Two guys, four hands, one amazing tire. Hurst Racing Tires

found on the Selvedge Yard http://selvedgeyard.com/2013/06/03/hurst-racing-tires-since-1961-made-by-hand-in-oregon-city-or/

If your car is ever stolen, your first calls should be to every cab company in the city.

If your car is ever stolen, your first calls should be to every cab company in the city. You offer a $100 reward to the driver who finds it AND a $200 reward to the dispatcher on duty when the car is found. The latter is to encourage dispatchers on shift to continually remind drivers of your stolen car. Of course you should call the police too but first things first. There are a lot more cabs than cops so cabbies will find it first -and they’re more frequently going in places cops typically don’t go, like apartment and motel complex parking lots, back alleys etc. Lastly, once the car is found, a swarm of cabs will descend and surround it because cabbies, like anyone else, love excitement and want to catch bad guys.

Found on  http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2013/02/thoughts-about-taxis-and-their-drivers.html

K&N air filter for my Veloster comparison

From K&N .com it's 59 plus shipping http://www.knfilters.com/search/product.aspx?prod=33-2472
From Amazon its 34 w/o shipping http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B006DA34VI/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1378879535&sr=8-1&keywords=K%26N+33-2472&condition=new

25 dollar savings.

did you know that 2 of the highest quality car makers in the world are getting whipped at F1 by a soft drink company?

Red Bull Racing is beating Ferrari, Mercedes and Toyota

because they are winning so much, the equivalent cost of that level of advertising would be about 300 to 400 million dollars.

That is money that Red Bull doesn't have to spend on advertising you might realize

It costs about 300 million dollars to run their race teams, and Red Bull only has to provide about 150 million directly

So for the price of racing they get free advertising, basically. Or, they get to race for free while paying for advertising

about 70 percent of the cost of racing for Red Bull is research and development

The return on the racing team has been about 285 million dollars. Isn't that about 90 % of the cost? So it's really not too expensive with the amount they win. 88 million for winning the championship, 60 million from sponsorships

the real surprise is that in a 5 year stretch where Toyota won no races, it spent 1.5 billion on its F1 racing, and Reb Bull spent about half that

in 2004 Red Bull bought the Jaguar F1 team for a dollar from Ford, and in 2010 crowned Vettel the youngest ever F1 Champion, in 2011 set the record for the most pole positions (18) of any team in a single season... in 2005 Red Bull bought the Minardi team and renamed it Scuderia Toro Rosso, and tripled it;s profits in one year

Ever hear about the California Melee and Moto Melee? I just learned about them

http://www.californiamelee.com/

The California Melee is the Original low buck classic sports car rally. In mid-September each year (specifically the weekend after Labor Day) the California Melee gathers a limited group of mischievous old car enthusiasts and treats them to a three-day, 750 mile tour of the most beautiful roads that Northern California has to offer... On the Cheap! Unlike some similar events, we understand the cost of building and running old cars, so we have always believed that an event shouldn't cost more than a set of used tires, or maybe a homemade wiring harness.

http://www.motomelee.com/
So what exactly is this "Moto Melee?"

Well, it's three-days &~850 miles of back-roads adventure for pre-1971 motorcycles with a START/FINISH in San Francisco. Established in 1998 by enthusiasts Jeff Guzaitis and Harley Welch, the Moto Melee was the natural progression from their wildly successful California Melee classic sports car rally.

On the Melee you'll get the opportunity to dodge suicidal squirrels, splash through stagnant water, stay at a seedy motel, possibly run out of gas and maybe... just maybe win a recycled trophy and the sweet taste of Melee fame.

I just learned what the numbers are for above the speedometer on a Citreon ... braking distance!

Thanks Marco!

