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gruntydiecast · 5 years ago

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That Time Forgot: Pontiac Banshee

Gosh, I honestly want to rename this segment to “Ahead Of Its Time”, but I’m keeping the That Time Forgot moniker to keep it consistent with the other few posts I’ve been doing. But anyway, back to our point.

Concept cars have cool names, like Rageous, Wildcat and UltraLite. But I feel this one is probably the coolest of them all. Today, I’ll take you back in time to discuss about what, in my opinion, is one of the coolest concept cars of the ‘80s, both in appearance and name.

The Pontiac Banshee nameplate has been used for a line of concept cars designed by General Motors, the nameplate having been used since 1964. Before we talk about this Banshee, let’s take a trip back to 1964, with the 1964 Banshee I.

The Banshee was Pontiac’s newest concept car in 1964, dubbed the XP-833 internally. This was a small sports car with a sweeping front end and short rear deck, conceived by head of Pontiac John DeLorean (yes, that DeLorean). The appearance is highly reminiscent of the third-generation Chevrolet Corvettes. A few were built, but only two were functional prototypes; these were a silver coupe with an inline-6 and a white convertible with a V8.

Described by DeLorean as the “Mustang Killer”, the Banshee was rumored to be slated for production; however, the extremely high performance of the Banshee ultimately did not sit well with the higher-ups at GM, who thought the performance of the Banshee would ultimately prove as a threat to the Corvette and the Banshee was ultimately canned as a result.

In 1968, a new version of the Banshee was made, internally known as the Banshee II. This was essentially a Pontiac Firebird with a new fiberglass body shell sitting on Firebird body panels and a near-stock Firebird interior.

Originally red, this wedge-shaped car was given a new white paintjob with red accents and a hood decal in 1969. It was powered by a 400 ci (6.6L) Pontiac V8.

The third Banshee, internally known as the Banshee III, was introduced in 1974 and painted in a chrome red. The car itself was based on the Firebird with an appearance influencing that of the later Trans Ams. It featured covered headlamps blended with a streamlined hood for better aerodynamics. The triple headlamps had three modes: low, freeway and high-beam. The car had a soft face bumper system with body-colored urethane over an energy-absorbing foam base.

The Banshee III originally had four slit-type taillamps, but these were changed to twenty “high tech round hole” taillamps in 1976. The car was powered by a 455 ci (7.5L) Super Duty V8. And now, we move on to quite possibly the most iconic one of the bunch.

The newest version of the Banshee, also known as the Banshee IV, was also one of the most futuristic sports cars of the period. Powered by an experimental SOHC V8 with 230 horsepower, the car had sleek lines and a futuristic appearance.

With buttons everywhere on the steering wheel along with a heads-up display projected information about speed and other things. The car also featured dual adjustable rear wheels and appears to be fully functional. The car was intended to preview the exterior design for new cars to come, which it did; the Banshee helped to preview the design of the next-generation Pontiac Firebird and by extension the next-generation Chevrolet Camaro.

The Banshee got its big break on the big screen when it appeared in Back To The Future Part II, although very briefly.

The Banshee also appeared very briefly in the 1993 movie Demolition Man; here, it can be seen next to the Corvette Stingray III and an Oldsmobile Aurora. The car is currently located at the GM Heritage Center, along with the Banshee II and III; both Banshee Is are in the hands of private owners.

Okay, now that we’ve gotten all the history out of the way, let’s get to the reason why you’re here: the history of the Hot Wheels casting.

The Banshee was first introduced in 1989 as part of the Speed Fleet series. One notable difference between the real-life Banshee and the model Banshee is the non-covered rear fender flare. This casting was designed by Larry Wood.

The base is metal and features few markings apart from the logo and copyright information. I can honestly see people not being able to identify this car, but this was at a time where little other information other than copyright and the Hot Wheels logo was placed on the base; this lasted from about the mid-’80s to the mid-to-late-’90s, at which point it was presumably mandated to put the name of the casting on the base unless it couldn’t fit.

Even on modern releases it appears that the name of the casting is not printed. Something interesting I noticed was that the base graphics are actually identical to that of the Corvette Stingray III. Of note is that the interior piece of the car makes up a part of the distinctive “triangle” front fascia of the Banshee.

This casting received a total of twenty-seven releases, and was last seen in the 2011 Hot Ones series with retro-style decals and pastel colors.

In my honest opinion, the Banshee would be a perfect addition to a Hot Wheels series showcasing forgotten concept cars like these from the ‘80s to aid these concept cars on their road to getting remembered. I hope you have gotten a better idea about the history of the Banshee and the cars that preceded it, and like I always say, I’d do it again any day.

