1956 Aston Martin

Specifically a 1956 Aston Martin DB 2/4 MKII Supersonic, the only Supersonic built on an Aston Martin chassis and was first displayed at the 1956 Turin Auto Salon. The car was driven by American grand prix racing driver Harry Schell. More pics

Commer sheeptruck for Royal Mail, 1938

A truck belonging to Wainuiomata Transport. 

Lamborghini with hood ornament

No doubt it is normally in the passenger seat...

traffic in Queen Street, Auckland, 1920s

A ubiquitous tram in view and a bus at the kerb on the other side.

bus roof class in Pakistan

The second scene must be during rush hour...

1972 Dodge Charger

'I like discovering what's in books'

1936 Lux Sport

The Lux Sport was a luxury car designed by a team of Polish builders under the leadership of engineer Zygmunt Okołów in 1935. Notable features were the frame structure of the chassis, independent suspension with double wishbone at each wheel, hydraulic double-acting shock absorbers consisting of four long torsion bars, allowing adjustment of ground clearance in the range of 180-230 mm from the passenger compartment, automatic lubrication of the relevant elements of the chassis, adjustable suspension and hydraulic drum brakes.

1934 Austin 7 Special racing car

1946 Alvis TA 14 Sports Saloon

Plus what looks like a tug boat

a modern version of the 'strength through joy' car?

'your strength through joy car'

Early Nazi announcement of the Volkswagen in the late 1930s, an illustration considered for but not used in the book 50 years of Volkswagens in NZ.

It was used, however, in the book Art of the Third Reich which has over 300 examples of Nazi produced or approved art and is an interesting read about how ideology and prejudice took over cultural expression generally (despite disagreement in some matters by Goebbels) and how those whose work was not approved of were banished in the Reich (although so-called 'degenerate' artists could move to Paris where they could paint unmolested during the occupation and their work could be bought and sold at auction as long as it was not exported to the Reich.)

1982 Pontiac TransAm

narrow gauge railway junction, Bertsdorf, Germany

 

Loco 99 787 on the right is a 2-10-2T built in 1955 by Lokomotivbau Karl Marx, Potsdam-Babelsberg.  This is on a preserved 750 mm gauge operation known as the Sächsisch-Oberlausitzer Eisenbahngesellschaft which operates trains between Zittau and Bertsdorf with 2 branches to Kurort Oybin & Kurort Jonsdorf.  See earlier post for details on the railcar on the left.  (Geoff Churchman pic) 

Tupolev Tu-134A airliner

Seen in the now defunct Interflug (see earlier posts) livery.  A total of 852 of the general type were manufactured.  The Tu 134 made its first scheduled flight in September 1967. The second series were denoted Tu-134A, however, this one doesn't seem to have the distinctive glass nose and chin radar dome - more info

Southern Pacific SD45R

 

A rebuilt unit from 1966, seen on the front of this freight train 20 years later in California.

'I think I'll read this book in bed tonight'

1970s Jensen-Healey advert

This sports car was produced between 1972 and 1976.

Formula 1 car facts

A F1 car is made up of 80,000 components. If it were assembled 99.9% correctly, it would still start the race with 80 things wrong!

When a F1 driver hits the brakes on his car he experiences retardation or deceleration comparable to a  regular car driving through a brick wall at 300 km/h

A F1 car can go from 0 to 160 km/h AND back to 0 in 4 seconds

A F1 car's engine lasts only for about 6 hours of racing mostly before blowing up. On the other hand we expect our engines to last us for a decent 20 years on an average and they quite faithfully do - that's the extent to which the engines are pushed to perform.

An average F1 driver looses about 4 kg of weight after just one race due to the prolonged exposure to high G forces and temperatures for little over 1 hour 45 minutes.

At 550 kg, a F1 car is less than the weight of the original Mini.

As an idea of just how important aerodynamic design and added down force can be, small planes can take off at slower speeds than F1 cars travel on the track.

