Showing posts with label trivia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trivia. Show all posts
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Carson tops
about 5000 were made, according to Bob Cumberford of Automobile Magazine design feature, from 1935 to 1965 and the last one was made for George Barris
Friday, April 1, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
My Cousin Vinny hysterical comedy bit, and the awesome positraction Tempest defense
Vinny Gambini: Maybe you didn't twist it hard enough.
Lisa: I twisted it just right.
Vinny Gambini: How could you be so sure?
Lisa: [sighs] If you will look in the manual, you will see that this particular model faucet requires a range of 10 to 16 foot-pounds of torque. I routinely twist the maximum allowable torquage.
Vinny Gambini: Well, how could you be sure you used 16 foot-pounds of torque?
Lisa: Because I used a Craftsman model 1019 Laboratory Edition Signature Series torque wrench. The kind used by Caltech high energy physicists. And NASA engineers.
Vinny Gambini: Well, in that case, how can you be sure THAT's accurate?
Lisa: Because a split second before the torque wrench was applied to the faucet handle, it had been calibrated by top members of the state AND federal Department of Weights and Measures... to be dead on balls accurate!
[She rips a page out of a magazine and hands it to him]
Lisa: Here's the certificate of validation.
Vinny Gambini: Dead on balls accurate?
Lisa: It's an industry term.
Vinny Gambini: [tosses paper away] I guess the fucking thing is broken.
Lisa: The car that made these two, equal-length tire marks had positraction. You can't make those marks without positraction, which was not available on the '64 Buick Skylark!
Vinny Gambini: And why not? What is positraction?
Lisa: It's a limited slip differential which distributes power equally to both the right and left tires. The '64 Skylark had a regular differential, which, anyone who's been stuck in the mud in Alabama knows, you step on the gas, one tire spins, the other tire does nothing.
[the jury members nod, with murmurs of "yes," "that's right," etc]
Vinny Gambini: Is that it?
Lisa: No, there's more! You see? When the left tire mark goes up on the curb and the right tire mark stays flat and even? Well, the '64 Skylark had a solid rear axle, so when the left tire would go up on the curb, the right tire would tilt out and ride along its edge. But that didn't happen here. The tire mark stayed flat and even. This car had an independent rear suspension. Now, in the '60's, there were only two other cars made in America that had positraction, and independent rear suspension, and enough power to make these marks. One was the Corvette, which could never be confused with the Buick Skylark. The other had the same body length, height, width, weight, wheel base, and wheel track as the '64 Skylark, and that was the 1963 Pontiac Tempest.
Vinny Gambini: And because both cars were made by GM, were both cars available in metallic mint green paint?
Lisa: They were!
Lisa: I twisted it just right.
Vinny Gambini: How could you be so sure?
Lisa: [sighs] If you will look in the manual, you will see that this particular model faucet requires a range of 10 to 16 foot-pounds of torque. I routinely twist the maximum allowable torquage.
Vinny Gambini: Well, how could you be sure you used 16 foot-pounds of torque?
Lisa: Because I used a Craftsman model 1019 Laboratory Edition Signature Series torque wrench. The kind used by Caltech high energy physicists. And NASA engineers.
Vinny Gambini: Well, in that case, how can you be sure THAT's accurate?
Lisa: Because a split second before the torque wrench was applied to the faucet handle, it had been calibrated by top members of the state AND federal Department of Weights and Measures... to be dead on balls accurate!
[She rips a page out of a magazine and hands it to him]
Lisa: Here's the certificate of validation.
Vinny Gambini: Dead on balls accurate?
Lisa: It's an industry term.
Vinny Gambini: [tosses paper away] I guess the fucking thing is broken.
Lisa: The car that made these two, equal-length tire marks had positraction. You can't make those marks without positraction, which was not available on the '64 Buick Skylark!
Vinny Gambini: And why not? What is positraction?
Lisa: It's a limited slip differential which distributes power equally to both the right and left tires. The '64 Skylark had a regular differential, which, anyone who's been stuck in the mud in Alabama knows, you step on the gas, one tire spins, the other tire does nothing.
[the jury members nod, with murmurs of "yes," "that's right," etc]
Vinny Gambini: Is that it?
Lisa: No, there's more! You see? When the left tire mark goes up on the curb and the right tire mark stays flat and even? Well, the '64 Skylark had a solid rear axle, so when the left tire would go up on the curb, the right tire would tilt out and ride along its edge. But that didn't happen here. The tire mark stayed flat and even. This car had an independent rear suspension. Now, in the '60's, there were only two other cars made in America that had positraction, and independent rear suspension, and enough power to make these marks. One was the Corvette, which could never be confused with the Buick Skylark. The other had the same body length, height, width, weight, wheel base, and wheel track as the '64 Skylark, and that was the 1963 Pontiac Tempest.
Vinny Gambini: And because both cars were made by GM, were both cars available in metallic mint green paint?
Lisa: They were!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Musclecar trivia
the 66 GTO holds the record for single year highest production with 96,946 made, and here is the odd thing. That was only 10 percent of Pontiac's sales that year. That is an example of how few real muscle cars were made.
