Random Thoughts Thread

[Robert Hall]

Found some pics of racing at Put-in-Bay in the early 1960s..they are having a vintage sports car race event next month, may go to that.

[ocnblu]

The lower photo, aren't the oldest cars Holdens?

[ocnblu]

[Robert Hall]

2 hours ago, ocnblu said:

The lower photo, aren't the oldest cars Holdens?

 

I think so.  The two sedans towards the back.   No idea why they would be in Ohio in the 60s though.  

Edit: That pic came from a website about the PIB races, but I suspect they grabbed a pic from a later Australian race—the Valiant appears RHD.  And there is a 65 Mustang in there, and the last PIB race was 63.   

When I was out there yesterday, I saw several markers that indicated the route of the original races, and I remembered a Road & Track article I’d read about it years ago.  A neat footnote in the history of racing in Ohio.  

Edited August 25, 2019 by Robert Hall

[G. David Felt]

Gotta love cooking and yummy food. This I can attest is an AWESOME BBQ appetizer to do!

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/prosciutto-wrapped-grilled-brie-with-pineapple-5230068

[balthazar]

Question : in looking at vintage press photos, it was common (up into the '50s) to take photos of auto accident victims while the bodies were still on scene/in the pic. No gore or blood, you understand. Of course, it's never done in the press today.

Does this sort of thing offend you?  1952 :

[G. David Felt]

18 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Question : in looking at vintage press photos, it was common (up into the '50s) to take photos of auto accident victims while the bodies were still on scene/in the pic. No gore or blood, you understand. Of course, it's never done in the press today.

Does this sort of thing offend you?  1952 :

Nope, just life. appreciate you posting our history so we can observe, learn and make the future better.

Thank you,

[balthazar]

Sometimes, the past holds the key to making things better, because it WAS better in the past.  
 

Edited August 26, 2019 by balthazar

[balthazar]

'70 Gen 3 Corvair proposal ~ 

[G. David Felt]

Amazing to see the pictures of America before the EPA was formed and regulated trash/ dumping.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/35-vintage-photos-taken-by-the-epa-reveal-what-american-cities-looked-like-before-pollution-was-regulated/ss-AAFNWId?li=BBnb7Kz#image=1

[trinacriabob]

On 8/22/2019 at 4:02 PM, dfelt said:

The Drive is saying that Lexus has confirmed they will not build a car to compete with Tesla but instead go the route of a small Urban Hatchback for inner city owners / drivers. I get a total Smart Car vibe on this 2 door 2 person auto and think it will be a FAIL for them.

 

I do not like Lexus.  Not my thing.  However, this is, at the very least, interesting ...  Lexus's equivalent of the Smart Car.  Hopefully, there's a nifty low price to match its size.

I have driven Smart Cars about 5 or 6 times ... as rentals in Europe.  Twice they were a "For Four" (better) and the remainder of the time they were the two-seaters.  Let me tell you, if you have one small suitcase and a small backpack or personal item, there is nothing finer for tooling around Sicily or making your way through the small streets of Lisbon, and all the better with a (nevertheless sh!tty) automatic trans.  While the Smart's trans is dismal, the ride is surprisingly okay for being so damn small.  They feel like slightly bigger cars, until a truck goes whizzing by you in the adjacent lane on the highway! To own one would be a NO.

Edited August 26, 2019 by trinacriabob

[balthazar]

50 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

Hopefully, there's a nifty low price to match its size.

And I hope true tailfins come back. Let's bet on who's dream comes true first.

[Robert Hall]

3 hours ago, balthazar said:

 

'70 Gen 3 Corvair proposal ~ 

The side window treatment and front fender remind me a lot of the early 70s Holden Monaro coupe. 

 

Edited August 26, 2019 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

^ No doubt a direct influence.
- - - - -

Amazing to see the pictures of America before the EPA was formed and regulated trash/ dumping.

Hand-in-hand with the EPA's efforts was the vast erosion of manufacturing in the U.S. over that time period. 

