1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint

1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint

I think Alfas have always been my favorite cars, at least after I realized that the twelve cylinder Ferrari I lusted over was out of reach. I mean, I should have able to buy an Alfa, but people grow and change and it never happened.

Right now I could buy one, but I don't really have any time to spend on it. I'm busy blogging and anytime I need to go anywhere, I want a modern car suitable for the rugby scrum that is modern traffic. Don't worry, some people have the time:

The cars of the California Mille

The cars of the California Mille

Vehicle eligibility

The California Mille is open to any car that could have participated in the original Mille Miglia. We are seeking a variety of makes and types. Foreign and domestic manufacturers are welcome, but all cars must have been made prior to January 1, 1958. 

The event is limited to approximately 65-70 cars based on the availability of hotel reservations. To maintain the spirit of the Mille Miglia, we carefully choose cars that fit our requirements and specifications from each year’s group of applicants.

The California Mille is an annual historic and classic car tour inspired by the Mille Miglia, a former Italian open-road endurance race covering roughly 1000 miles from Brescia-to-Rome-to-Brescia and ran twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957.

Entry fee is $17 grand. Yeah, no thanks, I'm good.

SS Eleanor

SS Eleanor on the River Mersey circa 1957 - Robert G. Lloyd 

Just another cargo ship steaming away. The building on the left is The Royal Liver Building. The building on the right is the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, the largest cathedral in Britain, and the eighth largest church in the world.

The Eisenhauer Twin Engine Truck

Eisenhauer Twin Engine Truck

Mac's Motor City Garage has the story:

In the pleasant little town of Van Wert, Ohio near the Ohio-Indiana border, there’s an enterprise called the Eisenhauer Manufacturing Company with a tradition of thinking outside the box. The company got its start during World War II supplying the military with bogie wheels for army tanks, while today it manufactures specialized precision stampings of all kinds for the auto industry. And between 1946 and 1957, the family-owned firm developed a most unusual prototype truck it called the Eisenhauer Freighter, featuring twin engines, eight-wheel drive, and three steering axles.

Eisenhauer Twin Engine Truck Chassis Plan

Eisenhauer is still in business. While they make parts for all kinds of things, including trucks, they don't make trucks anymore.

Via Jack

1954 Ford Comète Monte Carlo

1954 Ford Comète Monte Carlo

California Bob sent me the link to an ad for this car. I wonder what he's thinking. It's kind of cool, and a little unusual:

The Comète was developed at the direction of new Ford SAF president, François Lehideux, who desired a new level of prestige for the French subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. Legideux pressed forward with the Comète independent of their American parent company in Dearborn and sought help from the most notable European automotive visionaries. The Comète combined the elegance of Farina design and the expertise of Facel coach work. The result: a car some have dubbed the most beautiful Ford ever produced. The V8 powered Comete was both large and expensive for the European market. The expensive production and French taxation system, that heavily penalized automobiles with engines larger than 2.0 liters, meant few examples were produced. 

Comète Interior

More pictures here. The engine is a V8, but it's a flathead, not an overhead valve. The four speed transmission is from a truck.

A Foggy Tale - Netflix Movie

A Foggy Tale - official trailer
Mandarin Vision

Apparently we didn't get our quota of repression from binge watching Tehran so now we're in Taiwan watching another repressive regime in action. The story starts slowly but after laying out the ground work it picks up speed and becomes engrossing. The epilog makes it look like it is a true story, but I found nothing on the net to confirm this.

Netflix summary:

After losing her brother to a government execution, a young girl takes a dangerous journey to reclaim his body and raise the money for a proper burial.

Midgard Times review:

A Foggy Tale is set during the period of White Terror—a nearly four-decade era of martial law, political repression, and authoritarian rule by the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT) under Chiang Kai-shek—and, for most of its runtime, Chen Yu-hsun films those oppressive years as though they were distant memories recalled decades later. The result is a mostly detached and unsentimental tale told with the observational restraint of a documentary. Through the eyes of a young Taiwanese girl named Yue (Caitlin Fang), Yu-hsun captures the ordinary lives of citizens living during the White Terror. By keeping a child at the center, Yu-hsun refuses to sugarcoat her proximity to physical harm and dangers posed by predatory men and the police officers. After arriving in Taipei from Chiayi, Yue is abducted by a child trafficker, and when she angrily accuses a cop of killing her brother, another officer kicks her and violently beats her. Yet when Yue blames the police for her brother's death, she isn't accusing a single individual so much as the entire repressive system.

A Foggy Tale opens with Yue and her brother, Yun (Tseng Jing-hua), discussing what they hope to become in the future. From there, Yu-hsun cuts to one year later and takes us to the moment when the news of Yun's execution by firing squad arrives at Yue's residence. The implication is clear: under oppressive rule, dreams, ambitions, and futures are abruptly cut short by a regressive, close-minded system. There are other sentimental touches, like Yue finding a brother-from-another-mother in Chao Kung-tao (Will Or) and reuniting with her elder sister, Hsu (9m88), who was given up for adoption years earlier. Yet Yu-hsun never exploits these moments for melodramatic effect. He remains curiously level-headed throughout. Scenes that might have turned cloying or excessively brutal in the hands of a lesser filmmaker are presented in a matter-of-fact manner.

