E N D L E S S R O A D Road Chatter XLV P.O. Box 655 Falling Waters, WV 25419 Shop: 304-274-5074 FAX: 304-274-5076 snipped-for-privacy@aol.com
1) A few years ago, Volkswagen got a lot of mileage out of the word Fahvegnuegen. What does Fahvegnuegen mean?
2) The Formula 1 race at Indy last year was a farce. The F1 there this year was once again won by Michael Schumacher (that's gonna change); now they are talking about no more F1 races there after 2007. Once again, the U.S. will be looking for someplace to run Formula 1. How many tracks in America have hosted the F1? (More than I would have guessed.)3) Every Car Guy can roll off names of people in their favorite area of the car world, but how are you with Big Guys in the automotive world overall? Do you know the full name of these car company giants? For example, Ford and Ferrari are Henry Ford and Enzo Ferrari. Company Builders: Bentley Benz Bugatti Buick Chevrolet Chrysler Cooper Delorean Healey Kaiser McLaren Oldsmobile
4) What meter was invented by C.C. Magee in 1935? It has affected us all, not necessarily in a good way.5) In the 1800's, what was seen as an end to the pollution problem in big cities?
--- Retreads ---
These next three questions are from over two years ago. If you remember them from before, consider this a memory test.
6) GM had a car celebrating its 50th birthday in 2003. The first model sported a toothy grill on its rather blunt nose, round exposed wheel wells, and came only in an open top with an automatic transmission. It got its name from a Hoagie Carmichael song. What car is it?7) What famous Formula 1 driver started his driving career with the name A.N. Other?
8) We all know Ford's classic Thunderbird, but what is lovingly known as the E-bird?And the last two are from four years ago.
9) Where do the initials ACBC on the Lotus cars come from?10) What was the original name of the Mustang? (Heck, I didn't even know there WAS an original name.)
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*Cars on DVDCars: The animated film about Cars, for Car Guys, by Car Guys. If you have read anything about this film, you know it is full of neat stuff and great voice choices for the characters of the film:
Paul Newman as Doc Hudson
They copied the Hudson color from a Hudson Mfg. paint chip.
Richard Petty as 'The King' a Plymouth Superbird
The car matches Petty's '70 NASCAR racer
Larry the Cable Guy as the tow truck, Mater
George Carlin as Filmore, the Hippy Dippy VW van
The Filmore was a theatre where many great bands of the 60's performed.
Cheech Marin as the '59 Chevy Impala Low Rider
Darrell Waltrip as the race announcer
Mario Andretti as his old Ford stock car. Michael Schumacher as, you guessed it, a Ferrari.
Listen for other Car Guys, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. Humpy Wheeler, Jay Leno and many more. You will hear Rascal Flatts (Life Is A Highway), Sheryl Crow (Real gone), Brad Paisley (Behind The clouds), and a classic from The Clouds (Sh-Boom).
The mountains in the background are a copy of Cadillac Ranch, you will probably remember the guy that stuck ten Cadillacs nose down in the ground with their tailfins jutting into the air. A '46 Willys CJ-2 A, a '49 Mercury, a Model T, and a '59 Fiat are just a few cars that you may recognize. The tires on McQueen's car are Lightyear Buzzards in reference to Goodyear Eagles. These are just a taste of the things you may notice watching this film. .
It will be released November 7th. The retail price is 29.95. Our New Item Price is 23.95. Pre-Order now and we will ship so you receive it November
7th, the first day available to the public.==================== ** ====================
- Giovanni Cases
The diecast collectors from our retail shop will remember the great Giovanni cases we carried. They have all the diecast sizes from 1:64 to 1:18 and more odd sizes than you can count. We still supply them for a few of our customers. And we can do the same for you. Find the case you want on Giovanni's website, contact us, and we will have it shipped directly to your door; same price as Giovanni, but no state tax or shipping cost. snipped-for-privacy@aol.com
1-304-274-5074==================== ** ====================
- Gift Certificate Give Away
Our regulars know that every month, we give away a $30 Gift Certificate from Endless Road to one of our regular Road Chatter readers. We are happy to say the winner this month was Mike from Glen Burnie, MD.
Again this month, for every purchase our regular Road Chatter Newsletter recipients make, we will put their names in our drawing, and the person whose name is drawn will receive a $30 Gift Certificate from Endless Road.
Good Luck.