- Grunty

#hotwheels #pontiacbanshee #thattimeforgot #larrywood

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somar78 · 5 years ago

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A Brief History of the Bricklin SV-1 – Everything You Need To Know

The Bricklin SV-1 – A Canadian Match for the Corvette

In April 1975 Car and Driver magazine had the opportunity to do a head to head test of the Chevrolet Corvette and a new Canadian built rival, the Bricklin SV-1. You can read the full May 1, 1975 test here, but in summary the performance of the two cars was near identical.

The Corvette had a North American rival that not only matched its performance, but which also matched it in terms of style and crowd gathering ability.

The Bricklin was looked upon with great interest by another prominent Detroit figure, John Z. DeLorean.

DeLorean found that he and Malcolm Bricklin could not form a business partnership so he went off to begin a project of his own: the car with gull-wing doors that he created was the one Doctor Emmett Brown turned into a “time machine with style” for the movie “Back to the Future” and it bore a striking resemblance to the Bricklin SV-1 with its gull-wing doors and clean angular styling.

The Bricklin SV-1 however could get to 88 miles per hour rather more quickly than the DeLorean thanks to its 220 hp V8 engine.

Plumbing Supplies And The Subaru 360

The story of the Bricklin SV-1 began as Malcom Bricklin dropped out of college and invested his time and talents into his father’s hardware and plumbing supplies franchise, which was based in Orlando, Florida. With his strong entrepreneurial skills Malcom managed to turn the family’s business into a multi-million dollar franchise of a chain of hardware stores and with such an elegant sufficiency of finance behind him, not to mention being flushed with success, he decided not to stop there but to see what other projects his Midas Touch might make possible.

By this time it was the mid 1960’s and to understand Malcom Bricklin’s next choice of project it is helpful to see his decision in the historical perspective – what was going on in the world at that time?

The 1956 Suez Crisis had shown people the ease with which their supplies of fuel could be threatened and in that period of post-war austerity the Suez Crisis caused the British government to reintroduce fuel rationing while in the US and Canada the idea that the future would herald the demise of the big American car and see its replacement with smaller and more economical modes of transport gained some traction.

This was the period in which the “bubble cars” from such makers as Heinkel and BMW Isetta became popular in Britain and Europe and even had a footprint in the United States: a young rock ‘n roll singer named Elvis Presley had been driving around in his Messerschmidt bubble car before his career took off.

In Britain this was the period that gave birth to the iconic Mini, and motor scooters also became fashionable with young people. Seeing these things Malcom Bricklin could see an opening for establishing a franchise business just like the one he’d just set up for hardware, but this time selling small cars and motor scooters.

He found a Japanese company – Fuji Heavy Industries – who were wanting to establish a foothold in the North American market – and who made the Fuji Rabbit motor scooter, and who also made the Subaru 360 micro car which was basically a bubble car with four wheels instead of three. So his next venture was to set up Subaru America and start selling franchises for those products.

While the Fuji Rabbit motor scooters sold like little hotcakes the Subaru 360 was dealt a death blow when the Chicago based “Consumer Guide” magazine reviewed the Subaru 360 and found it fared worse than anything else in crash tests, so they stated that it was “the most unsafe” automobile on the market. The little Subaru that had proved to be a perfect small car for Japan and her roads back in the mid-1960’s was way out of its depth on roads shared with the huge American cars and pickup trucks.

This led Malcom Bricklin to conclude, perhaps too hastily, that Subaru America had no future, and so he sold his interest in the company and with all that lovely investment capital burning a hole in his bank account he got thinking about how best to invest it in a new money-making venture.

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The “Safety Vehicle 1”

1965 had seen the publication of Ralph Nadar’s book “Unsafe at Any Speed” and it was in this environment that Malcom Bricklin began putting together his ideas for a car for the 1970’s. He seems to have reasoned that there would be little point in trying to produce a standard family car as the major manufacturers were already doing that and he could not be competitive. To begin in the car industry he needed a Halo automobile, and that meant a sports car.

He could create an exotic sports car and, just like Lotus Cars of Britain, he could make it economically on a small scale. Toyota were making their 2000GT, Mazda made their Cosmo, and Chevrolet the Corvette. He could do something similar but he needed an angle to make his car something different and desirable. Safety seemed to be high in the public interest at that time so he decided to build the Bricklin Safety Vehicle. This was to be a car that delivered what British car maker MG promised in their advertising for their sports cars – “Safety Fast”.

Bricklin established a new company, General Vehicles Inc. based in Phoenix, Arizona, and went looking for a suitable place to set up manufacturing. His research would ultimately take him to Canada, to the maritime province of New Brunswick, where the Premier Richard Hatfield would embrace the project as a way to provide employment for local workers.