Marko has a website too, I don't think he told me that when we started talking about cars... but that lucky so n so is a heavy duty, and extremely fortunate Car Guy! His website is http://spaghettiblender.tumblr.com/

and his dad is a Car Guy (has 2 Shelby GT350 Mustangs) and invited Marco to Goodwood!

one thing leads to another, a race car named for a town, that was named for a highway tollgate. True story

in 1946 Lou Welch’s Novi Governor Special. The front-drive one-ton race car was powered by two 4-cylinder Offys, with a common crankcase, also known as the Winfield V-8. Driver Ralph Hepburn made his fifteenth race, qualifying at 134.944 mph, shattering the previous record by nearly 4 mph. The car was named after Welch’s hometown of Novi, MI, which got its name because of its proximity to highway tollgate No VI.

found on http://www.taurtoisemotorsports.com/forties/Racin.html

the reason the USA takes the day of, calls it Labor Day, is to remind employees of those that went through hell to get legal rights for employee safety, many died in massacres to get you these rights, take a moment to ponder that. Then have a cold drink because they died so you could do so without a club at your head

Woodie Guthrie, American folk song legend



Woody Guthrie sings about the Ludlow Massacre, in which 20 people were killed for striking against coal mine operators in 1914. Happy Labor Day! Enjoy your day off, but give a thought to organized labor, which is what this day is all about.

The first Labor Day was held in 1882. Its origins stem from the desire of the Central Labor Union to create a holiday for workers. It became a federal holiday in 1894. It was originally intended that the day would be filled with a street parade to allow the public to appreciate the work of the trade and labor organizations. After the parade, a festival was to be held to amuse local workers and their families.

Ten demonstrators were killed by police bullets during the "Little Steel Strike" of 1937. When several smaller steelmakers, including Republic Steel, refused to follow the lead of U.S. Steel (Big Steel) by signing a union contract, a strike was called by the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). As a show of support, hundreds of SWOC sympathizers from all around Chicago gathered on Memorial Day at Sam's Place, where the SWOC had its strike headquarters. After a round of speeches, the crowd began a march across the prairie and toward the Republic Steel mill.

They were stopped midway by a formation of Chicago police. While demonstrators in front were arguing for their right to proceed, police fired into the crowd and pursued the people as they fled. Mollie West, a Typographical Union Local 16 member and a youthful demonstrator at the time, still recalls the command addressed to her: "Get off the field, or I'll put a bullet in your back."
http://www.illinoislaborhistory.org/memorial-day-massacre.html

Despite the filmed violence, SWOC lost the strike. Continued violence combined with financial pressures to force the workers back in without a contract. Yet time was on the steelworkers side. Some of the companies signed contracts in 1938. In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt, not wanting any labor issues during the war, put major pressure on the Little Steel companies through the National War Labor Board to recognize SWOC as the legitimate bargaining agent for their workers, which finally forced Girlder and the other steel magnates to cave. http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2012/05/this-day-in-labor-history-may-30-1937

and that pretty much sums up why the governments and police departments of all nations don't want the citizens to have guns, and why it's important for the citizens to have guns... and ammo

the Ford Massacre was a demonstration of unemployed workers starting in Detroit and ending in Dearborn, Michigan, that took place on March 7, 1932.
The march resulted in four workers being shot to death by the Dearborn Police Department and security guards employed by the Ford Motor Company. Over 60 workers were injured, many by gunshot wounds. Three months later, a fifth worker died of his injuries. The march was organized by the Unemployed Councils. The Ford Hunger March was an important part of a chain of events that eventually led to the unionization of the U.S. auto industry.

All of the seriously wounded marchers were arrested, and many were chained to their hospital beds. That night, the offices of many Communist and Communist front organizations were raided in the Detroit area, and their leaders were arrested.  No law enforcement or Ford security officers were arrested, although all reliable reports showed that they were responsible for all of the gunfire.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Hunger_March

Cannery Workers murdered due to manufacturing owners: http://depts.washington.edu/depress/cannery_workers_union_murders.shtml
Patron, the nephew of a labor contractor, murdered the two men due to their involvement in union efforts to remove the contracting system from the salmon canning industry.

Everyone from carpenters and street car conductors to waitresses and newsboys belonged to a union. In 1919, when Seattle unions gained worldwide headlines by declaring a general strike that shut down the city for five days, some 60,000 workers belonged to 110 unions affiliated with the Seattle Central Labor Council and the Washington State Federation of Labor. http://depts.washington.edu/depress/strikes_unions.shtml

23 November 1903 (United States) Colorado Labor Wars -- Troops were dispatched to Cripple Creek, Colorado to defeat a strike by the Western Federation of Miners, with the specific purpose of driving the union out of the district. The strike had begun in the ore mills earlier in 1903, and then spread to the mines.

