Saturday, August 18, 2012

road signs in a storm... get bouncy



Would you wait til it stopped bouncing before going under it? I would. Metal fatigue you know. 

a rat rod on a train theme



the hood was made from a semi fuel tank, the grill looks like a semi truck's rim... on the pickup bed are railroad spike pullers, held to the top of the bed sides with railroad spikes, and the hood ornament is a spittoon
Found on http://steampunkvehicles.tumblr.com/ 

when texting and driving first got started


The Krishna Motor Garage, possibly the oldest repair and restoration shop in New Delhi, in business since 1938

Read a good article about it and antique cars in New Delhi .http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Restoring-lost-glory-of-vintage-cars/Article1-912222.aspx

Some antique cars in New Delhi are walled in by new construction, and remain in old garages where they last ran before some part broke that couldn't be replaced. 

known as the "Minny Sota Ferrari" and emailed around all summer, I just got it in my email, it's a great use of a lot of farm equipment tools and tractor stuff

it has a Minneapolis Moline grill, a washtub for a fan shroud, milking tubes on top of the air filter housing, horse shoes holding up the side mirrors, a cross cut blade for a dashboard, great open end wrenches for the headlight buckets which I don't recognize, a tin roof for a firewall, and what looks like a manure spreader at the back





 


I hope you've enjoyed this photographers good work at close ups of all the cool farm things put to good use on this jalopy

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

the new issue of Car Craft retro magazine "Elapsed Time" is on the magazine racks


found in an old tool box


Kustom Kulture car show in San Diego Old Town, Sept 8th

Walt Disney had plans to bring Disneylandia by railcar through America, it cost too much, so he made DisneyLand instead


This is just one reason Disneyland has trains,

"... several specific elements of the event that stayed in Walt's mind. A section of the fair was devoted to "Horse Drawn and Man Drawn Equipment (all originals) 1890-1910 Period," which, for instance, included vehicles such as a horse-drawn fire engine, a steam calliope, and a popcorn wagon -- all future elements of Disneyland.

In Gold Gulch, "Frontier Town of Gold Rush Days," old-timers and gunslingers trod wooden sidewalks past authentic shops and exhibits of the old frontier. There was an "Old New Orleans" exhibit with a French Quarter street and flagstone courtyard, a free nightly fireworks display following the last daily performance of the "Wheels-a-Rolling" rail pageant spectacular, an "Old Faithful Geyser" spouting on schedule, and even an authentic Indian village -- all like those at early Disneyland.

 As part of their trip, Walt and Ward also visited Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, where dozens of historical buildings had been moved to the property from their original sites and arranged in a "village" setting -- another potent influence on the concept of Disneyland."

"...the foregoing creative stimulants resulted in perhaps the most peculiar and least-known concept for a Disney public space: "Disneylandia," a national traveling show contained in railroad cars, with each car carrying animated miniature scenes and tableaux. Among these scenes, in addition to Granny's Cabin, were (most famously) a dancing vaudeville performer and a barbershop quartet.

The cost and logistics of "Disneylandia" proved prohibitive, and all of the foregoing ideas began to coalesce into a larger amusement park plan.

Walt finally ordered two studies from the Stanford Research Institute, one to determine whether the enterprise made business sense, another to determine the most feasible location. SRI recommended 150 acres of grove land in Anaheim, California, and an investment of eleven million."

http://disney.go.com/disneyinsider/wonderful-world-of-walt/disneyland?cmp=EMC|ins|WWoW|DisneyInsider|MoreInsider|Pos2|081412|72x60|Walt|bestGuestE|  for the full story

Monday, August 13, 2012

Where are the Fiat 500's going to be made?

the 2012 500 was made in Mexico, the 2013 500L is made in Serbia. Instability? Best they can do for now?  Or just a different model made at a different facility? I don't know. I think it's odd though. 

Carroll Shelby said this about the evolution of racing from the Cobra to the Shelby GT 500's and the end of Ford racing

"When you get tied up with any big company, it has the tendency to change your perspective.

Getting involved with Ford was kinda like asking a big gorilla to dance. You start off leading, but before very long, you're being swung all over the floor, and pretty soon you lose sight of the fact that all you wanted to do in the first place was dance.

The Cobra led to the Mustang GT350, and that led to the GT40, and before and before I knew it, our goals had changed.

Ford didn't want us to race the Cobra because they were afraid it would beat their GT40.

By the end of the 1960's we weren't building Cobras at all, we weren't racing GT40s anymore, and our biggest competitor was in the Mustang business was Ford itself.

You didn't have to be Einstein to know it was time to pack it in."