[balthazar]

A stellar example of the present F'ing up what the past offered :
1946 : 

2019 : 

Edited August 26, 2019 by balthazar

[G. David Felt]

35 minutes ago, balthazar said:

A stellar example of the present F'ing up what the past offered :
1946 : 

2019 : 

Not sure what your really meaning, Hudson went out of business, the owner of the property got a different business to go in to keep making money. 

Every business has different needs for the property, so how did the present fuck up what the past offered? ?

[balthazar]

Architecturally / aesthetically. One is clean & presentable, the other is an eyesore.

Edited August 26, 2019 by balthazar

[G. David Felt]

24 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Architecturally / aesthetically. One is clean & presentable, the other is an eyesore.

Got It! ?

The Hudson Minimalist building design versus the Maximalist overkill design of the Mattress business.

Yea, also does not help that the Mattress business clearly has not taken car of the outside as the ugly colors plus the falling down awning covers, your right, it looks very trashy.

[G. David Felt]

Very cool tool to see what your state top auto's are:

https://autoalliance.org/economy/consumer-choice/

You can pick the state you want to look at, default is the whole state or you can select the district you are in and default is light trucks, but then you just have to click on any of the other choices below light trucks and see where you align compared to the rest of the country.

Washington state is #1 in the country for Hybrid auto sales and #2 behind California for EVs. Amazing was that Vermont is #1 in the country for the youngest average age of auto's in the state at 9.7 years compared to Montana which has the oldest average age of 16.3 years old. Guess if you want a project auto, look to Montana to find some old Iron.  

[balthazar]

A 2004 'project car'?? LOL!
- - - - -

Edited August 26, 2019 by balthazar

[G. David Felt]

Some very cool auto news stories came out today.

This was done by Ford earlier in the year but now written up about the major retooling that took 11,000 people and 30 days to gut their oldest assembly plant and install over 600 robots, 500 new machines plus upgrade cafeteria, etc. in preparation for building the new Ford Explorer and Aviator.

https://www.autonews.com/manufacturing/ford-explorer-launch-required-major-redo-aging-plant

Here is the latest update in regards to which Auto Companies are going to feel it more at the bottom line from the Trade war with China.

https://www.autonews.com/automakers-suppliers/bmw-mercedes-ford-most-risk-new-tariffs

Ford, BMW and Mercedes will be hurt the most by the newest increase in Tariffs. OUCH!

BMW Leads with 12% of their sales in China coming from the US. This is the X3, X5 and X6 plus a few other crossovers and cars that from from the Charleston S.C. assembly plant.

BMW and Daimler corporation, Mercedes Benz has 57% of the auto's they sell in China coming from the US assembly plants.

VW is now exploring buying ownership in China suppliers with a focus on buying up as much battery suppliers as they can along with other material suppliers such as Carbon Fiber and Aluminum.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-23/vw-is-said-to-explore-buying-stakes-in-chinese-auto-suppliers

 

[G. David Felt]

Loving this project auto as the Germans cannot beat the pure heart of a quality small block American V8. 1973 Porsche 914 has the air cooled engine dropped out and some customization work done as the owner moves a GM small block to motivate the 914 to new highs. https://www.thedrive.com/news/29561/widebody-1973-porsche-914-with-chevrolet-v-8-will-make-purists-weep

[G. David Felt]

Good read on the new EcoDiesel review of the Ram truck.

https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/29461/2020-ram-1500-ecodiesel-first-drive-review-diesel-done-right

[A Horse With No Name]

4 hours ago, balthazar said:

^ No doubt a direct influence.
- - - - -

Hand-in-hand with the EPA's efforts was the vast erosion of manufacturing in the U.S. over that time period. 

And this is a really complex situation and not nearly as simple as it is made out to be.

[A Horse With No Name]

 

[balthazar]

What is…. 'Special Regular' ??? 

[balthazar]

[ocnblu]

6 hours ago, balthazar said:

What is…. 'Special Regular' ??? 

Good grief look how rusty that Chevy pickup is... it cannot be but a couple of years old.  It's dragging its tailpipe, too.

