Motor Heads: Cars, Trucks, Tractors & Hvy Equip.

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That guy with the affected accent, is not (IMHO) a car enthusiast.

He's an Eww Toob residual rent-seeker. Rehashing others' histories (which he probably never read, and in my experience, doesn't relay correctly in many cases) is not indication of his knowledge or enthusiasm.
 
www.macsmotorcitygarage.com

It's a Boat! It's a Car! It's the Buick Waterbug!

Detroiters are known to do some pretty strange things with automobiles. Take for example the Waterbug, built by Richard B. Cronin from an old Buick convertible. We don’t know much about this wonderful oddball creation, but we’d love … Continue reading →
www.macsmotorcitygarage.com www.macsmotorcitygarage.com
 

Risky But Genius Uses of Motorbikes Worldwide to Make a Living​

Jul 9, 2024


13:17
 
Friday fun with Ed.

Kitschy Retro Roadster: 1985 Excalibur Series V Roadster Convertible​

Jul 26, 2024

The Excalibur Series V was the 1980s edition of Excaliburs famous recipe: Neoclassic cars! Cars that looked like they came from the 1930s, but had 'modern' day tech underneath those flowing fenders. Originally a Studebaker concept car, we are going to take a closer look at this remarkable kitschmobile, perfect for weddings and other fairytales. What's it like to drive a gaudy retro roadster?


13:13
 
The Tri-State Antique Engine and Thresher Show was held in Bird City, Kansas this past weekend. Demonstrations of threshing, sawmilling, and more took place. My father in law on his fully restored 1937 John Deere Model D and me on my 1950 Deere MT took part in the daily parade all three days.
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They did a demonstration of a McCormick reaper from 1831. It was unclear if this was a restored reaper from that time period, or a replica built after the fact. But it was interesting.
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searcher said:
Kitschy Retro Roadster: 1985 Excalibur Series V Roadster Convertible
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What do people think of them, now?

An easy way to know, is to look at how they do on online auctions. Barnfinds has had a number of Excaliburs and retro-mobiles up there; and typically, in good shape, with low mileage and little wear, they'll sell for $20k - $30k. Used Corollas sell for more.

I have a distaste for EAR, as well as for the Chinese (or other non-Western) AI driven Eww Toob auto-oriented sites. They're there for visits and Eww Toob residuals. Often they haven't a clue what they're speaking of/generating. Often they mispronounce model names, find wrong photos, or even focus on a prototype that didn't exist - like the Ford Durango pickup, of which maybe a dozen prototypes were made. None for public sale.

Ed is probably a real person, but he's doing it for the clicks, too.
 
Mundane motoring with Ed...........

Mundane Motoring: The Festival of the Unexceptional Part I: The Highlights!​

A classic car connaisseur went to a unique car meet in the UK that celebrates the mundane everyday cars from the 70s 80s and 90s. Cars that you saw practically on every street corner, but are now completely gone. In this first part we look at some of the highlights, like Malasian Proton's, a funky Dodge campervan and three wheeled Bond Bugs!


12:15
 
^^^^^
Here's part 2

Festival of the Unexceptional Part II: The Family Car History!​

A classic car connoisseur went to a unique car meet in the UK that celebrates the mundane everyday cars from the 70s 80s and 90s. Cars that you saw practically on every street corner, but are now completely gone. In this second part we look at some of the cars owned by my family in the past, like a New Edge Ford Focus, a Daihatsu Charade and the infamous Morris Marina!


7:49
 

Sunshine on the Green in Florida! Lookin' Over A 1959 John Deere 730! Two-Cylinder Sound and Power!​

A few years ago, we visited with Dale Vannelli at the Florida Flywheelers Show -- when they hosted the Sunshine on the Green. Dale has a beautiful 1959 John Deere 730 tractor. The 730 was in the Deere lineup from 1958 to 1961. The 2-cylinder engine delivered about 53 HP on the drawbar. You can find out more about the Florida Flywheelers -- and their show held each February at their website: FloridaFlywheelers.org


6:39
 

The Most Awesome Tow Truck Inventions and Accessories You Have to See ▶ Eurolift Vehicle Recovery​


