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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 1:42 pm 
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Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:22 am
Posts: 290
Location: Bethel, CT
Colin, family and I had a great time this weekend at the five day Lime Rock Historic Festival 34—perfect weather, racing and vintage race cars, cars and more cars.
Our Z's were accepted into the invitation only parade on Thursday afternoon. We, and about 125 vintage race and street cars, lined up on the Sam Posey straight, and then were led by the Lime Rock pace cars around the incredible roads and villages of northwest Connecticut.
Organizers actually closed down all the roads on our route and moved us at a pretty quick clip with the parade ending in very quaint Falls Village for a party, music, food and liquid refreshments!
Some photos attached.
Colin
the older one


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 4:09 pm 
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Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:21 am
Posts: 973
Location: Somers CT
Very cool, great pic's thanks for sharing them. :thumbs_up: 8)

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W.Karl Walton
Somers CT



75' - 280Z - HLS30203249 - #304 Gold Metallic (stockish)
96' - 300zx TT - JN1CZ24d3TX960293 - Black on Black (enhanced)


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 4:34 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
:shock: Wow.

A '29 Blower Bently 4.5L !!! (James Bond's personal car, before HMSS gave him free Aston Martins to wreck);
A '62 Ford Falcon (don't ask why I know this car);
A '67 Fake Snake;
A '62 Daimler SP250 (or Dart);
TWO Abarths (!!!!);
A Renault Alpine;
A C-Type Jag;
A '65 GT350 Mustang (my insane 16 y/o friend drove one to JUNIOR high school); :roll:
A TR-3 knuckle-dragger (nobody even remembers them anymore) 8) :lol:;
A 1960s Aston Martin DB4 (or 5);
A later Austin Healey BJ-8;
A chrome-bumper wire-wheel MG-B;
Two beautiful Zs;
A real original Mini Cooper;
AND a wonderful 1958 or '59 Maserati 3500GT !!! :mrgreen: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up:
What a show!
Where the heck was I? :cry:

Colin ~ what's that swoopy little red roadster behind the white 3500GT Maserati? It's not an Abarth 1300 OT Spyder, is it? Can't see enough of it....

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1970 240Z


Last edited by Frank T on Fri Sep 09, 2016 9:19 am, edited 3 times in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 5:50 pm 
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Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:22 am
Posts: 290
Location: Bethel, CT
Hey Frank....
You missed a couple!
Well here a some bikes just for you from the Sunday Concours d'Elegance...
I bet you can fill us in on these.
Colin


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 7:22 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
Well, it probably isn't fair for you to ask me to ID these yet, because you've not yet told me if I was right about your dad's Triumph being a Renown or not?
But....

The Harley at the top is basically a 1916 model (pedal start, scalloped tank to allow room for the rockers, no front brake, chain and sprocket vs belt drive), but it's podged together with pre-1906 white tires [carbon black was added to all US tires as of 1907 and they became black instead of white] so this guy's trying to confuse us or else he thinks the earlier tires make his bike look more authentic or something, but they don't. The whale oil tank behind the saddle is for the oil road lamp up front, which was a non-standard option.

The Indian is [mostly] a 1923 Big Chief. Solid rear "hard tail" (no suspension), diamond frame, "birdcage" front suspension, footboards, 20hp 74 cubic inch (1200cc) side valve engine integral with the hand-shifted gearbox and chain driven (as opposed to later shaft drives). He has fitted non-standard wheels; the originals had about 400 spokes each and were impossible to keep tuned, so he has swapped them for stronger thicker fewer shorter spokes on both wheels. I know this bike because my grandfather [the very first motorcycle cop in his county] cut a cow in two with one and eventually died of injuries sustained in the crash, altho they made him return to duty for a few weeks before he died. Tough job, being a cop during the Roaring Twenties. Tough bikes, too; they put him right back on the same machine he killed the cow with, after replacing the front end and straightening the frame. :lol: Indian was America's first motorcycle company.

