Friday, February 28, 2014

Don't trust the repair shop to take care of your rare and valuable car... often, the mechanics joy ride and wreck the customers car.


In Stuttgart Germany, this 300 SL was worth 3/4s of a million dollars, roughly.... before it was rolled and wrecked by the 26 and 19 yr old mechanics. Found on http://www.businessinsider.com/super-rare-mercedes-gets-totaled-after-mechanics-take-it-for-a-joy-ride-2013-3#.UVRGMy5_sbY.reddit via http://flaviogomes.warmup.com.br/

And not very long ago I posted about the ZL1 Camaro the dealership was refusing to replace after it's young mechanics wrecked it http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2014/01/dropping-off-your-new-zl1-camaro-at.html

A car graveyard, one of four originally, all that remains of a car lot that was parked when US Army were returned to the US after WW2

Taxis saved Paris from surrendering in WW1


By mobilizing the taxis of Paris, 6000 men were transported to the front line, and saved Paris.

Found on http://guiadoestudante.abril.com.br/aventuras-historia/taxis-servico-exercito-frances-primeira-guerra-mundial-735023.shtml

Well designed trunk, a Toyota camry


First thing I noticed... its BIG


With a great styrofoam organizer and support for the luggage carpet.. and floation device in case of flood!



and the pull tab to lift the carpet up has a terrific latchy piece that hangs onto the trunk rim to free up your arms to pull out the spare, or put in the flat



and a 60/40 split fold down rear seat


Full size bumper car made from an '84 Colt.. was on sale on Ebay

Happy Fathers day to this Dad! Skip the first two minutes, avoid the idiot grandkids noises

great homebuilt cart found on Go Away Garage


Found on the site that does not give credit to bloggers, photographers, or creators or content: http://goawaygarage.blogspot.com/

inside wrecked cars... notice the one thing they all have in common?

the Curtiss Bleeker SX1 ... a case for divergant evolution among helicopter designs?

A Saudi Arabian Muslim told a Saudi news outlet that driving does damage to women's ovaries and pelvises, and that by driving they risk giving birth to children with 'clinical problems.' (WTF is the brain damage among men in Moslem?)

According to CNN, Sheikh Saleh Al-Loheidan told the Saudi news website sabq.org that medical studies have shown driving to affect women's ovaries and pelvises.

"We find that for women who continuously drive cars, their children are born with varying degrees of clinical problems," Al-Loheidan said.

Al-Loheidan's comments were made in reaction to Saudi Arabian activist attempts to organize women to defy the Kingdom's ban on female drivers. Over 12,000 women have signed up on the site Oct26driving.com, declaring their intention to defy the ban on Oct. 26.

"Since there are no clear justifications for the state to ban adult, capable women from driving. We call for enabling women to have driving tests and for issuing licenses for those who pass," the petition states.

NBC reported that while no law specifically prohibits women from driving, the notorious government sanctioned religious morality police arrest female drivers based on religious edicts.

found on http://autos.aol.com/article/driving-likely-to-damage-ovaries-says-saudi-cleric/

Though the honest scorn and derision is completely my own. Go ahead, declare a religious WTF against me, see if I give a damn, I'm not going back to the sandbox... Australia is much more my style. 

the purple people eater... was good at Wyoming deer huints

the advertising rivalry between Audi and BMW is hilarious!

Real, or fake.. how does the car move after the kid jumps out, and then lurch to a stop?

Scotland Yard's historic fleet goes for a parade lap from the police garage to the police driving school

Dodge, it's history and 100th year anniversary are here... and a family owned dealership, (3rd generation) owner is blogging about it!

the result of a load not secured. Military people understand... if it's going to sea, sky, or war, it better be locked down. This 747 fell out of the sky in 30 seconds of take off, all captured clearly on this video



you only will need to see the first 30 seconds to be amazed this was caught on film, and sad for the crew of 7. No passengers, this was a cargo flight.

SAO PAULO - Stunning images of the 747 load that fell yesterday in Afghanistan. The plane had seven crew. Never seen anything like it. Reportedly much of the cargo consisted of military vehicles and weapons. The whole bagasse was not properly secured and, at takeoff, the burden had shifted to the bottom of the aircraft. The weight caused the unsustainable plane flight angle, and the pilot didn't try to nose down instead of power out.

Found on http://flaviogomes.warmup.com.br/

Not a good idea to leave stuff in the back of the truck when you're in eagle country

Jessica put together a photo gallery of Jay Leno's collection

portable nuke reactor power plant... as if that's as easy as just rolling to where you'll need it


140kW


Found on http://strangernn.livejournal.com/863247.html#cutid1

the pinwheel... rocket helicopter

out rage ous police actions in the news, it's time to keep a lawyer in the passenger seat, and never go to Texas, Arizona, or New Mexico to avoid anal and vaginal searches at traffic stops.

