900 CARS

1949 Ford

1950 Buick Riviera

Toward the end of June Detroit's Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village had a car show that had 900 cars show up. They were everywhere. Even the local newspaper got tired of taking pictures. The cars ranged in age from 1933 to 1973 with a few surprises like the one-of-a-kind 1949 Vauxhall in the picture below.
1949 Vauxhall

1955 Corvette

EYESON DESIGN

1968 Alpine Renault A110

1950 Nash Ambassador

A couple of weeks ago they had a show at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford Estate. A beautiful place on Lake St. Clair just east of Detroit. The show was called "EyesOn Design" and included some of the sleek streamlined cars that were produced and some of the prototype cars that were never produced.
1949 Hudson

1934 Hupmobile

FORMULA ONE AT SILVERSTONE...ENGLAND

Räikkönen in first place followed by Alonzo. Sports announcers and writers were beating up on Hamilton for not winning his 'home' race since he started out in pole position. Come on give me a break, better yet, give Hamilton a break. This is not an easy job. Sure he was disappointed, sure his fans were disappointed, but consider this...he was on the podium for the ninth time in a row...and nobody else has ever done it.

CHAMPCAR AT TORONTO, CANADA

With a win by Will Power (I love that name) he has pulled back up into the top three in the championship standings. He was followed across the line by Neel Jani and Justin Wilson.

INDYCAR AT WATKINS GLENN, NEW YORK

So, Dixon wins. He is a happy camper, oops, pardon the pun, since this race was sponsored by Camping World.

Below is a video of Sam Hornish Jr. who came in 2nd and Tony Kanaan (4th) getting in a fight after the race. Hornish claiming that Kanaan bumped him. Intentional bumping in open-wheel racing is foolhardy at best and I don’t think that today’s crop of drivers to it. I haven’t seen what looked like an intentional bump since the late 90’s when driving wizard Michael Schumacher did the bump with Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve. Very stupid on his part. This took place at Watkins Glen, New York which was one of my favorite tracks back in the 60’s. In those days it was also the home of USA Formula One. I saw many a fine driver there and at Mosport Park in Canada…great memories.

MAKING WAVES

AMPHICAR

Right from the beginning of the auto industry people were designing cars that could double as a boat. Of course the military had them, but they weren't meant for the general public. Early on it didn't work to good, but in the 60's the only mass produced ampihibian was the Amphicar. Powered by a Triumph Herald engine it made a better car than a boat. Top speed on the water was 7 miles per hour. One in mint condition sold late last year for $115,000.
GIJAM'S HYDRA SPYDER IN FLORIDA

In the 90's a man by the name of Giljam out of Florida tried his hand at building some and they were called the Hydra Spyder. Much better and he even had some orders, but no real plans for mass producton.
AQUADA ON THE WATER AT ORCHARD LAKE, MICHIGAN

Now comes a guy named Gibb of Gibb Engineering and he has been working on one since the 90's too. He has money to back him and is looking for a place to produce the car/boat. He lives in Detroit and would like to set-up there because he thinks the area knows cars and knows boats. That is true, the area built cars and boats for all of the 20th Century. The only thing I could see that would hurt him in that area is the United Automobile Workers...a powerful labor union.

The boat side of this invention can do 35 miles per hour on water. Enough for any water skier. The automobile side which is a nice clean looking car that will do 110 miles per hour. Not bad! It will be interesting to see how he does.
AQUADA ON THE ROAD IN DETROIT

BRIGHTWELLS

1949 BUICK SUPER SEDANETTE

1973 jAGUAR E-TYPE S3 V-12

On July 11th, which is coming up soon, Brightwells of England will be auctioning these off with many more. For details:

Brightwells Classic Vehicle Auctions
Easters Court, Leominster, Herefordshire,
HR6 0DE
tel: 01568 611122 07970 309907
web: http://www.brightwells.com

1935 ROYAL ENFIELD DELIVERY

1965 TRIUMPH TR4A