the rest of society appreciates... bust the people parking illegally in handicap spots. There is not enough of this enforcement!

Mt Dora Police carried out a handicap placard enforcement operation at Walmart and Target, to protect accessible parking for those in need.

During the two-day operation, officers police conducted more than 80 traffic stops, and recovered over 30 handicap placards that were being used illegally

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1300192608804191&set=a.246455060844623&type=3&ref=embed_post
https://www.wftv.com/news/local/lake-county/police-confiscate-30-illegal-handicap-tags-walmart-target-sting-operation/J2CKLK4VLVAELGDJMTN5FMGG2I

cops must be full of donuts, and bored as hell to get out of the car to bother people who are putting xmas lights on their cars

 Florida law enforcement agencies are being grumpy with drivers who put xmas lights on their cars.

There is NO HARM CAUSED by taping holiday lights to the outside of their cars, in the lasnd of the free, home of the brave. 

But West Palm Police posted a picture of a recent traffic stop, showing a Tesla decked out in multicolored lights. “Yes, it’s festive. No, it’s not street-legal, whether you’re cruising the North Pole or our streets” 

Really? Ain't you got the backbone to chase some store thieves, bust some drug dealers, look for stolen cars, check for expired registrations, cars without insurance? Talk about god damn lazy. 

https://www.wftv.com/news/florida/ho-ho-hold-off-those-car-holiday-light-displays-police-warn/3CVTITUDDVGFTBIQWCXLH6MYWY

most Florida man ever? A crash resulted in the arrest of 43-year-old after police found firearms and a container with a radioactive warning label in his truck

While in a patrol vehicle, Johnson stated he had a ‘dirty bomb’ in his truck. Officers then discovered a yellow plastic container filled with chains, locks, and bearing a radioactive warning label. 

 A search of the truck revealed several firearms, ammunition, thermal scopes, knives, a battering ram, night vision goggles, and pot. 

https://www.wftv.com/news/local/publix-crash-sparks-dirty-bomb-scare-polk-county/VU6PMMIU6RFLHCPJOOGUITQUYQ/

a garage door repair business was the fake front for an illegal gambling operation

Liftmaster Garage Door Repair,’ was found to be secretly running slot-style machines behind closed doors. Law enforcement officials reported seizing 46 slot-style machines and over $25,000 in cash during the raid.

https://www.wftv.com/news/local/orange-county/gambling-operation-disguised-repair-business-is-shut-down-orange-county/2VPSPMSS5RARBN6TN6LCKQ444A

That's nuts.... why the hell would anyone blow their money at some unlicensed casino... hell, you already know you're not going to win. 

P 38 nose art made from a Earl Macpherson pin up, Wishful Thinking

The original was known as Seasons Greetings

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=8857468671003611&set=gm.10161216835264472&idorvanity=14020804471

well done nose art from a Milt Caniff character in Terry and the Pirates, Miss Burma, an A-20 in the 86th Bomb Squadron which flew out of numerous bases including French Morocco, Sicily, Italy and France.

https://www.ima-usa.com/products/original-u-s-wwii-miss-burma-47th-bombardment-group-a-2-flight-jacket?variant=29074643877957

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/aircrafts-2-3/a20/a-20b-41-3178-47th-bg-italy/

WACs from the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation (HRPE) working with tanks. They worked there from 10 April, 1943 until the beginning of 1946.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1152109210289707&set=a.640290741471559

Lt Jean Patricia Wythe, an occupational therapist at a military hospital in Bengal before, aged 19, she joined the WAS(B)s, operating mobile canteens across Southern Asia for the troops of the 14th Army.

 Formed largely from the wives and daughters of colonial officials, units of the Women’s Auxiliary Service Burma (affectionately known as the ‘Wasbies’) operated mobile canteens across Southern Asia.

Relocating to England in May 1946, Jean worked as a secretary. 

In 1951 she joined the Women’s Royal Army Corps as a Private and shortly after became an Officer Cadet. Upon commissioning as a Second Lieutenant, Jean was posted to Southern Command (Mixed) Signal Regiment. 