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Formula 1
Michael Schumacher has finally decided to hang up his helmet. Or was he pushed? Now, there is talk that he will stay with Ferrari, possibly for testing. That's good; he was instrumental in making the Ferrari team what it is today. And his communication with the team setting up the cars is exceptional. The post race interviews will change drastically, as was evident in the interview when he so eloquently said he was retiring, his announcement was then followed by his replacement, Kimi, a good driver but definitely not a good interview.
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This month, our 'MY FAVORITE CAR' story is by our friend, Bob O.
A Tale of Two Athens Natives (me and my King Midget)
A King Midget is a small two-seat roadster with semi-monocoque construction and a rear-mounted 12-hp Kohler air-cooled engine driving the right rear wheel through a two-speed automatic transmission using a pair of centrifugal clutches. It's a street-legal car that was built in Athens, Ohio from
1946-1970. Many people remember their ads in Mechanics Illustrated, etc. Strangely enough though, the cars were not sold within 50 miles of Athens, to keep the production volume under control (roughly 30 cars per month or so).(Due to Spam Programs, we do not show pictures in our email newsletter. See our newsletter on our web for pictures of Bob's King Midget.)
Although I was born and raised in Athens, and lived about a mile from where they were built, I never actually saw a King Midget until I was 10 years old. That was on a family vacation at the Pioneer Auto Museum in Murdo, SD. I will never forget how exciting it was for me to see my hometown's name stamped on that little nameplate. Apparently, the museum (now the Pioneer Autoshow) still has a 1961 King Midget listed on their website.
I had casually thought about trying to find a King Midget of my own but never really put any effort into it. When I discovered the International King Midget Car Club website (IKMCC) and its classified ads, I began thinking a bit more seriously about buying a car, but there always seemed to be lots of people looking and nobody selling.
This spring, my mother-in-law emailed photos of three rusty King Midget Model 3's that her car-collector neighbor had just trailered home. I then heard that the 2006 Jamboree would be in Athens. Having never attended a Jamboree or even heard a King Midget run before, I decided to go see if any cars might be available.
A couple of weeks before the Jamboree, I found my car on the IKMCC site. It is a red 1966 Model 3, serial K660392, which was once a part of the Hemmings Motor News collection. The seller, Patrick Parent, bought the car from Hemmings in 2004. It is just one of a string of collector vehicles he has owned over the years, including a Rolls Royce and a pair of Cadillacs. His father, Roland Parent, had been a King Midget rider agent in Maine during the 1960's and once owned a cream-colored Model 3. Patrick told us his memories of riding in that car and how the new cars were delivered in crates that had to be returned to the factory.
The Hemmings logos are nicely sign-painted in two colors, with black or brick-red "shadows" under the yellow letters. Someone at Hemmings was supposed to remove the markings before they sold the car. But they were left on because Patrick intended to return the car to its original cream color. But Patrick decided to preserve the Hemmings paint scheme due to its historical significance. Other than the paint, the car is almost entirely original, including the top and the side curtains. The curtains and support rods were found tucked away in a barn at Hemmings when they sold the car.
The car has a dash plaque from a 1987 Vermont auto show and a 2002 Vermont inspection sticker on the windshield. A gentleman we met at the Jamboree was kind enough to send us a 1991 Hemmings holiday card with a painting of the car. I also found a beautiful color photo of it in The Hemmings Book of Postwar American Independents.
(See this card on our web newsletter.)
To me, the car represents a piece of hometown history, as well as an interesting artifact from a significant car collection. Bob Vahsholtz, who publishes a King Midget newsletter, thinks it was probably built in May
1966, the same year and month that I was born. I recently took the car to NJ to meet up with some guys from microcar.org and take a "microcar cruise".(See a picture of the Microcars on our web newsletter.)
-- If you have fond memories of one of your fine machines and would like to tell us about it, send us your story, and, when we use it, you will have your pick of any item we have on our web.
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- Bits and Pieces
Do not get rid of your VHS machines; there are many great automotive videos that are available on VHS tape and not scheduled to be put on DVD. And for those of you finding it difficult to find new blank tapes, we carry the Maxell tapes.
*** Our friend, Greg, sent this note:I have a Randy Owens piece "and Everyone Else" Number 100/135 (print 100 of
135). It is signed by Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. I purchased it in 1989 at the Montreal GP. I would like to know the value. It is now in a simple black frame and is matted. Thank you.Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were one of the greatest rivalries in Formula 1 history. To get both signatures on one poster is quite a feat. If you are interested, send me an email, and I will forward it on to Greg.