The final machine is the wonderful Brough ("Bruff") Superior of England. Brough & Son was a motorcycle manufacturer who produced "good" bikes during the teens and twenties. His son broke away from the family business and opened his own shop, which he called the Brough Superior (implying his dad's bikes were inferior), which caused a rift btwn the two men for their lifetimes. The Brough truly was superior, however. It was the fastest bike of its day. It was also the most-expensive motorcycle of that (or any other) era. Indeed, they cost around $8,000 back in 1921, the equivalent of about $100,000 in today's money. And Brough never manufactured anything on the bike! He simply bought the very-best items from every existing motorcycle company at the time, and fitted them together. The frames were Matchless because they were strongest and lightest of the day, those forks were early Harley Davidson because they were the best of the time; the engine was either a JAP (J.A. Prestwich) or an AJS (A.J. Stevens) unit, before they went to the magnificent Vincent 1000cc V-twins. The gearbox varied from year to year depending on engine torque and who made the strongest unit at the time.
Each Brough was custom-made; the customer selected what engine he wanted and what top speed he wanted the machine to be capable of, and the frame was tailor-built to fit his body, arm and leg dimensions. The whole bike was fitted together, tested to certify it's top speed (it was sold as an ss-80, ss-90, ss-100 or an ss-120), then pulled completely apart, refitted with new fasteners, hand-assembled and polished and finally delivered to the customer. The bike was guaranteed for life. Only wealthy people could afford them, and the famed British Lieutenant T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia) owned 8 of them, each fitted to his 5-1/2ft frame, which made them essentially useless to anyone else. In fact, he died from injuries sustained in a crash of his SS-100. The tell-tale chrome tank became an icon of early motorcycle lore and was mimicked by BSA, Matchless and a few others during the 1950s and '60s, but Brough started it. This model is fitted with a sidecar; it was very common in the day for Hollywood movie producers to order and own those. The cars became steady platforms for hand-cranked movie cameras while racing across the western deserts, filming speeding trains or galloping horses. The Brough had the very best suspension of the day, and no other bike could provide smoother ride or more rugged service. They are the most valuable vintage motorcycles in the world today, bringing even more money at auction than the magnificent Vincents.

So, how about that Triumph?

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1970 240Z


Last edited by Frank T on Thu Sep 08, 2016 10:25 am, edited 2 times in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 9:30 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
The fact that we're discussing early Harleys gives us license to open another technical box of worms and discuss their engine.
In the early 1900s, motorcycles and flying machines were developing at roughly the same pace. The most expensive (and most important) item on either machine was the engine. For either application, whatever they used had to be lightweight but powerful and reliable. The air cooled radial engine proved to be the key to successful flight; an odd-number of cylinders radiating out from a central crankshaft which each cylinder shared with the others.
For a number of reasons, the 5-cylinder radial engine proved to be the best balance for most aircraft. With a cylinder placed every 72* around the center, the 4-stroke engines could fire in a balanced fashion and use a single camshaft (which saved money).
The firing order differed among manufacturers, but many 5-cylinder radials simply rotated their firing order 1-2-3-4-5 around the engine. Here in the USA, the (Orville and Wilbur) Wright Aircraft Company employed such engines, at least initially.

It's important to remember that each of the 5 pistons attach to the same crankshaft throw. I've included an animation to help visualize how all the piston connecting rods attach to one master rod, to work together on one throw of the crankshaft:
http://www.ngewes.com/media/aircraft-ra ... -animation

Here's a pair of HD connecting rods; you can see how they share a common crank throw:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Big-Bore-Stroke ... PN&vxp=mtr


The success of the 5-cylinder air-cooled radial engine was hailed as a mechanical marvel, at the same time Harley was considering increased production and sales of their bikes. They decided to copy their engines from the radial engine concept and, in fact, used some of the early aircraft engine parts for their motorcycles.

The 5-cylinder radial engine fired cylinders consecutively every 72* of crankshaft rotation. That worked OK in a 5 cyl engine (altho other firing orders were smoother). Harley effectively chopped the top two cylinders out of a 5-cylinder radial engine and mounted them in their bike. Because the crankshaft is the most-expensive part of any engine, they wanted to use the existing cranks from the radial engines.

But because their engines were only 2 cylinders, they fired (#1) then (#2) just 72* later. The crank then rotated the remainder of two full turns (648*) (when the other 3 cylinders would have been firing) before the two cylinders were ready to fire again. That gave the engine a peculiar double "Thump-Thump" sound, followed by 648* of silent crankshaft rotation. That signature sound has represented Harley ever since. No other bike company uses that crankshaft configuration (to my knowledge), so nothing else sounds like a Harley. Even the mighty Buell racer, which is based on the rugged Harley Davidson engine, replaces the "5-cylinder radial" crankshaft with one which allows the cylinders to fire 180* from each other, resulting in more power and a totally different sound.

For what it's worth.

