2018 April fools from Watterson and Breathed

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/calvinandhobbes/comments/88q57m/another_april_fools_from_berkeley_breathed/#lightbox

in this analysis, things are not going well at VW, Chrysler, at its financial peak, bought Lamborghini only to resell it seven years later in the midst of a crisis... VW is in the same situation; let's see what the future holds.

VW is increasingly considering selling Lamborghini, as Ducati is already on the market.

 BYD was in the running, but ultimately chose Maserati; negotiations are ongoing - nothing done yet. 

VW is facing an unprecedented crisis. It needs money, and fast. Closing several factories won't be enough, laying off thousands of jobs won't be enough, and cost savings aren't coming quickly enough. 

It needs cash flow, and immediately, hence the need to sell assets. Lamborghini has needed new management since 2019, and has barely managed to replace its CEO, due to the lack of a suitable replacement.

Chrysler, at its financial peak, bought Lamborghini only to resell it seven years later in the midst of a crisis... VW is in the same situation; let's see what the future holds.

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/1669293163315397/?multi_permalinks=4489496511295034&hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen

Jun Cheng Manufacturing in Baoying China

https://www.facebook.com/Larry.Chen.Driftfotos/posts/pfbid02n96sNGXxkSAvqPWn2WSUBhycnKsiG79S4BSDriLDD9n8ArmYtP84MwBLnsEQ3NZ7l

here's what a pile of unobtanium looks like

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=122296212182235672&set=gm.2310785383072335&idorvanity=890839631733591

have you heard of a "bedbug"? Fiberglass kid truck bed on a newish VW Bug. Darby Waund, a senior in chemical engineering, and her dad transformed a Volkswagen Beetle into a Purdue-themed truck that has become a rolling display of school spirit.

she and her dad used an aftermarket fiberglass conversion kit from a company called Smyth Performance, Inc   Waund said. "And you literally just take a saw, and you chop the back half off."

The Beetle's rear section is cut away, then replaced with fiberglass panels that form the truck bed and the reshaped body.

"You don't mess with the chassis or the axles or anything like that," Waund said. "But you cut all of the metal off the back half of the car, and then you replace it with these fiberglass panels and paint it, make it look all pretty, and now you've got bedbug."

https://www.purdueexponent.org/campus/features/boilermobile-turns-heads-on-purdue-campus/article_1b07e23b-069f-403e-9ad3-d6c6a572da02.html

https://www.facebook.com/bavarianautohausreno/posts/pfbid02NhRDArMs5oPtxyFvb8mfRbPnUp2WFBPZViy5DbQbHnG4PWvSsUjFpCCSXJvNBxJ7l

https://x.com/purdueexponent/status/2045578107357130919

Not the first time I've posted about Purdue: https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-official-mascot-of-purdue.html

but somehow I've never heard of the Worlds Largest Drum crew until now, and Darby is the team co-captain!

In 1921, Paul ‘Spotts’ Emrick decided that the “All-American” Marching Band needed something to set them apart from other bands. Emrick’s idea called for a bass drum larger than any other. The idea for a big bass drum had previously been imagined, and there were already drums four feet in diameter. Emrick wanted one at least twice that size – a “drum larger than the man playing it.” This sparked the idea to create the World’s Largest Drum.

Of course I posted it, it's got WHEELS! HA! (and they are Model A racing wheels!) 

The Drum is transported on a steel-frame carriage. A bar attached to the front of the carriage and two handles fixed to the back of the Drum allows for a crew of 4 to easily maneuver it.

 In the 1920s, the carriage was equipped with standard bicycle wheels, however these were quickly replaced with Model A Ford racing tires, due to the Drum’s immense size and weight. These are the same wheels it rides on today. The Drum itself weighs 315 pounds, while the carriage weighs 250 pounds, totaling 565 pounds.

https://www.purdue.edu/bands/worlds-largest-drum/

Steve Green, along with his decrepit-looking VW campervan, Cecil, are on a mission to rid the beautiful creeks of Cornwall rivers of 166 abandoned fiberglass yachts

the legacy of the mass-produced fibreglass pleasure boat boom is unfolding. 