8 June 1904 (United States) A battle between the Colorado Militia and striking miners at Dunnville ended with six union members dead and 15 taken prisoner. Seventy-nine of the strikers were deported to Kansas two days later.

19 August 1916 (United States) Strikebreakers hired by the Everett Mills owner Neil Jamison attacked and beat picketing strikers in Everett, Washington. Local police watched and refused to intervene, claiming that the waterfront where the incident took place was Federal land and therefore outside their jurisdiction. (When the picketers retaliated against the strikebreakers that evening, the local police intervened, claiming that they had crossed the line of jurisdiction.) Three days later, twenty-two union men attempted to speak out at a local crossroads, but each was arrested; arrests and beatings of strikebreakers became common throughout the following months, and on 30 October vigilantes forced IWW speakers to run the gauntlet, subjecting them to whipping, tripping kicking, and impalement against a spiked cattle guard at the end of the gauntlet. In response, the IWW called for a meeting on 5 November. When the union men arrived, they were fired on; seven people were killed, 50 were wounded, and an indeterminate number wound up missing.

26 August 1919 (United States) United Mine Worker organizer Fannie Sellins was gunned down by company guards in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania.

 22 September 1919 – 8 January 1920 (United States) The "Great Steel Strike" began. Ultimately, 350,000 steel workers walked off their jobs to demand union recognition. The AFL Iron and Steel Organizing Committee called off the strike on 8 January 1920, their goals unmet.

11 November 1919 (United States) Centralia Massacre -- IWW organizer Wesley Everest was lynched after a Centralia, Washington IWW hall was attacked by Legionnaires.

22 December 1919 (United States) Amid a strike for union recognition by 395,000 steelworkers (ultimately unsuccessful), approximately 250 "anarchists," "communists," and "labor agitators" were deported to Russia, marking the beginning of the so-called "Red Scare."

19 May 1920 (United States) The Battle of Matewan.
 Despite efforts by police chief (and former miner) Sid Hatfield and Mayor Cabel Testerman to protect miners from interference in their union drive in Matewan, West Virginia, Baldwin-Felts detectives hired by the local mining company arrived to evict miners and their families from the Stone Mountain Mine camp. A gun battle ensued, resulting in the deaths of 7 detectives, Mayor Testerman, and 2 miners.

 Baldwin-Felts detectives assassinated(Police Chief) Sid Hatfield 15 months later, sparking off an armed rebellion of 10,000 West Virginia coal miners at the "Battle of Blair Mountain," dubbed the "redneck war" and "the largest insurrection this country has had since the Civil War." Army troops later intervened against the striking mineworkers in West Virginia.

22 June 1922 (United States) Herrin massacre-- Thirty-six people are killed, 21 of them non-union miners, during a coal-mine strike at Herrin, Illinois.

the 1934 San Francisco general strike on the waterfront, the national guard were called in, with tanks :
http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2011/06/1934-moment-in-labor-vs-employers.html

These scare tactics led to an investigation of employer actions by a Senate subcommittee. The flagrant destruction of many of the records of the Industrial Association, described in this report, effectively prevented the Committee from obtaining full documentary evidence on the activities of the association. Violations of Free Speech and Rights of Labor, the subcommittee’s 1942 report, described the concerted efforts of the Industrial Association, the newspapers, and the San Francisco police to discredit the strike.

 http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5134 for the entire report

 Didn't see that in your American History book did you. Just one case in a long history of corporate greed versus workers and unions, and just one example of the people with the money doing anything at all to make more money and the people with power abusing it. Both the money and the power calling the shots and forcing the cops and national guard to shoot the strikers. No kidding. Photos from http://www.johngutmann.org/

1913 Wagenhals electric

Steve (most astounding researcher I've ever had the delightful priveledge to meet) was writing up about a call for bids for a contract to supply the Post Office with delivery vehicles, http://www.shorpy.com/node/12927#comment-136306 and one of the companies that respoonded was Wagenhals of Detroit, which made this electric, and a gas powered version. 

The Post Office also ordered 21 Wagenhals Motor Car Company three-wheeled vehicles that had 800 pounds capacity. Powered by a 20 hp water-cooled four-cylinder engine, they cost $625 each (visually similar to the less expensive electric version below). Located in Detroit, the Wagenhals Motor Car Company would reorganize just a month later as simply the Wagenhals Motor Company. Both the Whites and the Wagenhals had to be delivered to Cleveland, Ohio within sixty days.

