Sunday Anniversary

On this day in 1997 my wonderful wife and I had our first date. If you had told us that we would be very happily married 24 years later I think we both would have thought you were crazy.

I think the lesson to be learned is that it’s very important to keep an open mind, which is why I rail against blind adherence to ideology. I LOVE YOU, V Squared!

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This article from CNBC is about how some sports fans are losing access to televised games because cable companies are dropping regional sports networks (RSNs) from their lineup. The reason is that these companies claim very few cable subscribers actually watch more than just a handful of games. They’ve decided the amount they have to pay to keep RSNs in the bundle no longer makes economic sense, given how few people watch them and how much they charge.

Although I have watched more college football this season than I have in many years, much of that has been on CBS or Fox and not an RSN. With Nebraska’s decline into irrelevance, I would not care if I lost access to the Big Ten Network.

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Here are some links to pieces in Why Evolution Is True. While many posts on the site are disturbing to me, this one about how the Canadian government is denying grants to a university professor because he is hiring based on merit and not on “diversity” is very disturbing. Maybe Mark can weigh in, but I have read more than once that “wokeness” is even worse in Canada than in the US.

Two more links:

One

Two

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On this day in 1895 the first organized automobile race took place in the US. The Chicago Times-Herald had actually announced it would host the race in July, but many entrants telegraphed the paper because they needed more time to work on their prototype vehicles. Since Herman Kohlstaat, publisher of the Times-Herald, wanted a good number of participants, the race was delayed until November.

One source claims the reason only six of the 83 vehicles signed up for the race actually arrived for the start is that the Chicago area had several inches of snow. Another source claims that many cars could simply not be completed in time or were damaged en route to the race.

Two of the six cars were electric and three of the other four were Benz automobiles. However, the winner was American Charles Duryea, who finished the 54-mile course in seven hours and fifty-three minutes in his two-cylinder gas vehicle. Neither electric car finished the race. From This Day in Automotive History a picture of Duryea and, supposedly, his winning vehicle.

 

 

The Duryea brothers–Charles and Frank–are usually cited as the builders of America’s first gasoline-powered automobile, which was first driven in 1893. Some sources claim that John Lambert’s three-wheeled vehicle or Henry Nadig’s four-wheeled automobile were actually built and driven before the Duryea brothers’ first car. We’ll never really know, of course, in this reminder that record-keeping hasn’t always been computerized and available 24/7/365.

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Since I don’t really need an excuse to test drive a nice car, but under the guise of scouting out potential replacements for the Cadillac ATS when (if?) it is returned to us but seems to be not the same as before the accident, I recently drove this car:

 

 

My wonderful wife would still much prefer a four-door vehicle as grocery car/taxi. I have told her I might consider such a car, but only if it is not a run-of-the-mill automobile. (Happy Wife, Happy Life)

With the exception of a little turbo lag, the car drove very well in terms of acceleration, handling and braking. The smell of leather in the interior was almost intoxicating and the back seats were very comfortable. They also sit a bit higher than the front seats, which I think is a nice feature.

Surprisingly, my wonderful wife has not ruled out the purchase of a car like this Ghibli. Why not the Quattroporte? It won’t fit in the third garage bay as it’s too long.

 

#SundayAnniversary

#WokeIsACult

#FirstUSAutomobileRace

#MaseratiGhibli

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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I’m Back

Whether that’s a good or bad thing is not for me to say. It seems as though everything I wanted to install, including Lotus 1-2-3 (!), has installed on my first Windows 10 computer. I think I turned off all or most of the intrusive channels for Microsoft to collect and to sell my data, but I am not sure.

I copied more than 500 files to a flash drive to move to my new computer. The old computer had just enough life left to allow me that. I had also saved my most important Lotus spreadsheets in Excel format–actually, I did that months ago–in the event Lotus 1-2-3 would not install on a new machine.

I had to cannibalize the HDMI cable from the Blu-Ray player as the new computer (an Acer) does not have an old-fashioned input for a video monitor. My wonderful wife also purchased the same computer and I think she will have to buy a new monitor because I don’t think her old one even has HDMI output. I was sure I had a spare cable lying around the house, but could not find it in my 5-minute search. Patience is not a word that leaps to mind in describing my personality, one of my (many) flaws.