[A Horse With No Name]

 

1 hour ago, ocnblu said:

Good grief look how rusty that Chevy pickup is... it cannot be but a couple of years old.  It's dragging its tailpipe, too.

Good ole Midwest...it might be ten years old...

[A Horse With No Name]

 

[ykX]

9 hours ago, balthazar said:

 

 

I guess many new ideas are well forgotten old ones

[A Horse With No Name]

 

[balthazar]

3 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Good grief look how rusty that Chevy pickup is... it cannot be but a couple of years old.  It's dragging its tailpipe, too.

Pic taken in Michigan in ‘72, is the truck circa ‘64? Yeah- thats pretty bad.

[Robert Hall]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

Pic taken in Michigan in ‘72, is the truck circa ‘64? Yeah- thats pretty bad.

Salt corrosion.  I remember that style of Clark stations in small towns in Ohio back in the 70s-90s, but in color. 

Edited August 27, 2019 by Robert Hall

[surreal1272]

6 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Good grief look how rusty that Chevy pickup is... it cannot be but a couple of years old.  It's dragging its tailpipe, too.

Two pages of talking about old cars and trucks is not very random. Pretty sure there is a category for this on this site. 

[Robert Hall]

 

4 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

Two pages of talking about old cars and trucks is not very random. Pretty sure there is a category for this on this site. 

ok.. so, how about this..

To get some truly random posts on here, we can use loren ipsum generators. 

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer nec odio. Praesent libero. Sed cursus ante dapibus diam. Sed nisi. Nulla quis sem at nibh elementum imperdiet. Duis sagittis ipsum. Praesent mauris. Fusce nec tellus sed augue semper porta. Mauris massa. Vestibulum lacinia arcu eget nulla. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Curabitur sodales ligula in libero. Sed dignissim lacinia nunc. Curabitur tortor. Pellentesque nibh. Aenean quam. In scelerisque sem at dolor. Maecenas mattis. Sed convallis tristique sem. Proin ut ligula vel nunc egestas porttitor. Morbi lectus risus, iaculis vel, suscipit quis, luctus non, massa. Fusce ac turpis quis ligula lacinia aliquet. Mauris ipsum. Nulla metus metus, ullamcorper vel, tincidunt sed, euismod in, nibh. Quisque volutpat condimentum velit. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Nam nec ante. Sed lacinia, urna non tincidunt mattis, tortor neque adipiscing diam, a cursus ipsum ante quis turpis. Nulla facilisi. Ut fringilla. Suspendisse potenti. Nunc feugiat mi a tellus consequat imperdiet. Vestibulum sapien. Proin quam. Etiam ultrices. Suspendisse in justo eu magna luctus suscipit. Sed lectus. Integer euismod lacus luctus magna. Quisque cursus, metus vitae pharetra auctor, sem massa mattis sem, at interdum magna augue eget diam. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Morbi lacinia molestie dui. Praesent blandit dolor. Sed non quam. In vel mi sit amet augue congue elementum. Morbi in ipsum sit amet pede facilisis laoreet. Donec lacus nunc, viverra nec.

Or instead of nonsense words, a regular random text generator can be used.  Need to find one that generates random automotive themed text.

https://randomtextgenerator.com

 

Among going manor who did. Do ye is celebrated it sympathize considered. May ecstatic did surprise elegance the ignorant age. Own her miss cold last. It so numerous if he outlived disposal. How but sons mrs lady when. Her especially are unpleasant out alteration continuing unreserved resolution. Hence hopes noisy may china fully and. Am it regard stairs branch thirty length afford. 

Be me shall purse my ought times. Joy years doors all would again rooms these. Solicitude announcing as to sufficient my. No my reached suppose proceed pressed perhaps he. Eagerness it delighted pronounce repulsive furniture no. Excuse few the remain highly feebly add people manner say. It high at my mind by roof. No wonder worthy in dinner. 