10:10
 
www.macsmotorcitygarage.com

Rebuilding the Post-War Auto Industry: A 1946 Film - Mac's Motor City Garage.com

See how the U.S. auto industry was converted back from war machine to engine of commerce in this in-depth 1946 documentary. Produced by the American Broadcasting Company and narrated by John Tillman, this 1946 news report deals with a … Continue reading →
www.macsmotorcitygarage.com www.macsmotorcitygarage.com

www.macsmotorcitygarage.com

MCG Executive Briefing for August 26, 2024 - Mac's Motor City Garage.com

This high-end 1967 Nova Pro Touring will be among the star offerings at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Fall Auction. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing. Today’s headlines: + General Motors is eliminating white-collar 1,000 jobs, … Continue reading →
www.macsmotorcitygarage.com www.macsmotorcitygarage.com
 

Can't Tame This Tiger! The Tiger Is A Rarely Seen Classic Garden Tractor That Dates from 1961!​

At the Florida Flywheelers Show, we check in with our old friend Bernie Scott who's got a Tiger by the tail! Sort of, anyway -- he's added a 1961 Tiger garden tractor to his collection. It's a 7-horsepower machine with some intriguing details. Watch and learn! And, if you want to visit the BIG SHOW held each February in Florida, head to their website: www.FloridaFlywheelers.org


6:16
 

The art of the lowballing in CASH!​

Seth Rose from Exotics Rally & Art of Wrap shares some of his craziest AutoTempest finds during the pandemic.


10:43
 

The American Dream Cars of the 1950s Part I: GM's Motorama Edition​

Aug 27, 2024

A classic car connaisseur dives into the world of the many American dreams cars of the 1950s! In every part of this four part episode we look at some of the awesome futuristic mid-centry modern masterpieces and radical concept cars. This is part one, the General Motor's Motorama Edition. Here we talk about the Buick Y-Job, GM Le Sabre and the many Motorama show cars, like the Cadillac Cyclone, Firebird gas turbine cars, and the GMC L'Universelle!


22:10
 

Dedicated Mom Owns One Of A Kind 1953 Deutz Tractor! Built in Germany, Still In Its Work Clothes!​

At the big Tuckahoe Show in Eastern Maryland, we met Sarah Steelman who is a Mom and a lady who caught Classic Tractor Fever! Sarah shares the story of the Deutz tractor she appreciates. Built in Germany, this tractor is on the rare side, and rarely seen in the USA. Find out more about this FUN show on Maryland's eastern shore at their website: www.TuckahoeSteam.org


6:19
 

Subaru Advanced Tech Explained: Eyesight, SI-Drive, X Mode, & More!​

Sep 15, 2024

14:01
 

He Got His Granddad's Tractor Back After 40 Years! A 1950 John Deere MT He Will NEVER Let Go!​

Bob Scutty of Ohio has fond memories of the John Deere MT tractor his Granddad bought new in 1950. It's the first tractor Bob remembers driving. And, it was a big step forward in power for his Granddad on the farm back in the day. It took a while -- and some time out of the family -- but Bob was able to bring the old MT back into the fold, get it looking good, and going to tractor shows in its retirement years. Find out more about Indiana's Franklin County Antique Machinery Show held in September each year at their website: https://www.fcamc.org/

6:31
 

Death Defying Gearhead Fun: The Mechanix Illustrated Highway Kart​

Sep 26, 2024

In 1962 Mechanix Illustrated magazine published one of the most recklessly insane do it yourself projects of all time. Called the Highway Kart, it was a street legal go-kart with a 5hp engine, lights, license plates, and a frame of angle iron.
This idea was inspired by two guys driving around the world in go-karts and the editors somehow thought that their audience would like to have a shot at doing the same thing on their own.
The idea of driving a literal go-kart down the city streets and actual interstate highways is both hilarious and terrifying at the same time. Would you do it?
This is the story of the most wacko magazine how-to project ever, the Mechanix Illustrated Highway Kart.


9:39
 
searcher said:
The idea of driving a literal go-kart down the city streets and actual interstate highways is both hilarious and terrifying at the same time. Would you do it?
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Many in my town drive around in their carts of various sizes. If I lived in town, I might also go around in golf-carts or mini vehicles. It is usual, normal, and expected. Maybe following one costs me twenty seconds to the corner market or gas station? I don't care.
 
Ho, ho. When I was young and dumb (as opposed to being an old fool) and with a pocket full of money, I SO wanted a Jeep. I had a pocket full of money, but not the kind that would buy a new CJ. And in the Rust Belt, old Jeeps were Swiss cheese.

