the 911 Turbo turns 50, fine, that's cool and etc... but, what I realized, is I haven't heard why Porsche 911s seem to have very good looking plaid upholstery. German car, Scottish cloth design - so that had me looking into that...

https://www.porsche.com/stories/innovation/porsche-911-turbo-50-years/

How the historic tartan pattern made its way into the latest Porsche anniversary collections? What does a fabric with deep Scottish roots have to do with Porsche?

Research reverals that the McLaughlin tartan was a design highlight of the 911 Turbo # 1, because  the chief designer at Porsche at the time, was going for a fashion look and wore a pair of tartan trousers to work...  Inspired by his bold style choice, the design team decided to explore how this classic pattern could add a unique flair to the interiors of their cars.

At the 1973 International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt, Porsche unveiled the 911 RSR Turbo concept car, which featured an upholstery fabric inspired by the Black Watch tartan in a blue, green and black pattern. 

Two more patterns were soon added to the collection: the McLaughlin (also known as MacLachlan) tartan in a bold red and blue, and the Mackenzie tartan in shades of beige, red, blue, white and olive green. 

 The tartan interiors quickly became a distinctive feature of the Porsche high performance models

https://www.porsche.com/stories/culture/what-is-the-porsche-tartan-collection/

wow... what's cool and has wheels? A chair (if the research is correct, then it's from the USS Gilligan that was hit by kazmakazi in 1945)

the Army and Air Force were still furnishing ships with wood chairs-on casters-and they were called captain’s chairs.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/157104191579343/permalink/2132535924036150

looks like that might have been a car wash in a previous iterations, why have walls on BOTH sides of the car?

https://apnews.com/article/drivethru-dining-car-culture-america-250-da66714c7282d307d5240f91c31b9e56

the M2 F1 in 1963 proof of concept that the wingless lifting-body aircraft was viable as a emergency life shuttle from large aircraft (the big Navy dirigibles, big bombers, and possibly from spacecraft if they added heatshields)

https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/on-this-day-in-space-aug-16-1963-wingless-m2-f1-completes-1st-glide-flight

Since I recall posting this before, I went to look in the archives... and I find that this is the ONE (tail numbers) in the 2013 post about NASA using a Pontiac Catalina

https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/06/most-far-out-thing-ive-seen-in-while.html

The LMS Princess Coronation Class 6229 “Duchess of Hamilton”, what a BEAUTY! (Thank you George!)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LMS_Coronation_Class#/media/File:6229_Duchess_of_Hamilton_at_the_National_Railway_Museum.jpg

https://x.com/LeoDaVinciWave/status/2087630201031376973

The FIA is in the process of digitizing for public viewing more than two million documents and pictures from its boxes of archive stored in Valleiry (thank you Paul!)

Its collection relating to the land speed record is one of the first projects to be undertaken and will be made public shortly.

Alongside the documents and pictures are hand-written notes, letters and official records, annotated by those witnessing or taking part in the record attempts, a distinct, human element reaching back through the years.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/aug/13/at-any-moment-i-might-fade-out-archives-reveal-fearless-era-of-land-speed-record-breakers

A 69 Dodge with a 6 pack hood! In the wild! Thank you John!

 

before and after a bad landing... The only airworthy example of an original de Havilland DH.88 Comet

https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1vpay05/crash_at_shuttleworth_flying_proms

https://theaviationist.com/2026/08/16/dh88-comet-damaged-after-landing-incident

BMW reported a 51% “recycling rate” from dead cars thanks to new sorting and smelting techniques applied to the brand’s own cars (thank you George!)

51% of BMW materials are of high enough quality to go right back into production with no discernible difference in quality from newly manufactured ones. 

For reference, the current industry figure is just 6% from testing materials from 433 dead cars across 60 different models. 

To achieve the massive increase in recyclability, BMW engineers pushed beyond the industry’s current shredding and bulk material recovery processes. 

Engineers also followed output streams to see which of its recycled materials could begin life anew as BMW parts rather than heading downstream to lower-quality parts or other industries.

https://www.mensjournal.com/auto/bmw-says-it-can-turn-dead-cars-back-into-new-bmw-parts

Indian Railways has installed 12,240 miles of safety fencing along railway tracks across the country to facilitate safer train operations (thank you George!)

Safety fencing is being provided to facilitate the safe movement of cattle, pedestrians and smaller vehicles across railway alignments.

https://swarajyamag.com/infrastructure/indian-railways-installs-safety-fencing-along-19700-km-of-tracks-nationwide-to-prevent-trespassing-and-ensure-safe-train-operations

https://ddindia.co.in/2026/08/indian-railways-provides-safety-fencing-along-19700-km-of-tracks-to-prevent-trespassing/

neither of these sources mention it, specifically, but I'm getting the idea the fencing is to keep people and livestock from walking onto the railways out of the farms and fields. I've seen a lot of India train videos where cattle is wandering loose on the tracks, causing the trains to slow and be delayed