Friday, June 27, 2014

rusty, but cool

interesting custom Vespa, I bet the extra tank makes it tipsy, but able to travel a lot farther between refills

In other news, an official Mexican government helicopter crossed into the USA in Arizona, and fired two rounds of ammo

5:45am, Thursday June 26th. No reasonable explanation for doing either was given. http://time.com/2933940/mexico-us-border-patrol-helicopter/

I'm filing this under: news, helicopter, law enforcement

If seatbelts are required everywhere in the US, or maybe in the world (no idea) why aren't cars built with an ignition interlock to the seatbelt?

Sure, it would be easy to overcome, but, most people would just put their seatbelts on before starting the car and driving, and isn't that what we want?

Maybe there is some ramifications to your car turning off if you unbuckle your belt, in a parking lot, or to reverse so you can twist your body.

Oh well, just thinking out loud

another couple of great image/meme from Aviatorgirl.tumblr.com



Always full of cool aviation images: http://aviatorgirl.tumblr.com/

colorized 100 year old photos.. I love it


these horse drawn carriages are called hansom cabs. This is Central Park, 1900


The top image is one in a book of colorized civil war era photos, very easily seen in Time Lightbox at http://lightbox.time.com/2012/10/25/a-vibrant-past-colorizing-the-archives-of-history/#1 and complimented and featured on Time magazine online, or see a couple stills (remarkable!) at http://www.redbubble.com/people/sannadullaway

African safari sampan


Its so incredibly rare to see a photo of a sampan...

This one found on that source of the unusual and cool: https://www.facebook.com/groups/yachtclubdesavionsdelaroute/?fref=nf

wow, those drive wheels... the Norris designed engine for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad


Camden et Amboy railways, 1850

Found on https://www.facebook.com/groups/yachtclubdesavionsdelaroute/?fref=nf

That's a Crampton locomotive...the idea was to put the drive wheels behind the firebox so the builder could use larger wheels, and lower the center of gravity. (thanks to Jeff F)

It's official! A Rally Fighter is in the new Transformers movie!


Pretty damn cool to see an independent car company get some terrific product placement in a summer blockbuster legacy movie!




http://www.local-motors.com/

http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2014/06/local-motors-rally-fighter-in-new.html for a couple screen shots and the movie trailer

captioned "So my sister got her license today"

"Traveler Roof Rack" made by Chris Craft


the 1948 Chrysler Traveler. According to the article http://barnfinds.com/1948-chrysler-traveler-barn-find/ there might be a dozen or two existing, but between 6 and 9 are owned by Chrysler. Only 4182 were made.

http://www.pacificnewportclassics.com/traveler.html

Also remarkable, is the leather cover for the spare tire in a 1950
http://goodmanreed.com/inventory/1950-chrysler-travler/#

Thursday, June 26, 2014

best camo I've seen on a tank... amazing.

Vespa furniture

container ships... not very good at keeping things onboard. This would have been the 18th SLS to hit the Americas


Full story on http://autoblog.com.ar/2014/06/alas-mojadas-la-historia-del-mercedes-sls-que-cayo-al-rio-de-la-plata/ but in short, it was floating half submerged for 5 days before it was pulled out of the ocean.

Via http://www.carcrushing.com/waterlogged-sls-amg/

Taxi drivers protest competition from Uber, Lyft, Sidecar, and upset locals by blocking traffic. Not smart

Clever advertising

Baby Ruth candy bars advertised to the tired driver

Obvious problem

great art, not just something in museums

H&H (Mike Herman's flathead engine company) has grown by acquiring two other historic companies

He started by buying Navarro

Now Mike has added McCulloch Superchargers and Sharp Speed Equipment

That is pretty cool

Learned about this in Rod and Custom Magazine

only Plymouth offered a system

Bus stop, South Korea


That's clever, and sure beats what passes for bus stops here in San Diego

Found on http://www.viralnova.com/difference-between-the-koreas/

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

1905 REO






a Stewart and Clark speedometer, not a Stewart Warner. I need to look into that and see if this was the same company before a merger or other business deal




the license plate is leather, and the aluminum ones weren't the uniform plate size and material yet, that would be another 10 years or so in the making. Also, note that the steering wheel and drivers seat are on the right hand side, as left side driving position also wasn't uniform yet

Gas Station TV... the little screens above the pump that run advertising

is based in Birmingham, Mich. That company claims 50 million monthly viewers at its gas pump screens installed at 2600 stations in 42 states.

