How to park a 50's car... with ingenuity

Daytona A100 van from Problem Child Studios... very cool video of a single drawing, and making it animated

Innovative, inventive, and awesome. http://www.problemchildkustoms.com/think_fast.html

The new VW Golf has a cool way to open the hatchback

Coolest trailer hitch I've seen, made of con rods

found on http://bummerbro.tumblr.com/post/11049053813

Our Gang / Little Rascals made this terrific taxi... donkey powered, a pusher really, with innovation in everything it does

 the license plate is a 1917 New York

  the below plate is a 1927 California plate

 

 The driver heard a yell for a taxi, and he reaches up to activate the brake to slow down

 below are the many different controls the driver has, you can see he pulls the choke (this was a real thing before advanced carbuerators, it allowed the carb to run better by adjusting the amount of air running through it "Choking" the air supply, creating a vacuum that made the fuel metereing circuit run richer )

 and here you can see how the mule power is stopped... they close off the food that mule eats. No food, and the mule stops walking toward it. When the lid is lifted, the food is available, and the mule walks toward it, moving the taxi

the fuel level indicator was a float on the water supply of the mule.

Meanwhile in the engine bay, Farina (the black kid before Buckwheat) is making engine noise by rolling a cam against the "ingine" stick

 Here you can see Farina in the engine bay... with a pump, starter, that ingine, and the radio

 When they pulled the radio string, Farina started singing, saying he was Tony Wons... I happen to have a donzen books by Tony Wons... and was surprised to hear this. It places the movie from 1929 to 1943 I think, as that is the last year of Tony Wons' scrapbook I have. They are very good

 After singing he played the kazoo

 You can almost make out the paddle that smacked the mules butt, and made him walk faster. It's hinged at the top of the spare tire pile on his back, at the upper left corner of this photo

 Above is the "Fare Master" that indicated how many pennies they were charging to go to a destination

No chain. An exercise in expensive rolling art, not really comfortable to ride, or affordable.. but it's eyecatching

different seats and tire sizes

photos from http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/jruiter_studios_super-minimal_city_bike_15092.asp

The inner city bike was designed by JRUITER + studio as a project asking questions about ultra short inner city travel. What is needed, who is riding, and how far are they going.

As it evolved, the design triggered a shift in time, spurring the questions, “Is there an opportunity to change a timeless product?” “Can we go back and try something new?”

The inner city bike rethinks what a “frame” is, getting rid of basic key components, and creating a new type of urban bicycling.

The positives are easy quick turns, huge power to the rear wheel to go over curbs and up hills, and great start / stopping / sitting situations.

http://bikerscafeblog.com/2010/10/27/inner-city-bikes-icb-36/

new innovation in bicycle innertubes, Michelin Protek Max

The company's Protek Max tube not only contains a sealant, but is designed to compress when punctured to assist the self-sealing process.  Thanks to its uneven design, the MICHELIN Protek Max has a "compression" reaction in the event of piercing or nipping (the hole closes up naturally) whereas a classic inner tube has an "extension" reaction (balloon effect). The self plugging effect is increased by adding the sealant at the origin.

The two things you'll notice about the Protek is that it has a square cross-section, and funny little bumps on its surface. The square shape helps align it within the tire casing and against the rim well, which Michelin says eases mounting and eliminates the twisting problems that can occur with traditional sausage-shaped tubes.

When the tube is fully inflated within the tire, its textured surface causes the rubber to compress instead of expand when under pressure. This means that the internal air pressure actually closes holes off, giving the sealant a better chance at taking care of them for good.

The tubes also are claimed to hold air longer – when tested against Michelin's self-sealing AIRSTOP tube, the Protek was said to maintain proper pressure for twice the amount of time. Text from thttp://www.gizmag.com/michelin-protek-max-presses-punctures-closed/18333

railroad inspection cars and special back plate rims so regular vehicles could ride on the rails easier

 That is pretty smart, as long as the car has exactly the right width of a footprint between the tires

 The above is a Lincoln model L, a more luxurious railcar than most

 pedal powered rail inspection car... the exercise it would take to push this 100 pound rail riding machine would be a lot... consider that bicycles are talked about in ounces... and that's because of the energy it requires ot keep them moving for long distances

 a very early track car, that has a good size spot light and bell

another mobile turntable to get inspection cars turned around for the trip home. ( This summer I learned they couldn't make the trip in reverse in the case they didn't drive far enough to find a rail house with a full size turntable, because (of course) the radiator has to be ahead of the car in the direction of travel to correctly cool the engine)

All of these are from TheOldMotor.com http://theoldmotor.com/

Ingenious luggage or storage accessory... the Tire Trunk by Wohlfeld

Found on http://theoldmotor.com/?p=15096

the dreams and drawings of the early balloonists (pilots were called professors)

 pretty good idea for early balloonists... an escape parachute for the basket and passengers. Early on there was no idea what to do once you got it off the gorund, just go for the ride and hope you had a soft landing

all found on http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?trg=1&word=Balloons%20%2D%2D%20Pictorial%20works&s=3&notword=&d=&c=&f=2&k=0&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&num=100&imgs=20&pNum=

from 1895 to 1910 was an era of the horseless carriage and innovators who were trying every innovative way of making steam (5 of these are steam) or gasoline powered vehicles of incredible variety in designs

C. L. 1895 Simmonds' Steam Carriage

 The steering handle looks like a kids wagon handle.  1895 Electrobat Runabout

\1895 Joseph Shaver's Steam Buggy, Milwaukee, WI

 1895 Roger Petroleum Wagon

 1895 Victoria Motorette racine Motor vehcile co

 1895 Woods Electric Landau

 1896 Dey-Griswold Electric Phaeton

 1896 Enig Steamer, Jacksonville, FL

 1896 Hiram Percy Three Wheeler

 1897 Charles Burrows... wonder how long it took hime to learn that a narrow front end isn't good in corners

1897 Reeves Motor Wagon

 1898 Altham Deliver Van

 1898 Eastman Electro-Vehicle

 1898 Piper and Tinker Steam Buggy

 1898 Winton Delivery Wagon

 1899 General Electric Brougham

 1899 International Motor Wheel Delivery Van

 1899 International Motor Wheel Delivery Van

 1900 Coca Cola Wagon

 1900 Orient Autogo

1901 Century Tourist  Steamer

 1901 Ford Race Car

 1901 Ford Runabout

1901 Franklin

 1901 Trimotor Crescent

 1902 Automotor with a rumble seat... really is the progenitor of the rumble seat

 1902 Stearns Steam Surrey

 1902 Thomas Touring

 1902 Toledo

 1902 W.S. Rogers Transit Steam Wagon

 1902 Winton Bullet Race Car.

 1903  Oldsmobile Pirate Race Car

 1903 Duryea Three Wheeler

 1903 Mitchell

 1903 Oldsmobile enclosed body... wow, what a funky design

 1903 Pullman Six Wheel Touring

 1904 Oldsmobile Pie Wagon

 1904 Peerless Barney Oldfields' Racer,   this is the Green Dragon

 1905 Scharbach  (Hill Climber) Roadster

 1906 Shawmut The winner of the 1909 Pan Pacific Race from New York City to Seattle

 1907 Bugmobile

1907 Duer High Wheeler 

1907 Lansden Electrette

all of these and many more can be found at http://www.earlyamericanautomobiles.com/1890a.htm