Pick up truck project

Diamond Reo, I think? Seen today in Hill City, South Dakota.

 

1922 GN Vitesse Cyclecar engine

C.F. Caunter, The Light Car, a technical history, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1970

 GN was a British maker of cyclecars. They started in 1910 using JAP or Peugeot engines but soon produced their engines, an 1100 cc V twin, first pushrod then chain driven overhead cam. The cyclecar boom was soon over and the factory closed in 1923.

Duckbill 68

Aluminum and about 4 inches long- looking like a spile for maple syrup-ing, I could not figure out what it could possibly be used for. There is no through hole but there was a hole for attaching something!

 

The patent number told all.  It's a ground anchor, designed to be driven into the earth with a hammer and a rod or tube in the tapered hole. The sharp edges help with penetrating the earth. A cable is pre attached, and when the required depth is reached the pull on the offset cable helps to wedge the anchor in place.  A tube could be used to fill the hole with concrete to further anchor it in place. A specialized thing indeed. 

1960 Flandria

 

 In the early 1950s, Aimé and Rémi Claeys, of the Belgian bicycle brand Flandria, decided to make a powered vehicle. The moped was a success and they soon had a line of small motorcycles that were popular.  This sporty little bike is an early sixties 50cc Record.

 The company seems to have lasted into the seventies.

Sidecar Sunday

 

Lehigh Valley Streamliner John Wilkes

The smaller railroads needed to keep up with the expensive high profile name trains, Lehigh Valley hired Otto Kuhler to modernize the trains between Scranton and New York City. He went with a red, black and aluminum livery and added some streamline features to two of their 25 year old Pacific locomotives. The result was this eye-catching train introduced in 1939. The illustration for the brochure was also done by Otto Kuhler. The streamlining lasted till the metal drives of WW2 and the train was discontinued in 1961.

 

Benz, explained

 

Maslow's hammer, "If all you have is a hammer..."

Tool Barn

 "If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail."

 Abraham Maslow, The Psychology of Science

Velocette Thruxton

This could live in my garage any time....

 

P. Mengin Type B Aircraft Engine

 Seen at the 2023 Paris Vintage show.  Not much info online on this small  28 hp two cylinder aircraft engine built from 1933-1940. I wonder what airplanes of that period would use an engine of that size. More pictures here. More info here. 

20th Century Limited, 1938

 

Sad story

 

Ugh.

 https://www.wsj.com/articles/craftsman-america-wrench-stanley-black-decker-reshoring-factory-1125792f

H wrench?

 

Monday Mystery; large cutter

Once again I haven't provided anything for scale but this tool is about 12-14 inches long with cutting jaw about 3/4 inch in size, wrong shape for a lopper, too small for a dehorning tool, too large for wire or cable. No name or logo anywhere, any guesses?

Pere Marquette streaminer, 1946

 First postwar streamliner featured locomotives with painted stripes to match the fluted stainless steel passenger cars from Pullman Standard.  

 Pere Marquette was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Saint Marie."Hmmmm, let's name a train after him!"

 

Sidecar Sunday

Steib promotional ashtrays.

 Josef Steib opened a bodyshop in Nuremberg in 1914 specializing in paint and upholstery. By 1927 the company started building sidecars. When the sidecar market collapsed in the late 1950s, Steib turned to building agricultural equipment such as wagons, manure spreaders and similar.  The company closed up permanently in 1989.

Thanks, Rolf!

 

A second career in advertising...

Second generation Chevrolet van, (67-70) long wheelbase.

Welch Micrometer demonstrator or display model

Here's an interesting piece, an outsized display or demonstration model of a Welch micrometer.  The thimble rotates to show the numbers on the scale. It's about 30 inches long and about 18-20 inches tall.

 

Tempests under construction

 Note the large fuel tank in the pilot's lap...

Smith Flyer

 

Bill Sherk, 60 years behind the Wheel, Dundurn Press, 2003

The 1922 picture above shows Frank James and his daughter Doris setting off in what has to be the absolute minimum licensed and powered transportation device.  The caption suggested it was homemade, but it does look very much like a Smith Flyer- which looked well... very homemade. (Build your own!) 

The British-made Wall Motorwheel was intended for powering a bicycle.  AO Smith, an innovative metal working company,  saw another use, acquired the rights, and attached it to a small wooden "go-kart" type vehicle, naming it the Smiths Flyer. Briggs and Stratton acquired the rights to the vehicle in 1919 and produced it for a few more years.

In any case I'm sure Frank and Doris are off to A&W for a root beer float.

Apex extension/adapter EX377-12

This isn't a rare or valuable tool, rather it's a curious thing.

 Half inch drive extension, 12 inches long, but with a 3/8" male end. How often would anyone need that? I bought it, put it in the tool box, just to see if I ever find a use for it. 

 

Occasional chair

Seen at the Huron County museum, it's described only as an "occasional chair". I have more questions, as in why would anyone do this? And why would anyone want to sit in it?

 

1974 Mercury Capri

It was a nice little import, especially with the V6!

 

Victory bonds

Downright creepy...

 

Dodge Pickup

This would be a model B made from 1948-52. Not one of the more beautiful vehicles on the road...

 

Monday mystery... Ok... it's just a quiz

 I found this body shell behind a fence, and it took me a few minutes to figure out what car it was from. I have no doubts you guys will figure it out quicker than I did... Guesses?

Monday Mystery. Goderich fire truck

A lot of questions. I'm not sure of the year, but possibly the new addition to the fleet? I can't determine the make of the truck, but I don't think its a Seagrave... even though the factory is just down the coast.  Previous post. 

The whole fire department is posing with the shiny truck, even the dog gets in the fun. Below, same location, probably the same truck, different dog.