Of course, I have lost all of my Internet bookmarks even though I am still using Mozilla Firefox. My WordPress media stash seems to be intact, like this:

 

 

My sweet sister and (i)ncomparable niece are visiting us from the East Coast so it’s not likely I will resume “regular” posting until they leave. Of course, the definition of “regular” is fungible.

 

#I’mBack

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Pain In The

…feet. I warn you that the photo to be shown is somewhat disturbing and it’s not even of my ugly mug.

 

 

 

Those are my feet the day of or the day after my most recent cortisone injections. If you can’t see the large bump on my left foot, then you need (stronger) glasses.

As I have mentioned I have bunions and bone spurs on both feet. The left foot is worse than the right. Most days virtually every step is painful.

I am in pain virtually every minute I’m awake. If it’s not my feet, it’s my left knee or left thumb or neck or shoulders. I will never take my health for granted because my lack thereof will never leave me alone.

My latest medical situation is yet another in a long line of maladies. I fully understand why physical illness can lead to depression because it’s a trigger for me.

David Banner (not his real name, but a real physician) and I believe I suffer from systemic inflammation. This condition does not usually show up on blood work (my latest blood results were very good) and many doctors have been slow in acknowledging it. Whether my lifelong allergies are the main trigger, no one knows. I have only had a couple of physicians acknowledge that I may be right about inflammation.

Doctors won’t prescribe a steroid like Prednisone because I am diabetic, even though my sugars are well-controlled. Ibuprofen helps, but I can’t take it every day because of the potential GI and kidney effects. Basically, I just have to live with it like I have to live with diabetes.

“Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes.” That’s especially true when almost every step hurts.

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See the source image

 

Sorry, but I am relying on the unreliable and unsecured site 365 Days Of Motoring for this section of today’s post. From auctioneers historics.co.uk is a picture of a car that, on paper at least, sounds very interesting to me: an MG RV8. According to 365 Days Of Motoring, the last RV8 was produced on this day in 1995. From the website:

 

“The MG RV8 was a hugely important step in the 1990s rebirth of its maker after more than a decade of saloon and hatchback-only production. Since Abingdon’s closure in 1980, MG had been reserved for the Metro, Maestro and Montego – and although these cars were worthy, what enthusiasts really wanted was a new MG roadster. In creating the RV8, Rover very cleverly used a combination of off-the-shelf parts, such as the Range Rover’s V8 engine and British Motor Heritage MGB bodyshell. So, in this incarnation of the MGB, the rubber bumper specification body was taken and modified to accept a new set of beautifully curvaceous outer panels. The 3.9-litre Range Rover EFI V8 engine developed 185bhp [and 235 LB-FT of torque, my note], and gave the RV8 enough power to crack 6.0 seconds for the 0-60mph run. A five-speed gearbox, derived from the Rover SD1, was used along with a new Salisbury axle. Very significant modifications were made to the suspension and brakes to bring the car up to date. The interior featured magnolia leather and burr elm.”

 

Most of the roughly 2,000 RV8s built from 1993 to 1995 were sold in Japan. Maybe you can’t tell from the photograph, but like all of the MG roadsters, the RV8 was very small: just 158 inches (13.2 feet) long with a 91-inch (7.6 feet) wheelbase. Say what you want about the size, but it will fit in any garage.

I think the RV8 is a great update of the styling of earlier MG roadsters. However, these were not originally sold in the US. Since even the newest ones are more than 25 years old they can now be legally imported into the US. When this Hemmings article was written (2006) that was not the case. The sub-head for the piece is, “What do you do when you want an MG RV8 in America? You pull out your credit card and build it yourself.”

In recent days I have come to the sad realization that, barring a lottery win, I will never own one of those garage spaces that seem to be everywhere in the Phoenix area (not at $300,000-$550,000). Still, an MG RV8 would be a great addition to such a space and would leave room for more “toys.”

 

#PainInThe

#MGRV8

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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PS, it is not my intent to show any disrespect for the memory of John Kennedy, who was–of course–killed on this day in 1963. I have previously revealed my belief that while Lee Harvey Oswald did shoot at Kennedy with the intent of killing him, the fatal bullet was almost certainly from an accidental discharge of a weapon from a Secret Service agent in the motorcade.

