Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

Category Archives: Classic Bits

CHRYSLER FIVE-PACK

I CONFESS that this title sounds like Chrysler getting into the brewery business with a cost-cutting move. But, in fact, the Chrysler Five-Pack is one of World War II’s success stories. … Continue reading →

January 24, 2014 · 8 Comments

BLACK BEAUTY = PHANTOM CORSAIR?

I BELIEVE I’ve identified Black Beauty, the car used by the Green Hornet—the real old-time-radio Green Hornet, not some latter-day phony-schmony counterpart in a rudely customized Chrysler, for goodness sake. … Continue reading →

January 15, 2014 · 3 Comments

BMW M1 AT GOODING’S SCOTTSDALE

THERE ARE those who consider the Honda/Acura NSX to be the world’s first practical exotic. But my vote goes to another car introduced more than a decade before the NSX—the … Continue reading →

January 5, 2014 · 5 Comments

LECO MK 2—MY NON-TOJEIRO RIDE

WHEN ALEX Quattlebaum, Jr., went hunting for an English sports racing car, he struck lucky in a Suffolk farmer’s barn and a car identified as a Tojeiro. By the time … Continue reading →

November 28, 2013 · 1 Comment

LECo—ENGLISH BACK-GARDEN SPECIALS

THE ENGLISH had a knack for producing racing cars in their proverbial back gardens. To wit, H.F.S. Morgan’s trike (www.wp.me/p2ETap-14b), Delingpole and Lowe’s Dellow (www.wp.me/p2ETap-6B), the Bolster Bros.’ “Bloody Mary” … Continue reading →

November 27, 2013 · Leave a comment

McLAREN F1

PRESS INTRODUCTIONS of exotic cars are, by their very nature, special events. And, without a doubt, the most exciting one I ever attended was the 1992 introduction of the McLaren … Continue reading →

November 18, 2013 · 7 Comments

STROTHER’S CAR CULTURE

STROTHER MACMINN taught automotive design at the Art Center College of Design for five decades, with disciples throughout the industry. He was also instrumental in establishing Toyota’s Calty Design Research … Continue reading →

November 14, 2013 · 1 Comment

BARNATO’S BLUE TRAIN BENTLEY(S)

JOEL WOOLF “Babe” Barnato, British financier, international sportsman, one of the Bentley Boys, heir to South African diamond and gold mining wealth, was dining at the Carleton Hotel in Cannes, … Continue reading →

November 12, 2013 · 3 Comments

BEETLE BITS

A GOOD number of us have recollections of the original Volkswagen Beetle, and a recent piece in the London Review of Books, September 12, 2013, caught my eye. The article, … Continue reading →

November 4, 2013 · 2 Comments

VANWALL RACE CARS

ENGLISHMAN TONY Vandervell’s business was producing bearings in Acton, West London, but his passion was international Formula One racing. By 1959, when Tony’s health precluded his running these two activities, … Continue reading →

November 2, 2013 · 2 Comments