*** At Amelia Island, Oscar Kovaleski told of when he had a competition Ferrari with quite inadequate brakes. His mechanic, Jack Daren (sic) told him 'I can give you a brake light.' 'What the hell do I need a brake light for!?' 'Well, I will also give you a button to the brake light. When you come into a corner, you keep the pedal floored and hit the brake light button, and all the cars behind you will lift.'*** Just Do It! If you live in Virginia or any of the surrounding states, now is the time to take a day-trip (or longer if you can swing it) to Skyline Drive. We just spent a day there and can't wait to go back. And the next few weeks will be even more stunning as the trees dress in their fall colors.
(See a current picture from one of the 75 overlooks on our web newsletter.)
Leave your problems behind for the day. This is a road begging to be driven, it is in perfect condition, well marked, very few intersections, no traffic lights, just 100 miles of graceful tree-lined curves. Stop at a few of the scenic overlook areas. Take in the valleys below and mountains in the distance. Many of the pull-offs are over 3000 feet up, views you normally only see from a plane. Take your camera or at least your binoculars. There's also something you city-dwellers may not recognize: Clear Air. Eat at one of the historic lodges; be sure to get a seat by the huge panoramic windows.
But, of course, you are too busy, you have to clean out the garage, rake the leaves, visit your in-laws, catch up at work, spend more time in the rat race. Maybe next year. Or the next, yadda yadda yadda. Just go. If you don't go this year, Skyline Drive won't miss you, but you will be missing it.
(See a vintage picture of one of the 75 overlooks on our web newsletter.)
*** License Tag NovelistsThis month it's all Mustangs:
Blue Mustang: LIL DEVL
New Black Mustang GT: HOTPONY
Silver Mustang shouting he was hiding: CLOAKED
Lady proud of her Mustang: CMY PONY
And a guy in a White Mustang Convertible: I AM N11 I don't know if he meant his car or himself.
This guy had something to brag about: Blue Mustang Shelby: REAL 67
==================== ** ==================== Car Trivia Answers
1) Fahvegnuegen means Driving Pleasure. They have put out quite a few vehicles that would have people agreeing with that statement.2) The American Formula 1 Grand Prix has run at the following tracks: Dallas Detroit Las Vegas Long Beach Phoenix Riverside Roosevelt Raceway San Francisco Santa Monica Savannah Sebring Watkins Glen That's twelve tracks. (From
4) In 1935, C.C. Magee invented the Parking Meter. (Thanks to Trivial Pursuit Genus I.)
5) The growing popularity of the automobile was seen as a godsend to rid big cities of the pollution of the hundreds of horses fouling the streets every day and night. It sounded like a good idea at the time.--- Retreads ---
6) In 1953, Buick brought out its very popular and flashy Buick Skylark. Hoagie Carmichael (Star Dust) and Johnny Mercer (Blues in the Night) got together for the song Skylark. (Thanks in part to AutoWeek for this one.)7) After his older brother was seriously hurt in motor racing, Jackie Stewart was told by his mother that he could no longer be running around driving race cars. Obviously, that did not last long. Jackie had a job as a team mechanic, and when he went from there to driving (a normal progression then), he went by the name A.N. Other. As time went on and he became more famous, he used his own name, but he and his mother never ever mentioned what he did for a living. Years later, at the end of his long and prosperous career as a driver, he told his mother that he had retired from driving, and she said: "You're better off for it!" And the subject was never discussed between them again. (As told by Jackie at the Smithsonian Institute, June 17, 2003.)
8) The two-seat Thunderbird came with four different engines; they were identified on their vehicle identification number by the first letter: C, D, E, & F. Among T-bird owners they are called: C-bird 289 ci engine D-bird 312 ci engine E-bird 312 ci engine with two four-barrel carburetors F-bird 312 ci engine with a supercharger (Thanks to our friend, Leon Y., a true T-bird lover.)9) The initials ACBC on the Lotus cars are for its founder, Anthony Colin Brown Chapman. And I can think of at least four of you guys who knew this one. (Thanks to our friend, Jeff, for this one.)
10) What was the original name of the Mustang? Cougar. Now we know where Mercury got it. (Thanks to our friend, Ed, a true Ford Enthusiast, for this one.)==================== ** ====================
10% Off Purchases For Your Trivia QuestionsTo Ken, Leon, Jeff, and Ed, thanks for the trivia questions. Remember, you all will receive 10% discounts on your next orders.
Send us an interesting fact on just about anything on wheels: cars, trucks, F1, Drags, Muscle Cars, weird obsolete car thingies, whatever, and, when we use it, you get 10% off all purchases on everything on your next order.
***If you would rather not receive updates like this, just respond to this note, asking that we drop your email addres from this list.
Thanks,
Dave Payne