With this in mind the provincial government would provide an initial subsidy of USD$4.5 million to get the first run of cars into production. Not only that but they would also provide an empty factory building and a promise to subsidize the worker’s wages.

As the project took shape two production facilities would be established in New Brunswick, one in St. John and a body construction works in Minto.

Design and Development: From Prototypes to Production

Malcom Bricklin got started on the concept and development of his new sports car in 1971. The original concept work was entrusted to Bruce Meyers of Meyers Manx fame but was transferred to a designer named Marshall Hobart who worked to perfect the design in collaboration with Richard Dean Sawitskas, who is best known by the name Dick Dean.

Dick Dean had become famous during the mid-late 1960’s, particularly because of his 1969 Shalako which made the cover of several magazines including Car & Driver, Rod & Custom, Motor Trend, Hot Rod, and Playboy. It was because of one of these cover stories that Malcolm Bricklin sought out Dick Dean to help with his car project.

Malcolm Bricklin’s initial idea was to make something a bit like a British Lotus in concept. It was to be powered by a four cylinder Opel engine and was to have a fully independent suspension to give it superb handling.

The four cylinder engine idea was scrapped quite early, presumably because the car’s performance would have been on a par with the Brazilian Volkswagen SP1 and SP2 “sports” cars which were notably under-powered. So a Chrysler “Slant Six” was installed instead. This Chrysler engine was the one used in the popular Chrysler Valiant sedan and it had an excellent reputation as well as being common. It was an engine that most mechanics would know how to fix, and for which parts were readily available.

The design was done in the conventional way for building a new production car; from clay mock-up models, and then the development and construction to create a running prototype. This first running prototype is interesting as it shows the nature of the original design concept. Dubbed the “Gray Ghost” because it was painted silver-gray this car mated the Chrysler engine to a four speed manual gearbox and also used a Datsun 510 rear differential and fully independent trailing arm rear suspension.

This combination would make that Bricklin prototype quite like the 1969 Datsun 240Z in terms of performance and handling potential. The car used a range of off the shelf parts from Datsun, Toyota and GM Opel and had a tilting steering wheel assembly from a Chrysler.

Malcolm Bricklin began working with Herb Grasse Design and Advanced Vehicles Concepts (AVC) of Michigan in 1972 to work from the “Gray Ghost” and re-engineer it into a production ready car. Significant in this process was the work of Tom Monroe who would go on to become the Chief Engineer of Bricklin’s company.

In this period AVC built seven of the next eight prototypes.

These prototypes provide a summary history of the re-engineering and development of what would become the production car.

The first of these was painted red and had a fiberglass body on a steel perimeter chassis. The engine used was an AMC 360 V8 which was later changed to an AMC six cylinder. This car did not use the Datsun 510 fully independent rear suspension but instead used a front and rear suspension from the AMC Hornet. This meant it had unequal “A” arms with coil springs and telescopic shock absorbers at the front and a live axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs at the rear. The brakes were also from the AMC Hornet and comprised discs at the front and drums at the rear.

The second also had a fiberglass body and was painted in yellow-ochre. This was the first prototype to have a fully fitted out interior. Its first engine was an AMC 360 which was then changed to a Ford 351 with automatic transmission. This car was later painted red.

The third was fitted with a red acrylic body and had an AMC 360 engine and automatic transmission.

The fourth had a white acrylic body and four speed manual transmission.

The fifth car was used for crash testing and had a white acrylic body and automatic transmission.

The sixth prototype was not completed but was only made as a chassis, frame, and “bird cage”.

The seventh was fitted with a “Suntan” acrylic body and automatic transmission.

The eighth and last prototype was made with an acrylic orange body and was used for crash/impact tests. This prototype was built by General Vehicle Incorporated (GVI).

The Bricklin SV-1 Production Cars

The production of the Bricklin SV-1 began in 1974 with 774 cars made. These cars were built on a steel perimeter chassis with a tubular steel cage around the passenger compartment to provide a safe cocoon for the occupants, and it was also fitted with an integral roll bar to provide roll-over protection.

This was a period in which it was thought that US regulators might ban convertible cars because of their lack of roll-over protection and Malcolm Bricklin’s team were doing all they knew to do to ensure their car would pass or exceed the most stringent safety regulations.

Much changed from the original concept of a lightweight sports car with a fully independent suspension. The engine grew from four cylinders, to six cylinders, to eight. To accommodate the power of the V8, and to use affordable “off the shelf” parts, the rear suspension was changed to a live axle with leaf springs. The original fiberglass body was changed to fiberglass with an acrylic top layer which had the color of the car molded in so the car did not need to be painted, and minor scratches could be buffed out.