Without aerodynamic down force, high-performance racing cars have sufficient power to produce wheel spin and loss of control at 160 km/h. They usually race at over 300 km/h.

In a street course race like the Monaco Grand Prix, the down force provides enough suction to lift manhole covers. Before the race all of the manhole covers on the streets have to be welded down to prevent this from happening!

The refuelers used in F1 can supply 12 litres of fuel per second. This means it would take just 4 seconds to fill the tank of an average 50 litre family car. They use the same refuelling rigs used on US military helicopters today.

Top F1 pit crews can refuel and change tyres in around 3 seconds.

During the race, the tyres lose weight! Each tyre loses about 0.5 kg in weight due to wear.

Normal tyres last 60,000 - 100,000 km. Racing tyres are designed to last 90 - 120 km.

A dry-weather F1 tyre reaches peak operating performance (best grip) when tread temperature is between 900 degrees C and 1,200 C.  (Water boils at 100C)

At top speed, F1 tyres rotate 50 times a second.

(Thanks to Cliff for sending this in)

(hdwallpapersinn.com)

NZ bush tramway scene in model

One of the layouts on display at the Model Railex in Lower Hutt last weekend.  For lots of info on the real thing, see the book The Era of the Bush Tram in NZ

Dunedin tram line past the Knox church, George Street

See an earlier post for a view the other way.

Dallas Grand Prix poster, 1984

1964 Ford Zephyr

horse and cart on Horse Shoe Bend, Raurimu, 1900s

Not the roadbed of the railway being built although this may be nearby.

vintage racing car on oranges label, California

London and North Western Royal Train, 1904

Hauled by a 4-4-0 on a quad-track section of line.  The location is not given, nor who was on board.

'I so enjoy reading a good book from my collection'

the bush tram, NZ, 1900s

 

The local term for a logging railway. Shown in this tinted postcard is one as basic as it got, horses on wooden rails.  For lots more, see the book The Era of the Bush Tram in New Zealand.

'Adriatica': Venise - Grèce - Istamboul

 

Although intended to look like a 1930s French poster, we think this is a recent 'retro' creation.

cars on Beach Street, Daytona Beach, Florida, mid-1950s

 

In fact not a beachfront street but next to the Halifax River.

cars on Daytona Beach, Florida, late 1950s

from a linen postcard

Pretty much a beach street.

houseboat at Ohura on the Wanganui River

 see earlier posts

traffic in Church Street, Parramatta, Sydney, 1912

A tram track runs down the centre. Today there are proposal for trams to return here, story

1956 Ford Customline

British steam loco cigarette cards

Inserted into packs of cigarettes by the different manufacturers, these collector cards were intended to encourage people to collect a full set, necessarily buying the same brand.  They were quite small and this pic (full resolution) shows about actual size. For NZ examples, see our forthcoming book on NZR memorabilia.

Futwa-Islampur Light Railway, India

A Manning Wardle 0-6-2T on a narrow gauge, 43 km(?) line built after India's independence in 1947. More pics here

'wow, it's a transpress nz book!'

through the Pyrénées to Canfranc, Spain

opening day in 1928

view from the Avenida de Fernando el Católico

French standard gauge electrified tracks

non electrified Spanish approach track

Canfranc is an enormous 240 metre long station on the Spanish side of the Pyrénées and today little used.  It was opened in 1928 following the construction of the 93 km (58 mile) electrified international line from Pau in France.  Following a 1970 train derailment which demolished the L'Estanguet bridge near Accous on the French side of the mountains, the French decided not to rebuild the bridge and the cross border line was closed, 43 years later still the situation.

French TER regional railcars go from Pau only as far as Oloron-Sainte-Marie, 35 km (see earlier post).  Canfranc sees similar trains from Zaragoza.   It is planned to extend the TER on the section between Oloron-Sainte-Marie and Bedous, 25 km, in 2015.  more here

the French line through the Vallée d'Aspe

Viaduc de l'Escot on the French line