A year later the Post Office was advertising for bids for spare parts for these vehicles, which included: "Transmission and cup grease, horn bulbs, cylinder and heavy oil, blow out and tube patches, pressure gauges, cushion and pneumatic tires, inner tubes, tire tape, valve parts and tools, vulcanizing rubber, etc."

The winner of the bid had to supply each individual post office named in the contract, and the parts just couldn't be dumped in front—the bid proposal stipulated that "All the supplies must be delivered at and within the doors of the post offices."

The bid proposal noted that the Wagenhals had been dispersed as follows:

Columbia, S. C, 1 Wagenhals; Columbus, O., 2 Wagenhals; Detroit, 2 Wagenhals; Memphis, 3 Wagenhals; Nashville, 3 Wagenhals; Norfolk, Va., 2 Wagenhals; Richmond, Va., 2 Wagenhals.

More examples of Steve's incredible detective work are on his blog http://serviside.blogspot.com/

how a car get designed sometimes is happenstance

photo from http://www.conceptcarz.com/z13765/Cooper-T43-Mark-II.aspx

John Cooper put the engine behind the driver, because when he built F3 cras, he used motorcycle engines and they connected to the drive wheels by chain.

Cooper cars dominated in F3, so the designer Owen Maddock took the concept to F1

the buick racing team was once known as a tour de force, and traveled by rail

read about them at http://www.buickheritagealliance.org/content/pdf/BuickRaceCarsFromHell2.pdf  from a post on http://buickcity.blogspot.com/2013/05/terry-dunham-stories.html

in 1905

1. Oldsmobile.............................................6,500
 2. Cadillac................................................3,942
 3. Rambler................................................3,807
 4. Ford.....................................................1,599
 5. Franklin.................................................1,098
 6. White...................................................1,015
 7. Reo.........................................................864
 8. Maxwell...................................................823
 Some figures are estimates or calendar-year

John Jacob Astor, Jr. spends $30,000 maintaining 20 cars
American Automobile Association holds the first Glidden Tour to test car reliability and show the need for good roads
Patrick Tierney of New Rochelle New York makes diners modeled after railroad cars
Buick spends $100,000 on its racing team
Chicago bicycle police officer arrests Flo Ziegfield and Anna Held for violating the 12-mph speed limit
http://local.aaca.org/bntc/mileposts/1905.htm

new bureaucratic problem at the Florida DMV... suspending your license because you change your last name

thttp://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/01/florida-accuses-man-of-fraud-for-taking-wifes-name-then-backs-off/

 someone has his license "Properly" suspended by the Florida DMV, who screwed up... and had to reinstate the drivers license.

Bureaucrats. Sheesh.

learned about this at http://www.epbot.com/2013/01/my-husband-criminal.html

what you haven't heard about car insurance in California... thanks to Prop 103, it's cheaper now than in 1989, and Insurance companies keep trying to screw us in court to remove our protection laws from them over profitting

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/blog/big-win-and-winners for Prop 103 (just on NBC ch 7 San Diego) and lookout when insurance companies get to play with the new healthcare rules, we're doomed regarding costs

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/focusarea/prop-103-california-insurance-reform for the "read all about it" stuff I'm amazed at... Mercury insurance news is all bad

Street car racing, $50 buy in, winner takes all the cash, and that seems to be the whole deal.Begins Sept 14th, High Plains Raceway, Colorado

For all the info: https://www.facebook.com/ColoradoStreetOutlaws

You get to traction prep your lane however you like (minimal but VHT is ok) , it's regular street asphalt...

Rules for Racers!!

1.) All races are setup and approved by Col Street Outlaw admins.
 2.) 1/8th mile, from a dig for 1st race on Sept 14th
3.) Minimal prep, and up to the racer (vht, hazing tires etc)
4.) Lane choice goes to higher ranked participant of the list
5.) Jump the start or crossing lanes is automatic loss of race
6.) The person being called out sets the date of the race, and has up to 15 days to do so.
7.) Person calling out should be ready to race right then or at any point agreed upon

RULES FOR CARS!!!!
 1.) Working lights (headlights, taillights, brake lights) are required
2.) Any Fuel is permissible (E85, C10, C16, 93.etc)
3.) Any tire is permissible
4.) 1/8th Mile

In order to keep the validity of the list in tact (ie no 14sec ET cars racing 9 sec ET cars.. all races will be coordinated by the Co Street Outlaws Admins! First races are Sept 14th!!!! Be ready to travel at some point, already have other states waiting for US!

the dragstrip has a credit card operated fueling station.