Goodguys

From the Goodguys website:

 

“Goodguys Rod & Custom Association is the world’s largest hot rodding association with over 70,000 active members worldwide. Goodguys events feature thousands of candy colored hot rods and customs, tricked out trucks, mighty muscle cars and regal classics sprawled throughout venues such as lush fairgrounds, super speedways and large outdoor stadiums.”

 

They hold two events a year in Scottsdale, including the one that is in its last of three days as I write this. My wonderful wife and I attended yesterday. Despite some issues that I think were caused by a funnel cake, we enjoyed the day. Here are some photos:

 

 

If you watch Bitchin’ Rides on Motor Trend you might recognize this car. It is the Buick Invicta called Blue Suede Shoes. It is going to be sold at the Barrett-Jackson auction in January, which will–of course–be held at the same venue, WestWorld, as the Goodguys event. We were told it is “a long story” as to why the car is being sold.

 

 

In case you can’t tell, the 421 badge is the one on the front fender behind the wheel. Hopefully, you can also see this car has the famous Pontiac 8-lug wheels.

 

 

This is a beautiful car in a great color, but it reminded me of why modern cars are just so much better to own and to drive as it had a bad case of run-on after the driver turned off the ignition. He looked embarrassed and said, “That’s what I get for only driving the car every two or three years.”

 

 

The photo immediately above is of the hand-built hot rod owned and built by our friend, Joe. He attends both Goodguys events in Scottsdale every year and brings his car.

 

 

This is a 1968 Buick Riviera, but one that has a modern Cadillac supercharged V-spec engine. If it’s the LSA, then this car has about 550 HP and 550 LB-FT of torque. Although I will always think the first-gen Riviera is the best looking, the second-gen Rivs aren’t ugly, at all.

 

 

Hope you enjoyed the photos.

 

#Goodguys

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Cars A To Z: G

First…many, many thanks to David Banner (not his real name) for sharing his time and expertise with me during this latest medical crisis. I am improving, which should be apparent given the existence of this post.

 

“G” is not a letter well-represented among automobile makes with any longevity. The “G” car in this series is actually strongly connected to Madison Square Garden (MSG), the famous New York sports and entertainment venue. How, you ask?

In 2015, The Madison Square Garden Company was split into two different companies by its owner, Cablevision, which itself had spun off its MSG holdings in 2010 into a separate company. In 1994, Viacom purchased majority ownership of Paramount Communications, then owner of MSG, but sold MSG to Cablevision and ITT, which sold its half of MSG to Cablevision in 1997. With me so far?

In 1989, Paramount was formed when Gulf and Western sold its non-media and entertainment assets. Gulf and Western became sole owner of MSG in 1977, but before that owned 81% of MSG stock. In 1960, the Madison Square Garden Corporation merged with its largest share holder, Graham-Paige. Two years later, Graham-Paige changed its name to the Madison Square Garden Corporation.

The three Graham brothers–Joseph, Robert and Ray, who were from Indiana–began their industrial careers in the glass business. They sold the company they built to Libbey-Owens, later Libbey-Owens-Ford, although I’ll be damned if I can tell you the exact year. From “evidence” that sale probably happened in 1916 or 1917.

The Grahams then began to manufacture trucks and tractors with their first product being pickup and truck conversion kits for Model T Ford chassis. They did not build their own engines, however, using motors built by Continental (at one time a successful independent engine builder for car companies), Dodge and Ford.

The Graham Brothers Speed Truck became so popular that Dodge entered into an agreement to sell complete trucks made by Graham through Dodge dealers. In what was apparently a surprise, the Graham brothers decided to sell the company to Dodge in 1926–then owned by investment bank Dillon, Read & Co. who bought the firm from the widows of the Dodge brothers in 1925, only to sell the company to Walter Chrysler in 1928. Still with me?

The Grahams then purchased the Paige-Detroit Motor Car Company in June of 1927, headquartered in Flint, Michigan. Six months after acquiring the company, their own Graham-Paige automobile debuted at the New York Automobile Show. The name “Paige” was dropped from the cars in 1930, but not from the company name.

I think Graham’s most significant contribution was the car shown below. I think it’s far more important than the attempt to join with Norman DeVaux and what was left of Hupmobile to manufacture cars using the dies from the discontinued Cord 810/812.