The 409 engine was put into less that one percent of the cars it could have been ordered for in it's entire run.
the 1956 Chrysler 300B could have been optioned with a 6.17:1 axle
the 57 Nash Ambassador got the new 327, and in the light Rambler body was only 2nd to the Corvette int he zero to 60 time according to Motor Trend
in 1960 the Chrysler 300 could have been ordered with a french built 4 speed manual, but only 7 were ordered this way for the 300F
Goofy advertising nomenclature for car options in the 1961 Dodge D-500 Polara: Safe t Matic door locks, Hi Way Hi Fi record player (16 2/3rds rpm) and the Astrophonic radio, and the Mirromatic rear-view
The 409 engine was put into less that one percent of the cars it could have been ordered for in it's entire run.
the 1956 Chrysler 300B could have been optioned with a 6.17:1 axle
the 57 Nash Ambassador got the new 327, and in the light Rambler body was only 2nd to the Corvette int he zero to 60 time according to Motor Trend
in 1960 the Chrysler 300 could have been ordered with a french built 4 speed manual, but only 7 were ordered this way for the 300F
Goofy advertising nomenclature for car options in the 1961 Dodge D-500 Polara: Safe t Matic door locks, Hi Way Hi Fi record player (16 2/3rds rpm) and the Astrophonic radio, and the Mirromatic rear-view
Monday, March 14, 2011
AC Cobra trivia
According to an article in Cruisin' Style magazine,
there are 6 known original owner 289 Shelby AC Cobras
there are 6 known original owner 289 Shelby AC Cobras
Sunday, February 13, 2011
The cassette player died this year, 2010 was the last year a manufacturer installed one in a car
Lexus was still making the SC430 with a tape deck in 2010... shocking isn't it? !News and photo from the Hooniverse
http://hooniverse.com/2011/02/11/and-now-a-moment-of-silence-for-the-cassette-player/#more-42689
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Formula 1 racing, why Americans (and growing numbers of others) don't care, the stats
Since 1983, the sophistication and technological advancements in race car body and engine design have made the race cars far closer in similar capabilities to the point that they are identical, and once on the track, rarely can pass each other, to the extant that the facts show they finish the race in the order they began the race.
Ergo, there is no race, no competition, and no point to watching cars go around a track for hours without changing anything but the fule tank level. Boring.
http://thechicaneblog.com/2010/04/04/suspicions-confirmed-current-f1-mathematically-proven-less-interesting/ has the stats graphed out.
some reasons:
Decreases in overtaking due in part to 1 engine per race, rev limited engines, equalized horsepower and decreasing amounts of design freedom, aero-grip dependency, exotic technology in brakes, the stopping distances are too short giving no window of opportunity to really take advantage of mistakes... on that topic, cars are more reliable, and fewer fail on the course than decades ago
- 1993 >> 1994: A lot of changes after Imola to make F1 safer
- 1995 >> 1996: 107% Rule, field size down from 26 to 22
- 2000 >> 2001: Traction Control Introduced
- 2003 to 2005: Engines must last longer
http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=115835
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Stats from Automobile Magazine, Feb 2011, page 16
in the 201o season:
there were 19 races, and teammates finished 1-2 no fewer than 9 times
not counting opening laps, and pit stops, there were only 4 passes for the lead all season. Snore fest. Only one was successful, one resulted in both drivers spinning out, one was an immediate repass. The only "successful" pass was a teammate passing another to accumulate points for the championship. Big whoppee I say with emphatic dullness.
Eight of the 19 races in 2010 were won from the pole, 6 from 2nd on the grid, 3 from 3rd, on from each 4th and 5th
In 2010 there were 5 winners in 19 races, compare that to 1982 when 11 winners in 16 races
Ergo, there is no race, no competition, and no point to watching cars go around a track for hours without changing anything but the fule tank level. Boring.
http://thechicaneblog.com/2010/04/04/suspicions-confirmed-current-f1-mathematically-proven-less-interesting/ has the stats graphed out.
some reasons:
Decreases in overtaking due in part to 1 engine per race, rev limited engines, equalized horsepower and decreasing amounts of design freedom, aero-grip dependency, exotic technology in brakes, the stopping distances are too short giving no window of opportunity to really take advantage of mistakes... on that topic, cars are more reliable, and fewer fail on the course than decades ago
- 1993 >> 1994: A lot of changes after Imola to make F1 safer
- 1995 >> 1996: 107% Rule, field size down from 26 to 22
- 2000 >> 2001: Traction Control Introduced
- 2003 to 2005: Engines must last longer
http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=115835
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Stats from Automobile Magazine, Feb 2011, page 16
in the 201o season:
there were 19 races, and teammates finished 1-2 no fewer than 9 times
not counting opening laps, and pit stops, there were only 4 passes for the lead all season. Snore fest. Only one was successful, one resulted in both drivers spinning out, one was an immediate repass. The only "successful" pass was a teammate passing another to accumulate points for the championship. Big whoppee I say with emphatic dullness.
Eight of the 19 races in 2010 were won from the pole, 6 from 2nd on the grid, 3 from 3rd, on from each 4th and 5th
In 2010 there were 5 winners in 19 races, compare that to 1982 when 11 winners in 16 races
the Pits at the race track
called that becuase the race cars would driver over open pit lane to stop above his crew that could then quickly get work completed without using a jack to get up under the car. Remember, cars didn't even have oil filters until, what, the 1920's? The model t didn't have an oil filter and had to have the oil changed every 300-400 miles.
learned about this (should have been intuitive) and photos from http://thechicaneblog.com/2010/08/10/in-the-pits-at-the-vanderbilt-cup/
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Racing stripes
invented by the Briggs Cunningham team in 1950, according to Automobile Magazine's Robert Cumberford, Feb 2011 issue, Jay Leno Bugatti feature
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)