1946 Cadillac 62 Series Club Coupe

This was one of the cars featured in the second volume of selections from the 20 years of NZ Classic Car Magazine published in book form this year.

1948 Buick Roadmaster & 1952 Buick Super

(classiccar.co.nz)

a happy 2015 to our customers and readers

meanwhile back in 1905...

...a weird New Year card. "Another one to smoke" - stop working and smoke the year away?  And what is being smoked?  Maybe it means, "if you smoke like me you'll soon look like me"?

vintage cars in NZ

About now book bloggers list what they think are the best books of the year, but there have been no standouts that we've encountered this year in our subject field, so here's one from last year that deserves an accolade, primarily because it was nicely designed and by a woman at that.  The cover is intended to resemble an old-time mounted picture and a hole is cut through the coverboard to reveal the picture which is part of a montage on the front endpaper.  We would have uv-overglossed the picture instead, but the effect is novel.  Inside there is a nice use of backgrounds and fonts, while good pictures get blown up to the size they deserve, often full page, and less good ones are kept to modest proportions.  Best of all, no car is spread across the gutter and there is no paper wastage with "artistic" white space.

The author has clearly relied on photos taken by various people who in some instances are not very skilled in the art - often pictures are taken against the light or inside and poorly lighted, are low definition and a bit fuzzy or have bad contrast.  You can improve these things to some degree with Photoshop, but there are limits to what you can do.   Nevertheless, the best photos are good. The author's texts strike a balance between the things that a follower of a particular make would want to know, including restoration practicalities, and the salient but general info which suffices for the casual car enthusiast.  All up there are 192 color pages and the book is hardcover.

Leyland Leopard diesel bus of Wellington City Transport

Another photo considered for, but not used in the book Wellington Transport Memories.  For info and lots more, see that book.  (Wallace Trickett photo)

new Helgoland harbor, Germany, circa 1900

Helgoland is a group of islands in the North Sea, spelt Heligoland in English with a present day population of about 1,400.  It was briefly a Danish possession, then a British possession from 1814 to 1890 when it was given back to Germany.  During WW2 the islands were a regular target of the Royal Air Force and the population was evacuated in 1945.  They didn't return until 1952; in the meantime the RAF continued to use the islands as target practice, changing the shape of the coastlines.  Today it attracts tourists not least because of the tax exempt status.

'everyone wants to read my transpress nz book, so I have to hide it'

tram in Leningrad, Russia, 1958

With some youthful fare evaders by the look of it.  See earlier post.

early motor coach passes under Hawk's Crag, Westland, circa 1920

A feature of the road between Inangahua and Westport, and still there. With the use of reinforcing over the bank, the road is a bit wider today. The Buller River is alongside.

transport on a Mauritania banknote from 2011

On the 5,000 Ouguiya (worth $US 17) note there is an airport control tower and an iron ore train.  Iron ore represents about 40% of the country's exports and all of it is moved to port by rail.  The diesels are from EMD; on the banknote a SDL40-2, recently SD70ACS have been acquired, see earlier post.

ugly cars - a selection

1999 Fiat Multipla

Proton Juara, Malaysia 2001-2003

more here

Marilyn Monroe in 'Arrêt d'Autobus'

With a cowboy about to lasso Marilyn? Obviously, the French poster for Bus Stop, see earlier post.

'you are travelling at 167 km/h'

Seen in Germany. Presumably the info is intended for motorists, not trains.

trolley and cigars on a beer label from Tampa, Florida

The connection between the three isn't obvious.

FS class E444 on a postal train stamp, Italy, 1970

selected British Railways steam locomotives 1813-1948

As featured on this National Savings poster from 1948, the year British Railways were nationalised.  European railways didn't dieselize as quickly as those in North America. National Savings sounds like a central government scheme too.

transport life of Norwegians in minature

cars and trolley at the bottom of the Magnolia Petroleum Building, Dallas, Texas, 1933

The 29 story Magnolia Building at 1315 Commerce Street was completed in 1922 and was originally the headquarters for the Magnolia Petroleum Company. In 1934, the company erected its trademark neon Pegasus on the building's roof (the Pegasus later became the logo of Mobil Oil who merged with Magnolia Petroleum in 1959) to celebrate the American Petroleum Institute's annual meeting, held in Dallas for the first time. The rotating winged horse came to represent the city of Dallas and became one of its most recognizable and endearing landmarks, even after the building became obscured by much taller skyscrapers (the neon Pegasus, which was recreated in 1999, can now only be seen in the downtown skyline approaching from the south).

