Something new for the off road adventurers

a 4 day event, fully-supported on-road/off-road rally open to vintage off-road vehicles that is fully catered, first class off-road driving experience.

Each year a new route will cover miles of beautiful desert terrain, verdant river valley and alpine landscape throughout the state of Arizona and beyond.

Found on http://www.mensartscouncil.com/csol/about/

Smuggling people out of Mexico into the USA

all from a photo gallery on http://fox5sandiego.com/2015/04/27/customs-officers-find-man-wedged-under-truck-seat/

high winds between 55 and 70 mph, blow train cars off an elevated rail in New Orleans today... no one could predict this would happen in high winds? Seriously? Have they never seen a semi truck and trailer blow over in an online video?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/27/louisiana-storm-train-cars_n_7154634.html



Nearly a dozen shipping containers and some train cars were captured on a dash cam (I gotta get me one of those!) at the moment when strong winds knocked them over on the Huey P. Long Bridge. It happened around 10:30 a.m. Monday in Elmwood behind the Raising Cane’s restaurant on South Clearview Parkway and Bloomfield Street.

http://fox5sandiego.com/2015/04/27/train-blows-off-track-during-storm-in-new-orleans/

to no one's surprise, rioting ensued in Baltimore targeting police after the funeral of a man police killed by snapping his spine. If cops could stop murdering people, people would stop rioting. Too simple? Too soon to point out the obvious?

Found on https://www.facebook.com/fox5sandiego
http://abcnews.go.com/US/hundreds-people-clash-police-baltimore-mall/story?id=30622868

Cops decided to roll out in force to get more violent and invented a propaganda piece that gave them the reason, they had a press release and alleged that they've learned of the Bloods, Crips, and other gangs joining forces to kill cops... why do I say this? Well, we've already seen that they plant evidence (tazer planted on Walter Scott), why would you now believe anything they say that clearly they invented to justify their need to participate in more violence. (And over time pay)  

the NORRA 1000 is about to get started

Photos from Hot Rod Magazine coverage by Elena http://www.hotrod.com/events/1504-giant-pre-race-gallery-from-the-2015-norra-mexican-1000-vintage-off-road-rally/

P 51 going to estate sale auction, Torrence California, June 1st

Preview is By Appointment Only: Call Sean 714-264-5740
 Deposit Required to Bid: Cashier's Check Only; $25,000 for P-51; $2,500 total for Temco Swift, Packard Rolls Merlin and PT-22 Project
 Final Payment by June 9th, Cashier's Check or Bank Wire Only
Removal: By Appointment Only

http://www.estatesales.net/CA/Torrance/90505/872457  and  https://www.warhistoryonline.com/military-vehicle-news/for-sale-1944-north-american-p-51d-mustang.html

the Netherlands and Germany is cracking down on the Bandidos, and did a mass arrest roundup today

Belgian and Dutch and German police coordinated, a total around 400 police agents, ransacking 30 houses and arresting 19 people.

Police raids include Oirsbeek, Echt-Susteren and on a trailer park in Geleen.

In Belgium, a house searched in Borgloon.

http://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20150527_01700124?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=nieuwsblad&utm_content=article&utm_campaign=seeding

Two weeks ago, in Germany, 11,000 pounds of fireworks (sounds like fun!) were seized in a raid on organized crime on the Lambert Wise Street in Tilburg.

Done at the request of the German authorities and led by the magistrate in Breda. Besides the illegal fireworks pot was also confiscated, amount unreported.

http://www.bd.nl/regio/tilburg-en-omgeving/tilburg/vuurwerkvondst-tilburg-maakte-deel-uit-van-grote-politie-actie-tegen-motorclub-bandidos-1.4920525

2 out of 3 drivers on the road are assholes. Here is the proof. Camaro would like to get somewhere, pick up truck asshole wants to be a bully and prevent that, and trucker just wants to get somewhere safely.

Tim Linton was behind them with his new dash cam that only cost 40 dollars( I frequently remind you all to get one!) and mentioned that this was on the I 90 in New York near Batavia

In the comments it's alleged that the camaro driver was drunk at .19 bac, did not have a valid drivers license, was charged DWI, unlawful operation of a motor vehicle, several traffic violations, and arrested

here's some surprising news, there's a move to get motorcycles banned from operating in Hawaii because of their excessive noise

Some of this simply can't be believed, it's too stupidly ludicrous


Noise from excessively loud vehicles is destroying the quality of life in residential Honolulu. The culprits are a growing number of extremely noisy mopeds and motorcycles, especially Harleys. They drive through our communities in the middle of the night, waking up thousands of working families.

