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While reading the story of the man responsible for the Blower Bentley, I stumbled across a passage recounting the use of one of the surviving cars for towing test-bed "flying Jeeps" aloft during World War II. Flying Jeeps? More »
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This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. What's the perfect "motorcycle" for cold Danish winters? More »
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Putting engines in the wings of a great big bomber- who needs all that extra air resistance? Instead, put a couple of Allison V12s inside the fuselage, then have them drive contra-rotating propellers! More »
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Is there any piston engine that could possibly inspire as much awe as the ICBM-haulin' GMC Twin Six? What if we said we'd found a 5-bank, 30-cylinder Chrysler for you? Yes, five banks! More »
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Rations. Practically a dirty word in times of plenty, but when the U.S. of A. was gripped in a battle against the Axis powers, it was your patriotic duty to do without, or to innovate. Donald Gilmore, CEO of Upjohn Pharma, decided to do the latter. Facing the inconvenience of rubber rations for his 1940 Cadillac, Gilmore decided to experiment with wooden tires. While we can't imagine how much fun wooden tires would be from a traction perspective, you gotta think the actual fiery burnouts would be spectacularly cool. Full history, transcribed and with amusing observations from employees, below. More »
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We were shocked, shocked to learn that the Peugeot 404 Baja racer annihilated the Oval Window Baja Bug in last Friday's Choose Your Eternity poll. It's a new week, however, and we've got new challenges ahead. Let's head on up to Seattle, where the constant rain creates sort of a year-round meat-market singles bar for lonely iron atoms looking to hook up with promiscuous oxygen atoms... and nobody goes home alone! When you've got a vehicle that's been sitting outside in coastal Washington for decade after decade, you figure you ought to be able to get it for a very reasonable price- and you figured right! Zeet has earned a PCH Tipster T-shirt by finding us a couple of tantalizingly cool machines sitting in the sodden Pacific Northwest weeds, so let's drive right in to a colder, damper Project Car Hell! More »
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It's not only Truck Monday, it's Memorial Day! We haven't seen a street-parked vintage military vehicle since the Unimog of last fall, and we're due for another war wagon! I spotted this '43 IHC on the same block as the minister's '77 Camaro, and it was apparently surrounded by Soviet troops. Nothing I see on the street in Alameda surprises me any more, so I stopped to see what was going on. More »
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What has 44 cubic inches, weighs just 133 pounds (including all accessories and flywheel), a block made of copper-brazed sheet steel, and joined with the Willys Go Devil to help plant a big steel-toed boot in the asses of Adolf Hitler and Hideki Tojo? The Crosley COBRA! Yes, UDMan, your suggestion has been heeded (in spite of the fact that I had a childhood of anti-Crosley propaganda from my grandfather, who bought one new in '46 and considered it the dumbest decision of his entire life). To be fair, however, an engine designed for stationary, fixed-RPM operation as a military generator powerplant can't be expected to hold up well under the temperature fluctuations and stop-start demands of a motor vehicle. By '49, Crosley had switched to a cast-iron block, which was more reliable but nowhere near as cool. [Crosley Auto Club] More »
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Some of the Down On The Street cars never move (the '82 280ZX is a good example), while others are photographed during a brief moment caught outside of the garage (such as was the case with the 1939 Chevrolet). But most of them drive regularly, and what better way to prove my point than this blurry cellphone-camera shot of the 1945 Ford GPW Jeep parked in front of the island's Trader Joe's store? And if you look really, really hard, you can just barely make out the snout of a silver Peugeot 505 in the background. More »
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There must be a long and complicated story behind this car, which I've seen around town for many years, but all I know for sure is that its owner once owned a 40s-memorabilia shop downtown and still drives the car regularly. You don't see many 1942 model American cars, since those pre-Starion Mitsubishis and their Pearl Harbor drive-by caused what few '42s were manufactured to be drafted for military service. This '42 sports full military regalia and lives full-time on the street in Alameda's East End. More »
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