Cars That Make Me Go Hmmm.. Sunday Roundup Edition

Some interesting things on my Auto Radar this week.
Someone at El Rayo has a real fetish for antique German, mostly air-cooled VW, iron. Guess I need to drop in, try the food and see if I can learn about the cars.

Mercedes 206D Camperwagen

One of these rigs showed up there a few weeks ago. It is strikingly Barn Door Bus like in it’s shape. It took a bit of poking around on the InnerTubes but I have learned something about it. I never seem to have my camera with me when I go buy this odd ball. Hopefully, I will remember yet.

Kurtis "Tommy Lee Roadster"

Behold, the 1937 Kurtis “Tommy Lee Roadster”. A thing of beauty from the golden age of American auto styling. A “one-off” for a wealthy Southern California auto dealer’s son. Timed at over 120mph on the salt flats, this charmer was reputed to have cost over $25,000 to build. My incredible mathematical mind says that is worth 42 Trillion in 2010 dollars (also known as Monopoly Money). Tommy Lee was supposed to be on the block this weekend at Gooding’s Scottsdale Auction. With the weather they had this week. One only knows at this moment what the status of this sale is.
Read more:
Goodings
Hemmings
Old Cars Weekly

From the “Get The F*&% Out A Here” files comes this beaut. Found on Ebay. I put this in the ShamWow category. As in, Wow, What a Sham. I would rather have the whole thing. (Thanks to the guys at Hooniverse for finding this crack pipe)

Here is one for the JEEBUS files:

Dobbertin DHC

Specs:
Engine: 572 c.i.d. 695 hp Merlin
Transmission:  All Wheel Drive QUADZILLA 4L80E with ATLAS transfer case
Speed on land: 125 mph (claimed)
Speed on water: 50mph (claimed)
Hydrofoiled
Looks like a Fieroghini build gone interestingly awry.
Seymour here and here.

Where does a dead Porsche go? Look here.

One of my favorite things to do on a snowy afternoon is to look around Google Earth and try to find race courses. Some, like Circuit Sarthe, aka Le Mans, are not easy to find.  Others, like the Nordschleife, are much easier. Over at Tam’s Old Race Car site, they are finding ones that no longer exist.

The ARGH Files: News From Bizzarro World…..

I have no words….

Terrorist attack feared after Jackson arrest

Cars That Make Me go Hmm.. Drive Bys, Sunday Evening Stuff

Whats on my mind this weekend:

Nice Wheels!!

Mercedes Bends

Saab is dead! Maybe!

I’ve never seen so many bleeding aerials!

Bet this guy is a virgin...

What some people will do for a ‘deal’…

A rare,albeit wet, bird

Subs are awesome no?

What you can do with a Subaru

New Blogs I have discovered this week!!

• MetaCars – Like the Onion for cars
• Hooniverse – The name says it all
• The Chicane – Classic car stuff

1st Snow 2009

From the weekend snow

1st Snow 2009 Beach

1st Snow 2009 Drive

1st Snow 2009 Field

Cars That Make Me Go Hmmmm.. Driveby’s

Found on the net or in my collection, these are bits that do not quite fit a whole post.

1955 Lancia Aurelia Nardi Vignale BlueRay1

1955 Lancia Aurelia Nardi Vignale BlueRay1

Amazing. In the 50’s the Italian houses were just beyond incredible in the work they were producing. Vignale is maybe the least well known of a group which included Ghia, Pininfarina and Bertone.

More bits here
and here

Made By Hand was an early 60’s advertising film from Porsche. A very detailed look at the construction and testing of the 356, it is an antecendent of today’s Ultimate Factories. Be sure to watch all 5 segments.

Made By Hand

Wada ya do when you want a Sprinter but can only afford a VW Bus and Type 1?

Unique No?

Beware the drive-thru!!
Kind of a perverse take on the Vista Cruiser me thinks.

Cars That Make Me Go Hmmmm.. Setting the Pace(r?)

If only the car looked THAT GOOD…

AMC Pacer. Need I say more?

Do I sense a trend here?

For those of us over the age of 35, the words bring up really bad memories of really bad cars from a really, really bad car maker.  From the late 60’s on it was just crappy car after crappy car. From the Javelin, to the Gremlin (my how appropriately named) through Matador and Hornet, it was the most horrid of line ups.

And somehow, they stayed in business.

Amongst my gear head buddies, we joked that AMC meant ‘Almost Motor Company’. We liked to say they did not manufacture cars so much as made bodies and adaptor plates. This was due to AMC sourcing drive train and accessory parts from the ‘Big 3′ and fitting them together. Thus, when opening the hood, one could be faced with a FOMOCO engine & starter, GM transmission & MOPAR ignition system.

And somehow, they stayed in business.

Then came 1978. Things were rough. The EPA forced AMC to recall EVERY 1976 model year sold in the US, including Jeeps, due to faulty emissions controls. By this point, even the much vaunted, and horribly overrated by that time, Jeep nameplate was not enough to keep AMC afloat. So, in an act of questionable sanity, the board of AMC agreed to a partnership with Renault.

