Showing posts with label VW bug. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VW bug. Show all posts
Friday, November 28, 2025
Monday, November 10, 2025
the new Fantastic Four movie has a cool variety of vehicles in the scenery, and a great recreation of the comic book Thing lifting a VW Bug
Notice the little green round thing in the far left above
A bus called Swordfish? Is this an easter egg for the Jackman/Berry/Travolta?Cheadle movie where the helicopter picks up the bus and flies it across the city?
This bus is a '62 Leyland Royal Tiger https://cars.bonhams.com/auction/17261/lot/228/blue-bird-the-ex-blue-bird-garages-hull-ltd1952-leyland-royal-tiger-psv11s-41-seater-coach-chassis-no-515490
What the heck is this little blue car? Gotta be Eastern European or a Hollywood creation
and here's that little green round thing again, which was featured at Comic Con! https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2025/07/great-little-hollywood-prop-car-in.html
Sunday, November 09, 2025
new tv show, "Minx" set in 1971, with Jake Johnson (co-star in New Girl) has cool old cars in most outdoor scenes
And this Bug might not even be a 70 or 71, I'm thinking it's a mid 70s, as it's go the Karmann coachbuilders fender tag and the curved windshield, I think those first were on Bugs in 73
Elizabeth Hawley and her legendary blue VW Beetle
Elizabeth lived in Kathmandu for about 50 years, and is an institution in the field of Himalayan mountaineering.
Despite never having climbed any mountain, she is the only person in the world able to certify, based on climbers' accounts, whether expeditions have achieved their objectives.
Saturday, November 01, 2025
aircooled, at airports, with airplanes (thank you Steve!) in the history of world aviation to fly during the polar night
the Follow Me car at Tempelhof Airport, Berlin, in 1954
So, here's the research:
Eielson was not only his friend but also one of his flight mentors, whom Harold Gillam seemed to idolize. Gillam's desire was so sincere and ardent, and his persistence so resolute, that he was eventually assigned a Stearman C2B and allowed to participate in the search.
Now it was the turn of the Soviet pilots and sailors to show heroism. It was primarily through their efforts, amidst a series of terrifying snowstorms and incredible frosts reaching -50°C, that they managed to saw and dig through two-meter-thick layers of compacted snow crust over an area the size of a football field and, at the cost of numerous frostbites, to find the bodies of the fallen aviators.
About a 100 years ago (will anyone look us up in 100 years to learn who we were?) he was a young pilot in the search for missing Alaskan rescue expedition pilot, Colonel Carl Eielson in 1929
He was the 1st pilot in the history of world aviation to fly during the polar night, but he didn't have a pilots license, they weren't so adamant about licenses of any kind in 1929/1930
January 26, 1930, at 9:30 a.m., Gillam took off and headed for Alaska, and shortly after noon, returned with the sad news and pieces of the crashed plane's skin. "As we all suspected, the wrecked plane was found just a stone's throw from the hut of the Russian trappers, who were the first to report hearing the sound of an engine,"
The rescuers' attention was drawn to the glint of the sun on the tip of a wing—the only thing protruding from the snow. The wrecked plane's interior was intact, but the cockpit had been completely torn away.
Now it was the turn of the Soviet pilots and sailors to show heroism. It was primarily through their efforts, amidst a series of terrifying snowstorms and incredible frosts reaching -50°C, that they managed to saw and dig through two-meter-thick layers of compacted snow crust over an area the size of a football field and, at the cost of numerous frostbites, to find the bodies of the fallen aviators.
Everything about the events of that ice epic is astounding. But the most astonishing thing is that, Harold Gillam, who was not yet a pilot, dared to fly during the polar night. At the time, he didn't have a pilot's license and had only 40 hours of flight time. His courage is astounding, and his heroic life deserves a detailed account.
Harold Gillam was born in 1903 in Illinois, and his family later moved to Nebraska, where he grew up. At 16, Harold ran away from home and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. The destroyer on which he served patrolled the Pacific Ocean.
Harold Gillam was born in 1903 in Illinois, and his family later moved to Nebraska, where he grew up. At 16, Harold ran away from home and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. The destroyer on which he served patrolled the Pacific Ocean.
Demobilized in 1923, Gillam found himself ashore without a profession or a job – the United States was gripped by the first "post-war depression." He got a job as a worker in a construction company operating in Alaska.
