Friday, December 25, 2009

Happy Holidays, and Merry Christmas

Old Hollywood, some stars and their cars, pre-1940

Gen Pershing, 1924 Packard
Groucho Marx and his 1930 Packard
Clark Gable and his 1935 Duesenburg

Above, the Little Rascals
Al Jolson and his custom 1928 Mercedes Spl
Buster Keaton and his 1928 Austin
WC Fields with a 1930 Bantam movie car, in the movie 300 Yard Drive
Rudy Valentino's (unbelievable biography: http://emol.org/emclub/?q=rudolphvalentino )cars above an Voisin, and below a 1925 Isotta Frashini. His 1923 Voisin can be seen in the Nethercutt Museum: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2011/03/rudy-valentinos-voisin-hood-ornament-by.html

A 1910 Stanley Steamer and in the back is a 1940 Packard Darin
John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara in a 1914 Stutz Bearcat
a 1911 Ford and Jimmy Durante... what a pit crew!


If you enjoyed this post, try this following link where I've posted many similar Hollywood stars and their vehicles like Rita Hayworth pulling the bumpers off her car for the scrap metal effort for WW2, John Wayne on a motorbike, Hitchcock in his 300SL, and dozens more: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/search/label/celebrity

Dragstrip Girl (1957)... looks like a fun movie! Frank Gorshin was the driver


Frank is best known ( perhaps ) as the riddler in the 60's tv show Batman

great stuff from The Eight Ball (translation of 8Negro)

A mix of new and old... and I've never seen a big wheel like that

the art of Gianluca Mattia

Above: the art of Charles Burki




Check out a strange and cool variety of stuff, mostly motorbikes: http://8negro.blogspot.com

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Laurel and Hardy and the breakaway special smashed jalopy 1924 Model T

Built so it could still move under it's own power when it was 1/2 it's orginal width. I wish this had shown up when I searched the web, but nothing out there about it. Wouldn't it be the coolest to look over and see how they built it?!

Watch this video (make up your own audio!) and you'll see about a dozen movie gag cars, they fall apart, lose their doors, and then there's the breakaway special at minute 7:07! The movie was titled "Highway Havoc"



Thanks to Peter in the Czech republic for finding it and sharing it!

The Keystone Cops, about 1915, stars of the silent screen comedies

The Keystone Cops was a series of silent film comedies featuring a totally incompetent group of policemen who frequently were part of train robberies, train crashes (spectacular), cars that fell apart and motorcycle mayhem . They may have invented the car chase scene (as they were invented about the same time as movies and cheap cars)

These bumbling lawmen were often depicted crowded onto their jalopy to the point of overflowing into the street as they chased down the bad guys

A Hollywood movie prop special above, the 1924 special breakaway Model T

Above a 1921 Model T
Below is a movie prop Hupmobile

Laurel and Hardy and the trolley smashed model t






The bottom two photos are of the diorama at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles on Wilshire

For more about the Model T and the duo: http://www.stanlaurelandoliverhardy.com/ford.htm

"Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow" ( i just get a kick out of that title )


Found in a barn, sound familiar? This car isn't familiar though, its a 1932 french Helicron



Images via: http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z11262/1932-Helicron-No-1.aspx where you can also read much more about it and see a full gallery of dozens of photos taken at the 2008 Meadowbrook Concours http://jalopnik.com/399836/1932-helicron-or-the-pedestrian-hunter
In the late 1930s this one-of-a-kind Helicron was placed in a barn and forgotten. Rediscovered in 2000, rebuilt, and reintroduced to the world with its original Rosengart chassis, suspension, and brakes. Unfortunately the original motor has been lost to time but it has since been fitted with a 1980s Citroen GS 4-cylinder motor... Although the manufacturer is unknown, it's believed that this car was built in France 1932
Following the first World War it was not uncommon for recently displaced airplane engineers to look towards the automobile industry for employment. As in this example, a few entrepreneurs developed propeller-powered cars with the notion that propeller power was an efficient means of moving a vehicle. See the 1922 Helica: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2007/03/1922-helica-propeller-driven-car.html
On this car, when the wooden propeller is spinning at full speed and efficiently, this little 1,000-pound boat-tailed skiff can hit freeway speeds exceeding 75 mph. This is the one and only Helicron in existence, owned by Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, TN.

Burt respect: "You live more in 5 minutes flat-out on a bike like this than most people do in a lifetime"


For a full gallery of photos of Burt and his land speed record setting Indian with hand made parts http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/03/burt.html

Vintage oil containers


interesting stuff at "A time to get"