The engine used in the first production Bricklin SV-1 was the AMC 360, a V8 that was used in the Jeep J-Series, Wagoneer SJ and Cherokee SJ, as well as being used in the AMC Rebel and Matador passenger cars of that era. This choice of engine was without doubt influenced by availability issues: GM would not have wanted to supply engines to a company that was going to build a car that was in direct competition with the Corvette for example.

The AMC 360 engine as fitted to the SV-1 had a displacement of 5,896.1 cc (359.8 cu. in.) and was fitted with a four barrel carburetor. When development of the SV-1 began in 1971 this engine had been producing 285-295 hp, but as emissions regulations came in during mid-1971 this was reduced to 220 hp.

Had the engine not been subject to those emissions restrictions the SV-1 would have had a 5.9 liter 285 hp V8 under the hood and would have been a lively little performer. As it was though the 220 hp V8 was an impressive feature of the SV-1: we can be sure it looked good when the hood was raised, that it sounded gorgeous, and that it performed nicely despite having 3,470 lb of car to haul around – the SV-1 was no lightweight and would have benefited greatly from extensive use of aluminum alloy – but steel was cheaper and much easier to weld.

For the early production cars the available gearbox was either a BorgWarner T-10 four speed manual or Chrysler Torque Command 3 speed automatic sending the power to a live rear axle with a ratio of 3.15:1 which was mounted on semi-elliptic leaf springs with telescopic shock absorbers. The front suspension was by unequal “A” arms with coil springs and telescopic shock absorbers. Brakes were 11″ vented discs at the front and 10″ drums at the rear providing a swept area of 328 square inches.

Being a “Safety Vehicle” the design team incorporated what were probably over-engineered impact bumpers front and rear. To their credit these bumpers were integrated into the body styling beautifully and were one of the starring aspects of the SV-1 design.

As a small scale production vehicle the designers of the SV-1 had to use off-the-shelf parts wherever possible and for the tail lights Herb Grasse decided to use the same tail light assembly as he had on his De Tomaso Pantera. This was a tail light set made by Italian company Carello and were also used on cars from Lamborghini and Maserati: so “off-the-shelf” can be pretty exotic.

Stylish, but more controversial was the decision to use gull-wing doors. Gull-wing doors were chosen ostensibly as a safety feature as the doors would not open into the passing traffic flow. They are also good for getting in and out of a vehicle in the limited space of a car-park. However, on the downside, a gull-wing door has to be lifted up rather than just swung open and so the weight of the door becomes an important factor.

Each gull-wing door of the SV-1 tipped the scales at around 90 lb, which was too heavy for a person to lift open unassisted. These gull-wing doors were power operated by a hydraulic system which made door opening push-button effortless, but which was noted for being slow. If the hydraulic system failed however opening the doors manually was very difficult and beyond the muscle power of many people.

A major drawback to the hydraulic system used in the SV-1 was that if one attempted to raise one door at the same time as lowering the other one it would cause the hydraulic pump to fail. This is a failing that should never have found its way into a production sports car, but it did.

In 1975 Bricklin was forced to change engines from the AMC 5.9 liter 220 hp V8 to a Ford 351 cu. in. (5.8 liter) small block Windsor V8 which was rated at 175 hp, that modest power being partly due to its breathing through a two barrel carburetor. Although this was a distinct drop in power by comparison with the AMC’s 220 hp we should consider that the Ford Windsor V8 had been the engine fitted to the Ford Mustang, Shelby Cobra and Sunbeam Tiger in various forms.

So although in the Bricklin of 1975 it was not an engine that would cause neck straining acceleration it was an engine that would have allowed for some significant tweaking. Carrol Shelby had his Windsor V8’s getting up to 390 hp. So the potential was there, but Bricklin were in financial trouble by that stage and were not going to be able to capitalize on that potential.

Murphy’s Law Manifests

Most readers will be aware of Murphy’s Law which tells us that “Nothing is as easy as it looks, everything takes longer than you expect, and if anything can go wrong it will, at the worst possible moment.” For those who aspire to building a sports car we should probably add “Everything will cost more than you expect.” And all of these things came to pass for the Bricklin SV-1 just as they had for the creators of the original Chevrolet Corvette.

As originally created the Bricklin SV-1 was intended to be a direct competitor to the Corvette and if things had gone according to plan it would have been. The cost estimates for the SV-1 originally predicted the car would sell for around USD$4,000. When it entered the market in 1974 the Bricklin actually cost USD$7,490, which was almost double the original price estimate.

By comparison in 1974 a base model Chevrolet Corvette sold for USD$6,082. The price of the SV-1 would continue to spiral upwards and by 1975 the Bricklin price was USD$9,980 and the base Corvette USD$6,810. Despite that Bricklin managed to establish more than 400 US dealerships and had thousands of cars on order at the time the company was forced into receivership.