She toured with Hong Kong Signal Regiment in 1953 where she was in charge of the Military Telephone Exchange. 

A recipient of the 1939-1945 Star, the Burma Star and 1939-1945 War Medal, Jean resigned her commission in 1955 after marrying Major Alfred Wythe.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1407469518055319&set=pcb.1407469568055314

Christened PALLAS ATHENE in honor of the WACS who had served, and nicknamed "The GI JANE". She had a long active service and flew 3 missions on D-Day, grouping with whomever they could find and hitting secondary targets, because the weather was so bad.

Pvt 1st Class Emma Utter of the Women's Army Corps painted the nose art

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/aircrafts-2-3/b24/b-24-44-50505-pallas-athene-the-gi-jane-392bg/

http://www.b24bestweb.com/pallasathene4.htm

http://www.b24bestweb.com/pallasathene6.htm

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=849677510532880&set=pcb.849677780532853

A truck that is getting an impressively large Vargas pin up painted on

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10237507764736296&set=gm.10161507597099472&idorvanity=14020804471

Huey gunship door gunner George sent me this video, and says it " is very close to what happened on a daily basis."

Only b/w photos were taken of this Ju 87 'Stuka' it back in WW2, so Revell used their artistic license to give it a dramatic paint job. Thank you KIM!

Russ Meyer, director of "Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill!" borrowing a Nimbus from a Chicago owner who bought it on Ebay

 

Thank you Kim!

Did you know...? That 2 months after Pearl Harbor was attacked, a long range Japanese sub fired on the Ellwood oil fields (Richfield Oil Co) California? Near Santa Barbara, though the damage was minimal, the event was key in triggering the West Coast invasion scare

The "Flying Santa Barbaran" War Bond Campaign

 Following the attack, a popular war bond drive, "Avenge Ellwood!" (named for the Ellwood oil field), was launched. 

A bomber, dubbed the "Flying Santa Barbaran," was proposed as a symbol of this revenge, but it was never actually built.

Following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, seven Japanese submarines patrolled the American West Coast. They sank two merchant ships and damaged six more, skirmishing twice with U.S. Navy air or sea forces. By the end of December, the submarines had all returned to friendly waters to resupply.

At around 7:00 pm on February 23, 1942, the I-17 came to a stop opposite the Ellwood field on the Gaviota Coast. 

Nishino ordered the deck gun readied for action. Its crew took aim at a Richfield aviation fuel tank just beyond the beach and opened fire about 15 minutes later with the first rounds landing near a storage facility. 

The oil field's workmen had mostly left for the day, but a skeleton crew on duty heard the rounds hit. They took it to be an internal explosion until one man spotted the I-17 off the coast. An oiler named G. Brown later told reporters that the enemy submarine looked so big to him he thought it must be a cruiser or a destroyer until he realized that only one gun was firing.

The Japanese shells destroyed a derrick and a pump house, while the Ellwood Pier and a catwalk suffered minor damage. 

Total damage from the attack was assessed at $500.

This was the view down to Ellwood Oil Field in 1942

The attack was the first naval bombardment of the United States by a foreign power since the War of 1812.   Additionally, at about 5,100 miles east of Japan, the bombardment of Ellwood was the furthest direct attack on a land target that the Japanese Empire made during World War Two

Less than two months after the attack in Goleta, James Doolittle and his Raiders would lead the first of many U.S. air raids on the Japanese homeland, showing that Japan was vulnerable to air attacks.

one of the shells that was fired which did not explode was recovered at Silsby Spalding’s Tecolote Ranch in Winchester Canyon. 

They contacted the US Army, who confiscated the munition and took it to Aberdeen, Maryland for further study. 

After several years and many communications with the Army they defused the shell and returned it to the Spalding family where it had become a family heirloom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Ellwood

https://carriagemuseum.org/articles/the-japanese-bombardment-of-ellwood/

https://www.independent.com/2023/07/19/goleta-history-or-myth-if-the-shrapnel-in-these-walls-could-talk/

https://goletahistory.com/attack-on-ellwood/