Well. That will certainly make things better eh? Nothing like good old French engineering and manufacturing to save this old crow.  Just reach into that huge bin of well designed and built Renault cars and parts and pull a rabbit out of the hat. Should be a slam dunk.

Breaking News!

We have just received word that, in 1978, Renault has NO well engineered and built cars or parts in it’s lineup. It is currently the French equivalent of AMC!!

Nice!! This is gonna be great. Bring on the Alliance and the LeCar Yahoo!!

Then they gave us the Eagle. Otherwise known as an innovative drive train (AWD) in a Butt Ugly body. Cool!

Kind of on the same track

Things got progressively worse until AMC/Jeep was finally swallowed up by Chrysler (who just wanted Jeep) in 1987.

On to the subject of this issue of auto lunacy.

One of the oddest rides produced in America after WWII has to be the Pacer. In some ways it was very innovative, it was “small” and had a open and airy cabin. The problem was, to create the aforementioned open & airy cabin, Richard Teague seemingly decided a misshapen fish bowl was the best choice. He then chose the front third of a worn out loafer for the profile of the nose. As this came from the man who penned the Matador & Hornet, we will just say he will not be known for his artistic abilities.

A prime candidate for Cash for Clunkers?

The beauty seen above was found at our local home repair center which shall remain nameless but you would have to be an idiot not to recognize the colors eh?

So what is one to think of finding one of these in 2009? Does the driver wear bell bottoms? Listen to Donna Summer? And to top it off, it has been well taken care of?

A 'beauty' to behold?

I have to say, it is really not that much uglier than anything ever created by Lexus. It kind of has a Bean’s Slipper look to it. If not quite so comfortable.

But, how many cars have had such a storied advertising career?

I mean who in the 40 to 60 year old range does not remember Sandwich King? I mean Really..

If you bought one of these, boy were you smart….

Hmmm. Smart is not quite the word I am thinking of…

Now, as they say at the Daily Show, for your moment of Zen:

It's MINT!!! Like the pinstriping?

That’s right, you can own this thang!(?)

Be sure to tell them I sent you….

Cars That Make Me Go Hmmm.. Who Knew? Part Two

Welcome back fellow car nuts. Here we are back with another adventure in odd ball rides found round town.

A Rare Bird

The British Invasion of SoPo?

It’s not everyday you see an Aston Martin in Maine. Much less a DB9. That makes this sighting all the more interesting.
Your humble reporter person drove past this most unique of modern Brit rollers before suddenly seeing the 12 foot neon sign in his head flashing:

That’s a FREAKING ASTON MARTIN!!

Okay. Calm down. Your currently piloting your lessor vehicle with your wife and nephew aboard.

Double back at the next intersection. Is it really an AM? Not just a tarted up Jag?

Yessir, that is the real thing

See above…

Well. That certainly says something here. This is the land of the C, E & M class Benz slash 3 & 5 series Bimmer slash A4 & A6 Audi. The odd AMG/M/S car shows up (seems like a crapload of AMGs as of late). Jags are a dime a dozen now and land somewhere between true sports cars and over glorified Tauruses …
Aston’s are a breed apart. A small firm (from 1987 to 2007 a part of the FOMOCO fleet) building somewhat handmade cars on a very small scale.  In the 20 years from 1968 to 1988, AM made a total of 5000 cars. Founded between the two world wars, it went from peak to trough multiple times whilst producing some astonishing rides. Perhaps best known in American culture for the DB5, James Bond’s infamous car during the Sean Connery years.
So my fellow odd and  rare car nuts, this is truly a find here in the Portland area. But,  enough of the wordy crap, more about the car…

The shape of luxurious speed (Nephew 1.0 in the background)

Here we have the classic 2 seat GT form in all it’s beauty.  From the muscular front fender along a smooth shoulder to the flared rear fender and tight upright tail, a classic example of ‘English Understatement’. The front & rear shots show a distinct ‘wasp waist’ to the body. Not to overdone mind you.

Sweet

That being said, I do like the red Brembo calipers shining from behind the big assed wheels.
Mind you, this is no all show and no go affair either. Powered by a 470 bhp V-12, it is capable of exceeding 60 mph in 5 seconds and running to nearly 200 mph before running out of breath.

All the while swaddling you and your partner in some nice leather wrapped seats.

With Ford's billions, you would think they could have made better cupholders

 

Sadly, due to the location, you intrepid sleuth was unable to get a full side shot. I have since seen this car twice in the Portland area. I still hope to get you the “Full Monty” as it were.

WOW! Did I just type that? I, errr, ah…

So long auto sleuths until next time when we revisit:

Cars That Make Me Go Hmmm..

Where in the hell have I been?

What I have been doing for the last 30+ days (since the last time I kicked my lazy ass into posting)?