200 cars seized by 4 cops during traffic stops, both the chief and the acting chief of police, two patrolmen, and the tow truck driver have all been arrested in King City, Monterey County, California. They were selling the cars to get rich. They targeted poor minorities.
http://autos.aol.com/article/police-officers-accused-of-illegally-seizing-cars-of-poor-motori/


in Hildago County New Mexico:
"Though they never arrested him, officers held Eckert against his will. At the direction of police, doctors subjected him to two rectal exams, three enemas, X-rays of his abdomen, heart, chest and lungs, anesthetic and a colonoscopy, despite his repeated objections. Again, no drugs were found."
http://www.autoblog.com/2014/02/25/traffic-stop-anal-probe-civil-rights-violations-video/


all over the United States citizens guilty of nothing more than traffic violations have endured roadside vaginal searches, anal probes and beatings at the hands of police.

 Four police officers in Milwaukee, WI, were charged with felonies related to illegal rectal searches of "dozens of victims" that took place over a three-year span between 2009 and 2012. In one case, a 15-year-old boy had his anus searched by police officers


In one case, an officer held a gun to a man's head as two others held his arms and a third put him in a choke hold while jamming a hand into his anus, purportedly searching for evidence, according to the criminal complaint. Another man bled from his rectum for several days after his encounter with police, the complaint says.  http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/criminal-charges-against-police-in-strip-search-case-expected-today-gf5cb94-173312411.html

Also in Milwaukee: Chief Edward Flynn and his department, already under fire over the in-custody death of Derek Williams, detaining the mother of a slain boy and reporting inaccurate crime statistics to the FBI and the public.



and in Texas: pulled over for a cigarette tossed out the window (alleged) not only does trooper Kelly Helleson make no attempt to hide her illegal cavity search, she told Farrell that she's going to use his camera to record it.

She then walked Angel Dobbs into full view of the dashcam in his cruiser. As the video shows, Helleson first feels the elder Dobbs' right breast, then reaches into her underwear, searching her anus and then her vagina.

Her niece is then subjected to the same search. Helleson didn't even change gloves in between searching the two women.





Above all from http://www.autoblog.com/2014/02/25/traffic-stop-anal-probe-civil-rights-violations-video/

I'm ashamed to put this info out on the web, but not doing this is allowing the police to continue to break laws and mistreat innocent people, men and women. Not speaking up in condoning this out rage ous behavior.

My advice? Check with your police dept, city, county, and sheriff public contact and find out what their reocrd of breaking laws is, suspensions, and firings. Where there is smoke, there is fire.

Fire fighting is a dangerous feat, and in the 1920s it was far more difficult, and hard to see, so firemen had a portable generator and flood light rig made



 a mobile generator 10kW, five kilowatt lamp stationary and portable eight, 400 watt. Plus 500 feet of wire for these remote spotlights

Found on http://strangernn.livejournal.com/865110.html

hey! Peugeot used the Wacky Racers in a commercial... can they do that? Great idea!

interesting design analysis of inline, v8, and boxer engines...

Thursday, February 27, 2014

1970 drag racing documentary, heavy on Sox and Martin, filmed in Dallas at the World Finals

64 Galaxie 500XL, R code, 427 solid lifter dual quad beast hangs out in the corner of the garage except for an occasional romp

911, not very useful in Maryland and Pennsylvania, are cops that busy writing speeding tickets?

http://autos.aol.com/article/man-called-911-several-times-before-being-shot-by-road-rage-driv/

A man killed in a road-rage incident in Pennsylvania called 911 several times before he was run off the road and shot multiple times.

Dash cams... capture the most amazing things... like the road blowing up

the movie Need For Speed.. is it a gumball rally from New York to California? Looks like it!



Found on http://www.nerdist.com/2014/02/exclusive-need-for-speeds-race-to-de-leon-with-aaron-paul/

To go from New York and San Francisco Tobey Marshall only has 45 hours to get to an underground street race with the most exotic supercars in the world.

They ripped through the Motor City, Moab, Bonneville, Atlanta, and redwoods in California

 In addition to practical stunts and badass driving, the film wanted to make sure it shot as much on location as possible. 

Unusual looking fuselage design of theis Fokker T2




photos from and more information at http://strangernn.livejournal.com/883943.html

interesting stuff from Go Away Garage



tell me you recognize the Smokey Yunick Hurst Floor Shift Special!



From http://goawaygarage.blogspot.com/

pretty cool for a dumpster!

Stolen in 1984, a 57 Chevy is found heading for Australia and returned to owner

The 65-year-old owner says the car has had a lot of work done on it since it disappeared from his Lake County home in 1984. It was returned with a monogrammed interior, 17-inch racing wheels, rack-and-pinion steering and a 350-horsepower V-8 engine.