Yachts bought in the 1960s and 1970s are now reaching the end of their useful lives and end up in landfills, but because disposal is charged by the ton, many of them are abandoned by their owners, who don’t want to foot the cost (between 1 and 4k) or take responsibility for disposing of them. (in San Diego they were anchored out in the bay, and then sunk)

Steve relies on small charitable grants, crowdfunding and enthusiastic volunteers willing to paddle kayaks out to wrecks and help. Green ran up £8,000 on credit cards last year when the grants didn’t cover all the decaying boats he took to the dump.

Green is keen for Britain to follow the French model, in which boat manufacturers have to pay an eco-contribution for every boat sold. This is combined with an annual tax on boat owners – who are easy to track down because boats have to be licensed – and used to fund 35 free-to-use boat scrapping centers across France.

 The Association pour la Plaisance Eco-Responsable, which runs these centers, has removed more than 16,000 boats since it was launched in 2019

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/22/mission-clear-rotting-boats-poisoning-cornwall-creeks-fibreglass-pollution

a very impressive custom waterfall!

https://www.facebook.com/chase.akins/posts/pfbid02RKYf7TncnU2n76J1Vdf3TvPka9b4KW6uDdFA1RRdtLNK3i7SVgYyzLgXHQrZWW47l

The weekend is over, and I leave you with this dichotomy

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=26152853934345078&set=gm.3291541901019391&idorvanity=132380976935515

dear Santa

https://straightspeedphoto.blogspot.com/2026/01/54-oval-oldspeed-competition-vw-beetle.html

interesting ad on an eye catching VW van

2019 SEMA build by Blastolene co-founder Randy Grubb... this is cool! 1959 VW "Volkstream" began as a eleven window bus that had been tagged in the rear

 

2.5L Subaru boxer motor, ball joint front end, rack & pinion steering, IRS, Wilwood brakes.

 This original, Type 11, eleven window bus had been tagged in the rear previously and was the perfect palate for Randy’s open vision of his rolling automotive sculpture, once he pulled it out of the Oregon woods. 

https://automaniagp.com/vehicleforsaleDetails.php?VOLKSTREAM-912

I posted a couple photos of it in 2019 from SEMA, but they really are lousy compared to these in the sunlight https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2019/11/randy-grubbs-newest-project-11-window.html

Don has two cool momentos from his childhood... the license plate from his dad's VW microbus, and it's license plate. Thank you Don! (Don has been a reader for at least 15 years!)

 

how is it possible that a 1965 Volkswagen Type 2 Van has been lying in a New Mexico field for 39 years?

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/abandoned-1965-vw-type-2-camper-field-find/

Thank you Dave H! This might not be man cave material, but it's perfect for a museum or something like that... a VW Golf training unit!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267398409286

Curbside posted another cool collection of vintage photos, these commercial vehicles

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/vintage-snapshots-and-photography/vintage-photos-of-commercial-vehicles-of-the-1950s-and-1960s/

this guy is out to pull VW vans out of the woods... where they've been sinking into the ground for decades

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fys4aPdSeY

Volkswagen of America said it offered to restore the 1977 microbus that survived the Palisades fire and made the news in this photo

Though the microbus appeared unscathed, the vehicle in reality was a basket case and in need of more than 900 replacement parts, Volkswagen of America said in a statement on its restoration.

That iconic photo eventually reached VW enthusiasts and, finally, Volkswagen of America, which tracked down Weinraub, received permission to tow it from the otherwise off-limits fire zone, and trucked it to its makeover at VW's Oxnard facility

Body panels were handled by a Porsche specialist, while VW technicians replaced anything needed to make the microbus roadworthy, the company said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/classic-blue-vw-bus-azul-palisades-fire-gets-full-restoration-rcna245553

the 50th anniversary of the VW Golf inspired a well done video

terrific commercials!

Cliff Burton and his 1972 Volkswagen Station Wagon 411, which he nicknamed “Grasshopper.” ⁠

According to the photographer, this photo was taken in the parking lot of Big O Tires, located across from Ruthie’s Inn, the infamous “Bezerkeley” nightclub. Cliff “beat in the steering wheel so much that there was barely any of it left,” and toward the end “he had to steer with a pair of pliers.”

https://www.creem.com/archive/article/2025/09/01/cliff-burton

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-VX9MpuU7i/