The things that killed the Bricklin were the same things that killed many other automotive startups – poor quality workmanship, over pricing, and labor relations problems. The cars were built using mechanical parts made in the United States and so those parts posed no problems. At the St. John works the factory hands were tasked with the job of assembling the cars. This was the first point of difficulty as the quality of that assembly was sub-standard and this was particularly acute in the first year of production 1974.

The second major area of difficulty was the Minto body works where the problems encountered in getting the acrylic layer to bond with the fiberglass resulted in a wastage of about two thirds of panels produced. Bricklin brought in Archie Hamielec, an expert from the McMaster University of Hamilton, Ontario. With his help the wastage rate for panels was reduced to around a fifth of production, which was obviously a lot better than two thirds but still not ideal.

The final straw was that Bricklin was hiring workers in a place where unemployment was at around 25%. This must have meant he was getting a lot of unskilled and under-skilled labor. There is reported also the problem that when hunting season came a large portion of the workforce left work and went hunting, leaving the factory badly understaffed.

So to sum up, the Bricklin was not killed because it was an inferior design – although if you were 6 foot tall you’d be much better off with a Corvette – but it was killed off by problems related to labor, quality control, and unforeseen technical problems related to the bonding of the acrylic and fiberglass of the body panels.

Despite having a backlog of orders on the books Bricklin was forced into receivership in 1975 with the last few cars being built from remaining parts in 1976.

Bricklin SV-1 Specifications

Chassis and Body: Steel perimeter frame with roll bar and tube steel cage around the passenger compartment. Fuel tank protected on five sides against impact damage. Body made of fiberglass with a colored acrylic layer bonded to it obviating the need for painting. Colors available were Safety Orange, Safety Red, Safety Green, Safety White, and Safety Suntan.

Engines: For 1974; 5,896.1 cc (359.8 cu. in.) AMC 360 OHV V8 engine delivering 220 hp and 315 lb/ft of torque. For 1975 and the few cars made in 1976; Ford 351 Windsor 351 cu. in. (5,752 cc) OHV V8 delivering 175 hp and 286 lb/ft of torque.

Transmission: For the AMC 360 engine – BorgWarner T10 four speed manual gearbox (137 cars), Chrysler Torque Commander three speed automatic gearbox (635 cars). For the Ford 351 Windsor engine – Ford FMX thee speed automatic (approximately 2,100 cars). Rear live axle from AMC Hornet with final drive ratio of 3.15:1.

Suspension and Brakes: Suspension system taken from the AMC Hornet. Front; Unequal “A” arms with coil springs and telescopic shock absorbers. Rear; Hotchkiss live axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs and telescopic shock absorbers. Servo assisted braking system from the AMC Hornet. Front; 11″ vented discs. Rear; 10″ drums. Total swept area 328 square inches.

Steering: Recirculating ball sector and gear. Turning circle diameter 34′ wall to wall.

Wheels and Tires: 15″ Wheels wearing FR 60 x 15 tires. No provision for a spare tire.

Dimensions: Length 178.6″ (4,536 mm), Width 67.6″ (1,717 mm), Height 48.25″ (1,226 mm), Wheelbase 96.0″ (2,438 mm), Kerb weight 3,520 lb (1,597 kg), Fuel tank capacity 21 US gallons. Ground clearance 5.5″.

Performance: Standing quarter-mile 16.6 seconds (attaining 83.6 mph). Top speed 118 mph (190 km/hr).

The End of the Bricklin SV-1 Story

The Bricklin SV-1 was a pioneering automobile and like any trailblazer it contained features that were new, unfamiliar, and therefore features that would attract negative criticism from reviewers. One area of criticism was the thickness of the “A” pillars and general lack of visibility from within the vehicle.

This was caused by the integration of the cage around the passenger compartment and integral roll-bar and the aerodynamic body style. Nowadays cars are constructed with integral roll-over protection and commonly have air bags installed in the “A” pillars which makes them sufficiently thick that the blind spot created can obscure an entire car from view. This is something that drivers of modern cars are used to and have learned to compensate for, but that was not the case in 1974.

The Bricklin went to market as an unfinished prototype and suffered accordingly. It was created by a highly competent design team who got most things right – except for the mechanism for the gull-wing doors. Added to that the factory was staffed with workers who had mostly not worked on an automotive production line before and had to learn on the job. The resulting sub-standard workmanship would appear to have resulted from what would seem to be a lack in leadership, and a failure to train workers adequately. Financial pressures, including pressure to get cars rolling off the production line quickly, would seem to be the principal underlying cause behind putting an unfinished model into production in a factory that had been hastily established and staffed.

