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A good review of tire company promotions and what to avoid

from http://www.tirevan.com/ which is looking to win you over win less expensive tires, serviced at you home or work, because a mobile tire installation doesn't have to pay rent on a brick store http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2011/05/tirevan-sell-mount-and-balance-set-of.html if you live near the Washington DC or Philiadelphia metro areas

Car news, Cuba loosens up on car ownership laws, lets Cubans buy and sell cars now

For the full story: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/13/us-cuba-cars-idUSTRE7BC21820111213/

Liberalizing car sales is one of more than 300 economic reforms the government of President Raul Castro is undertaking as part of an "updating" of its socialist system.
Since it entered into effect at the start of October, around 300 people are lining up daily to register vehicles, or buy and sell others, and the vehicle registration office has processed around 3,300 buy-sell certificates, state media reported.
In the small country of 11 million people, news of sales or potential buyers spread through word of mouth, a few informal car brokers who hang around in parks or a few websites - though occasional "For Sale" signs dot cars lining the boulevards.
"It made the buying and selling between people flexible. It recognizes vehicles as property which wasn't recognized before," said a Cuban lawyer waiting in a park outside the vehicle registration office

Don Lee, remarkable story, remarkable number of race cars with his name on them

Above, The Alfa Romeo Tipo B or P3 Monoposto Chassis 50002 was the first genuine single-seat racing car in Grand Prix racing and it dominated the competition in the 1932 season, winning almost at will. Its first appearance came at the Italian GP at Monza on June 5.

It joined the Scuderia Ferrari-ran Alfa team in 1934 before being sold to Count De Villapadierni in Spain and later to Frank Griswold in San Francisco. After running in the 1939 and 1940 Indianapolis 500 and coming in first at the New York World's Fair in 1940, the car was sold to Tommy Lee in Los Angeles. Entered as the 'Don Lee Special' at the 1946 and 1947 Indy 500 it was driven by Hal Cole.

Above photo shows Luigi Chinetti watching the W154 getting worked on,
Below is the Mercedes-Benz W154 entered by Don Lee at the 1947 Indianapolis 500, it is chassis number 9, which after WW2 was discovered in Czechoslovakia. This was the car with which Lang had won the Coppa Ciano in 1938.

The car was sold to Don Lee, an American racing team owner. During 1938, the rules for the Indianapolis 500 were modified to allow the European Grand Prix cars to compete, and in 1947, Tommy Lee entered the W154 with Duke Nalon as the driver.

Nalon discovered that Riley Brett, an Offenhauser mechanic, had obtained some Mercedes engine blueprints. Nalon was able to make copies and from these, the team was able to prepare the engine. The mechanics started the engine but left it running on idle which caused the fuel to condense in the engine manifold. Due to the engine being mounted at an angle, the rear cylinders filled up with fuel, breaking the conrods and one piston. A new piston was hastily sand cast in time for the race.

Although Nalon set the second fastest qualifying speed, the qualifying system meant that he would start the race from 18th position. During the race, the replacement piston failed after 119 laps and the car had to retire from the race

Photo credits, top one I took at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, from Conceptcarz, then Stefan Marjoram at the Goodwood festival, and bottom photo I was just sent by David

http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2011/06/don-lee-special.html
http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z15031/Alfa-Romeo-P3-Tipo-B.aspx
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefanmarjoram/5009392962/in/set-72157624870187185
http://theoldmotor.com/?p=15093

Now, the info... Don Lee had been a bicycle shop owner who became a protégé of Los Angeles pioneer businessman Earle C. Anthony, purchased his Los Angeles radio station KHJ from Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler in 1927.

Don was the exclusive west coast distributor of Cadillac automobiles in the early 20th century. In 1919 Don purchased the Earl Automobile Works of Hollywood, California.

Harley Earl, the son of the company's owner, was kept on as manager. Renamed Don Lee Coach and Body Works, the company produced many custom designed Cadillacs for the rich and famous. Harley Earl left the company to become the head of General Motors styling department in 1927

Having amassed a fortune selling automobiles, Lee branched out in broadcasting in 1926, purchased or built 12 radio stations, creating his own network, and having such a power base he put his transmitters and antennas on a hill in Griffin Park Los Angeles... now became known as "Mount Lee.".. .just above the Hollywood sign.

Don bought a 20-acre site on a mountain top at the eastern boundary of Griffith Park, widening the transmission field equipment to take in new thousands of homes in the Hollywood hills and the San Fernando Valley. The site is one and a half times higher than the top floor of the Empire State Building in New York. Mount Lee is thus the highest television location in the world. (Info circa 1937)

Part of Mount Lee was sold to Howard Hughes, who intended to erect an estate for his then current love interest, Ginger Rogers

Frank Kurtis got started working with automotive fabrication when he was hired by Willet Brown and Tommy Lee to rework Don Lee Racing Team's midget car bodies.