Mobil moved out of the building in 1977 and it is now the Magnolia Hotel. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

a 4-4-0 on the Madeira-Mamoré Railroad art, Brazil

From the look of it, a scene set in 1931 as the stamp marks a 50th anniversary in 1981.  Info on the line is here

Bugatti and Baguetti

1970s Pro-Trac tire promo

1950 Bentley Mark VI

by the P&O to Australia from London and Marseille

Age uncertain, circa 1920?

1937 Panhard advert

fox hunting by the railway viaduct, Vielsalm, Belgium, 1930

This viaduct in the Ardennes was blown up by the Belgian army in May 1940 to slow down the invading German army.  It was on a low traffic line and wasn't ever rebuilt; most of what was left of it was removed in 1952.  More info here

The scene on the poster looks very British and the lady on the left is riding side-saddle which doesn't seem very safe when the horse is jumping over a hedge.

'I found a transpress nz book, don't tell anyone'

1958 BMW Isetta

1980 Volvo B58 buses

electric cigar at Bad Schwalbach, Germany

The 8 battery railcars of the class ETA 176 built over 1952-54 were primarily stationed in Limburg on the Lahn and were thus known as the "Limburger Zigarre" (cigars). They were the predecessors of the class ETA 150 and ran over main and branch lines. They were powered by two 100 kW traction motors (= 200 kW) on one of the two bogies (trucks), the other bogie was unpowered.  They had a service weight of 86.3 tonnes, a top speed of 100 km/h and could seat 168 passengers.  Withdrawal took place over 1982-84.  The first of the class, unit 176.001 (later renumbered 517.001), was the DB's first battery railcar and was restored to its original state, given the original number and was made operational again.

people entering boxcars in Ukraine, 1943

During German occupation. You prefer to think these aren't Jews destined for what the Nazis euphemistically called "resettlement", but that seems likely.

an NZ homemade flying hovercraft

Hovercraft first appeared in 1958 in Britain and work by a fan creating a cushion of air under a rubber skirt which the craft floats on while a conventional propeller provides horizontal thrust.  At around 70 km/h the wings enable this one to take off as the proximity of the ground (water) provides more lift than higher up and the turbulent eddies at the wings' extremities which create drag don't exist close to the ground like they do higher up.

It's probably not a suitable commuting vehicle though, as it would not be a good idea to fly it along a road.

1958 Dodge station wagon

1975 Dodge Charger SE

1975 Dodge Monaco

1958 Dodge Model 100 Sweptside Pickup

1959 Rover P5 (Rover 3 Litre)

trolleybus in Riga, Latvia, 1950s

From the look of it, a Soviet MTB-82d, see earlier post.

fly from England to India on a Short S.8 Calcutta, late 1920s

Seven of these were built, details here

traffic outside Paris Gare du Nord, 1952

The station is clearly coated with grime, a lot of it probably from coal smoke from domestic fires during winter, and that was pretty much the case throughout not just Paris, but many big cities.  The station has been cleaned of it in recent times, see earlier post.

trams in Dee Street, Invercargill, 1910s

See earlier posts and our books for more.

'would you like to read my book with me?'

Dehra Doon railway station, India, 1900s

Now spelt Dehradun.  From the map this is the terminus of a branch line.

Hellenic Air Communications poster, 1930s

Probably depicting a Ju 52, one of which, SX-ACF, was the first airliner in Greece.

the first airplane to have a lavatory

The word is from middle English, in turn from middle French: lava - to wash and tory from toire - room, thus "washroom", in practice of course meaning a toilet. According to one source, the first plane to have one was the Ilya Muromets (Sikorsky S-22), manufactured in Riga, Latvia, in 1913.

The Lawson L-4, a 1921 trimotor biplane manufactured by the Lawson Air Line Company for use in its night flights between Chicago and New York, had sleeping berths, a lavatory and shower (below).

Outside of aircraft, the word lavatory is often used in the UK, but rarely in other English speaking countries.

bathmobile, Russia

It saves time in the morning perhaps... (trinixy.ru)

travel long distance by train in NSW, Australia, 1959