Saturday, June 04, 2016

Don Grotheer's 1969 Winternats winning Super Stock Barracuda is going to auction, as rare as these are you better not pass up this chance to own it, they don't come to auction often


Campaigned by NHRA legend Don Grotheer who drove this car to win the 1969 Winternationals at Pomona, California.

A period correct 426 cid Hemi V8 powers this beast, topped off by cross-ram, dual Holley carbs. It rides on a set of original Keystone mags, supplied for the restoration by Grotheer. Only the bare necessities are found inside the car, black vinyl seats, no back-seats or radio or heater, and a proper Stewart-Warner tach.



http://motostalgia.com/car-detail/?car=IBY16-1968-Plymouth-Barracuda-&vin=B029M8B390678-CarId31419-87

June 18th, Indianapolis

the Stinger, a new homage to the Marmon Wasp Indy 500 winning race car, sold for $900,000 to an investment group


In May 2011, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway celebrated its 100th anniversary, marking a full century since the 1911 Marmon Wasp won the inaugural Indianapolis 500. To pay homage to that legendary machine, the Window World company commissioned the construction of The Stinger, in an effort to commemorate the centennial era of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500, they made a modern-day interpretation of the history-making Marmon Wasp.

The car was built for the centennial and since then, Indy racer John Andretti has been taking the car around the country to get it autographed by every living Indy veteran.

The aerodynamics of The Stinger are state-of-the-art, packaged with a Honda-donated, race-winning engine. The Stinger’s yellow and black color scheme honors its namesake, as a tribute to history. And with the support of Indianapolis 500 legends, The Stinger is now a part of that history.

Though the centennial of that race was held five years ago, the race this year will be the 100th running of the event, which was not held during war years.


With a collection of signatures from nearly 250 of the 273 total Indianapolis 500 Veterans as of 2011, The Stinger has become a priceless salute to a century of excellence.

John Andretti not only had to hunt down the drivers, he had to take the car to nursing homes for some to sign, to one ailing driver’s driveway. Another was in jail and signed while wearing shackles. “It’s been a real adventure,” Andretti said.

Andretti, a nephew of Mario Andretti and cousin of Michael Andretti and Marco Andretti, traveled tens of thousands of miles with the Stinger to find autographs. Most of the missing signatures belong to retired racers who live overseas, and Andretti wasn’t willing to send parts of the car abroad for signatures.

In addition to its Indycar body and chassis, the Stinger carries a race-winning Honda engine and wears Firestone tires embedded with the names of every driver who has the 500 on that brand of tires. The seat in the car came out of a car raced by four-time IndyCar series champion Scott Dixon.


All of the proceeds from the auction went to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.

http://www.windowworldcares.com/the-stinger/
https://news.classiccars.com/barrett-jackson-help-celebrate-indy-500-centennial-special-auction/

Deus Ex Machina - 66 Plymouth Barracuda with 480hp 273 on a 4 speed.

Plymouth orchard tractor, rare, and exceedingly well photographed for a tractor.


The only Orchard model of the 214 Plymouth tractors built, it’s literally one of a kind, but that’s not it’s real claim to fame. Instead, that comes from the fact that it was the first tractor to be designed for use with rubber tires instead of the studded steel wheels used before.


http://uncrate.com/stuff/plymouth-orchard-tractor/
https://www.mecum.com/lot-detail/GL0616-251565/0/Plymouth-Orchard/

It was bought by the small tractor collection I just posted last month,  http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/05/stonegate-farm-orchard-tractor.html

truth in advertising


thanks B Remington!

Squeezing an Hosqvarna 360cc engine into a Vespa monocoque sounds a very difficult job. But apparently ain’t impossibile


Marek mounted a Husqvarna 10 inch engine of 55hp coming from a 90s enduro motorcycle, in central position, tilting it 45 degrees forward to get the best weight distribution. He then adopted a Vespa PX kick starter to ignite it. The rear wheel is a modified Honda Comstar, the swing arm is coming from a Yamaha XS400 while the drum brake is from a Honda CB750.


http://blog.vintagestyle.eu/ten-inch-terror-meet-the-vespa-husqvarna/

it's Shark Week and Southwest Airlines did some cool stuff




Southwest says the partnership with Discovery Channel allows the airline to draw attention to its aircraft and in-flight entertainment, which will feature Shark Week content during the promotion. Customers will even get a sneak-peek of some Shark Week content ahead of its June 26-through-July 3 airing on the Discovery Channel.


https://www.facebook.com/SouthwestAir/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2016/06/02/southwest-unveils-shark-themed-boeing-737-shark-week/85286894/
https://twitter.com/southwestair/status/497351475379851264

in the summer of '71 Southwest started up, and needed flight attendents, and 2 of them are still dedicated to the job, 45 years later!


Sandra Force was 26, a former Miss Tennessee, and was in Dallas at the right time to get in with the 1st hiring drive.

CJ Bostic was 23, and a former model for Rothschilds and Neiman Marcus.


What seems amazing to me.. is that there are 4 other original crew still with the airline... not many companies have lasted 45 years, and darn few of them have been good enough to work at for 45 years. That is really remarkable

https://issuu.com/southwestmag/docs/june2016?e=18825507%2F36113032  page 76

Friday, June 03, 2016

The City Museum in St Louis

Hey Santa.. I want a Morgan.