When Yue is taken to a room at Paradise Funeral Home to identify her brother's body, what stands out in the foreground is the employee's casual lack of empathy in the face of her discomfort. Even then, Yu-hsun shows little interest in launching direct attacks against any particular person. Cruelty is not sensationalized, and acts of kindness arrive without sentimental fanfare. Such a style of filmmaking often results in impersonal work, yet there is something about A Foggy Tale that prevents you from dismissing Yu-hsun's efforts. He casually introduces elements like a Robin Hood-style figure or Kung-tao making a deal to murder someone in ways that initially leave you taken aback. Is Yu-hsun assembling different varieties of vignettes to depict a particular moment in history? Does the key to the puzzle lie in the titular tale that Hsu tells her sister?

Wikipedia page about the White Terror.

Train from Chiayi to Taipei

Starfire

1955 Oldsmobile 98 Starfire Convertible

Hot Rod Race

Hot Rod Race 1
Arkie Shibley & His Mountain Dew Boys - Topic

Doom scrolling through YouTube and this short pops up. The tune catches my ear so I have to track it down. It's Hot Rod Race from 1950. Some people think this was the first Rock and Roll song. Reminds me of Hot Rod Lincoln by Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen.

SLICK CHICK

SLICK CHICK: The Wild Story Of The USAF's First Top Secret Supersonic Spy Plane
Not A Pound For Air To Ground

Other posts about Kapustin Yar:

• English Electric Canberra
• Russian Missile Launch

Post about aerial photography: Lucky 666

Slick Chick

Santo & Johnny "Sleep Walk"

Santo & Johnny "Sleep Walk"
NRRArchives

Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show. August 01, 1959. Reminds me of the 'Hawaiian noises' line in Dire Straits Money for Nothing

Via bustednuckles

The New Force - Netflix Series

The New Force - Official Clip (as Trailer) | Netflix

The New Force (Original title Skiftet, translates to 'The Shift' in English). Stockholm gets their first female police officers circa 1958. Our hero, Carin manages to get herself into hot (nay, boiling) water in the first episode and stays there for the duration. We get to see the other cop's attitudes are along with society's attitudes about women coppers. We get to see a bit of what life and typical police work were like in the fifties. As a special bonus we get to listen to modern rap 'music'. Mostly we were busy following the story (shit's happenin' man) and the music was just background noise so we didn't notice it. There were a couple of instances when I did notice it enough that it became annoying. Complicated characters, very entertaining.

6 episodes 40 minutes each

Main cast from Google:

• Josefin Asplund as Carin Eriksson: A female constable with a strong protective instinct, driven by a deep sense of justice.
• Agnes Rase as Siv Morell: An ambitious female constable who aims to become a detective.
• Malin Persson as Ingrid Gustafsson: A more reserved constable who hides her Jewish heritage.

MGA Twin Cam

A Tiny Mistake Killed MG's Brilliant Hot Rod - MGA Twin Cam
Number 27

I've heard of the MGA, but I have never heard of this twin cam engine. I wonder how they figured out what the problem was.

Ike's Bird

1955 Aero Commander L-26B

This 1955 Aero Commander L-26B is nicknamed "Ike's Bird". It is the smallest plane ever to be used as Air Force One.

From 1955 to 1960 it was used by the Eisenhower Administration and the White House to carry the President, Vice President, First Family and other VIP's on short distance trips.

​It's now fully restored and flying with the Commemorative Air Force. - Ike's Bird

 

Von Dutch

How He Revived The Von Dutch Brand
MBH Clipzz

Saw this and was impressed by how much money he was able to make. His success depended on his having the right contacts, and his willingness to put forth the effort to go out and talk to them. Might just be his nature, some people are people-persons. Anyway, now I'm wondering just who or what is Von Dutch.

Von Dutch is an American multinational fashion brand posthumously named after 

Kenny Howard, a.k.a. "Von Dutch", an American artist and pinstriper of the Kustom Kulture movement. - Wikipedia

Okay, so who's Kenny Howard?

Kenneth Robert Howard (1929 – 1992), also known as Dutch, Von Dutch, or J. L. Bachs (Joe Lunch Box), was an American motorcycle mechanic, artist, pin striper, metal fabricator, knifemaker and gunsmith.

. . . 

His most lasting work is the creation of the special "pearlescent" color used to paint movie star Marilyn Monroe's car, known as Candy-Apple Red. Many automobile, motorcycle, bicycle and ATV manufacturers still offer a Candy-Apple Red on their vehicles today.

Okay, he was an accomplished guy. I remember Candy-Apple Red, it was popular back in the 1960s. It was certainly eye-catching, I mean I still remember the color distinctly. I thought people were making too much of a fuss about it. A coat of paint can improve a cars looks, but it's what under the hood that counts, or at least that's what I thought at the time. And if you were broke that was the most important thing - i.e. will it start?

1961 Candy Apple Red Corvette

I went looking for Marilyn Monroe's Candy-Apple Red car. Couldn't find it, but I found this Candy Apple Red Corvette.