So I hit on an idea: I bought a Post Office Dispatcher (based literally on the M38A1, without the 4wd and with an AMC six jammed in) and elected to replace the body with a fiberglass CJ body.

Now it bolted right in, and careful measuring had all the body mounts correct. The wiring harness was as simple as a generator set on a 1960s bicycle.

BUT. One reason the Jeep was reviled, was, safety. A kid like me would slough that off...until you realize. AMC, when it absorbed the Jeep company, stretched the CJ wheelbases (CJ-5 and CJ-6) two inches. Partly to make room for the longer in-line sixes, which replaced the Willys fours. But also because CJ-5s were developing a bad reputation for doing somersaults - in traffic or on trails, it didn't care. It was like a pogo stick - the only way it couldn't fall, was up.

The CJ-7 solved that, and later, the Wrangler's belated AMC 4, put the whole engine behind the front axle. That made it far more stable, but that was in the future.

My plastic-fantastic home-brew not-a-Jeep, had that 600-pound cast-iron six WAY OVER the front axle. It used the military 81-inch frame, which they stuck with for the Postals (and military four-cylinders) long after the civilian products got a wheelbase stretch. The engineers thought the Postal body-weight would counter the additional nose-heaviness. But I cut that off and replaced it with a fiberglass tub that had one-quarter the weight.

I drove that thing about 100 miles after I completed it - in my rural Ohio town. It scared the snot out of me. It went into storage when I went into the Navv, and never came out. I sold it while it was parked, with the buyer doing the hard stuff. It wasn't my barn, I was paying for it, so I expect he just took the body off and left the frame for the owner to clean up. I was long gone by then.

But, yeah. Today, I'd think finding a car without airbags would be a plus; but driving a tippy plastic platform in traffic? Or a little go-cart? Thanks, no. Getting squashed in traffic...hurts.
 
Someone_else said:
Many in my town drive around in their carts of various sizes. If I lived in town, I might also go around in golf-carts or mini vehicles. It is usual, normal, and expected. Maybe following one costs me twenty seconds to the corner market or gas station? I don't care.
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Casey Jones said:
but driving a tippy plastic platform in traffic? Or a little go-cart? Thanks, no. Getting squashed in traffic...hurts.
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Good friend retired & moved to FL. She's in The Villages. Everyone has carts. Looks like a cool way to travel there. Probably not too much crazy traffic (cars / big trucks.)

Around here? Nah...........way too many cars & trucks with everyone in a rush. Also, not legal.

Do see kids (once in a blue moon) on mini bikes. They bring back memories. Haven't seen a go cart in years.

Edit to add: A walk down memory lane

 
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searcher said:
Good friend retired & moved to FL. She's in The Villages. Everyone has carts. Looks like a cool way to travel there. Probably not too much crazy traffic (cars / big trucks.)

Around here? Nah...........way too many cars & trucks with everyone in a rush. Also, not legal.

Do see kids (once in a blue moon) on mini bikes. They bring back memories. Haven't seen a go cart in years.
Click to expand...
I was down in Florida in 2022, for about four weeks. Had a little fiberglass RV trailer (not the one I wrecked with two years later) and had a little Yamaha 200cc dual-sport with me.

The idea was, park the trailer and leave the truck there (I did) and use the bike to do whatever I felt like. THAT didn't work out. That Yamaha would do a comfortable 50; could do 60 wide-open for short periods.

I thought I was gonna get kilt.

Not for reckless driving - actually, in that area (Kissimme Lakes) traffic was law-abiding and rational. Just that it was WAY too fast, and there was too much of it. Anywhere I entered a main highway I became a roadblock.

So, no trips to Orlando that way. Just wasn't worth the risk, and wasn't any fun.

I saw a lot of "golf-carts" converted to "street use" (bigger wheels with narrower tires) all over, every RV park and vacation-home community, but those were to go to the Bridge Club and the convenience store inside the compound. Nobody I saw was foolish enough to take anything like that on a public highway.
 
This one brought back a few memories. Something you don't see every day.