Nowadays the Bricklin SV-1 has a keen support network in the form of the Bricklin International Owners Club. Many of the surviving Bricklins have been stripped and completely restored and in that process the faults, including the gull-wing door mechanism, have been fixed so these restored cars are examples of what should have been, but wasn’t back then, but is perfected now.

The gull-wing door fix is the design creation of Terry Tanner and you can find more details from Bricklin Parts of Virginia.

Another good source for Bricklin SV-1 happiness is Big H Bricklin Parts and Service who are located in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Bricklin SV-1 appears on “worst cars” lists from time to time. From a design standpoint it doesn’t really belong on any “worst cars” list; the faults were in quality control and the need to cut costs during production. Had the money been there to give the car impeccable manufacturing quality control, sort out the door design, tweak up the suspension, and give the engine the Carrol Shelby treatment, a Bricklin could have been quite a machine. Which makes the Bricklin SV-1 a historic classic that is as yet largely undiscovered.

Perhaps its real moment of fame will come if the classic car collector market discovers it.

Photo Credits: Bricklin, Subaru America, Mecum Auctions.

The post A Brief History of the Bricklin SV-1 – Everything You Need To Know appeared first on Silodrome.

source https://silodrome.com/bricklin-sv-1-history/

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mollywood21com · 2 years ago

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keralalives · 2 years ago

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DeLorean Next Generation Motors |The Model JZD is named for John Z

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mondonews · 2 years ago

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It’s back: John DeLorean’s daughter launching Detroit-built sports car next year

Kat DeLorean, daughter of famed automotive executive John DeLorean, has announced the launch of a new car company called DeLorean Next Generation Motors (DNG Motors), that is aiming to bring a modern take on her father’s eponymous sports car to market. The company says that the sleek gullwing two-seater will be built in Detroit, with the first production version set to be revealed late next…

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nickgerlich · 4 years ago

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Beyond The Dome

I was born into a family who liked to travel. If there is such a thing as genetic predisposition for wanderlust, then I am proof positive it can be passed down from one generation to the next.

We went all over the Midwest. To Toronto and Montreal. To Texas. To Mount Rushmore. I was able to see a big part of America while it was still in a state of transition from the old two-lane to the Interstate era.

And we stayed at an endless array of mom-and-pop motels. Each day on the road, my brother and I would dream of our overnight destination, where there would--hopefully--be a swimming pool, and large lawn for playing catch, and a color TV to watch once it got dark.

Mom and Dad did not have smartphones back then, only handy little triptik flip books provided by the Chicago Motor Club, so their advance knowledge of motels down the road was limited, and more often than not, we played motel roulette when we pulled into a town. Reservations? Only if you didn’t have a spirit of adventure.

It was in the 1970s, though, that Holiday Inn, founded in 1951 and known for its Great Sign, took their two-story motels with the end-cap breeze blocks to a new level with the introduction of the Holidome. Everything that was once outside was now under one sprawling roof, along with a slew of other family-friendly activities.

Putting green. Poolside bar (OK, adults only!). Games. Fitness equipment. Restaurant. Each one was different, as the franchisees sought to out-do one another within the corporate chain. It solved the problems of seasonality, which is especially an issue in the Great White North, as well as a slow but growing safety perception. Parents could let their kids run wild in the Holidome while they had a little--ahem--private time in the room.

It was all great fun, and whenever we stayed at one of those, we knew that Dad must have gotten his bonus, because they were more expensive than the typical motels we patronized. I have many fond memories, including a late-70s church youth group trip downstate for a regional gathering in our denomination.

It is only in adulthood now that I can only imagine the horror of the other guests to have had the misfortune of selecting a motel at which there were hundreds of hormonally-ravaged teens making noise all night. I bet you can hear it now.

But what was hot in the 70s had become lame by the 90s, and in the COVID era, we can’t even imagine a shared public space with all of those highly tactile activities. Sheesh. And never mind that it felt like you were stepping into a tropical terrarium. They should have called it the HumiDome. You can thank the massive swimming pool for that.

Today, it is rare to even find one of these. Most have been demolished, only to be replaced by the now-standard rectangular building, each chain looking much the same, and differing only by a few external finishing points. Holiday Inn, for all its industry-leading innovations through the years, is basically the same as a Hampton Inn, Fairfield Inn, Comfort Inn, blah. Blah. Blah.

And while it is indeed difficult to picture something like this even being open in 2020 because of the pandemic, the wheels of change that caused the demise of the Holidome were set in motion 30 years ago. Our traveling ways changed. It’s not that we didn’t stay in motels any more. No, it’s that the motel became less destination, and just a place to sleep, shower, grab a muffin, and go.

We’re in too much of a hurry, and the notion of checking in at 4pm is quaint at best. Hell, I often don’t check in to my hotels until 9pm or later, fully realizing I am paying about $15 an hour for the privilege at that point, but smug in my accomplishment of having squeezed the last little bit out of today.