Drag racing LPs, album cover art









and it's not all from the 60s:


this is such a niche cool thing, that the Petersen Museum had a whole display of them:


and you can get a list of them from Hot Rod Magazine: http://www.hotrod.com/news/0905sr-sounds-of-speed-automotive-record-album-art-display-petersen-automotive-museum/

great way to vacation or camp... but this must be the only Diamond T to be easing around the campgounds anymore. Damn shame, good looking rig

Texan hail prevention kit.... get out the beach stuff and cover the car


Christian Schmidt has captured a mesmerizing photo series of “Roads” in desolate landscapes

The Last Stop: Vanishing Rest Stops of the American Roadside by Ryann Ford

Photographs by Ryann Ford, from The Last Stop: Vanishing Rest Stops of the American Roadside, published by powerHouse Books.

On a solo road trip from California to central Texas along historic Route 66, in 2007, photographer Ryann Ford was struck by the multitude of humble, solitary mid-century rest stops built during the nation’s golden age of car travel. After doing some research, Ford was alarmed to learn that these rest areas were currently being closed and demolished all over the country due to budget cuts.

"It’s difficult for states to justify the tens of thousands of dollars a month required to mow the lawns and empty the trash cans, so unfortunately a lot of these old stops are being closed and demolished. I’ve even seen stops that seem very well preserved and well kept vanish overnight. It’s as if their historical and architectural significance is irrelevant, I wonder if it was even considered? Since I started this project in 2008, I’ve seen dozens and dozens of these stops vanish, and they are still vanishing today."




The Route 66 trip left Ford wanting more, so she set out on a quest to document as many of these locales as possible, all across the country, driving over 10,000 miles and photographing over 400 rest stops, all on film. Not all 400 are in the book, around 100 were selected.




What was the story behind these quirky and playful pieces of Americana, such as the mock adobe dwellings in New Mexico and faux oil rigs in Texas, which she passed by?


Many feel that these old rest stops are no longer necessary, and many were being closed and scheduled for demolition. Determined to capture as many as she could while they were still in existence, Ford did whatever she needed to gain access.

Collected together for The Last Stop: Vanishing Rest Stops of the American Roadside, Ford’s photographs take us on a memorable ride across the United States, visiting more than 75 different locales along the way. Included in the book are rest stops in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Illinois, Kansas, Montana, Mississippi, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri.


She funded her book via the Kickstarter website and was "blown away" when it easily clocked up pledges of more than $35,000 in a matter of weeks.

The book’s design is well executed and the 10″ x 12″ trim size of the book gives ample space for the photos. Each rest stop shown in the book has a corresponding geo-tag location and a dot on an adjacent map of where it is located along her journey.

The Last Stop does far more than capture the remarkable, effective design of our nation's road stops. It preserves a moment in time that is quickly fading, a unique period in the American travel experience when the journey was just as important as the destination. It's clear these modest structures did far more than provide picnic tables, they shaped our collective experience of golden-age car travel across the vast United States.

http://www.ryannford.com/
http://ryannford.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ryann.ford.5

the book is already selling at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Stop-Vanishing-American-Roadside/dp/1576877914

Prints are available on her Etsy page https://www.etsy.com/shop/RyannFord

About the Author / Photographer

After graduating from Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, she landed the most unbelievable job on earth with Resorts and Great Hotels magazine, photographing hotels all over the world and eating free room service.

 After a few years of living like a gypsy, she moved to Austin with her Chihuahua, Mr. Big. After arriving in Austin, she fell in love with the city and bought a bumper sticker that said “I’m not from Texas, but I got here as fast as I could.”

Now a photographer for clients like Better Homes and Gardens, The New York Times and Texas Monthly. 

it's rare that a car gets an engine transplanted from an older car to make it faster... it's also rare that anyone has an 'Cuda, or a 426 Max Wedge. Now, add the rare factor of owning that same car for 43 years


You simply do not hear of Ford and General Motors guys swapping in a motor that’s 10 years older than their car. Why? Because they don’t have anything in the arsenal that can hold a candle to the mighty Max Wedge. Ever heard of a guy putting a 409 in a Camaro and making it faster than it was stock? Exactly.

This started life as a 383 4 spd 'Cuda, and upgrading to a 426 Max Wedge was a no brainer when the Pro Street craze came along. Along with a stout 727 and a 4 thou converter, the change over was thorough, from blah to beast, and a narrowed Dana 60 was added for dependability. Tubs and rollcage complete the raceability, and it's been high 10s in the quarter mile for 3 decades

http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/1606-man-owns-pro-street-70-cuda-for-42-years-and-still-runs-10s/

Thursday, June 02, 2016

What a day... a Blue Angel and a Thunderbird - jet jock flying choreography waste of jet fuel and taxpayer dollars - crashed in Colorado and Tennessee


The Thunderbird pilot was part of the demo at the graduation of the current Air Force Academy, around 1pm, after a low pass, he ejected near Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, just after ceremonies at the nearby academy where President Obama delivered the commencement address.

The Blue Angel pilot was taking off in #6 from the Symrna Tennessee airport to join the Navy demo group at about 3 pm, did not change direction from the runway according to the map, seems there was a total engine failure


and seems to have stayed with his plane to keep it from hitting homes, and he died on impact, in a forested area next to a housing area.  http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2016/06/02/navy-blue-angel-jet-crashes-smyrna/85308972/
https://www.facebook.com/usawtfm/?fref=nf


http://www.greattennesseeairshow.com/#/

So that's a couple tens of millions of dollars and one dead pilot. Just what the hell do we need flying choreography for at this expense? Doesn't this country need to repair some dams, bridges, and roads? 

Jeep Commanche Concept that was part of the annual Easter Safari new release concepts