The following fuels are available:
Sunoco 260 GT 100 octane unleaded street legal 3.3% oxygen, $9.46/gallon
Sunoco 260 GTX 98 octane unleaded not street legal 0.0% oxygen, $9.51/gallon
Sunoco Standard 110 octane leaded not street legal 0.0% oxygen, $9.21/gallon

The fueling station accepts Visa and Mastercard. Per the credit card company there is a $600 limit on each transaction. Each credit card can be used for a maximum of three transactions (no matter how low the dollar amount) in a 48 hour period.  http://highplainsraceway.com/

the truth is often stranger than fiction, and forgotten in months after its out of the news.. here is something I've never learned of or heard of, the airmail transcontinental route markers

A couple months ago I learned about the elevated bicycling wood road from Pasadena to Los Angeles, http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/07/forgotten-history-of-what-might-have.html and today Randy sent me an email about these large concrete markers that the airmail pilots used to stay on course from New York to San Fransisco, before electronic stuff like radar and radio direction finding, when all a pilot had was a compass and a map... and those weren't so great to use while airborne.

So these concrete arrows were made, painted yellow for daylight visibility, and lit with enormous light towers at night

the two maps below indicate the airfields used for refueling and food stops, not the arrows.

sources of these images and more info: http://introductiontoflying.blogspot.com/2011/08/transcontinental-air-mail-route.html
and Conde Nast Traveler http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2013/06/transcontinental-air-mail-route-maphead-ken-jennings

quick, if you're interested in how far off car computers are about the mpg indications, check the newest Car and Driver magazine for this informative article

get a look at the Mercedes S Class back seat luxury that Car and Driver have with their car review in the new issue

if you want to got through the online photo gallery: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2014-mercedes-benz-s-class-s550-first-drive-review the back seat photos are on page 3 http://www.caranddriver.com/photos-13q2/523865/2014-mercedes-benz-s-class-interior-photo-524395

Glacier Girl, a P-38 of the "Lost Squadron" found 200 plus feet below the ice in Greenland

the Lost Squadron - two World War II Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers and six Lockheed P-38 Lightnings.

The squadron was forced to land on the Greenland ice cap on July 15, 1942 after hours of flying in bad weather and running low on fuel. Epps' adventure began as a lark when he was admiring a customer's new Learjet and the customer responded, "What I really want is a P-38". Epps certainly knew where six P-38 Lightnings were located so he joined forces with a friend and two airline pilots who already had the search and salvage rights from the Danish government.

http://www.eppsaviation.com/about-us_the-lost-squadron.php

The following story, originally published in the January 1993 issue of Air & Space/ Smithsonian,recounts adventures during the second leg of the journey, a 22-year slog through recovery and restoration that couldn’t have been completed without the ingenuity, stamina, and fortune of a Roy Shoffner, a Kentucky businessman, named the P-38 “Glacier Girl” and began to plan the completion of its mission.
http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/FEATURE-glaciergirl-backstory.html#

Fifty years later, in 1992, the plane was brought to the surface by members of the Greenland Expedition Society after years of searching and excavation. The aircraft was eventually transported to Middlesboro, Kentucky, where it was restored to flying condition. The excavation of Glacier Girl was documented in an episode of The History Channel's "Mega Movers" series, titled "Extreme Aircraft Recovery".

On 22 June 2007 Glacier Girl departed Teterboro Airport, New Jersey in an attempt to fly across the Atlantic Ocean to Duxford, England to complete the flight it had begun sixty-five years earlier. On 28 June, however, a coolant leak in the #2 (right) engine grounded the plane in Goose Bay, Labrador.

On July 22 2007 repairs were completed in Labrador, which included installation of two re-manufactured Allison engines. Glacier Girl returned to the U.S. on July 23, and can now be seen at air shows in the USA.

In 2007 Glacier Girl was sold to Lewis Energy's CEO, Rodney Lewis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_Girl