This was stolen from Wilson's place in Clearlake Oaks not just once but twice in the early 1980s.

Wilson, who's 65 and battling cancer, had long before quit hoping to see it again when, about three weeks back, a California Highway Patrol investigator named Mike Maleta phoned him from Southern California.

The discovery came after a routine inspection of outbound cargo containers sparked suspicion by officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Officers isolated the container with the Chevy inside and called in officers of the non-profit National Insurance Crime Bureau. They confirmed that the car's vehicle identification number was listed as belonging to a stolen car.

It was a white-over-yellow two-door in sorry shape when he bought it for $375 from a fellow on the East Coast in 1975. Wilson had done a fair bit of work on it when it was stolen from his home in Clearlake Oaks in 1983, then recovered with its engine and transmission removed.

Wilson hadn't put it back together when it was stolen again in 1984. For 30 years, he couldn't spot a mid-50s Bel Air on the road without wincing.

He said the CHP's Maleta told him that since the theft, the car has gone through four owners. Wilson struggles to understand how and why the Department of Motor Vehicles would transfer ownership of a car that had been reported stolen.

Wilson had to pay just $900 in transportation, storage and towing fees. He said the DMV notified him that he is liable for 30 years of registration fees, but then backed off that claim.

It wasn't the first long-missing classic vehicle that federal and state officers have intercepted in L.A. prior to its shipment overseas.

Last fall, the CHP's Maleta and an agent of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Protection ran a check on a 1953 Triumph motorcycle scheduled to be shipped to Japan. They yanked it from the port upon discovering it was stolen from a Nebraska man in 1967 — 46 years earlier. http://autos.aol.com/article/stolen-motorcycle-returned-to-owner-46-years-later/






And late in 2009, Border Protection officers and Maleta seized from the L.A. harbor a 1965 Volkswagen bus that had been snatched from Spokane in 1974 and was bound for the Netherlands.

Story by Chris Smith chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com. http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20140219/articles/140219502

Ford Explorer concept... cool! Why doesn't anyone try things like this anymore?


Not sure where I found this, probably http://flaviogomes.warmup.com.br/

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Baldwin Motion Meyers Manx SR... ever heard of Motion Mini Cars? Me neither...


The Manx SR was a “grand touring” version of the Manx and it was actually designed to be a road car by Bruce Meyers and Stewart Reed. Featuring an 80-inch wheelbase and a curb weight of 1,500lbs, anyone with a mildly cooked up VW motor had a pretty legit little hot rod on their hands.

Word around the internet is that about 200 of these things were sold before the molds were thrown up on the shelf and forgotten about. One of those 200 made it into the hands of Baldwin-Motion.

Now, we know that you’re asking what in the hell the guys who plugged big HP rat motors into everything wanted to do with a VW, but there was a side of Baldwin-Motion you may not remember.

 Motion Minicar was a joint venture between Bill Mitchell, Joel Rosen, and Marty Schorr. They worked on hot rodding VWs and other small cars of the era. Bill Mitchell campaigned a nearly unbeatable H-Gas VW known as the “Thunderbug” and this Manx SR was the tow vehicle for it at the track.

 While we’re not really sure why Mitchell went from the ranks of A/Modified Production into the VW ranks we do know that he hauled the mail and laid waste to the national record perhaps dozens of times over the period he was running the Thunderbug. This particular Manx SR was on the cover of High Performance Cars



found on http://bangshift.com/blog/ebay-find-the-famous-baldwin-motion-manx-sr-is-for-sale-drag-race-and-vw-history-who-knew-that-it-existed-still.html