Carroll Shelby, in his own words, interviewed by Gary Witzenburg

photo found on http://stwot.motortrend.com/files/2012/04/Carroll-Shelby-at-race-track-1024x955.jpg

43 years since his car was stolen, and he kept looking, and finally found it

photo from AP http://www.hotsr.com/news/2012/07/08/texas-man-recovers-stolen-car-after-42-y-445592.php
Bob Russell never gave up hope that his stolen 1967 Austin-Healey would be found one day.

 He was a graduate student at Temple University in 1970 when he parked the English roadster at an apartment complex after a date with his future wife.

 When he went to the lot the next morning, the car was gone. Because he was a cash-strapped student, it was a double whammy: He had liability coverage, but no theft insurance.

 For more than four decades, Russell searched for the cream-colored convertible. This year, against all odds, he found it. And with the help of the Philadelphia Police Department, he has his Austin-Healey back.

 Russell was scouring eBay, the Internet sales website, when he spotted his hot car listed for auction by a Los Angeles auto dealer.

The listed VIN matched his beloved Austin. Russell, now living near Dallas, still possessed the title and set of keys.

The rest of the story at http://articles.philly.com/2012-07-12/news/32633503_1_austin-healey-hot-car-new-theft

Highway signs increasing visibilty 20% by changing their font slightly



increasing the size of the letters a little makes them easier to read from farther away, learned about it in Autoweek, August 6 2012 issue

the story of Niki Lauda in 1976 is coming to the big screen, Ron Howard directing

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1979320/

A biography of Formula 1 champion driver Niki Lauda and the 1976 crash that almost claimed his life. 

the formula one season, and the rivalry between Lauda and Hunt

to be released Sept 13, 2013

the 'Ring is bankrupt. Nurburgring filed last Wednesday

The Rhineland Palatinate state government had asked the Commission to pump €13 million into the firm as part of a rescue package which would also seee the firm would defer payment on a €330 million loan from a state-owned bank.

 But European competition authorities refused to approve the plan and the firm which owns the track will now go into administration. Administrators will then soon be responsible for all contracts, whether this be with Bernie Ecclestone for the Formula 1 races or with concert organiser Marek Lieberberg for the Rock am Ring festival.

 European authorities are already in the midst of checking whether more than €500 million has been funnelled into the racetrack and leisure complex in contravention of competition rules.

 The Rhein Zeitung said that tax payers should expect to pay heartily for the situation, as the entire complex is said to be only worth €126 million – according to a study compiled by Ernst & Young for the state.

 The figures show the firm is €413 million in debt, including €330 million borrowed from the state-owned bank and €83 million to share-holders, the paper said. The state could end up sitting on debts of around €287 million.
http://www.thelocal.de/sport/20120718-43811.html

Sunday, August 12, 2012

One of the best concept artists in the movie industry is a Mopar E Body fan, Beck's Kustoms














http://ebodies.blogspot.com/ which has about 90-100 variation on the Barracuda, which seem to be a side effect of his buying a 72 or 73 Barracuda and making it a project that he's covering on his other blog http://beckkustoms.blogspot.com/


Have you been to San Antonio's Lackland AFB?

Then you were walking through the same paths that Carroll Shelby trod when we was stationed there.

He was there during WW2, starting in November of 1941, Carroll began training at San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center (now Lackland AFB) and then was promoted to instructor. While flying training missions he dropped messages to his fiance at her farm from the plane. That's cool

Diesel Powers Challenge, surprising numbers

A 2002 Chev Silverado pulled 1481hp and 2466ft lbs.

but first place at the dragstrip went to a 900 hp Ford
http://www.dieselpowermag.com/2012/diesel_power_challenge/


I

I don't understand why the guys are dynoing diesel trucks indoors with the doors closed. But check out the effing cloud they make!

Rad Rods by Troy has one awesome Talledega in the finishing stages



these are from my gallery from the Grand National Roadster Show http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2012/01/coolest-things-i-found-at-2012-grand_31.html

the online Hot Rod doesn't have anything up on it yet, but the Sept 2012 issue has one of the biggest features I've seen in that magazine, 12 pages

update Nov 2013

Mike Chiavetta's 1920's board track racer Henderson made it into a feature placement in Hot Rod magazines Sept 2012 issue

the tires are just new beach cruiser tires from a swap meet


 the sprocket covers and gas tank are carbon fiber, because the profession of Mike is that of an engineer at Boeing

 the photo below shows a leather seat in close detail, it was formerly a suitcase that his childhood artwork was kept.



there is about $150 bucks total into this, and it can be licensed as a bike that can be pedaled and not run over 30 mph, for 20 bucks