 

See the source image

 

From Pinterest this is supposed to be a picture of a 1934 Graham Supercharged Custom Eight. Prior to this car, supercharging had been the realm of high-end cars only. The Beaulieu Encyclopedia Of The Automobile shows the price of this car as $1,245, but Encyclopedia of American Cars by the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide® shows the lowest price as $1,045. Regardless, that was a remarkable value for its day. The Auburn Supercharged Eight 851/852 models, which debuted the next year, were hailed as performance for the masses, although I doubt that exact phrase was used, but the cars could cost as much as $2,200. The least expensive 1934 Cadillac V-8 car, of much larger displacement but not supercharged, cost more than $2,500.

The 1934 Supercharged Eight produced 135 horsepower, an impressive number for its day especially considering that the “legendary” Ford flathead V-8 for the same year produced 85 HP. I think these cars by Graham are pretty much forgotten today, but shouldn’t be.

For Graham, though, the Supercharged Custom Eight was no savior. Of the roughly 23,000 cars they manufactured in 1934, only about 4,000 were the supercharged model. They added a supercharger to one of their six-cylinder cars in 1936 after dropping eight-cylinder engines. That model sold more than the Custom Eight (5,500 in ’36), but Graham sales declined to just 17,000. Of course, the 1930s were a tough time to be a smaller automobile manufacturer.

Graham stopped manufacturing cars in 1940 after making its Cord clone, the Hollywood. Leaving the automobile business proved to be quite lucrative for Graham as they made millions during World War II from government defense contracts as they were still manufacturing farm equipment and were able to convert that capability into making amphibious tanks. Joseph Frazer–yes, of Kaiser-Frazer–bought Graham-Paige in 1944; he/Kaiser-Frazer bought what automotive business remained in 1947. Graham-Paige dropped the name “Motors” from its name in 1952 with its departure from the farm equipment business and became an investment corporation that eventually gained majority stake in Madison Square Garden.

Quite a story, huh? Graham-Paige is just one of many US (and world) automobile manufacturers that made substantial contributions, but are forgotten today.

 

Glad to be back, but I cannot promise posts on an almost-daily basis. I’ll have to take it a day at a time.

 

#CarsAToZ

#Graham-Paige

#1934GrahamSuperchargedCustomEight

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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A Break

I am not well. Divulging any more details would be a case of TMI. Until and unless my situation improves, blogging will have to take a back seat.

I may post sporadically, but barring a sudden and positive reversal of fortune, I cannot envision writing an average of more than six posts a week.

Wish me luck…

 

#ABreak

#disaffectedmusings

 

 

Corvette Saturday

One of the local Corvette clubs, of which there are many in the Phoenix area, held its monthly show today. Unlike Corvette clubs in the east, this show was for Corvettes only. My wonderful wife wanted to see this event so she didn’t have to twist my arm, obviously. Hope you enjoy the photos.

 

 

#CorvetteSaturday

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Cars A To Z: F

I really couldn’t have chosen any other make for the “F” car than Ferrari. On a tangent…I have written about how much I like the show Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars that is shown on Motor Trend. The show is shot in the UK and hosted by Paul Cowland and Drew Pritchard.

Pritchard has almost a pathological dislike for Ferrari; at least that’s how his attitude is portrayed on the show. He thinks their styling is tasteless and the cars are unreliable. Cowland is a big fan of the make, or marque in UK parlance.

Different strokes for different folks or DSFDF…

 

Almost all of us are at least part shadow and shade and ALL of us are flawed. That includes Enzo Ferrari. He was called “Enzo The Butcher” by race car drivers for his apparent disregard for their safety. According to The Beaulieu Encyclopedia Of The Automobile:

 

“Ferrari ran his factory as a Medieval city-state. He set his lieutenants against each other–Ferrari described himself as an ‘agitator’ of men…Ferrari always lagged behind in terms of technology. He was conspicuously late to adopt disc brakes, for example, a mid-engined layout or, even, scientific aerodynamics. Many a Formula One designer looked at Ferrari’s resources and could not believe why the Scuderia did not win every race it entered.”

 

Of course, his last-minute exit from a potential deal to sell his company to Ford led to Henry Ford II vowing to beat Ferrari at LeMans regardless of cost and effort. His personal life cost the company the services of key executives in the early 1960s. After the death of his son Alfredino “Dino” in 1956, Ferrari wanted to recognize the son born to his mistress. Not surprisingly, Ferrari’s wife objected, began to meddle in company affairs and that led to the departure of eight senior principals. Yes, that would almost certainly not happen today.

