The Sunbeam Tiger famously features a V8 shoehorned into an engine compartment designed in England by engineers who would have been mortified had they known that their little roadster would, a few years later, be shipped off to a former chicken farmer’s garage in California where it would be hammered, cut, and welded to accommodate…
The Meyers Manxter 2+2 is the slightly longer wheelbase version of the Meyers Manx – a dune buggy with a form so iconic that it’s been studied in design schools from California to Copenhagen. Unlike the Manx, the Manxter uses a full-length VW Beetle floorpan, without requiring the cutting/shortening/welding of the original. This means that it…
The Dodge Charger is often remembered for being the “other” car from the iconic chase scene in the Oscar winning 1968 Steve McQueen film Bullitt. The undulating streets of San Francisco form a captivating backdrop for the police thriller, and they feature heavily in what is now widely regarded as the greatest chase scene in…
The Kellison J-4R was the brainchild of USAF pilot James Kellison, a man known for his exceptional intelligence, his deep love for cars, and his fascination with lightweight composites. In the 1950s the latest and greatest composite was fiberglass, a material that was a precursor to modern composites like carbon fiber, and that offered excellent…
The Simpson Street Bandit Helmet has a shell design used since the 1970s by the iconic American company founded by Bill Simpson back in the ’50s. The impact that Simpson has had can’t be overstated, Bill invented the drag racing parachute and the Nomex fire-proof racing suit now worn by all professional racing drivers from…
The story of the Shelby Daytona Coupe became an American racing saga unlike almost any other. It was a car designed by a ragtag crew in Southern California to take on the industrial might of Ferrari, it achieved a shock second place in the GT Division III class of the 1964 World Sportscar Championship season,…
The Chevrolet Corvette C1 was designed and built to show the Europeans that their neighbors across the sea could also build world class sports cars capable of rubbing shoulders with the fastest, best handling cars coming out of Britain, Italy, and Germany. The Arrival of the Chevrolet Corvette C1 The Second World War had a…
The Heavies is a Can Am documentary from 1970 that covers the race at Road Atlanta. This would be a very significant time in the history of Can Am, as Bruce McLaren had been killed while testing the new M8D McLaren Can Am car just days before the season began. Before the accident Bruce McLaren and Denny…
This 1992 Ford Crown Victoria police car was used extensively on camera during the filming of the Oscar-wining 1996 black comedy crime movie Fargo. Actress Frances McDormand’s character “Marge Gunderson” was the chief of police in Brainerd, Minnesota and a key figure in the film – she would win an Academy Award for her work in…
These coin guitar picks are made by Stephanie and Dustin Headrick at their workshop in Nashville. Stringed instrument musicians have been using metal and coin-based picks for over 100 years due to the unusual sound they produce – often described as bright, sharp, or tinny. Stephanie and Dustin realized that silver quarters, half-dollars, and quarters…
If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to fly a chopper, this 1952 US Navy Training Film will do an excellent job of getting you started – it’s surprisingly detailed, and it starts out all the way back in the time of Leonardo da Vinci, then follows major iterations in design until 1952. This film…
The Indian Sport Scout was designed and built to regain the crown that had been lost when the Springfield, Massachusetts-based company discontinued their ever-popular Scout 101 in 1931. The Indian Scout 101 The story of the Indian Scout 101 is a two-wheeled example of the old adage if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The…
