Pinewood Derby

V has been bugging me for almost a year to build a pinewood derby car. I'm embarrassed to say I just never made it a priority. He ended up getting involved in a race through his new school. Since I wasn't there to help Grandpa jumped in. The story as I heard it was V was so excited to get after it he started working on the body with a pocket knife at school the day he got the kit...

It's so much fun to have a  kid I can share the gearhead affliction with. No effort, he just understands it all inherently. Third place. I'm proud of you kid.

1950 BSA A10

Hurd Bird

Funny how sometimes you can have a book for years and still not notice things.

I was paging through Triumph Motorcycles - A Century of Passion and Power tonight and noticed the forks on this bike for the first time. 

Racer/Dealer Sonny Angel on his Vincent H.R.D framed, Thunderbird powered Hurd Bird. The photo was taken in 1957 outside Sonny's National City, California shop. I'd love to know where the original engine wound up.

Ewan McGregor

Ewan McGregor's Baron built bike. Featured soon in Dice magazine. I'm posting this picture mostly so I can find someday later as reference. Pretty cool. The tank and front end remind me a good bit of a certain bike in my shop.

Celebrity Triumph Riders

Ewan McGregor

Arthur Fonzarelli

Evel Knievel

Chopper

To be frank I'm generally not a huge Triumph chopper fan. This one is pretty cool though. I'm not sure I'd fly in a Pre-Unit powered aircraft that can't glide to a semi-safe landing.

Ran When Parked

1979 Yamaha IT 175 - NOS with 13 miles on the clock. It's super cool in a novelty sort of way and yet I can't help feeling a little sorry for it never having seen the dirt.

10 Most Valuble Motorcycles

Interesting. I would have guessed the big tank Crockers would be higher on the list.

1. 1948 Vincent Black Lightning Prototype

10. 1940 Crocker

Ryan Dungey

I had the distinct pleasure of watching the 5th round of Supercross with my favorite 7 year old fan last night. My youngest son is pretty seriously into it. He knows all the notable 450 riders (by number and everything) and is not shy about really liking Ryan Dungey. It's very cool as I remember feeling the same way about Bob Hannah at a similar age only watching races on TV was rarely an option in those days.

To make it just that much more fun, Dungey had a pretty exceptional night last night. In Ryan's qualifying heat, on the starting line, a bleeding edge air shock failed and the rear end of his bike just fell flat. He wasn't even able get out of the gate and was visibly frustrated. He hasn't had all that notable a season so far so it was a very tough break.

Ryan was forced into an LCQ (last chance qualifier) as his last hope for even making the Main. In the LCQ Dungey was taken down in a first turn pileup and resumed the race in about 10th place. Dungey would have to finish in 1st or 2nd place to even qualify for the Main. In a pretty remarkable feat he rode the tires of his bike and qualified. Vaughn unfortunately could no longer force himself to stay awake and asked me to tape the end of the race.

Ultimately Dungey went straight from the LCQ to the Main and won it. I doubt very much if either Vaughn or I will forget it any time soon.

Delica

White waiting in line for the ferry on Saturday the distinct sound of diesel being driven a little bit hard caught my attention. I looked up and eventually realized the sound was coming from one of these.

 

The one I saw was a little less pimped out than the one pictured. Slightly oversized tires with pretty aggressive tread. It was the kind of 4X4 you see in places where people own a 4X4 because they need one, not because they are compensating for... My reaction was, well, WTF was that? I just caught D-E-L-I-C-A on the rear gate as it pulled away. It made enough of an impression I had to later look it up. Apparently Mitsubishi has been building a Delica in some fashion or another since 1968. Oddly, we've both been on this earth the same amount of time and yet I had never encountered one before.

I can remember being fascinated by a handful of vehicles over the years that were sold in Canada but not in the US. I'll never forget seeing an RD350LC at a stop-light in Canada in about 1980 (with no prior knowledge that they even existed) and just feeling robbed. Hell, I still do...

Island Life

I spent the weekend in the San Juan Islands with my in-laws and youngest boy V. The island has a very unique culture, especially for being so close to a sprawling metropolis. It's a great escape. This picture well summarizes to blend of lifestyle.

 

E-Type Atrocity?

 Enzo Ferrari once called the E-Type Jaguar "The most beautiful car ever made." Look hard at a series I and it's tough to argue with him. It's one of those vehicle's that just can't be done better than stock. Save maybe this one. Man I love that car.

 

This one has always been a favorite too. Never has a car better supported the storyline of a film. 

The car is the feature of my all time favorite movie car crash too. No phoney "Die Hard" type explosions, no explosive propelled multiple roll-overs, just splat. It has crazy dramatic effect. It's just shockingly more real maybe. Rambo's no going to get out of that car unscratched. The car sounds pretty damn good as it's getting flogged too.

So what's my all-time favorite movie crash unconditionally? Easy. This one. If you've ever tried unsuccessfully to teach an absolute beginner to rider I think you'll recognize why. I have watched video hundreds of times and it makes me laugh every single time.