April 19, 2006

Aero-Drive Desert BUS Replaces Camels (Feb, 1935)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 6:47 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1935
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Aero-Drive Desert BUS Replaces Camels
PROTECTED from tropical sand storms, desert travelers of the future may be able to whiz across the Sahara in monster 100-passenger aero-drive buses following radio beam highways. Camel caravans
would be out-moded bythe standard of comfort possible in the proposed buses.
Preliminary details of this whirring, bouncing giant of the sands call for propulsion entirely by air, with a 2500 h.p. aviation engine and pusher propeller mounted atop the roof. Most unusual feature of the desert bus is a series of spherical tires on each side which would provide good traction over the shifting sands. Directly back of the propeller is a steering fin which controls the direction of the ship.

April 18, 2006

Power It with a PULSE JET (Jun, 1952)

Filed under: Automotive, DIY, Toys and Games — @ 9:17 am
Source: Science And Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1952
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Power It with a PULSE JET

THIS model plane project uses what may be the smallest successful pulse-jet engine ever built. It was developed after scores of experiments and the building of a dozen test models by Hiram Sibley, Jr., a California guided-missile engineer.

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April 16, 2006

Cycle Engine Gives 50 m.p.h. Speed to Wheel Chair (Aug, 1935)

Filed under: Automotive, General — @ 2:23 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Aug, 1935
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Cycle Engine Gives 50 m.p.h. Speed to Wheel Chair

A THREE-WHEELED chair built around a motorcycle engine brought Norman Tapper, 23-year-old Californian whose legs have been paralyzed since childhood, to Indianapolis almost a month before the start of the 500-mile auto race. The motorized chair was parked at the gate of the Speedway, to make certain of a good position on the day of the race.
Tapper asserted that this novel wheel chair, which he built himself from motorcycle and automobile parts, reached 50 miles an hour on the long drive from California to Indianapolis.

A PORTFOLIO OF Cars you’d like to own (Apr, 1962)

Filed under: Automotive, Cool — @ 8:30 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1962
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A PORTFOLIO OF Cars you’d like to own

HERE’S A CAR THAT CLIMBS WALL

SOMETHING special for the off-the-road motorist: the Hickey Trail Blazer, built by Trail Blazer, 9424 Gallatin Road, Downey, Calif. Designers Victor Hickey, Sam Weaver and Jack Henry meant it for climbing mountains and slogging through sand but it can do its share of roadwork and takes stop-and-go traffic good-naturedly.

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April 14, 2006

Exhaust Flame-Thrower (Feb, 1952)

Filed under: Automotive, Cool — @ 12:26 pm
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1952
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Exhaust Flame-Thrower is a new gadget for hot-rodders. Spark plugs set in the exhaust pipes ignite unburned gas in the vents which shoot out flames to a distance of 20 ft. on fast starts. It’s noiseless and police want an excuse to prohibit it.

Fill’er Up with Cold Air! (Sep, 1953)

Filed under: Automotive, Just Weird — @ 9:10 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1953
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“Fill’er Up with Cold Air!”
Texas gas stations are delighting motorists with a new kind of free air. When a car stops for gas, a nozzle fixed to an air conditioner is poked in the window. Station attendants say temperature inside the car drops as much as 20 degrees in two minutes.

April 12, 2006

Midget Midget Racer (Sep, 1949)

Filed under: Automotive, Toys and Games — @ 11:10 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1949
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George Andrews, of Akron. Ohio, who likes to drive midget racers, wants his son to follow in his footsteps; so he built this “midget midget” for Junior. It isn’t powered now, but George plans to mount a Ford starter motor on the rear axle. Eventually, after Junior masters the battery-driven job, a one-cylinder gasoline engine will be employed for power.

April 11, 2006

AUTO RADIO “DE LUXE” (Jan, 1938)

Filed under: Automotive, General, Radio — @ 6:46 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jan, 1938
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AUTO RADIO “DE LUXE”
TO MEET the growing need for broadcasting from outside points, the National Broadcasting Company, of Chicago, 111., has outfitted a new car with all necessary equipment for this type of work. The vehicle is capable of traveling from place to place at high speeds.

