CURVES OF STEEL
IN 2007, Dennita Sewell of the Phoenix Art Museum curated an exhibition titled “Curves of Steel,” featuring 22 automobiles of world-class stature. The exhibition’s catalog is a handsome book of … Continue reading
TOOT A LOO, AMBY
HINDUSTAN MOTORS Ltd has shut down production of the Ambassador, as reported in a series of BBC News reports, August 27, 2014. It’s an event celebrated in India with mixed … Continue reading
WOODSMAN, PLY THAT TREE
PLYWOOD IS the world’s first composite material. This sandwiching of wood has been around for more than 200 years. It has numerous domestic uses. Its heritage in aviation is rich; … Continue reading
DUTCH DARRIN’S FORD CABRIOLET
THE TERM custom coachwork may not resonate with the name Ford as readily as with Roll-Royce, Duesenberg or Packard. Nor does a relocation from Paris to Los Angeles seem the … Continue reading
GOODING & COMPANY 2014 PEBBLE BEACH
MAYBE IT’S a sign of my age, but I seem to resonate with a goodly number of fabulous cars being offered at Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach Auctions. With some … Continue reading
CELEBRATING MORGAN
THIS YEAR, 2014, the Morgan Motor Company is celebrating a 100th anniversary, which I find a perfect opportunity to recollect Morgan’s 75th anniversary that daughter Suz and I attended in … Continue reading
CATALOG TALES—A BROADWAY STAR, AN EARLY B.A.T. AND SINATRA’S LAMBORGHINI
CATALOGS FROM automobile auctions make for great reading. They’re snapshots in time as well as in value. And, in just about any major sale, there are tales associated with the … Continue reading
THE OTTO FOUR-STROKE—SELF TAUGHT
THE UBIQUITOUS Otto four-stroke internal combustion engine didn’t originate with Otto. For instance, Frenchman Alphonse Eugène Beau de Rochas patented the four-stroke concept in 1861, fifteen years before German Nicolaus … Continue reading
CELEBRATING CHITTY-BANG-BANGS
WITH ALL the World War I reflections going on, I offer a celebration of its surplus aero engines. Specifically, three of these huge powerplants powered Chitty-Bang-Bang I, II and III, … Continue reading
MUROC MADCAPS
MUROC DRY LAKE, in the high desert about 100 miles north of Los Angeles, has a rich history in motor sport. Here are a few of my favorite Muroc madcaps, … Continue reading
