Yellow with blue sky

 

Egli Vincent

 Looks like its built to ride, aftermarket DRAT crankcases, twin disc brakes, might be loud...

Broken Driver, 1917

No info available on the sequence of events here, but the side and connecting rod are gone, the center driver is broken and the steel tire is missing. Did a broken rod smash the wheel? Another view of the broken cast spokes are shown below.

Robert C. Reed, Train Wrecks, A Pictorial History of Accidents on the Main Line, Bonanza Books, 1968

 

Shooting gallery

What's going on here?

 Google image search offers nothing...

 

Vespa production line

 Vespa motor scooters being assembled on the Pontedera factory production line in the early 1950s. The Vespa was probably the most successful of the sixteen moped and light motorcycles shown at the Milan motorcycle show in 1946.

Sidecar Sunday

The 1912 Wilkinson is an oddity and the deletion of the sidecar doesn't help the appearance much.
 

Maxtech Mechanic wrench

I picked this wrench up for the sole reason it was of the half moon, manifold/starter wrench configuration- I've never owned or had the need for one, especially in 5/16" and 3/8" but hey... 

The name was unfamiliar, turns out Maxtech is a Canadian company that started in 1977 and is still around today- selling tools made overseas to stores like Lowes and Walmart. Sorry to say the quality seems rather indifferent, and county of origin isn't even marked- I suspect China on this one.  Company history here. 

 

Sidesaddle not straddle

Cycle World 1967

Didn't catch on...

 

Velocette racer, 1924

 

Classic Motor Cycle November 1986

Another job you probably wouldn't want to do... Asbestos mining

The postcard was dated 1878, but the excavator seems newer than that.

 

Sywell Air Display, 1963

Another airshow we didn't attend.

 

Grain elevator construction at Estavan, Sasatchewan 1908

Members of the work crew pose with their almost completed elevator, using some of the ;lumber that didn't get exported. Helping keep Canada's grain exports up!

 The building appears to have burned in 2002. CBC story

Kawasaki H1 1970

In your face!  Kawasaki is feeling their oats...

We used to make things here and sell them, 1903

Cheese?

Escalating Fordist contradictions...

David Gartman, Auto Opium, A Social History of American Automobile Design, Routledge, 1994

 What ever does THAT mean? 

That being said, it's probably my favorite Mustang... just add Cragar wheels...

Wondertool (TM)

Here's an interesting one. Wondertool (tm) made in England. At one end is a glass cutter, (not numbered) but then there are four functions 1)- knife sharpener, 2)cutting wheels,  3)- fold out utility blade and 4) possibly notches for breaking glass?

 Oddly, the show side with screw heads are on the "Made in England" side, the named side gets the messier nuts. Not much info online, and not even a bottle opener included, what kind of a multitool is this, anyway?

Thanks, Dave!

Introducing the Ford Model A 1928

 After 19 years of Model T production, the Model A was introduced on December 02 1927.

USAG 36mm

 I don't run into the USAG line of wrenches very often, this Italian company seems to supply tool kits for all the exotic Italian cars. It's an impressive and good looking chunk of metal.

From the USAG site;  The USAG brand was established in 1926, when entrepreneur Hermann Amos built the first manufacturing plant in Gemonio, Italy under the name Utensileria Società Anonima Gemonio.

The company is still around and the recent history sounds all too familiar. In 1991 USAG became part of the French Group Facom Tools S.A., then of the American Group The Stanley Works and, by March 2010, of the Multi-National Group Stanley Black & Decker Inc.

 

Greyhound Motorcycle

 This is apparently one of the very few Greyhound motorcycles left in existence. It would appear to be a 1911-12 model. 

The name E.R Thomas was associated with several motor-related ventures in Buffalo around the turn of the century. Among them are The Auto-Bi Company, Buffalo 1907-1909, Greyhound Motor Works, Buffalo 1909-1910, Greyhound Motor Company, Buffalo 1911-1912. None appear to have been any great commercial success. History here. Start about page 154.

Sidecar Sunday

 Life among the Moggies...

North Star Express

Service from Paris through Brussels to Amsterdam, with a stop at JP's house. Another beautiful poster by A.M. Cassandre

 

Porsche 914 1973

 Posting this as an attempt to balance off the overexposure of the 911 on the internet,  Let's hear a little love for this little square 2 litre mid-engined bit of fun...

1972 T500

Extra piece of chrome on the side cover, no rack on the tank, I think that's a 1972 model.

Cycle car chassis

Cycle car of unknown manufacture. Rickety would describe it...

 

Know your spark plugs... by Bosch

 

RCAF Flying Boxcars

I knew someone who flew as a passenger on these flights. He said they filled the extra tanks in Egypt- lesser quality fuel than they were used to. So takeoffs were on the good gas, when they got to altitude and cruising speed over the Mediterranean, they switched the tanks over. The engines started missing and running badly till they sorted it out, heart stopping moments for anyone in the back. 
 

Franz electric metronome

A nice plain wooden box with a scale and a knob, which turns out to be an electric metronome, first patented in 1939. It probably works just fine, but certainly lacks the sculptural quality of the old wind-up mechanical models.  

 

Precision Quality Micrometer

I can't find much information of the this brand, but I get the idea it's neither?

 

Eclipse Coaster Brake

 

In 1911, The Eclipse Coaster Brake company started an ad campaign featuring both famous cyclists and Eclipse employees in fanciful larger than life situations, emphasizing... well, I don't know... 

J C Ferguson was an employee, Clara Wagner was one of the first women motorcyclists in America, becoming known for her endurance racing successes.

What was the fuss about? A bicycle coaster brake, pedal backwards and the brake is applied, as all of us one speed pre-derailleur bicyclists knew...

1973 Dodge Challenger ad

 First year for the 5 mph bumpers, not so bad... more here.

 Interesting the use of a gouache rendering in 1970s advertising, no surprise the artist is not credited...

Fiat X1-9 views

 

Know your Powell and Hanmer motorcycle lamps

Powell and Hanmer started making carbide lamps for bicycles and vehicles in the late 1880s, they soon were developing electric lights and dynamos. by the mid-twenties, they were large enough to threaten Lucas' business. In 1929 Lucas bought the company. Company history here.

Cybermotorcycle