WORKING
Brewing Mac’s Roasted Pumpkin, er Squash, ale
Brewing All Backyard grown Cascade hops ale (round deux)
Bottling Mac’s Roasted Pumpkin, er Squash, ale
WORKING
Drinking
Re-discovering Oak Pond Brewing. (JEEBUS they brew a bunch of lagers!!)
Saving (as in re-carbonating a flat brew) All Backyard grown Cascade hops ale (round uno)
Harvesting the last of this years cantaloupes. (a little loo late but still worth it)
Harvesting the rouge leek that was in this years onions seedlings from Johnny’s. Leek & potato soup YUM!
Watching crazy video from the New England Forest Rally (Why have I not been to this?!)
Cleaning the chimley. (That is a chimney in flat lander tongue.)
WORKING
Building a bedroom for my niece who is moving in.
Drinking
Discovering Rosement Bakery (So many good things from Maine)
Receiving the quarterly shipment from Namaste (Pinots to die for)
Cooking carbonarra for eight (Pushing my skills to the max)
Discovering Maine Coast Vineyards. (I never thought  would like a rose’. Much less one with Grenache?).

Other than that, not a damned thing deah!!

Thank You Mister Pugsley

Dear Mister Pugsley
Ever since I visited the Sea Dog Brewpub in Camden way back on a buzz ride (see “driving around aimlessly on cheap gas whilst consuming large quantities of marijuana”) long about 10 years ago, I have been trying to find ‘that beer‘.

Tonight I consumed it again.

Back then, Sea Dog was an entity unto itself.  A part of the ‘early days’ of craft brewing, Sea Dog crashed and burned at the end of the first era of Craft Brewing . Along with Stone Coast ( The home of Cannery Kolsch, my first Kolsch love),  all were sucked into the post Brew Pub V1 vortex.

On that day in the fall of the year, I drank a Pumkpin Ale that tasted like a pumkin pie in a glass. The taste of roasted pumpkin, malts and a nice mellow hopping balanced with a blend of nutmeg, cinnamon and just a wee bit of clove along with a clean finishing, almost lager like, yeast created a perfectly balanced beer. I remember having two. Or was it three?

Since then, I have been chasing that beer, at somewhat random intervals.

There really have not been many choices.  Your own Shipyard Brewing Pumpkin Head has been around for sometime but I gotta tell ya, it is like drinking a freakin cinnamon stick in a glass of beer. Not at all pleasant. One of the few times I have walked away for a local craft brew was a glass of PH at Wild Willy’s a couple of weeks ago. Just unbearable.

I moved on.
I tried Dogfish Head Punkin Ale.  Even though this is my favorite DFH brew to date, I am no fan of the 60, 90 etc, it is close but still is too much spice forward.

I want pumpkin!

A "Cheese" pumpkin? WTF?!!

Next up, Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale.

We are starting to get there. Less emphasis on spice and more on pumpkin. Mutha thought it was yucky. I thought, and still do, that it was much better balanced then anything I had consumed before. But there was still too much cinnamon.

The current champ

Enter Pugsley’s Smashed Pumpkin.

A member of the ‘Signature Series’, it is a limited run brew.  Eagerly awaited, I had clerks at two different locations tell me it was flying off the shelves, it is worth the wait.

When opened, the nose is met with the scent of a pie fresh from the oven. The pumpkin and spice are to be expected. The nice thing is that is the NUTMEG and not the cinnamon that comes out first. YES!!!

The flavors matched the nose. Pumpkin and malt are checked with a mild hopping to yield a clean,

What I had not thought of was the crust.

What is a pie crust? Water, salt, fat and flour. FLOUR. WHEAT.

Of course! To make an ale that tastes of a pumpkin pie, you have to incorporate the character of the crust. To get the doughyness of the crust, you need some wheat to the grain bill. And lo, when we look at the label and press release, we see ” Pale Ale, Wheat and Light Munich Malts“

You sir are a genus

The Munich malt gives the coppery color and just a hint of dryness to help balance the sweetness of the pale malts & the pumpkin. The wheat, beyond adding to the overall pie like qualities, brings a clean light body to the beer. Hopping is minimal, leaving the nose and pallate to enjoy the scents of pumpkin, nutmeg and the solid malt background.

In closing let me say, you have given me that long lost pumpkin beer of my memories. I thank you for that.

Now to see if I can make this puppy myself.

Sunday Sunday Sunday!!

Now that's a bottle of beer

Starting September 12, Maine breweries will be able to sell and refill half gallons of brew on premises. Signed sealed and by governor Il Duce himself.

Having spent many a fond times at Bridgeport Brewing in the OTHER Portland, I have had the occasion to bring a growler back to sisters house for later consumption onlyto bring it back the next day for refilling.

I ask myself

Why in EFFIN CRIPES can’t I do this at home?!!!!

Perhaps it is the latent Puritanism that rears it’s gruesome head with all too regular frequency
Perhaps it is a remnant of Neal Dow and the Maine Law.

Either way, It SUCKS THE BAG!!

Just let me buy the beer from the LOCAL guys who make it and reuse the damned bottle!! Why is this bad?! Why is this hard to comprehend?!

Anyway, in a rare lucid moment, the Exalted Ones in Disgusta decided to finally let me by beer direct from the producer. Gosh, how nice of them. I still have to pay the taxes on it of course…

Counting the days!!

Who’s buying the first growler?