Saturday, March 08, 2014

65 years of sitting in the nowhere of Siberia... as it's a very uninhabited place, this Douglas C 47




Given to Russia through the Lend Lease Act, it was in service til 1947 when a failure of the port engine caused an emergency landing. In Siberia. That must have been about as bad as a landing in the Sahara
Found on http://www.saladeguerra.com.br/2012/07/douglas-c-47-encontrado-intacto-na.html

Having a bad day? look at these Aussies having a couple mud bogs, and then a roll over, and the tides coming in all the while. Proves again that a snatch strap is what you need in mud, snow, etc

Cargo bike... for kids with attitude

the most northern city in Russia gets a lot of snow

VW Schwimmwagen, taking to water like a duck

from the far out seventies



From the New England Dragway 1970's photography of Bob Boudreau http://bangshift.com/gallery/history-photos-from-new-england-dragway-1970s-5.html

King of the Hammer 2013

music video, 69 Camaro, and 2 beautiful young women. None of these have to be spectacular... as long as they are all tolerable, it's worth watching

true life humor

with a crusher crawler, you will have no problem running over zombies


an Army Corps of Engineers vehicle for getting through swampy tree areas between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Texas, across Florida to make a barge canal (Like the successful Ohio canal) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_Florida_Barge_Canal though the impassible swampy areas where they wanted to make roads in Alabama, Loiusianna, Missouri, etc. it didn't get stuck, because there was no belly pan, it's all track. Powered by a pair of 270 hp Caterpillar engines

Found on http://strangernn.livejournal.com/799388.html#cutid1 which has more info and photos

Ever have someone just push your button with their stupid guessing game about what car they are looking at, but are too illiterate to read the model name on the (sides, trunk, grill, etc)



There is a National Museum of Funeral History in Houston Texas, and they have a Rolls Royce hearse, and other cars

See the mighty Sears and Roebuck badge and be humbled by it's 1970's majesty

a couple generations back you could do anything... make your own car from scraps, invent a new engine... the good ol days


 if you needed to replace your fuel tank, just strap on a 55 gallon drum


To clear snow, just toss a car body onto a train chassis


or clap together some tractor parts to make a road grader

All found on http://bangshift.com/general-news/more-historic-gearhead-americana-barney-oldfield-classic-truckers-pre-historic-indy-racers-and-more/

Federal reserve bank of Kansas City delivery armored truck... maybe for the mint?

they are still out there, a 1921 Packard with a V12


Found on http://www.prewarcar.com/classifieds/ad13743.html though don't expect to hear back from the owner... I emailed him for a couple photos and have been ignored

Friday, March 07, 2014

Test drive humor

Clever, informed, funny, and sarcastic... a real car review!

American LaFrance is done. Closed the doors, turned off the lights.


The company's roots go back to 1832 as a firefighting equipment maker. It began building steam-powered, horse-drawn fire engines in the era before the internal combustion engine and merged with LaFrance in 1903 to become one of America's leading fire engine builders. Unfortunately, the 21st century was not been so kind to the company. Freightliner bought it in 1995 and production was moved from North Carolina to South Carolina, but it was sold again in December 2005. After declaring and emerging from bankruptcy in 2008, American LaFrance moved to a smaller factory in Moncks Corner, SC, in 2013

info from http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/07/american-lafrance-fire-engines-closed/
and  http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/2014/02/farewell-to-american-lafrance.html

Once the colossus of the American fire apparatus industry, American LaFrance LLC (ALF) abruptly closed its South Carolina plant on January 17 --the sad end of a storied dynasty extending back 114 years (182 years if you include predecessor companies that trace their roots back to 1832). The American-LaFrance Fire Engine Company of Elmira, New York, was founded in 1904.

The legendary nameplate now joins other once-revered names like Maxim, Pirsch and Ahrens-Fox in the pantheon of U.S. motor fire apparatus history.

cooling the inboard brakes during a pit stop on the Lotus 72


Found on http://flaviogomes.warmup.com.br/2012/09/enigma-do-dia-50/#comments , where if Google will translate for you, you can read about it , or here http://autoentusiastas.blogspot.com.br/2009_06_01_archive.html

Once, there were go go boots and short skirts on the airline PSA, maybe few outside San Diego remember this... but it's true.

Thursday, March 06, 2014

Stutz made fire engines! That is a rare cool item, and one is for sale


The Stutz High Duty Fire Engine Company came to life in 1919 when A.C. Mecklenburg & Harry Stutz came together to form a new firm to build fire apparatus from Indianapolis, Indiana. With both of their skills of building and selling fine automobiles, the idea of building a strong machine that would not break at the crucial moment when it was most needed came to be. The first pumper was tested in late spring 1919, and by June of 1919 was entered to compete against other fire apparatus manufacturers at the International Association of Fire Engineers in Kansas City, MO. This competition included American LaFrance, White, Ahrens-Fox, Seagrave, and Mack just to name few. Not only did they do well in the 12-hour run performance by taking top honors, they were noted for having the lowest motor pump speed among all exhibitors at only 1,130 rpms and low hose pulsation. It was the only pumper of all eight competitors to finish with a perfect score! The new advertising read “Made Good In a Day!”



the St Louis Car Museum is selling off a lot of vehicles. http://www.stlouiscarmuseum.com/stlcarmuseumtemplate.asp?id=1891

The Corvettes are getting pulled out of the sinkhole

Kurt Russell, a 1969 Charger, a 1970 Nova, and a 1970 Challenger. "Deathproof" the highlight clips

Tour De France, aka race of cheaters


red light runners


Seagrave Safety Sedan, restored by the Detroit fire dept volunteers, to be used as a fire dept hearse




I remember finding out about this a couple years ago, but was unable then to find anything out about it.
These images are found on http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjb4photos/8061362709/in/set-72157627006001214/  and  https://www.facebook.com/groups/321577158048111/

clever advertising

I just learned the Torino was the Indy 500 pace car for 1968



it's rare to see a muscle car anymore. Unless you are at a car show of course, but even then, Torinos do not appear often.