Harold Gillam was attractive to charming young women and after a few years in construction, he started his own road construction business in Fairbanks. One day, fate brought him to the local airfield, where he found both his calling and his love. Harold fell in love with airplanes and a female pilot—the charming Marvel Crosson, sister of the famous aviator Joe Crosson.
In August 1929, fate dealt Gillam a terrible blow. His beloved died while participating in the Santa Monica-Cleveland Women's Air Derby.
But their primary missions were servicing mineral extraction and processing facilities, so essential to the war-oriented American industry. Gillam was under contract to the Morrison-Knudsen construction company, then one of the most sought-after contractors.
On the morning of January 5, 1943, he was preparing to pick up cargo and passengers at Boeing Airfield in Seattle and fly them to Anchorage. He chose the new Annette Island military base, under construction southwest of Ketchikan, as a refueling stop en route.
And engine failed, they crashed, heading in the wrong direction, location unknown, and weren't found for 33 days, in February, in Alaska.
Gillam tried to snowshoe out for help, fell through river ice, and while trying to dry out his clothes, died of hypothermia in his sleep.
His son lived in Fairbanks the vast majority of his life and enjoyed a career in local politics spanning approximately 30 years. Gillam served as mayor of both the city of Fairbanks (1972–1978) and the surrounding Fairbanks North Star Borough (1966–1968), the only person to have done so. He was also the youngest borough mayor for over a half century.
Monday, October 13, 2025
Sunday, October 12, 2025
Saturday, August 23, 2025
I love an origin story... this one has a 64 Bug, a 54 trailer, a multi generation farm, a mom n pop gas station, tractors, and a roadside fruit stand!
Early in their marriage in 1971, John and Renee Linn, who lived in Kansas, decided to pursue their dreams to live out their lives on a farm.
For years they had driven through the Midwest farmlands admiring the scenery and longing for a healthy life working together as a family. With their minds made up, these recent college graduates bundled up their newborn son Justin, packed their books and student loans into a '64 VW bug and headed for Denver.
They were determined to make enough money to buy into their version of the American dream.
Unable to find a job in a bad national economy, John borrowed $750 to put a down payment on a service station where he not only sold gas at the height of the oil crisis but specialized in foreign car repair. There was plenty of work — often 110 hours a week! The couple began to plan in earnest for a farm by deciding that in five years they would leave Denver with their family and a nest egg.
In 1977 they got their farm on California's Central Coast (north of Morro Bay, south of San Simeon), moved a little (8' x 32') 1952 trailer onto the farm and moved in. They refurbished an old well on the property, learned to run trenchers, drive tractors, plant fruit trees, and build water systems and fences.
Then they set up a fruit and produce stand in 1979 where they sold the olallieberry, a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry that was relatively unheard of at the time.
The farm is now run by the 3rd generation
Renee's olallieberry pie was a hit and ultimately served as one of the reasons why the couple opened Linn's Restaurant in Cambria's East Village in 1989.
It has a collection of cycles!
“I began the bike collection because of a man named Wesley Hatakeyama. He suggested, since I had all the upper space on our restaurant walls and since I am a lifelong cycling enthusiast, that I decorate with some bikes, the first five of which he would give me. Cycling has always been something that sets my mind straight and allows me to push my body and mind to new heights as I tackle the hardest climbs or just enjoy perfect downhill and flat rides with a good tailwind. Many people are cycling enthusiasts like me. I am creating the collection to commemorate what will soon be 100 years of cycling innovation.”
Furthermore, in no small way, Aaron has succeeded in bringing casual and serious cyclists to Cambria from places near and far.
Aaron Linn- Restaurant General Manager/Co-Owner
Furthermore, in no small way, Aaron has succeeded in bringing casual and serious cyclists to Cambria from places near and far.
Aaron Linn- Restaurant General Manager/Co-Owner
Tuesday, August 05, 2025
Friday, August 01, 2025
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
few cutaway mechanic training cars have been made as carefully and comprehensively done as this VW Beetle at the air-cooled Volkswagen show in Effingham, Illinois.
It is owned by Mike Yager of Mid America Motorworks, and was featured in a book The Complete Book of Classic Volkswagens https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9780760359358_A30446283/preview-9780760359358_A30446283.pdf
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