Now, if they would just show anything I'd acutally watch more than the dollars and gallons readout

Info from http://autowriters.com/

income comparison of the major automakers

News flash... mass firings at Source Interlink, and magazine distribution is going down the drain

75 positions were eliminated, some good and expensive ones. Compare the cost of So Cal (El Segundo is the office location of Source Interlink) with the lower peninsula of Michigan (Ann Arbor is home to Automobile Magazine). That probably explains the trouble of being profitable in So Cal. This doesn't explain the relocation of Automobile Magazine to El Segundo, but.. it's likely they decided to move it all under one roof. Less rent and cost of two offices. http://autowriters.com/ Jean Jennings, president and editor of Automobile Magazine (a favorite of mine) opted out, was fired, or decided to not uproot her life to stay with the magazine. Since magazines aren't doing so well, it's a good time to move on.

Source Interlink Media is shuttering the print editions of Popular Hot Rodding, Rod andCustom, High Performance Pontiac, Custom Classic Trucks, 4 Wheel Drive and SUV, Mud Life, 5.0 Mustang, Modified Mustangs and Fords, Camaro Performers, GM Hi-Tech, Import Tuner and Honda Tuning. http://adage.com/article/media/source-interlink-media-folds-lays-100-employees/293469/

I can tell you Popular Hot Rodding has sucked for a while. It was pretty good last year, but I doubt I spent 10 minutes an issue the last 6 issues

Automobile's circulation in the last six months of 2013 averaged 569,671,
Print ad pages have declined 4.3% through June from the equivalent six months a year earlier, according to Media Industry Newsletter.

Motor Trend, which has a circulation of more than 1.1 million, saw ad pages fall off 15.4% during that time.

And it seems the highest ranked car websites (Autoblog, the Truth About Cars, Leftlanenews) are maybe having a bit of trouble.

The writer of the referenced article below is pretty rough on blogs, most magazine writers and publishers seem to be snobs and elitist regarding blogs vs magazines. Must be the dilution of the ad revenue, and no one feeling job security.

http://dailykanban.com/2014/05/30/the-buff-books-are-dying-and-the-car-blogs-are-right-behind-them/

One of the country’s largest magazine wholesalers officially went bust on Monday — one month after losing its largest customer. The parent of Source Interlink Distribution, which trucked magazines from warehouses to retailers for Time Inc. and others, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection after losing money for years.

While Time Inc., which publishes some of the best-read magazines in the country, like People, Sports Illustrated and InStyle, was the hardest-hit by Source’s shuttering, the entire industry felt the blow and some retailers could see a magazine shortage this summer as the industry looks for other companies to fill the void.
Source is owned by Golden Tree Asset Management, a hedge fund, with an 82 percent stake. JPMorgan owns 9.3 percent and GE Capital has a 5.7 percent stake.

The parent, Source Home Entertainment, owes Time Warner Retail Sales $53,776,843, according to court papers. Time Inc., in a filing, said it expected Source’s shutdown will decrease operating cash flows by $12 million.

Curtis Circulation Company, a national distributor for other magazine publishers, is owed $49.1 million, while CoMag Marketing Group, which is the national distributor for Condé Nast and Hearst titles, is owed $32.8 million, court filings show.

The latest Chapter 11 filing does not involve Source Interlink Media, which publishes special interest magazines including Motor Trend, Automobile and Hot Rod. Source owners had split the company in two earlier this year with separate boards.

http://nypost.com/2014/06/24/time-inc-feels-blow-after-source-files-for-chapter-11/

celebrity Hollywood photographer Andrew MacPherson