Car Photo of the Day: Heavy Heavy Fuel

This Touring body Ferrari 166 has appeared before here at a “name that car” so no use in doing it again. The fuel filler cap though rates a return visit, as it is monstrously HUGE and very cool looking. It so well represents that time when, as Jeremy Clarkson said, “They weren’t concerned about saving the planet so much as driving around it very fast.”

Another Arlington Attraction

Can you tell, I have a new telephoto lens!

My little hometown is also home to a rather large grassroots aviation community, with everything from old warbirds, to ultralights, to sailplanes such as this one seen going aloft above. This activity all centers around the airport southwest of town. Every weekend the sky above town is festooned with these long-winged graceful craft. The flats out along the Stillaguamish river are where the ultralights seem to hang out. East of town at the base of the mountains, and just west of what I can only assume is restricted airspace above the Jim Creek Naval Radio Station is an aerobatics box, which happens to be just to the south above our home. Our deck faces this part of the sky, so we are treated to a front-row seat for some amazing flying demonstrations, especially on summer evenings this time of year when it remains light until 10 PM and we enjoy dinner and/or drinks outside.

I shot this photo as I was walking around our annual “Arlington Show & Shine” car show, pictures coming soon, I promise.

Center of the Universe? Well, mine at least.

Out in front of the City Hall here in Arlington, Washington is an unusual piece of art. At first glance it seems out of place, as anyone who is familiar with the geology of the Pacific Northwest will recognize it as a chunk of columnar basalt, which while quite common in the barren lands east of the Cascade Mountains, is rarely seen here on the wet and mossy west side. It may exist, but if so is buried under vegetation.

Bas(alt) relief of the Stillaguamish Valley

Upon closer examination though the sharp-eyed will note familiar contours and lines in the polished top of the column:
On the east side (right rear) from left to right: Wheeler Mountain, (Jim Creek) Blue Mountain.
In the middle, left to right: Mt. Washington & Stimson Hill, N. Fork of the Stillaguamish River, Ebey Mountain & Arlington Heights, Dahlbero Mountain, S Fork of the Stillaguamish River.
On the west side (near): The location of Arlington itself and the Stillaguamish River flowing west to Puget Sound.

At the foot of the sculpture is it’s name:

The Center of the Universe?

The old joke in cartography is that you can always pinpoint the origin of a map based on what place lies in the center. If that is the case then the sculptor must be my neighbor because my house is literally right smack dab in the middle of this representation of the Stilly Valley. That triangular plateau of land between the two forks of the river and the mountains is where we live.

Of course other places lay claim to that celestial location, but when you are talking about things as large as the entire universe, what difference can about 100 Kilometers really be?

Weird Seen: Stock or Modified?

blingy benz 380sl

On the one had I admire those that modify their cars’ appearance in order to make it their own. On the other hand I feel that 97 times out of 100 they fail at making any improvement over how it came from the factory. That ninety-seven percent makes up about ninety percent of what usually what ends up here in the “Weird Seen” category here on chuck.goolsbee.org.

I spend an inordinate amount of my life slowly creeping in first gear with no throttle pressure up and down Interstate 5 in the Seattle area. One of the great benefits of driving a Diesel-powered car is the amazing torque available, even at idle. I like to plant myself in a lane behind a big truck, because they pretty much do the same thing: Put it into a granny gear and let the idling engine just slowly pull the rig along at a steady rate while the idiots burning gasoline lurch on and off their pedals. Me? I have both of my feet on the floor and rarely engage the clutch or throttle. (Yes, I know that technically the Diesel engine has no throttle, but I can’t bring myself to call it a “gas pedal” either!) The truck and I roll along, with its bulk running interference for me. Yes, idiot drivers will weave in front of him but truckers are smart enough to not get lulled into the trap of driving faster until the entire body of traffic is also going faster. That gap that opens in front of us does NOTHING to keep us from getting where we are going later than anyone else on the freeway… trust me, I se the same cars at the end of my journey as I see at the beginning. They key is once the stop-and-go is done, get out from behind the big rig and flow along with everyone else.

One benefit of this style of locomotion in heavy traffic is car spotting. I see interesting cars and photograph them. I keep a tiny little $80 Nikon Coolpix L11 digicam in the armrest cubby of my Jetta and can snap off a shot of an interesting car in two seconds or less. The cars I choose to shoot have to be unusual in some way, such as the 380sl seen above.

The Mercedes-Benz 380sl was sold from 1980 through 1985 here in the US. Based on the immensely popular R107 chassis which was a perennial best seller from the early 1970 until the last one rolled out of Stuttgart in 1989. When I was a kid it seemed every Doctor, Dentist, Lawyer, and Architect drove one. In a lot of ways this car lead to the downfall of General Motors because a decade before those very same guys were driving Cadillacs and Buicks. GM’s answer to the challenges brought forth by the 1970s and 80s were colossal blunders such as the Cimarron, Seville, and Reatta. Mercedes-Benz cars of that era however, such as the W107, or the W123 & W124 were the antithesis of what GM built: They were solid as Panzers, and so reliable that I’d say that most of them are still running today. How many early 80s Cadillacs do you see on your daily commute? The Mercedes styling of the era, while being Teutonically dull, has a certain timelessness to it so that even today they don’t look unusual on the road. The same could not be said of the Seville of the same era.

This 380sl was very clean, with excellent paint. The modifications by the owner were the rear spoiler and body kit you can see and a front spoiler you can’t, plus red painted interior wheel spokes and grille (sorry, no photo of the cars’ front) so it wasn’t over-the-top “blingy” but it certainly was not stock. Unlike a stock version it stood out and was very visible. If it were my car, I doubt I’d even think of doing this sort of thing. Though I will admit to painting the VW symbol on the front of my 1980 Rabbit body-color, as I felt the chrome was strange. And now that I mention that, I did replace the chrome VW symbols on our 1999 New Beetle to the European blue ones. Both of those mods were very subtle and likely would not have even been spotted by a casual observer. As a rule though I prefer cars to remain original, as the designer intended. The market seems to agree with that, as modified cars tend to lose value compared to stock. The ultimate of course is “original”. As a car ages the more original the better, since as time goes by ultimate originality becomes harder and harder to find.

In a way examples such as this make unmodified examples increase in value. But since nearly a quarter-million R107s were built this guy hasn’t made that much impact in the overall market.

Car Photo of the Day: SS100

Dr. Philippe Reyns’ pre-war “Jaguar” ((actually the marque was called “SS Cars” at the time, then something happened in mid-century that cast a pall over that name!) a 3 ½ litre SS100. A beautiful example of the model. I enjoyed a ride in this machine. Very nice car.

(it is even mentioned in the “Internet Movie Cars Database“)

Apologies for the lack of posts lately… been busy with other things sorry. I promise I’ll get back to my usual schedule soon.