Still, as Beaulieu sums up, “Other makers have been more competent, but none can match Ferrari for sheer charisma.” As I do not wish to break a butterfly upon a wheel (thanks, Alexander Pope), I will just show pictures of some of my favorite Ferraris, of which there are many.

 

 

This is, of course, the 1961 Pininfarina 250 GT coupe with which I became smitten at the Mecum auction in Monterey, California in August of this year. Here’s another picture of the same car:

 

 

This is a 1967 Ferrari 330 GTC. This car was part of my Ultimate Garage 3.0 published four months ago.

 

 

This is a Ferrari Portofino, which was part of my Ultimate Garage 2.0 published in 2019. I still love the car, but a person can change their mind even if there’s nothing wrong with the one they have.

 

 

This is the Ferrari California my wonderful wife test drove earlier this year, but was sold when we returned to the dealer. Of course, we really had no intention of buying the car right now. Hey, we just have no room at the inn. The California was part of my Ultimate Garage published on my first blog, which was hosted by the Evil Empire, AKA Google.

 

 

This Ferrari 456 is an underappreciated car, in my opinion. About 3,300 456 and 456 M (for Modificata) cars were produced from 1992 to 2003.

No, I haven’t written about Ferrari’s racing history or more about Enzo Ferrari. The cars speak volumes.

 

Have a great weekend; it is Friday, right?

 

#CarsAToZ

#Ferrari

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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Veterans Day 2021

I wish to extend a heartfelt thanks to the 19 million veterans in the US. I also want to thank the roughly 1.3 million currently on active duty in the US military. I think their service is grossly underappreciated by too much of the population.

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Today would/should have been Kevin Towers’ 60th birthday. I worked with Kevin for four years while with the San Diego Padres. As I have recounted, I was foisted on him at first as my first title was Assistant Director of Scouting for Professional Players. At the time, Kevin was the Director of Scouting.

Later, we were both promoted: Kevin to General Manager and me to Director of Baseball Operations. In the three full seasons we had those roles, the Padres won two NL West division titles and one National League championship. (I resigned during the season after the NL championship.) Here is a picture I have shown before:

 

 

Kevin is the one kneeling in front and I am one of the other three people. He always treated me as a friend and respected colleague and not as an interloper.

I believe Kevin’s widow lives in the Phoenix area. I wish I could find her just to say hello and to tell her how much I appreciated the way Kevin treated me. He died of anaplastic thyroid cancer in January of 2018.

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I wanted to add something about what happened on this day in automotive history. Unfortunately, I have learned that the 365 Days of Motoring website cannot be trusted (not to mention it’s not a secure site). I am seldom able to corroborate their “facts.”

A book I have called This Day In Automotive History has nothing for this day that interests me. Since it is likely that tomorrow will be the “F” car in Cars A To Z, I will report that on November 12, 1908 General Motors (which had been founded just two months earlier) acquired Oldsmobile.

Ransom Eli Olds founded Oldsmobile in 1897, sold the company to Samuel L. Smith in 1899 but stayed on as Vice-President and General Manager until the two men began to butt heads frequently. Olds left his namesake company in 1904 to start REO Motor Car Company.

In the first model year after GM’s acquisition (1909), Oldsmobile finished 7th in sales among American makes. Buick finished second and Cadillac, which GM acquired in 1909, finished 5th. Reo finished 6th. Unlike later when Ford completely dominated the US market with the Model T, it had less than a 10 percent share. I hope the photo below shows an actual 1909 Oldsmobile, but my knowledge of brass era cars is quite limited:

 

See the source image

 

In its long history Oldsmobile had quite a record as an innovator with its two most significant being the first make to offer a fully automatic transmission in the Hydra-Matic and, along with Cadillac, the first to offer a modern, overhead-valve and oversquare V-8 engine. I think the fact that these engines had a bore greater than stroke (that’s what oversquare means) is not mentioned enough in automotive histories. That design allows for higher RPM than the old-fashioned engines whose stroke always exceeded their bore.

For the nth time, I will offer lamentation over the demise of makes like Oldsmobile.

 

#VeteransDay

#KevinTowers

#Oldsmobile

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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