Crawler Crane Teardown In New Jersey Just To Haul It And Rebuild It In Philadelphia!​

Oct 3, 2024


18:01
 

$2.7 MILLION Dollar Combine​

Oct 3, 2024

How cool is it that revolutionary technology is being tested here in Nebraska! Happy harvest season everyone! Can’t wait to share all the cool projects I’ve been working on lately. Hint: mini tractor coming soon :)


11:01
 

The Strange Cranes Built on TANKS? ▶ Machinery You Didn’t Know About 2​

Oct 18, 2024


10:10
 

Rare Today! Not Just One, But THREE Classic Sheppard Diesel Farm Tractors In Pennsylvania!​

6 days ago #cultivating #classictractor #fieldwork

The feature at the Grease, Steam and Rust Show in Pennsylvania was short-line classic farm tractors -- that is brands and models that did not last very long in the marketplace. Sheppard Diesel tractors built in the 1940s and 50s in Pennsylvania fit that description and we found a trio of tractors to talk about. Enjoy! More about this great show at their website: www.GSandR.com


8:08
 

British Touring: 1965 MGB Convertible!​

May 11, 2020

A classic car connoisseur drove a classic British sports car! And here are some of my thoughts of the MGB!


4:59
 
Sure. Run out of power in the middle of nowhere, and have another group with a Gator, run back into town and bring a bucket of amps back.

THESE PEOPLE ARE INSANE.

Just before I left the railroad...there was a test locomotive going around. BATTERY POWERED. It wasn't here, on the old formerly-electrified Milwaukee Road line...the guys with memories of it are retired or dead, now; but some of their kids are now old men working here. Electric locomotives worked fine. And in fact, cheaper than diesels. The incompetent management of the time did a cost-benefit analysis that was rife with errors, and wrongly concluded that diesels saved costs. And as a result of that blunder, the Milwaukee Road was bankrupt by 1976.

So. Electric power does fine, but with OVERHEAD LINES. Not fer-chrissake BATTERIES...

The test loco had batteries. Being tested in Avon Yard, Indiana, on CSX (former Conrail) properties. Tested as a switch engine. And most of the time it was plugged in - four hours was all it could do anything.

It has been scrapped; but the battery soyboiz just keep beating that drum.

This crackpot idea is going to take down Stellantis, Volkswagen, maybe Ford...GM is backing away, without saying anything - after all, it's Government Motors - but there's gonna be a HUGE cost to this failure.

Failure of the technology. Failure to use common sense to SEE the idea is impractical, partly by the basic parameters.
 

TAXI!: The History of Checker Cabs & Cars​

Nov 6, 2024

A classic car connaisseur tells the history of Checker, a carmaker but also taxi operator. We look at the history of the brand and it's many models, including the most well known, the Checker Marathon. With their bright yellow color and checkered decals, they were a common sight as cabs in many American cities.


22:53
 
^^^^^^^^^

Checker couldn't make it in the era of emissions, changing safety standards, and unionized work forces.

Checker, by the time the Superba/Marathon came out (pictured there) was reduced to using Continental engines. Not Lincoln-Continental, but Continental Motor Company, a maker of stationary powerplants. They were crude flatheads, but reliable and easily fixed - great for taxi companies.

1968 brought emissions standards. Checker began using sixes from Chevrolet.

With tightening standards, came more-difficult compliance. It wasn't enough to use an engine used with other compliant cars; the CAR in question had to be tested. Certification is an onerous process - as Malcolm Bricklin learned. His Yugo imports were purchased FOB at the factory for $1400 each - but by the time the compliance costs were worked in, he was barely making money at $3999.

Checker kept a loyal customer base for 13 years, with rising costs, more-difficult engine sourcing. 1982 spelled the end - they'd lost customers, cab companies just buying police-model Chevrolets; but also, 1982 brought CAFE standards and fines for non-compliance. Retired GM exec Ed Cole was hired by Checker to create a new, compliant cab - Cole hoped to use a modified VW Rabbit, which would be stretched on the Checker assembly line.

Cole died in an aircraft accident and the project was abandoned. Checker discontinued cab production but instead, contracted to stamp parts for General Motors.

GM's bankruptcy put what was left of Checker out of business.

FWIW, it wasn't that great a cab or an idea. A cab company I drove for, had a few old Checkers left. The driver's lease - that was how it was done, drivers leased cabs by the day as independent contractors - the lease costs were lower with the Checkers, which were spartan and by then, beat to snot.

They drank gas like crazy; they handled like farm wagons. The seating was uncomfortable for the driver; the seat covering was slippery vinyl. You'd be sliding all over if you were driving fast through traffic.

Good riddance.
 
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