A hot night in Budapest…

I’ve always loved this song, as it is so evocative lyrically. A few moments in time and something pleasing to the eye stretched into a 10 minute masterpiece that lives on and on.

…and her legs went on forever, like staring up at infinity…

I know I have this album on vinyl, at least I did when it first came out. Now I can’t find it. Oh well, nice to stumble upon this cut on YouTube though.

Car Photo of the Day: Name That Car.

I stumbled upon this car Friday night when I went to the Tukwila train station to pick up Christopher coming home for Spring Break. I have not seen one of these since the 80s, and even then they were a pretty rare sight here in the US. I was carrying on a SMS text conversation with Chris as he approached. I asked him what end of the train he was on, and when he replied “second car in the front” I knew to park at the north end of the station, as I pulled into the parking lot my eyes were drawn immediately to this car. I texted Chris back saying “I’m parked next to the yellow (car).” He replied, “Do they even sell those here?” 🙂

The two photos above show some distinguishing characteristics. The first is an odd bulge in the bonnet on the passenger side. The second shows the 3-lug wheels. The latter might be a dead giveaway… we’ll see.

Do you know what car this is?

Car Photo of the Day

The Series 3 E-type always looked like a bit of a mongrel to me, especially under the bonnet. The V-12 seemed shoe-horned into too small a space and the goofy dual-carb intake manifolds looked like a “reach” to me as they fed a bank of six cylinders from way down low on the side. The bonnet itself, seemed mis-applied to its contents. Unlike the straight-six XK engine before, where the bulge in the middle provided clearance for the cam covers and the louvers provided a place for hot air to escape, the Series 3 installed rain shields(!) to compensate for the louvers and nothing filled the middle bulge at all. Finally the engine itself is almost invisible in the Series 3, buried under manifolds, linkages, wires and whatnot.

This car managed to address some of the issues above with some simple modifications. It nearly pulls off a win from the jaws of defeat, with a bank of Webers down the middle (though obviously the front ones are rubbing!) and the heads of the V-12 are actually visible. No risk of fuel leaks on the exhaust manifolds either.

I spotted this car at last year’s Monte Shelton, but I don’t remember seeing it after the start, so I think it DNF’ed. Oh well.

Road Photo of the Day: Vanishing Point (part 7)

Lots to like about this photo, the light, the lines of contrails and road converging, two of the best cars ever built. I almost didn’t tag it with the “vp” moniker as it lacks the lonely drama of the others, but it does have that wide open spaces feel.

Shaun drives my car too slow you see, so everyone was passing us along this section of Montana highway as we approached Glacier Park from the east.

Road Photo of the Day: SR 14

This photo was taken last summer while returning from the Monte Shelton rally in Oregon. My navigator had an important phone call to attend to, so I pulled over on this wide shoulder and got out of the car to soak in the views while my father carried on his business. A WSP officer pulled in ahead of us, also chatting on the phone.

This is SR 14 along the north bank of the Columbia River dividing Washington (this side) from Oregon (the far side) as it flows through the Cascade Mountains via the Columbia Gorge. Had things been slightly different a few months ago me and my whole family may have relocated to a spot not far from here. Alas my dream job did not work out and I’m still in the Puget Sound area. Nice roads in either place really.

SR 14 is a far more enjoyable alternative to Interstate 84 across the river. It has more tunnels, more curves, and it is on the sunny side of the river!