Marilyn Monroe Playboy Centerfold 1953

I remembered the centerfold, but I didn't realize I was two years old when it came out.

1957 Benelli 500cc 4-valve DOHC

1957 Benelli 500cc 4-valve DOHC

Bonham's sold this prototype in February of this year for 16,100 Euros:

Italy's oldest surviving motorcycle manufacturer, Benelli was founded in 1911 by the six Benelli brothers. Now Chinese-owned, although still based in its home town of Pesaro [Italy], Benelli is best known for its Grand Prix successes in the 1950s and 1960s, when it secured two 250cc World Championships, and also for its outrageous six-cylinder road bikes of the 1970s.

According to our vendor, the machine offered here is a 4-valve prototype. Other notable features include gear drive to the twin overhead camshafts and an Oldani TLS front brake, while the frame has clearly been influenced by Norton's 'Featherbed'. No Documents.

Gear driven, dual over head camshafts on a single cylinder engine. Crazy, man.

Lead Sled

1950 Mercury Custom

I'm kinda partial to early 50's Mercurys. I suspect this one is from Indiana. It showed up at a car show there in 2020. There's another photo on this page, about 5/6 of the way to the end (it's a long page). From the same show. Custom car builders are nuts. Can you imagine the amount of work that goes into chopping the top? The pillars and doors have to be cut, bent, welded and smoothed into their new positions. The window glass has to be cut down, and the trim and the weatherstripping has to all be customized to fit. I suppose if you are familiar with the work it wouldn't take you too long, no more than a month or so, but it's going to require a multitude of skills.

BMW 507

BMW 507

Wikipedia:

The BMW 507 is a grand touring convertible that was produced by German automobile manufacturer BMW from 1956 until 1959. Initially intended to be exported to the United States at a rate of thousands per year, it ended up being too expensive, resulting in a total production figure of 252 cars and heavy financial losses for BMW.

Engine is a 3.2 litre OHV V8 producing 150 horsepower. Elvis Presley owned two.

Mercury Montclair

1956 Mercury Montclair Phaeton Sedan

You've got to hand it to Detroit. Back in the 50's and 60's, back before the EPA and NHTSA got involved, Detroit stylists were just going wild.

From Wikipedia: 

Mercury Montclair

While the true origins of the nameplate are unknown by Ford historians, the consensus is that is derived from Montclair, New Jersey, an affluent community located near its then-new Mahwah Assembly facility.

Mahwah Assembly

Mahwah Assembly was a Ford Motor Company manufacturing plant in Mahwah, New Jersey, 30 miles from New York City. It occupied over 172 acres. . . .

The factory began operations in 1955, and was closed in 1980.  . . .

Mahwah Assembly produced 6 million cars in the 25 years it operated before the last car rolled off the line on June 20, 1980. At the time of its completion, it was the largest motor vehicle assembly plant in the United States. The Ford plant, along with other businesses such as American Brake Shoe and Foundry Company, helped contribute to the economic development of the town and its reputation for low home property taxes. The Mahwah town sports teams remain named Thunderbirds in honor of the Ford plant. . . .

Bruce Springsteen's 1982 song "Johnny 99" references the closure of the Mahwah plant in its opening line.

Manhattan Dome

Buckminster Fuller's dome over Manhattan

From Wikipedia:

The Dome over Manhattan was a 1959 proposal for a 3-kilometer-diameter geodesic domed city covering Midtown Manhattan by the architects Buckminster Fuller and Thomas C. Howard of Synergetics, Inc.

Fuller expanded on his earlier work designing geodesic domes and advocating for decreased use of resources, and made a variety of claims to support the "Dome Over Manhattan," such as that it would reduce energy usage in NYC to 20% of what it was in 1960.

The concept inspired the science fiction writer Ben Bova's story "Manhattan Dome" in the September 1968 issue of Amazing Stories, subsequently expanded into the 1976 novella City of Darkness. A Fuller dome over Manhattan also appeared in John Brunner's 1968 novel Stand on Zanzibar.

Via Construction Physics

Robin Hood

Robin Hood (Young People's Records / Children's Record Guild)
boyjohn

I'm poking around on YouTube and I come across a video of a guy talking about medieval archery and he mentions bodkins. Bodkins? As in odds-bodkins, like they sing about in Robin Hood? A little digging turned up this recording. You can hear the Sheriff of Nottingham singing about food just after the 12 minute mark.

Man, I haven't heard this record in a zillion years, but I must of have played it a zillion times when I was a kid because the whole thing is engraved on my brain. Talk about a blast from the past. Boom!

More Power!

Shades of Jeremy Clarkson.

331 Cadillac motor with 5 carburetors

Briggs Cunningham used it in the 1950 24 hrs of Le Mans.

The Feral Irishman (NSFW) got me started with this pic:

Manifold with 5 two-barrel carburetors

Mac's Motor City Garage has a story with more photos. 

Some people think these were made by welding adapters onto a standard manifold. I doubt that, to me they look like somebody went to the trouble to make a mold and get them cast. Besides, I suspect that welding cast iron back in the fifties would have been a bit of a trick.