If your state representative refuses to legislate on this, including David Ige, the Governor, it's time to boot them from office in the next election.

The Honolulu Police also do absolutely NOTHING to control the noise. The police must be reprimanded for not doing their jobs. 

I seriously doubt the next two sentences

We need to file a class action lawsuit against the Honolulu Police for refusing to enforce Section 342F of the Hawaii Code on Noise Pollution.

A group of determined Hawaii citizens are also filing class-action lawsuits against Harley-Davidson, their vendors, and other moped and motorcycle companies on the island.

https://www.change.org/p/hawaii-state-house-hawaii-state-senate-hawaii-governor-ban-all-motorcycles-from-hawaii?just_created=true

It's a good start, covering the graffitti and getting the Packard pedestrian bridge looking good again, along with removing the tons of garbage

it's just a painted tarp, but it's a big improvement... hell, drape all the buildings and that would be WONDERFUL!

it might be only cosmetic, but it's a big improvement

Images from http://detroit.curbed.com/places/packard-automobile-plant-detroit

todays news, Houston roads under water

See the video at http://news.yahoo.com/texas-governor-declares-states-emergency-more-severe-weather-171333445.html;_ylt=AwrSbnuZkGRVS6QAFXtXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--  for more

For fans of Miyazaki, Sherlock Holmes, and the brass era vehicles... The Sherlock Hound cartoons of the mid 1980s, a lot of Miyazaki's that I've just learned of, having thought I'd seen all the works of the master. Tremendous thrill to discover previously unknown animation!

before he co-founded Studio Ghibli, and went on to making award-winning films, Miyazaki worked on various kinds of animation for different media and pitched at different levels of seriousness. One of the most notable projects of that chapter of his career transposed the adventures of Sherlock Holmes into a world of anthropomorphic dogs.

The Italian-Japanese co-production Sherlock Hound aired as a television series between 1984 and 1985. Of its 26 episodes, which sent the corgi Sherlock Hound and terrier Doctor Watson after a variety of thieves and on all sorts of adventures across a steampunk London, Miyazaki directed six.

In the Miyazaki-directed episode “Treasure Under the Sea” for instance, the detecting duo go after a submarine purloined by recurring antagonist of both Holmes and Hound, Professor Moriarty, who here takes the form of a wolf. “The Sovereign Gold Coins” finds Hound and Watson in pursuit of that seemingly more traditional stripe of criminal known as a safecracker, and in “Mrs. Hudson is Taken Hostage,” their landlady (who seems considerably more youthful in Miyazaki’s vision than the matron in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s) goes missing, though her kidnapper badly underestimates the difficulty of pulling off his plan under Hound’s watch.

Miyazaki would direct three more episodes (“The Stormy Getaway,” “The Crown of Mazalin,” and “The Four Signatures”) before a rights dispute with Conan Doyle’s estate threw a wrench into production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKsFURf7C18&list=ELJ7W8YJE1z_8 for the 1st season

Learned of it from http://www.openculture.com/2015/05/hayao-miyazakis-sherlock-hound.html

7 full containers of NOS VW parts found in Paraguay

In a dusty warehouse on the outskirts of Asuncion, capital of Paraguay, three German parts experts from Audi Tradition and Volkswagen Classic found a huge stash of NOS VW and Audi parts. The local importer Deisa SA founded in 1953 had stock piled these parts to keep a sufficient inventory of spare parts for the models it sold. This was very necessary as those days the delivery time for parts took about nine months. So it was very necessary for the importer to keep a vast amount of stock.

Anyway, the spare parts stock kept building up over the years simply because the VW Beetle was so darn reliable until the parts weren’t needed. Some models did not sell as expected and the dealer usually ends up with a ton of slow moving spares.