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1970 240Z


Last edited by Frank T on Thu Sep 08, 2016 10:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Thu Sep 08, 2016 10:16 am 
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Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:22 am
Posts: 290
Location: Bethel, CT
Frank,
I just knew you would bring us up to speed on the motor bikes and aircraft! You have just an amazing wealth of knowledge, really great stuff...well done...and it's worth it!
Yes, it was a Triumph Renown, I knew you would know that.
The swoopy roadster behind white 3500GT Maserati is an Oscar Sports Racer. I have attached a larger image and a link to a You Tube video of the parade, the Oscar is at 7:18.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IBiloFhj7I
Colin
the older one


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PostPosted: Thu Sep 08, 2016 3:29 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
Oh, my GAWD, what a thrilling parade!! I sat here grinning watching a lifetime of memories drive past! Wow.

An O.S.C.A. !!! (Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili—Fratelli Maserati)

That was the first car the Maserati brothers built, just before their dad decided they would put more pride and care into machines if they bore their family name (he was right). They took their signature Trident from the statue of Posiedon at the central fountain in Bologna, near their home town of Modena. The region was known for that fountain and statue, and for little else until they began packing local meat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_ ... e,_Bologna

The first Maseratis (after the OSCA cars) were open wheel, single seater open cockpit Grand Prix cars of high spectacle. Many were simply 4 cylinder supercharged cars with superb balance and handling characteristics which Nuvolari used to beat the dominant Mercedes Benz teams of the 1950s. Other Masers had delightful supercharged straight-6 or V-8 DOHC (450F) hand-jeweled engines which were too powerful for the day; nobody got to actually use all the available power in such lightweight cars. El Maestro Juan Manuel Fangio Himself called the Maserati "Birdcage", the CLT/4 and the 250F his favorite race cars. Certainly the last of his 5 World Driver Championships was won in a 1957 Maserati. Today's "4-wheel-drift" was introduced to the world by Fangio sliding a perfectly-balanced Maserati around the world's circuits.

In the early 1950s Maserati added road cars to their race cars, and the wonderful A6G series was born. Incredible cars, cloaked in breathtaking coachwork by all the world's top coach builders of the day. The 1953 A6GCS Pinninfarina Berlinetta is my favorite. One passed me on the Merrit Parkway about 12yrs ago and I nearly wrecked myself trying to get a closer look.

In 1958 Maserati released the 3500GT series, of which this white coupe is one. Again, bodies were made by many different coach builders (everyone wanted to clothe a Maserati) so the selection of cars was nearly endless. The 3500GT remains one of my top favorite cars in the world, and it was a thrill to hear this one cruise past the camera. Thanks!

My love for Maserati is restricted to the front-engine vintage cars.

http://sa1.24auto-cars.ru/maserati-a-6.php

Here is an outstanding hour-long video of the Maserati racing cars, narrated and driven by retired professional Grand Prix racer Alain de Cadenet. You may recognize him as the docent in the wonderful old Legends of Motorsport series on Speedvision. Some of these cars are his own property.
Pour yrslf a cup, take the phone off the hook, tell your secretary you are in a meeting and not to be disturbed, and listen to these cars thru stereo earphones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_NDEdh ... =AkiraVidi

File this video in your "reasons to live" file drawer. 8)

Frank T

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1970 240Z


Last edited by Frank T on Fri Sep 09, 2016 10:11 am, edited 4 times in total.

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PostPosted: Thu Sep 08, 2016 7:23 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:27 pm
Posts: 959
Location: Pachaug, Ct
Two things...
You can't mention Wilbur/Orville and not Glenn Curtiss.
Was Ginetta the parade queen?

Al

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PostPosted: Thu Sep 08, 2016 8:05 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
#1 Glenn Curtiss was an outright genius.
#2 Ginetta parades thru my dreams ~ does that count? :lol:

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1970 240Z


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PostPosted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 7:25 pm 
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Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:22 am
Posts: 290
Location: Bethel, CT
Colin was able to get four Datsun/Nissan legend autographs on his passenger side sun visor at the Lime Rock Historics. Bob Sharp, John Morton, Peter Brock and the great Sam Posey, all in one place and on the same day in about an hour.
Attached the visor and Pete Brock signing the visor.
Colin
the older one


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PostPosted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 10:00 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 5:53 pm
Posts: 14778
Location: CT
:shock: WHAT??? Why wasn't this announced in advance on the website? We'll probably never get another chance to zee all these legends together in one place again during our (or their) lifetimes! :evil:

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