At the same time, though, part of me yearns for those simpler days, not just the 1960s with my family, but even the Holidome era. It’s funny how this works, but whenever we look back at the past, it just seems so simple compared to all of our modern problems. Maybe it really was. And maybe our memories are selective, and we only recall the good times, not the bad.

Either way, part of me would like to hitch a ride in a DeLorean and circle back 50 years to family road trips, to a youth convention, to when I was young and had a crush on a pretty girl.

Because today’s motels have been stripped of everything that once made them special, and I am just in one of those retrospective moods. We are way beyond the dome, but I don’t think we are sleeping any better, and my wanderlust is still the same.

Dr “Waxing Nostalgic Today“ Gerlich

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#marketing #hotels #Holiday Inn #Holidome #travel

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47burlm · 7 years ago

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If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit.

October 19, 1982

On October 19, 1982, the automaker John Z. DeLorean is arrested and charged with conspiracy to obtain and distribute 55 pounds of cocaine. DeLorean was acquitted of the drug charges in August 1984, but his legal woes were only beginning. He soon went on trial for fraud and over the next two decades was forced to pay millions of dollars to creditors and lawyers. Nevertheless, DeLorean occupies an important place in automotive history: Thanks to its starring role in the 1985 film “Back to the Future,” his gull-wing sports car is one of the most famous cars in the world.

DeLorean grew up in Detroit and began to work for Chrysler while he was still in college. His career was a promising one: He worked his way up the corporate ladder at General Motors, where he is credited with designing the GTO and the Firebird, and became a vice-president in 1972, but he left the company just a year later to pursue his own business interests. In 1978, he started the DeLorean Motor Company in Northern Ireland—the British government, along with investors like Johnny Carson and Sammy Davis, Jr., paid the bulk of his start-up costs—to build his dream car: the DMC-12, a sports car that was like nothing anyone had ever seen before. Its stainless-steel body was unpainted; its doors opened up, not out; it had a 130-hp Renault engine and could go from zero to 60 mph in eight seconds.

But not many people actually bought a DeLorean car. They were much too expensive: Each one cost $25,000, compared with $10,000 for the average car and $18,000 for a souped-up Corvette. The company’s financial trouble, DeLorean’s attorneys argued, was the reason the FBI had been able to entrap him in the $24 million drug deal–the authorities knew he would do anything to save his business.

DeLorean was already mired in legal problems by the time director Steven Spielberg chose a DMC–12 to serve as Marty McFly’s time machine in “Back to the Future.” Spielberg had originally planned to use an old refrigerator instead of a car, but had changed his mind at the last minute. (The director liked the DeLorean’s futuristic look, but more than that he was worried that young fans of the movie might accidentally get stuck in refrigerators and freezers while playing make-believe.) While the DeLorean’s instant celebrity did not do much to revive its creator’s fortunes, it granted him a permanent footnote in pop-culture history.

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perksofwifi · 5 years ago

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What the Mid-Engine Corvette Can Learn From the Pontiac Fiero

Chevrolet’s soon-to-be-revealed mid-engine Corvette has nearly 70 years of Corvette history to contend with and learn from, but there’s another history lesson hiding in the halls of General Motors. Thrity-five years ago, Pontiac introduced the Fiero, America’s first and only mass-production mid-engine car (until the mid-engine Corvette gets here).

The Fiero’s story is long and complicated, but it contains a number of important lessons for the mid-engine Corvette. Here are the three biggest, straight from a former owner.

Build the Right Car the First Time

When the Fiero debuted in 1984, it was a cheery little economy car with a 92-hp four-cylinder engine and Chevy Citation and Chevette suspension parts. It wasn’t the car Pontiac wanted to build, but it was the car GM’s management would approve. It took years of work and untold millions to make it a proper sports car. By the time that happened, sales had plummeted and the car was canceled.

Chevrolet, thankfully, has never had to lie about what kind of car the Corvette is, but there’s still a lesson here, and it’s a classic: You only get one chance at a first impression. The car that debuts on July 18 needs to be awesome. It can’t be the cheap one or the one with the wimpy engine. It doesn’t have to be the almighty ZR1, but whatever model it is needs to impress and set the stage for future higher-performance cars. There are a ton of expectations for this car, and Chevrolet can’t afford to blow the intro, or the better cars coming later will never get the chance.

Get the Story Straight

John Z. DeLorean proposed a mid-engine Pontiac back in the ’60s, but it took two decades to make it to the road. Along the way, smog laws and the oil embargo happened, vaporizing any support for new sports cars among GM’s board. Pontiac had to pitch the car as a cheap, fuel-efficient runabout to get it approved, and first-year marketing reflected that. A sporty GT model was quickly introduced in the second model year, but by then the public knew it as an economy car, not a sports car, a reputation it would never fully shake.