the Ebay listing (ended at $5,599.00) has

 Own a piece of car culture history. The single most iconic Meyers Manx SR in existence and in barn find “as found” condition having recently been brought back to excellent running condition. This was the cover car on Performance Cars magazine (included) and had been reportedly stored at Atco Raceway in New Jersey for decades. This is as original and low miles as any classic from that era could be. It drives nice and is ready to be shown at any VW show to truly wow the crowds and take home the survivor class top honors. Its rarity is unmatched since it is “1 of 1” with its amazing Baldwin mini-cars drag-strip heritage. The twin carb engine does appear to have some minor updates since 1970 for functionality and performance and I assume long term road ready reliability. But it should be noted that it would be a very simple task to reold (opposite of renew) these telltale minor tweaks back to an earlier set-up. The unique original custom seats, coupled with correct era gauges, wheels and the extremely rare fabric convertible roof are all features that make this a “must have” for the serious VW or Dune Buggy collector. This is the Meyers Manx Body SR41 June 1970 original fully documented magazine cover car. The SR model is a very rare series and features the original patented door swing that in recent years has been called “Lambo” style, but here we see a car that proceeds Lamborghini’s distinct signature doors. Bruce Meyers wanted a street version of their popular line of dune buggy’s and this Steward Reed design was and is the perfect combination of a shortened VW underpinning mated to a low profile two seat aerodynamic 13 piece composite (fiberglass) sleek futuristic American made road sculpture. Some 1970’s articles about the SR refer to this design as the “Targa Buggy” from its same era Porsche inspired removable roof feature. It is considered to be unequaled to this day in its simplicity, stance and symmetry. The true Meyers dune buggies are escalating in value in recent years and this very car is destined to be among the most sought after examples of that company’s classic very innovative collectibles. I might be wrong, but the radio may be newer than 1970, but that should be a very simple swap-out. This is otherwise an original 1970 Meyer Manx SR (Street Racer). It is a very rare car since Meyers reportedly only built 206 of them but this is the only one to go to Motion performance on Long Island for the famous Motion Mini car program. It was never intended for resale in their very popular mini car sales program, but rather it was for their own use. It is very well documented that this car was used at the drag strips by Joel Rosen (owner of Motion) and Bill Mitchell (NHRA Champion) when they raced the famous NHRA Record holder THUNDERBUG. This was the Thunderbug’s drag race return tow car and was campaigned at race tracks all over the USA wherever Baldwin Motion Performance was being featured at national events. This car was in magazines and is considered to be among the rarest Motion of all. It is in pretty great shape but definitely showing its age with hairline cracks and chips very evident in the amazingly preserved psychedelic 60/70’s mind blowing paintjob. I think that since it was painted by Ultra Automation who was famous for their amazing artwork, that this represents not only a legendary and rare example of a Meyers Manx, but a work of 60’s car art that should be preserved as-is as a true survivor era correct unrestored piece of Americana . Any VW enthusiast would be proud to have such an iconic, historical and fun representation of the true dune buggy era as this famous one and only example. The Manx starts, runs and stops fine with a just replaced battery and is still using its original rear tires which I just had new tubes installed in order to preserve the date coded original and rare L60 Good Year tires. If I kept it I would have a spare set of rear wheels and tires for long road/cruise usage and use these original vintage rear tires only for shows. Amazingly this car has only 7350 original miles which by all accounts is accurate. It is very fun to drive and you will absolutely draw a crowd no matter where you take it. I have collected a good amount of documentation and some interesting extras such as a custom front license plate, new SR floor mats, wild shift knob, rare extra emblems, etc. that I’ll include for the buyer. You may be aware that Bruce Meyers will be cruising from California to the East Coast to Nags Head North Carolina for the awesome “Manx on the Banx” dune buggy gathering on October 14th to 19th of this year. Pick up this car and head there to be the centerpiece of this show. The SR model is so rare it may well be the only one in attendance, last I heard. A historical perspective: Dune Buggy's in the 60's provided a way for even a novice car enthusiast with very limited funds to create a personal vehicle usually from an older Volkswagen’s floor pan and drivetrain. One of the true legends in Dune buggy body kits and ready-made completed cars was the legendary designer and builder Bruce Meyers. Meyers was considered the style to copy and beat. He produced several variations up until the early 70's. One of his most innovative efforts as penned by Steward Reed was a radical design resulting in this amazingly unique creation. This car went to Baldwin Automotive, where Motion Performance was headquartered for NHRA Drag racing. In the 60’s and 70’s Motion was considered to be the pinnacle muscle car and race VW supplier in the North East holding many NHRA records of the day and selling street an race cars that are highly sought after today. They sent this 64 VW cut down pan with it's then new factory body out to Ultra Automation be painted in what can only be described as the most psychedelic paint schemes ever applied to any car. The car was featured at race tracks across the country as Motion's "tow car" to the delight of fans. It is perhaps the most remembered and unique Manx of all time. Although further research may be needed, it was purchased by Atco Dragway and has been stored there for decades and then in recent years sold. When it came on the market I knew this would be a fun car to own and preserve exactly as it was in 1970. I have maintained it’s heritage in every way possible and I would hope the next owner will continue to push it's originality on into the future. I am reducing my modest collection by two cars and this car must be sold. It is being offered at a very reasonable reserve.

DeNooyer Chevrolet, a small Michigan town car dealership that has been in business since the 30's or so, and I recently learned that my Great Grandfather worked there for 30 some years ago, retired from it in the 1960's


the above was posted on Hemmings by Dan and he commented that it was taken in 1944, and he found a copy online, and it was then reposted by CarrosAntigos... where I found it. Tracking it down took about an hour, and a library in Michigan has a large collection of photos, this was among them.

From the upper right corner my Great Grandfather is the 2nd guy down from the top, above the guy with the tie


from a Flikr account


From a different Flikr account


and from another library http://heritage.portagelibrary.info/cdm/singleitem/collection/johntodd/id/57 I think the year is 1963