If you were living in California back in the nineteen-oughts, he probably watched four-cylinder Cadillac speedsters tearing through the countryside in those much ballyhooed city to city runs that often headlined the sports pages from 1905 into the WW1 era. Locally, team-Cadillac race drivers, running under the Don Lee banner (Don Lee was California's first and only Cadillac distributor), were as famous as Barney Oldfield - who they often competed against. Multiple Cadillacs regularly finished in the top five. Naturally, victory on the road racing and speedway circuit translated to enormous success in the showroom.

Cadillac and California were made for each other. Year-around motoring weather coupled with scenic attractions radiating in all directions led to extensive road building early on. Don Lee was among those who played a leadership roll in promoting State highway construction. By 1916 the roads in Southern California were being touted as the most advanced in the nation. From the sportsminded millionaires who wintered here at the turn of the century, to the subsequent flow of wealthy tourists who came to see the sights and ended up staying, Cadillac was the Southland's foremost luxury car. From the very beginning, an estimated ten percent of Cadillac production was allocated to California. Don Lee provided sales and service through a statewide network of urban master dealerships, with sub-dealers handling the suburban and rural areas.

Quite the remarkable connections, Frank Kurtis, Howard Hughes, Harvey Earl, Harry Chandler. The time and places of our lives affect a lot.

new info about 1937 Chevrolet dealerships installing truck beds in business coupes... I thought that was a thing people had to make for themselves

I've posted about this gas rationing ingenuity before, that a truck was issued more gas rations, and a car less, so some people converted their cars into trucks by just adding a pickup bed where the rumble seat or trunk had been... this is the first I've read about it being done by a dealership... But the owner of this 1937 Chevy business coupe is the 2nd owner and bought this car 40 years ago, so I'll just work with that.

found on http://crosleykook.blogspot.com/2011/12/six-engines-one-wagon-37-chevy-two.html

Radio repair specialists found in this issue of Hagerty magazine

Bebe Peugeot, one more interesting and rare car I've never heard of, but found at the Mullin museum, and learned of on Wikipedia. What a great hobby!

cool radiator ornament

The original Bébé was presented at the Paris Motor Show in 1904 and stole the show as a modern and robust creation that was cheap, small, and practical.

Tiny dimensions meant that its small engine could propel it to 25 mph. Though selling price was deliberately kept as low as possible, technologies like rack and pinion steering and a driveshaft instead of a chain were included in the vehicle. Production began in Audincourt in 1905, and the car proved to be popular. Bébé sold 400 units in the first year, or 80% of Peugeot's production. It was also exported, particularly to Britain. The Type 69 was sold until 1912

The Type BP1 Bébé was a design by Ettore Bugatti, initially for the German car firm Wanderer, then also built under license by Peugeot for the French market.

Peugeot displayed it under their marque at the Paris Motor Show in 1912. Production began in 1913 following discontinuation of the Type 69. Wanderer built their car with Bugatti's own 4-speed transmission, but in order to keep production costs down for the French version, Peugeot fitted a 2-speed gearbox initially, which was then replaced by their own 3-speed.

Bébé scored some racing success among small car classes, notably at Mont Ventoux in 1913, where it won in its class. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peugeot_B%C3%A9b%C3%A9

How to import car parts from the USA

http://www.metica.se/blogg/2011/11/22/sa-importerar-du-bildelar-fran-usa/ has a long list from first hand experience... you'll want to use a translate program like Google Chrome to make it easy to read

Want to buy a car club plaque? O'Brien Truckers .com has 12 thousand, and can make new ones

Dennis who left a comment about another car club plaque "Veeblefetzers" said that he bought 8,000 plaque patterns from the original pattern maker for Chicago Metal Craft. So we can make you as many new, new old stock ones as you'd like. Here's a link to any of the 12,000 plaques we have for reproduction (the other 4,000 are the original patterns from Speed Gems).https://www.obrientruckers.com/ecom/category/235/3/

I just got a email back from Dennis, check out this cool story:
Just last night I got a call from a guy looking to see if I could make a plaque from a photo I had. When I asked for the name of the club you could hear the questioning in his voice like "Why does it matter what the name of the club was?" When I looked it up in my database and described it to him he gasped! And it gets better. He was an original member and knew the guy who had drawn the artwork back in the day. Well I was as excited as him because it turns out this particular plaque, Exterminators So. Cal., was the one that Chicago Metal Craft used in their ads in Hot Rod back in the 50's!!!!

My thanks to my fellow vets, past and present. Some gave all, all gave some... believe it

if you thought, hey it's past Veterans day... think again. Every day you don't speak the language of the 3rd Reich, the Japanese who sought to rule the Pacific in WW2, etc etc. it is the day to thank a vet. Whether they were in combat, or stuck on a fence in Wyoming just passing time looking around to see if the USSR was trying to sneak into and ICBM silo, every one was doing their part knowing that any moment they were likely to be called to the front.

No Red Bull air races in 2012

Red Bull says the one year break its race series that happened this year will extend another year through 2012.

