Simanaitis Says

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Category Archives: Classic Bits

A BUGATTI ELECTRIC VEHICLE!

THE 1931 TYPE 56 wasn’t Bugatti’s first electric car, but it’s likely his rarest. Following the popularity of his Baby Bugatti half-scale electric car for kids, le Patron had a … Continue reading →

January 18, 2017 · Leave a comment

MRS. F.J. LINZ, PART 2

When we left plucky automobilist Mrs. F.J. Linz yesterday, she had already earned the respect of the San Francisco motoring community. In 1908, Mrs. Linz served as the General Manager … Continue reading →

January 6, 2017 · 2 Comments

MRS. F.J. LINZ—PLUCKY AUTOMOBILIST

WOMEN AT SimanaitisSays have been aviatory, artistic, aviatory and artistic, and a passle of other descriptions. But “plucky” is a new one, perfectly suited to Mrs. Frederick J. Linz of … Continue reading →

January 5, 2017 · Leave a comment

BUGATTIS AT INDY

LINK THESE: BUGATTI, the Indy 500, a Prince, a Count, Ian Fleming and Muroc Dry Lake. This linkage is all the more astounding because it is exmplified in a single … Continue reading →

December 27, 2016 · 1 Comment

ETTORE BUGATTI–PILOTE DE COURSE

ETTORE BUGATTI IS celebrated as a designer of automobiles, an artist who happened to run a factory as well. However, le Patron was also, early in his career, a race … Continue reading →

December 3, 2016 · 3 Comments

THE R&T WEAR INDEX

MAYBE A YEAR ago, auto journalist pal John Dinkel asked if I knew how to calculate the old R&T Wear Index. Much to my chagrin (for it was John who … Continue reading →

November 26, 2016 · Leave a comment

MINI THOUGHTS

AN AD in the January 1961 R&T got me thinking about the impact of the original Morris 850 in automotive history. This car evolved indirectly from the 1956 Suez Canal … Continue reading →

November 19, 2016 · 3 Comments

CURTA CURTAIN CALL

THE CURTA CALCULATOR looks like a pepper grinder with numerals peering out. There’s a crank on the top that whirs with reassuring precision. And anyone serious about Time-Speed-Distance rallying in … Continue reading →

November 13, 2016 · Leave a comment

A DIVINE DUSIE

THIS PARTICULAR DUESENBERG is more than divine; in a sense, the car was Divine’s. Namely, it was specially built as a Throne Car for the complexly charismatic African-American evangelist Father … Continue reading →

October 30, 2016 · 1 Comment

ART OF BUGATTI–THE PETERSEN MUSEUM

JUST OPENED AT the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles is The Art of Bugatti, in a sense a recreation of an earlier exhibit at the Mullin Automotive Museum described … Continue reading →

October 27, 2016 · 2 Comments