This one is found on http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/03/05/hemmings-find-of-the-day-1968-ford-torino-gt-convertible/


https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/bk429gv4191

be a hero


from the set of the movie Alien

Police car with racing stripes... why didn't Herbie ever get chased by this Brazilian VW bug?

Fiat declares 93 Vipers must be crushed, they aren't street legal, and donated to schools for educational programs (never heard of a race car being given to a school before!)


those hoods are roughly a 18 thousand dollar part. Carbon fiber... true fact



Automotive professors and students at South Puget Sound Community College were in shock Tuesday after being notified their $250,000 pre-production Dodge Viper SRT must be destroyed within two weeks.

Steven Glasco, vehicle donations coordinator at Chrysler, confirmed that the complete collection of the educational donation Vipers nationwide must be crushed. He would not comment further on the numbers of vehicles or why the decision was made.

Chapman said he was told by a company official that the destruction of 93 vehicles is the result of two educational Vipers that “got loose” and were involved in accidents, costing parent company Fiat millions of dollars.

Car companies regularly donate damaged, non-street-legal, or unsellable vehicles to high schools, colleges and tech schools to be used for training students. SPSCC has about 20 donated vehicles in its auto shop.

Part of the contract with the donated Viper reads that it will be destroyed if the company orders it to be.

The 1992 Dodge Viper is the fourth produced by the company.

Chapman admits the Viper has limited educational value — few mechanics will ever have to work on such a specialized vehicle. But it is a prized promotional tool for the auto program, which displays the car at high schools and auto shows around the state.

“Everybody wants their picture taken with the Viper,” professor Bob Riggin said. He said visiting teachers and dignitaries often get to actually drive the car when it’s strapped down to the shop’s dynamometer. “This car belongs in a museum, not in a crusher,” he said, adding that Jay Leno had unsuccessfully tried to purchase the Viper for his personal collection.

Scot Keller, chief curator at LeMay-America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, said he would love to have a prototype Viper at the museum “These are magnificent cars,” he said. “Who wouldn’t want a Viper?”

But, having been a GM executive himself for many years, Keller said he knows that trying to rescue this one would almost certainly be pointless.

“I’m an enthusiast but also a realist,” he said. “In this case, I feel somewhat obligated to protect the industry. It’s easy to say, ‘Those doggone people in the industry.’ But having sat in a number of meetings on issues like this, I see the other side.

“It’s heartbreaking if you love cars,” Keller said, “but it’s the only thing companies can do to keep the cars from getting out there and people potentially being harmed in them because they are not up to standards.”

Found on http://www.theolympian.com/2014/03/04/3016193/rare-sports-car-at-spscc-must.html thanks to Dave!

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Brilliant advertising

Possible solution to police misconduct, and great use of evidence gathering in any case for or against them

Finally some common sense appears in the "I've got a bigger grill badge than you do" competition between Chevy Ford and Dodge


Chevy engineer Richard Quinn discovered that cutting out the bowtie area results in 3 cu feet more airflow to the radiator and 2 degrees of cooling



Found on http://www.camaroperformers.com/news/1403_2014_camaro_z28_flowtie_video/

The cool remake of an airport tractor that was used in the movie Aliens

Rockets go boom. That's why the launch pads are very far away from all the rest of the Cape Canaveral station


This Delta rocket was taking a GPS satellite for a ride, but it exploded. Lots of burnt up cars later... when 225 tons of rocket fueled flaming mess rained down... and they don't let cars park too close anymore.

But I get a kick out of the Flying Tigers shark toothed grin motif!

winter is only a time to put away your motorcycle if you decide not to use it to create a snow or ice machine


Here, in 1913, motorcycle company Harley-Davidson decided that winter motorcycle designed for ice roads - there is a niche market. And quite original unit built almost real ice bike. Note: the normal drive to the rear wheel. Wrap the chain wheel (or two?) Complemented by two side-skating skis are protected from falling through mover in loose ground, and dual front ski provide acceptable stability and controllability. Basically, a viable solution, but here's the problem: it was suitable only for sufficiently good (smooth and without a lot of snow) ice - in all other cases and could easily stall and just lose control.

Found on http://strangernn.livejournal.com/820861.html

Pittsburg FedEx honor one of their own with an incredible procession


He was a ramp agent at Fedex Express. He was basically a manager, and he was on top of his game all the time. God, he had to be working there forever! He never called off, took a vacation, or worked less than 8 hours a day. Mickey loved everyone, and did so many generous things for people. He had no selflishness what so ever.

This may be true or a hoax... can't be sure either way: http://www.viralnova.com/fedex-drivers-funeral/

A public apology, how cool!

Sugar cube... how cute is that!?!?


Found on Facebook