The equipment for this mobile unit consists of two transmitters, three receivers and a gasoline driven generator, all compactly mounted in a specially built touring sedan. Considerable weight reduction was achieved by discarding storage batteries and substituting the generator for the transmitters’ power supply.

Immediately in back of the front seat is the control panel and console, which houses the ultra-high frequency receiver and the specially designed four-stage high gain audio amplifier. To the rear, in the space usually occupied by the back seat, is a large compartment containing a fifty-watt transmitter, used for stationary broadcasts. A forty-watt ultra-high frequency transmitter is used for mobile broadcasts. The mobile unit is so designed that one man can drive and broadcast at the same time.

April 10, 2006

FORD ATMOS (May, 1954)

Filed under: Ahead of its time, Automotive — @ 7:06 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: May, 1954
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Meet the FORD ATMOS
ONE of the wildest “dream” cars ever to roll out of a Michigan experimental laboratory is the creature shown above, the FX-Atmos—built by Ford and backed up by the determination that “it shall never be built for sale.” This, say the engineers, is purely a “car of the future,” however
it represents styling concepts that could easily appear in the Fords of a few years from now, if the general public accepts them. The engine design and other mechanical factors were not included in this project. Wheelbase is 105 inches; length: 220.58 inches; height: 48.1 inches.

April 6, 2006

DYNO-WHEEL Drives New MOTOR BUS (Jun, 1935)

Filed under: Automotive, Impractical — @ 11:41 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1935
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While this does look fun, it seems like one would want a bus to have a bit more stability. A bus that hurls hurling passengers around would not be that fun to ride on.

Check out the history of mono-wheel vehicles here. (via)

DYNO-WHEEL Drives New MOTOR BUS

Rolling along on a single huge wheel, this motor bus combines safety with high speed.
by VICTOR J. PESEK

PROMISING to revolutionize the field of motor transportation, the new Dyno-Wheel bus operates upon practically the same principle as the tiny “Dynasphere” auto which was successfully built by Dr. J. A. Purves of Taunton, England, some years ago.
A single huge drum wheel supports the car at high speeds. Control wheels on either side are raised or lowered in response to the steering gear, to tip the bus slightly and change the direction of travel. Small fore and aft wheels come into action only when stopping or starting. A stabilizing fin keeps the car level at high speeds.

April 4, 2006

MARVEL Mystery Oil (Feb, 1952)

Filed under: Advertisements, Automotive, General — @ 8:32 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1952
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I’m not really sure what they’re trying to say in this ad… I think it’s either: “Marvel Oil will blow up your car”, or “Marvel oil is made of atomic bombs”.

FOR POWER
AND PERFORMANCE!
MARVEL Mystery Oil

More than 30 years of scientific research have gone into Marvel Mystery Oil, to meet the lubrication demands of today’s high - compression engines. Use in crankcase, gas tank, or top cylinder oiler… the ideal cure for hydraulic valve trouble.
See your dealer or write: EMEROL MANUFACTURING CO., INC.,
Depl 234, 242 West 69th St., New York 23. New York
BE ENGINE WISE…MARVELIZE NOW!

April 3, 2006

Midget Jeep (Sep, 1949)

Filed under: Automotive, Cool, Toys and Games — @ 1:18 pm
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1949
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I love the name “Devil Junk” that he gave his jeep, though it does make it sound like the kid might have a heroin problem.

The midget jeep at the left was built by Valentin Labata. of Leyte. Philippine Islands. He starts his letter by asking, “I wonder if Filipinos are qualified to enter your Workbench Award contest?” They sure are, Val. We base our awards on ability, not nationality. He goes on to say. “A 3-hp. Wisconsin engine drives one rear wheel through a belt, giving 25 m.p.h, top speed and 75 to 80 miles per gallon. The brake works through the other rear wheel. I received help from my father, who donated the engine and the wheels, and two relatives. That’s me in the middle. The other two boys are the helpful relatives.”

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