March 7, 2006

Pimp your ride with… Turn Signals (Jun, 1949)

Filed under: Automotive, Origins — @ 10:06 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1949
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Personally, I think these wacky “turn signals” are just a fad.

AUTOMOBILE DRIVERS Flash Your Turns

New Model SIMPLEX DIRECTION SIGNAL KIT fits most ears. Gives new safety and comfort when making turns. Eliminates arm signals. Flashing parking and tail lights show other cars which way you’re going to turn. Flashes 60 to 80 times a minute. Works like factory installed models on expensive cars. Does not interfere with operation of present lights. Install it yourself. All parts furnished. For most 1942 to 1949 cars. SPECIFY MAKE AND YEAR. Adaptable to earlier cars at extra cost. MONEY BACK GUARANTEE.
DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED

March 6, 2006

SWEDISH DREAM CAR (Jun, 1959)

Filed under: Automotive, Just Weird — @ 9:58 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1959
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Am I the only one who thinks this looks a bit like the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile?

SWEDISH DREAM CAR

SWEDISH carrot juice maker Sig-vard Berggren built his own Future. That’s the name of his dream car which looks like a wingless plane. He installed a Ford V8 engine in a ‘38 Dodge chassis and plans to add a 200-hp mill in the rear, to give the Future a 140-mph-plus speed. That’s a real fast-flying Swede.

FUTURE was built in spare time, looks strikingly like a plane.
FISH EYES are headlights and the huge gills are the air inlets.
BUILDER Berggren, left, with Lennart Josefson. his assistant.
CABIN behind driver’s seat has ample room for table, chairs.

March 2, 2006

Car-sled (Jun, 1959)

Filed under: Automotive, Cool — @ 3:28 pm
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1959
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Russian car-sled has speed of about 45 mph, can tote 1,100-lb. load over firm snow.

March 1, 2006

Obsolete Autos Utilized To Teach Safe Driving (Feb, 1937)

Filed under: Automotive, General — @ 9:30 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1937
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Obsolete Autos Utilized To Teach Safe Driving
A NOVEL and practical way of training high school students to be safe drivers has been developed at the Lane Technical School in Chicago, Ill. Obsolete autos are cut down until only the driver’s seat, brake, clutch and shifting lever controls remain. These are used as desks by the students.
The controls are wired to lamps mounted on a panel in the classroom which enables the instructor, William A. Sears, to check each student’s reaction to traffic situations flashed onto a motion picture screen. After this primary instruction, the students drive real cars over a $35,000 practice course featuring every type of lane, curve, grade, etc.

February 23, 2006

Pooch Is Up to His Neck In Automobile (Sep, 1954)

Filed under: Automotive, Dogs, Just Weird — @ 1:08 pm
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1954
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I’m not sure why, but this just seems wrong to me.

Pooch Is Up to His Neck In Automobile
European cars are small and have no room for large dogs, so an ingenious dog lover has converted the trunk into a roomy traveling kennel. A hole cut in the trunk lid permits the dog to get air and, if he desires, to see where he has been, at least.

February 20, 2006

“Carfeteria” Serves Motorists at Wheel (Oct, 1949)

Filed under: Automotive, Just Weird — @ 11:15 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Oct, 1949
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Boy, with a snazzy name like Carfeteria I can’t understand why these never took off.

“Carfeteria” Serves Motorists at Wheel

Eating is made easv for motorists who patronize the wheellike Los Angeles Motor-mat shown above. Spokes of the wheel are tracks along which run small carriages. You drive into one of the 20 stalls, where a carriage and menu are waiting, make your selection, write the order, and press a button. Presto! the carriage whizzes into the kitchen, stopping along the way only long enough for an attendant to figure the cost. In a few minutes the meal is shot back to your car. When you have finished eating from a lap tray, you put the empty dishes back in the carriage-plus the price of the meal.

February 15, 2006

Flying BARREL to Carry 100 Passengers (Mar, 1933)

Filed under: Aviation, Impractical — @ 11:28 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1933
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Flying BARREL to Carry 100 Passengers

Development of a huge “flying barrel” transport plane capable of carrying a hundred passengers inside its thick tubular hull is foreshadowed by recent successful test flights of the hollow fuselage plane shown in the photograph directly above, designed by Engineer Stipa of the Italian Caproni works. The picture shows: double cockpits placed on top of the cylindrical body, but in the refined version of the plane for large scale passenger traffic, the piloting compartment is faired into wing and propeller is driven through gears much like the dirigible Akron.

February 6, 2006

Safety Belt Devised For Car (Jul, 1938)

Filed under: Ahead of its time, Automotive, Origins, Useful — @ 3:10 pm
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1938
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Safety Belt Devised For Car
DESIGNED to hold passengers firmly in their seats in event of a crash so that they will not be thrown violently against the car interior, a newly developed safety belt for automobiles may eliminate injuries attributed to this cause.

February 4, 2006

Levers Control Bike Brakes (Jun, 1938)

Filed under: Bicycles, Origins — @ 10:45 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1938
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Levers Control Bike Brakes
A FRONT wheel brake, operated from the handlebar and a two-speed rear wheel coaster brake, operated by a lever mounted on the frame, have been developed for bicycle use. The rear brake has a change speed gear which provides extra power on hills, quick pick-up, and more speed. Photo shows fingertip controls.

January 27, 2006

BE A FROGMAN! (Jan, 1952)

Filed under: Advertisements, Nautical — @ 11:02 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jan, 1952
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BE A FROGMAN!

Join the new national FROGMAN CLUB today. All you have to do is send $1.00—be sure
to include your name and address—and here’s what you get:
1) A miniature pair of Frog: Feet. Can be worn on key chain, lapel or hung on windshield as lucky charm.
2) An attractive membership card.
3) A Frogman decal to be used on your windshield, bicycle or notebook.
4) A booklet on “How To Swim Underwater” and “The Supreme Sport of Spearfishing”.
5) Periodic bulletins on the latest developments in Frogman equipment and news.
6) Complete catalog of Frogman equipment available for purchase.
7) A free coupon for $1.00, which can be used toward the purchase of a pair of regular size Frog Feet, $6.95 or equivalent in value. This is redeemable at your local sporting goods dealer, drug store, auto supply store or toy departments. If no such dealer available in your area, we will handle direct.

BE A FROGMAN — Send your dollar today!

Sea-Net Mfg. Co, 1428 Maple Avenue. Dept. PM-1, Los Angeles, 15, Calif.

January 26, 2006

Police Squad Rides Tiny Motor Scooters (Feb, 1939)

Filed under: Automotive, Crime and Police, Just Weird — @ 1:32 pm
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1939
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This reminds me of Cartman. I can totally see that cop screaming “Respect my authoritah!”

Police Traffic Squad Rides Motor Scooters
A SPECIAL traffic squad mounted on powered scooters is a feature of the Police Department of Inglewood, Calif. Use of the scooters, which can travel at a speed of 30 m.p.h. and cruise for 130 miles on a gallon of gasoline, enables policemen to patrol longer beats more efficiently than they could shorter beats on foot and has decreased the number of cases of motorists who try to “beat” traffic lights at street intersections.

Styles for Cold and Heat (Nov, 1934)

Filed under: Aviation, General, Personal Appearance — @ 12:56 pm
Source: Science And Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1934
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I never go anywhere without my asbestos parasol.

Styles for Cold and Heat

RIGHT, Wiley Post, world-girdling flyer, in a suit built for stratosphere trips. It is airtight and connectable to a super-charger on his engine; and will stand 100° below zero. Below, a London fireman in the newest asbestos suit to keep out flame. It seems like a case of extremes meeting.

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