Tuesday, August 30, 2011

In Today's Mail...

This from an Occasional Correspondent:

Do you know what happened 160 years ago this fall.... Back in 1850?
 
California became a state.
The people had no electricity.
   The state had no money.
  Almost everyone spoke Spanish.
  There were gunfights in the streets.
So basically nothing has changed except back then,
the women had real tits and men didn't hold hands.


That, my friends, is your history lesson for today…
Heh. That silicone thang is too, too true... as is the rest of it. But especially the silicone.

―:☺:―

The Cadillac people are still sending me marketing e-mails for some unknown reason, and I still read 'em prolly for that same unknown reason.  But this month's missive actually included sumthin' useful, fun, and entertaining if you're a gearhead (and I AM): a link to the Pebble Beach Concours d' Elegance site.  Where you can see pics o' some VERY cool cars, like this:

1938 Talbot-Lego
They did some AMAZING thangs with Legos in the way-back, didn't they?  That said... it's just too bad that what you see is as big as the photos get.  ALL of these cars could do with high-res, high-quality photos... not the way-too-small thangs such as the above.  Still and even, I spent about an hour on the site.  Very nice.

9 comments:

  1. "Heh. That silicone thang is too, too true... as is the rest of it. But especially the silicone."

    And here I thought silicone valley was about computer chips or some such.

    Or is that just a better meaning of silicone valley? heh.

    There are some cars that are really sweet that are made today, but somehow they just don't quite measure up to the work of art that the old cars were.

    I know there is aerodynamics involved with today's cars, but that doesn't explain why so many of them have to look so much alike.

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  2. The Talbott and the Bugatti "Atlantique" (a similar auto) have always been among my favorites. My 1954 Jag XK-140 "fixed-head coupe" ("British racing green" w. sea-foam green leather int) that I owned while stationed in the UK (Before I bought my Marcos GT, that is) bore a strong resemblance to those lines as well, tho not quite so rakish in terms of roof-lines as they merge to the rear trunk area, yet having a more streamlined raked cowling and grill.

    GREAT cars all... and anon, above is right...those chars exuded CHARACTER in a way that today's somehow do not--or is that just our imagination/nostalgia based on the fact they were so uniquely ahead of their time for that day and age compared to the maj of their contemporaries?

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  3. Virgil, I think the older cars had designers who were true artists. The curves and lines of the older cars reflect some of the art during that era, art deco comes to mind when seeing some of these beauties.

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  4. Beautiful cars -- Anonymous is right, autos were ART back then.

    I'm thinking I would have to buy a dress that cost more than my current car just to dress properly for this show.

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  5. Our family car up until 1949 was a 1934 Buick series 90 sedan, I wish I had it today!

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  6. There are some cars that are really sweet that are made today, but somehow they just don't quite measure up to the work of art that the old cars were.

    I dunno, Anon. I suppose it depends on how much ya wanna spend. Jaguar, MB, BMW, Porsche, and even Cadillac make some pretty nice looking cars today, some of which I think are on par with the best designs of the '30s and '40s.

    ...is that just our imagination/nostalgia based on the fact they were so uniquely ahead of their time for that day and age compared to the maj of their contemporaries?

    I think so. Just look at the '54 Chevys and Fords, for comparison's sake. The same thing applies ten years later to the XKE.

    I'm thinking I would have to buy a dress that cost more than my current car just to dress properly for this show.

    Nah. It's STILL California, Red... pretty much anything goes. ;-)

    Lou: Yup!

    Ed: I'd take a '34 Buick.

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  7. When I was in my 30's, and just shooting the breeze with my mom, the subject of glands came up. I asked her if she had to do it all over again, how much different would her life be.

    She said, easy, I lost all my teeth and my breasts look like they could easily be on the cover of National Geographic. I'd have my tubes tied at 11, and skipped having babies.

    So I said "But then I wouldn't have been born??" There was no comment on that. Hmmm.... I had to strive to make myself worth her sacrifice maybe.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.