Cars That Built the World

MichaelB

"Sons of Arthritus"
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Any else catch the show, 'Cars That Built the World' on History this past weekend?
Lots of interesting stuff. IE, how Bentley became Rolls Bentley, Daimler became Mercedes Benz, origins of Toyoda/Toyota, Honda etc.
I was able to DVR most of them, have been playing them over and over.
I realize it's T.V. and dramatized some, still cool stuff.
Recommended for any Gear Head..

The Bentley story reminds me of a saying my retried Drag Racing friend says,
"Racing Costs the same for Everyone"........................'Everything'..................................
 
Don't know why you are surprised, I can name at least 3 world famous sports car manufacturers who started out building , of all things, tractors.
Several others started out building motorcycles. All had to start somewhere.
 
Surprised??, I believe the word was interesting.
I find it interesting and fascinating to see what the early Pioneers were able to accomplish with what resources were available.
From the development of 'Alloy' pistons, Superchargers, OHV's etc. Not to mention the use of Turpentine...:)
Cool stuff. At least to me it was...
 
I lust for a mid to late 60's Toranado. I understand GM used Oldsmobiles as a test bed for a lot of their Cadillac ideas.
 
Model T first production cars ever built and seemed to handle anything thrown at it, not fast or powerful but they kept going.
 
Was there any mention of a fella named Ransom Eli Olds?
I was a big fan of his company's cars (still own one).
I believe so.
Don't recall the content, it was very brief.
Then again, it may have been another show he was mentioned.
Anyhow, he's not hightlighted.
 
I believe so.
Don't recall the content, it was very brief.
Then again, it may have been another show he was mentioned.
Anyhow, he's not hightlighted.
Inventor of the assembly line perhaps.
 
In have a friend who is currently dying from lung cancer. The other day I said to him ' You know, I think we have lived in the best time ever, when you consider what we could do when we were young.' These days innovation has been regulated out of existence. Kids these days do not know what it is like to have a real blast. Back then, we had engineering factories everywhere and you could build anything, you could imagine.
 
my great grandfather used Model T on dairy farm hauled everything in it including milk delivery
When I was a kid, I had both a 1939 and 1940 model Mercury cars. The 1940 model had a perfect body, but the 1939 model had a better motor. It was no problem to do a swap. These days you would be buggered. The 1939 model had high comp. heads and twin carbs. I could get 100 MPH on the speedo. And our major highways had no speed limits. Those times will never come again. From now on, it will be computer games and simulation - no reality.
At the moment, I am trying to teach my three grand-daughters to be real people. They are all into motorcycles, and at least one will be a chess champion.
 
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Kids these days do not know what it is like to have a real blast.
My young daughter and her BF have built and spent a lot of money on their Japanese drift cars, she just got her car back on the road and it puts out 495 HP and can boost it up even more, they don't hoon around and they take them to Willowbank race way for their blast, they are in a car club and do a lot of club runs as well.
Then there are the ones who don't give a crap about what they do on the roads who are inexperienced and why so many deaths from hooning, then there are the ones who simply don't give a crap about anyone on the road by stealing high powered cars and speeding over 200kms on public roads without any care in the world for other road users then putting it all up on Facebook or some other site showing what they been up to and some of these driver when caught or crashed killing innocent people and the drivers are only 14 years old or younger with no road experience at all.
Then there are the young fools who just do stupid things on the road showing off to their mates whether in the car or just watching on the side of the road, one of the reasons we have hoon laws now.

Ashley
 
They are some of the worst kids that you can come across - they don't give a flying stuff about what they do , the harm they can cause, or what anybody else thinks, to them, it's a rite of passage. . . . . .
 
I think that if we'd had similar vehicles when we were young, we would have been just as stupid.
 
Great to have grown up in an era when both old and new cars were exciting and beautiful.
Today's cars are so ugly, especially electric cars. They look as sexy as an old washing machine or toaster.
An exception below, but I haven't quite the $300k to pop for one. (Totem Carbon Fiber Electric Alfa)
Cars That Built the World

Cheers
 
maybe perverse of me, but I was impressed with the electric E type that was used as a wedding car a couple of years ago.
 
Most car drivers have never ridden motorcycles. So what would they know about fast and beautiful ? Anything which is really functional is wasted on them. I think the Lotus Super 7 was a good car, or an MG TC. A 1929 Bentley is superb. John Surtees did not begin his career by racing cars. Nor did Jack Brabham or Tazio Nuviolari or Bernt Rosemeyer. How many guys start by racing cars then move on to motorcycles ?
 
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