A spokesperson for Red Bull Air Race told the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association there will be no races again in 2012 saying, “a revamped concept and a fixed race calendar will be revealed in 2013.”

Found on http://www.wired.com/autopia/

cool new bike lock that resembles a sport drink bottle, and fits perfect into your bikes bottle holder

Brilliant! found on http://www.bemlegaus.com/

The review on Wired.com is that it is useless against hardcore city bike thieves... but just about everything is, to anyone with a car and tools, about nothing is theft proof... high speed rotary cutoff wheels will slice through Kryptonite and all the other stuff you think keep your bike chain and locks imperivous.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/10/bike-bottle-lock-trades-security-for-convenience/

Mopar Muscle Retro will be for sale on magazine racks only on or near December 6th... Subscribers are not in the loop, we have to go to a magazine stand to get ours

Mario Andretti

One of only 3 drivers to win in 4 different decades.. the other two were Foyt and Petty.

One of only two drivers to win in Formula One, Indy Car, the World Sportscar Championship, and Nascar

Was once pulled over for speeding in Santa Monica, and the cop asked "Who do you think you are? Mario Andretti?" No kidding, it really happened. He was interviewed by Hot Rod in the Jan 2012 issue, page 16

I finally learned what the carb float bowls are mounted to this fuel tank for...

The explanation in the Jan 2012 Hot Rod is that this is a surge tank, and the float bowls control the fuel level in the tank. Fuel from an electric pump is fed into the bowls, and the fuel in the tank then keeps the engine mounted mechanical fuel pump primed. The fuel is gravity fed to the the pump from this surge tank, so it never needs priming during start up. The fittings on top of the tank go to bypass lines from the mechanical pump and barrel valve on the intake.

Morgan will be making the 3 wheeler again, and selling them in the US

the Morgan Motor Company is officially the largest British-owned carmaker in Britain, and still fashions cars out of ash wood and hand-beaten metal operating out of the same set of red brick sheds its founders erected in 1918.

Weighing 1000 pounds, powered by a fuel-injected American motorcycle engine mated to a Mazda Miata gearbox, making it capable of a 4.5-second dash to 60 mph and a top speed of more than 115 mph, and since it's a 3 wheeler... it's exempt from federal automotive emissions and safety standards. Like its forebears, it's classified as a motorcycle, which means that Morgan's eleven U.S. dealers are taking deposits on this 30-plus-mpg, $45,000 piece of built-to-order mechanical lunacy now.

photos and info from http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/driven/1112_morgan_3_wheeler_driven/index.html

rare and beautiful Benz? The 1934 and 1938 Autobahnkurier

only two were made, the 1934 and the 1938. Yup, 4 years apart and the same model.. but that wasn't uncommon prior to Harley Earl's production changing concept of make the people want to buy a new car every year with constantly changing designs.

the first was gifted to Mohammed Reza Shah of Iran by the German government and spent most of it’s life in Iran, and was found by a Mercedes-Benz truck importer in the 1960s, the car was totally original with only 10,000 km on the odometer.

The second was completed in 1938 for professor Ingacio Barraquer. He was in Germany on vacation from his regular residence in Spain. Barraquer used this car often and went on many long journeys including a famous drive through North Africa. He traveled from Libya, Cairo then finished in Alexandria before the car was shipped back. He found it to be too difficult to maintain and replaced it with a more modern 300S. It was then given to his son-in-law and stayed in the family for decades. For some time it was loaned to Antic Car Club in Catalina who had it displayed in Barcelona.

Eventually, it was sold by the Barraquer family in 2004 (is now owned by Arturo and Deborah Keller) and restored by Paul Russell & Co. before making a debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It won the award for the most elegant coupe and was a runner up for Best in Show. This was followed up in 2008 by winning the Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este.

The design is so good, that many claim it inspired Bugatti to design the Type 57
http://www.supercars.net/cars/3604.html

Even cars come with warning labels. What a stupid warning... it doens't mention the explosive force of a 1/2 tank of gas, or the battery having so much electrical power it can explode if shorted directly across the terminals

It's all about birth defects, and cancer. Nothing about the gas, exhaust fumes that kill (suicide in garage), ability of homicidal maniacs to use the vehicle as a deadly weapon, and that bit I mentioned about the power in a ordinary battery.. plus the deadly antifreeze that pets find tasty. What a stupid warning sign, it isn't complete, is single minded, and obviously due to a lawsuit

George was in a crash during a NASCAR sanctioned drag race, was hospitalized, and Bill France Sr. picked up the bill

I don't recall what magazine I was reading when this blew my mind so completly that I snapped a photo of this paragraph with my cell phone so I would remember to post it

New inventive things found in the car parts section of a dealership, a collapsible squeegee, battery powered glowstick, and motion sensor operated garage parking laser gizmo

thats pretty cool for keeping in your car during a long trip, to keept he bugs and flies from splatter painting your windshield into a Jackson Pollack