Saturday, December 19, 2015

Jo Bonnier's Chevy V8 powered Lola T70 MkIIIB aboard his awesome transporter.

Sho Kogawa's "Majic Powder"


those slotted mags are just excellent


Found on https://www.facebook.com/Mopar-Style-The-Visual-Art-268199166661403/ 

Oil is now cheaper than the last low point of 2009... but gas costs 50%. Pretty obvious that we are getting screwed

WTI hit $34.29 a barrel, the lowest since February 2009, after the release of the Baker Hughes' report. It settled the day down 22 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $34.73.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKBN0U103V20151218


http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/08/oil-prices-per-barrel-38-lowest-in-6.html

Doesn't look like a bad idea until he gets midway through the river

The only casualty of an hours-long SWAT raid and hostage situation in Wisconsin was a disabled Nam veteran who had filed a $50 million civil rights suit after he survived a similar SWAT raid three years ago.

In 2012, the Lake Winnebago Area Metropolitan Enforcement Group staged a SWAT raid at Eagle Nation Cycles that resulted in 15 felony charges against business co-owner Steven Erato – all of which were dismissed. He was eventually convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession.

According to the suit, the judge shouldn’t have signed the search warrant because of a previous dispute with Erato. In 2005, the state’s Crime Victims Rights Board ruled in favor of Erato against the aforementioned judge, as well as the district attorney, in a trial involving Erato’s wife, Merica Kabke. Erato was not permitted to make a statement during court proceedings, which violated his rights as the victim of a crime.

“They threw everything but the kitchen sink at him, and it turned out to be nothing,” observed White, who is still representing Erato in the federal lawsuit.

During the raid, “The hyper-militarized force parked an armored tank-like vehicle outside of Eagle Nation, stormed the building, bombarding the occupants with assault weapons drawn, screaming profanities and abuse, all while wearing plainclothes (ununiformed) and face masks,” recounted the lawsuit.

 The raid was supposedly justified because an informant with the task force supposedly witnessed a drug deal in the alley behind the motorcycle shop on the previous day. The alley also abuts two bars, including one that’s nicknamed the “Crack Shack” for its alleged drug use and sales, the lawsuit alleges.

The objective of the raid was to close down the business and seize the property on which it stood through “asset forfeiture,” the suit contends.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cops-respond-hostage-situation-killing-victim-lawsuit/#MTd5FQ6sqe85Cg3M.99

But today,  Michael Funk, Vietnam vet and co-owner of  Eagle Nation Cycles was killed after fleeing a hostage situation, only to be gunned down by police. Now his longtime business partner says officers “shot the wrong guy.”

Funk was at Eagle Nation Cycles around 9 a.m. when a gunman wielding a MAC-10 held him and several others captive in what became an hours-long standoff with police.

When cops arrived, a suspect inside the building fired at them, striking one officer’s helmet, and the officers retreated, Neenah Police Chief Kevin Wilkinson said.

Shortly after, a man later identified as Funk exited the motorcycle shop. He was “shot at by one or more officers on scene”

http://www.bikerspost.com/article/240/vietnam-vet-biker-killed-by-police-in-hostage-standoff

Funk and Eagle Nation co-owner Steven Erato were embroiled in a $50 million lawsuit against the city of Neenah—about 85 miles northwest of Milwaukee—over the alleged Sons of Anarchy-style crackdown.

While police haven’t released a motive in the alleged crime, White said the gunman attacked Eagle Nation because he wanted to retrieve his motorcycle, which had been sold to another person and was being repaired at the shop.

“There have been reports that [the gunman] was on probation, had another case pending, [and] sold his bike to raise money for his legal fees,” White told The Daily Beast. “Then he decided after he got that money, he wanted the bike back.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/07/vietnam-vet-biker-killed-by-police-in-hostage-standoff.html 

modern recreation of a 1950s gas station

parade of VW bugs for Christmas

Friday, December 18, 2015

the factual outcome of the "one day I'll get around to fixin it up"

Petty's race car trasporter

what happened to Sears being the source of good tools, appliances, and auto repairs? The article Craig wrote at Car Talk explains


http://www.cartalk.com/blogs/craig-fitzgerald/sears-craftsman-tools-what-happened-0

FYI
Sears never "made" Craftsman tools. In its history, it contracted out to some of the finest toolmakers in the world. You can find out which company made those tools by decoding the first three digits of the serial number to the left of the decimal point on pretty much anything Sears sold. There's a decoder at http://vintagemachinery.org/Craftsman/manufacturers.aspx

100 year old directions for applying a water transfer decal to a Harley Davidson frame

Finally, we made it to the weekend!


the interior of Jeff Norwell's 32 Ford

The Manic GT was built by Bombardier in Canada between 1969 and 1971. The car used Renault 8 mechanicals



From what I can figure out, the French Canadians used a French car's mechanicals (Renault), but a new fiberglass body. The payments for the mechanicals never made it to Renault, so they stopped sending parts and that ended everything. About 60 were made


wow, this is pretty cool recycling! I wonder if this was one of the Chicago street cars that were resold for all purposes in the 40s

2015 Fiat 500 retro 1957 edition vs Abarth editon








the 1967 Baja 1000 (at that time was called the 27 hours to La Paz) has heaps of cool ol famous cars



Guys like Mickey Thompson, Parnelli Jones, Ivan Stewart, and others were headliners and the fields were full of a diverse mix of Meyers Manx, Hurst Baja Boot, and the Hot Rod Ranchero

http://bangshift.com/bangshiftxl/27-hours-to-la-paz-is-a-bitchin-period-film-from-the-first-mexican-1000-killer-cars-trucks-and-a-familiar-looking-ranchero/

this is the Sopwith Camel


http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/threads/porsche-powered-sopwith-camel.119336/

John Crean, Porsche powered Meyers Manx was featured in the 1967 67 April ROAD and TRACK Magazine... but in 1967 there was also a San Fran band by the name of Sopwith Camel, who had one hit, Hello Hello, then they disbanded, http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/sopwith-camel-19870910

Stuck, or just a good place to get a break from ants?

the Jeep graveyard of Okinawa, 1949, photographed by a Life Magazine photographer

I found another online digital magazine, this one if for offroading Jeeps

Petrolicious scores another fantastic story, a family that took a CJ3 and a teardrop trailer, and spent 3 decades camping all over the south west


in 1949 a husband and wife without kids yet, went out exploring. 3 years later, after finding that a Buick doesn't work so well after getting it out of a flash flood, they bought this CJ3




Full story and more images at http://petrolicious.com/willy-s-jeep-carries-family-through-sixty-years-of-desert-adventure  via  https://www.facebook.com/jpfreekadventuremagazine/

a 20 year old New Hampshire school teacher bought this Road Runner in 1969, and she only used it in the summers, and only put 6000 miles on it... 4 speed, 383, and still owned by the original owner



"My first few months of driving the Road Runner had me learning how to do burnouts, drag off stoplights, power shifting, being included in the top 10 most watched muscle cars by the Concord police, and attending the first cruise-ins at the local Gulf station," Kathy proudly recalls.


Found on http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/1512-incredible-6000-mile-1969-plymouth-road-runner-still-driven-by-original-owner

1st vintage photo I think I've ever seen of a Hawaiian sampan, photo taken in the '40s by a soldier