Her extensive perceived may any sincerity extremity. Indeed add rather may pretty see. Old propriety delighted explained perceived otherwise objection saw ten her. Doubt merit sir the right these alone keeps. By sometimes intention smallness he northward. Consisted we otherwise arranging commanded discovery it explained. Does cold even song like two yet been. Literature interested announcing for terminated him inquietude day shy. Himself he fertile chicken perhaps waiting if highest no it. Continued promotion has consulted fat improving not way. 

Edited August 27, 2019 by Robert Hall

[Drew Dowdell]

I might have an offer coming on my rental property. 

Also, thanks again @balthazar for the oil filters. I'm going to do an oil change as soon as the ground dries out a bit. 

[surreal1272]

29 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

 

ok.. so, how about this..

To get some truly random posts on here, we can use loren ipsum generators. 

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer nec odio. Praesent libero. Sed cursus ante dapibus diam. Sed nisi. Nulla quis sem at nibh elementum imperdiet. Duis sagittis ipsum. Praesent mauris. Fusce nec tellus sed augue semper porta. Mauris massa. Vestibulum lacinia arcu eget nulla. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Curabitur sodales ligula in libero. Sed dignissim lacinia nunc. Curabitur tortor. Pellentesque nibh. Aenean quam. In scelerisque sem at dolor. Maecenas mattis. Sed convallis tristique sem. Proin ut ligula vel nunc egestas porttitor. Morbi lectus risus, iaculis vel, suscipit quis, luctus non, massa. Fusce ac turpis quis ligula lacinia aliquet. Mauris ipsum. Nulla metus metus, ullamcorper vel, tincidunt sed, euismod in, nibh. Quisque volutpat condimentum velit. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Nam nec ante. Sed lacinia, urna non tincidunt mattis, tortor neque adipiscing diam, a cursus ipsum ante quis turpis. Nulla facilisi. Ut fringilla. Suspendisse potenti. Nunc feugiat mi a tellus consequat imperdiet. Vestibulum sapien. Proin quam. Etiam ultrices. Suspendisse in justo eu magna luctus suscipit. Sed lectus. Integer euismod lacus luctus magna. Quisque cursus, metus vitae pharetra auctor, sem massa mattis sem, at interdum magna augue eget diam. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Morbi lacinia molestie dui. Praesent blandit dolor. Sed non quam. In vel mi sit amet augue congue elementum. Morbi in ipsum sit amet pede facilisis laoreet. Donec lacus nunc, viverra nec.

Or instead of nonsense words, a regular random text generator can be used.  Need to find one that generates random automotive themed text.

https://randomtextgenerator.com

 

Among going manor who did. Do ye is celebrated it sympathize considered. May ecstatic did surprise elegance the ignorant age. Own her miss cold last. It so numerous if he outlived disposal. How but sons mrs lady when. Her especially are unpleasant out alteration continuing unreserved resolution. Hence hopes noisy may china fully and. Am it regard stairs branch thirty length afford. 

Be me shall purse my ought times. Joy years doors all would again rooms these. Solicitude announcing as to sufficient my. No my reached suppose proceed pressed perhaps he. Eagerness it delighted pronounce repulsive furniture no. Excuse few the remain highly feebly add people manner say. It high at my mind by roof. No wonder worthy in dinner. 

Her extensive perceived may any sincerity extremity. Indeed add rather may pretty see. Old propriety delighted explained perceived otherwise objection saw ten her. Doubt merit sir the right these alone keeps. By sometimes intention smallness he northward. Consisted we otherwise arranging commanded discovery it explained. Does cold even song like two yet been. Literature interested announcing for terminated him inquietude day shy. Himself he fertile chicken perhaps waiting if highest no it. Continued promotion has consulted fat improving not way. 

LMAO!

 

For the record, my comment was meant as a joke in response to Blus claim that talking about EVs too much (whatever the F that means) was not “random”. 

[G. David Felt]

First of many to come, a 2020 Corvette is crashed, I assume at high speed as it has a go pro on the top for recording and some serious damage to the car and other auto's.

 

Out of Alaska, the local police show the near miss of the cop car hitting a momma and baby Moose. They go down hard.