This loss in the past is now for collectors in the present to gain. Diesa SA has about 3500sq ft of spare parts of old VWs since the 1950s. This includes rare and hard to find items like engine and transmission units for Beetles and other VWs. What was also found are body parts like bonnets and doors for the 2nd generation Audi 100.

https://www.vwheritage.com/pages/paraguay-find-vw-classic-parts/
https://bandwagen.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/reaching-the-parts/

Full list of the parts found at http://data.vwheritage.com/_inc/pdf/catalogues/flyer_paraguay.pdf

If you have noticed, Swift trucking company drivers do a LOT of stupid things and get photographed at it... well, finally, the president/COO is fed up. Next month driver facing cameras are getting installed

Swift Transportation informed its drivers last week that the company will deploy dual video recording systems in all company trucks beginning in May. The systems include both forward-facing and driver-facing lenses. Installation of driver-facing cameras, sometimes considered distasteful to drivers, represents a risk for Swift at a time when most truckload fleets concede their most pressing concern is recruiting and retaining drivers.

 According to Swift’s website, the company operates more than 18,000 power units and does more than $4 billion in business a year.

 The company ranks by revenue as the second-largest truckload carrier (behind Schneider) and the sixth-largest for-hire fleet overall in the most recent Transport Topics Top 100 survey. Swift will be the largest for-hire truckload carrier yet to deploy driver-facing cameras.

 A Swift spokesman said the company had no comment on the internal announcement.

http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=28920#.VTnXbPnF8Xw

These images are only a couple from thousands of Swift trucker complete screw ups, on the facebook page of Trucking WTF moments https://www.facebook.com/Truckdriverwtfmoments

South Carolina DMV loses a case in court, and just maybe, learns that it's only job is to issue the license to those that pass the tests, not to harass people on what they look like in the damn photo on the drivers license

Chase Culpepper has now won a federal lawsuit against the the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles after she was forced to remove her makeup when trying to take a photo for her first driver's license in March of last year.

DMV employees refused to provide her with her driver's license until she removed the makeup she was wearing.

A settlement was made Monday, according to court documents which said the South Carolina DMV agreed to change its photo policy, implement training on the treatment of transgender and gender nonconforming individuals, allow Culpepper to return to the DMV and get her license photograph taken wearing makeup and apologize to Culpepper for how she was treated.

"I am thrilled with the outcome of my lawsuit,” Culpepper said. “My clothing and makeup reflect who I am. From day one, all I wanted was to get a driver’s license that looks like me. Now I will be able to do that."

DMV officials asked Culpepper to remove her makeup after passing her driving test last year because of a policy banning license photos when "someone is purposefully altering his or her appearance," according to court documents.

(allright... here is my grudge. Time and other factors alter what we look like, from growing hair, to losing hair, to getting a haircut, styled, or colored. Getting glasses, switching to contacts, or getting laser eye surgery. Wearing makeup, or how much and what kinds of makeup are the same as any natural variations in the facial appearance. SO WHO THE HELL IS ANYONE IN THE DMV TO PESTER ANY ONE ABOUT THEIR LOOKS? And nothing I've ever learned of has given me any thought that you have to look like your drivers license photo to drive legally. Can't you drive with a helmet on? Of COURSE! Can't you drive with a wig or toupee? YES. Hollywood monster makeup for Halloween? YES. DMV sucks! )

http://abcnews.go.com/US/trans-teen-apology-south-carolina-dmv-forcing-remove/story?id=30527212

First posted about this last year http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2014/06/meanwhile-in-news-living-in-your.html

Corporate Harley Davidson has made a mistake... they're refusing to do warranty work with the excuse that flying flags damaged the drivetrain... are they really building them that weak?

Seems like HD is stupidly short sighted on this... only imbeciles don't know or understand that you thank the vet, fix the bike, and take him out for a steak dinner while the repairs are getting done. Swap some stories while sharing a meal, and invite him to hq and the museum next time he's in Wisconsin. Is the HD service manager really this effing stupid?

http://fox6now.com/2014/05/26/harley-davidson-denies-warranty-claim-for-man-whos-ridden-2-5-million-miles-but-why/

I just learned from JTB that there is a transportation museum being built in Invercargill New Zealand! Formerly "Harold's shed" aka NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame housed about 40 trucks n busses

one of 3 known Dodge Airflow Fuel Tankers

images all from https://www.facebook.com/truckcollection/photos_stream

Over 300 trucks, 150 petrol bowsers, significant Henry Ford Letter Car and V8 collection and much more motoring memorabilia

keep up with news and progress at https://www.facebook.com/truckcollection/timeline