Badda Boom.

https://www.autoblog.com/2019/08/06/moose-highway-police-video/

[G. David Felt]

Love this Weird auto list.

https://www.motor1.com/news/category/weird/

[G. David Felt]

First review of the 2020 GMC 1/2 ton diesel pickup.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/reviews/2020-gmc-sierra-1500-preview/

Have to say, very taken with this, focus on Fuel economy over pulling as according to GM, customers move up to the HD line of pickups when they go over 10,000 pounds trailing.

Love the camera views, for sure makes it much safer driving.

Sadly the review says GM is competitive with Tech and features of the truck, but the interior still looses to the Ram and Ford.

Come on GM get it together for a competitive Interior.

I just finished reading the 2019 Malibu review for a segment that is still selling a ton of Auto's and the Malibu is GMs loan competitor to the class.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/reviews/2019-chevy-malibu-review/

This statement speaks boat loads about GMs approach which sucks to autos.

QUOTE: If price matters more than anything, you'll undoubtedly appreciate that the Malibu starts well below competitors like the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima. Yet, aside from the infotainment system, those cars pack superior standard equipment. Trying to equip the Malibu similarly brings the cost way up, at which point its appeal rides the asymptote down toward "None." If you simply must stay in the GM family, your money is better spent on an Equinox.

?

[G. David Felt]

Confused and Annoyed by the long list of new safety features, this story nails it for me:

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2019/08/shockingly-new-car-buyers-are-confused-and-annoyed-by-safety-content/

Bought a domestic and could not figure out how to turn off the nanny features, resold it and move to another brand. OUCH.

[balthazar]

31 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Bought a domestic and could not figure out how to turn off the nanny features, resold it and move to another brand. OUCH.

I read American buyer, not ‘buyer of American auto’.

Friend’s wife has a new CX-5, she just said she wouldnt buy it again given the chance. 1 notch below top trim, all sorts of nannies. Its not ‘education’ IMO, its the features themselves. Folk are more interested in the imagined concept than the actual feature.

[trinacriabob]

On 8/26/2019 at 7:06 PM, A Horse With No Name said:

 

The original rendition works better for me.  This dude is sort of scary looking.  However, WV cloaked in fall colors is anything but scary.  

[ocnblu]

buttered noodles

[ykX]

12 hours ago, balthazar said:

I read American buyer, not ‘buyer of American auto’.

Friend’s wife has a new CX-5, she just said she wouldnt buy it again given the chance. 1 notch below top trim, all sorts of nannies. Its not ‘education’ IMO, its the features themselves. Folk are more interested in the imagined concept than the actual feature.

Going forward all of these safety features will be standard (pretty much already) on all cars and trims, and I don't think they will be easily defeatable, if at all.  Same as airbags, ABS and traction control.

[G. David Felt]

19 minutes ago, ykX said:

Going forward all of these safety features will be standard (pretty much already) on all cars and trims, and I don't think they will be easily defeatable, if at all.  Same as airbags, ABS and traction control.

Yup just another reason to buy the auto you love, change what you want and drive it, be it ICE or converted to EV, drive what you love.

[A Horse With No Name]

5 hours ago, ocnblu said:

buttered noodles

With gravy and a side of texas toast. Hot coffee to follow and a movie in the family room after. Perfect way to spend a random Saturday rainy afternoon.

2 hours ago, ykX said:

Going forward all of these safety features will be standard (pretty much already) on all cars and trims, and I don't think they will be easily defeatable, if at all.  Same as airbags, ABS and traction control.

Gone fotever are the days of simple drivers cars I loved. Still enjoying the Beetle but driving a ton of miles...GTI or Miata to replace it in a few years.

2 hours ago, dfelt said:

Yup just another reason to buy the auto you love, change what you want and drive it, be it ICE or converted to EV, drive what you love.

Which is most definitely not a Malibu. Although the Bu is a sharp looking car...

[balthazar]

[ccap41]

6 hours ago, ocnblu said:

buttered noodles

Honestly... sounds good.