Here, again, you’d think this one’s a no-brainer, but given how badly GM flubbed the CT4-V and CT5-V announcement recently, it bears repeating: Get the story straight before you reveal the car. Cadillac tried to get cute and introduce lower-performance V models first with a wink and a nod about higher-performance cars that might be coming later, and it completely backfired. Worse, it changed the V naming scheme without explaining it, leading everyone to conclude incorrectly that the V Series had been watered down. The mid-engine Corvette is a radical change after nearly 70 years of building Corvettes, and it’s probably going to cost a lot more. Chevrolet needs to be crystal clear about the mid-engine Corvette’s performance targets, its competitors, its pricing, and what’s coming next.

Read More 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Pricing Revealed! 2020 Chevrolet Camaro SS Gets a Face-Lift The Mid-Engine Chevrolet Corvette Has a New Logo

Don’t Get Hung-Up on Sales Figures

The Fiero was an instant hit when it launched, but a small number of engine fires in the first-year cars and the unfortunate similarity between the words “Fiero” (which means “very proud” in Italian and “fierce” or “ferocious” in Spanish) and “fire” ruined the car’s reputation and its sales momentum. Sales dropped from nearly 137,000 in 1984 to less than 27,000 in 1988, leading to its cancellation. Never mind it was still outselling a number of other GM vehicles (including the Corvette, which had seen its sales drop by half in the same time period), the numbers were dropping too fast and GM’s board got nervous. Its death helped contribute to the axiom that GM kills cars as soon as it gets them right.

The mid-engine Corvette will alienate some Corvette fans. If it costs significantly more than the current car, it’s going to price some people out of the market. Chevrolet is used to selling tens of thousands of Corvettes in a good year, way more than any other sports car on the market. It’ll sell fewer mid-engine cars, and the board needs to keep its nerve when the sales figures drop. GM isn’t going to cancel the Corvette, of course, but nervous bean-counters might try to scale back future plans to save money, putting upcoming variants at risk and hurting the Corvette’s reputation.

The post What the Mid-Engine Corvette Can Learn From the Pontiac Fiero appeared first on MotorTrend.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/mid-engine-corvette-concepts/ visto antes em https://www.motortrend.com

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fastmusclecar123 · 5 years ago

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New Post has been published on http://fastmusclecar.com/best-muscle-cars/framing-john-delorean-movie-review-the-highs-and-lows-of-muscle-cars/

Framing John DeLorean Movie Review: The Highs And Lows Of Muscle Cars

By Dave Ashton

In many ways, it’s surprising that a feature film hasn’t been made about John DeLorean up to now. To the wider populous, DeLorean is most famous for making the DeLorean time travelling car in the movie ‘Back to the Future’ and his headlines as an Icarus style rise to car fame and fall. For others, DeLorean was one of the key components of the classic muscle car era. Good guy, bad guy, pioneer, nonconformist, jetsetting car company head to tarnished businessman charged with cocaine trafficking. DeLorean’s life sparks interest even if you’re not a car fan.

Now, after years of failed attempts, a movie by Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce about DeLorean has emerged with Alec Baldwin playing DeLorean. The film mixes storytelling with vintage clips from key moments from the extraordinary life of the man. Firstly, there are caveats to such a screening. You can only cram so much life story into 1hr 49mins., while still covering high drama levels to both entertain both car and non-car fans.

Overview of the man DeLorean is important to remember for a number of reasons. His autobiography documents most of his standout moments, but in a nutshell after graduating from the Chrysler Institute he joined the Chrysler engineering team, then moved to the Packard Motor Company in 1953. In 1956 he moved to GM working most notably on the Pontiac GTO as the first muscle car for launch in 1964. Then onto heading up GM and Chevrolet, DeLorean celebrated more of the high life than the usual stoic face of car execs. of the time. Always battling the status quo on both the engineering and management fronts, he went on to form the DeLorean Motor Company and the iconic DMC DeLorean. A meteoric constant rise on the surface, but by 1999 DeLorean had declared himself bankrupt, mostly down to the lack of success of the DeLorean Motor Company. A cocaine sting in 1982 from which he was found not guilty didn’t help matters, but by then his reputation had taken an irreversible hit. Pioneering vehicles, rockstar lifestyle and ultimate fall from grace, what’s not to like.

Whats its all about? Coming from the muscle car perspective, I would have been almost happy with a straightforward documentary as the video at the foot of the page. A little background of the man’s personal life, but the main focus being on the influence DeLorean had on each car company and the groundbreaking vehicles. The problem with that approach is that it really limits the audience to the petrol heads out there. So, a more general approach is needed. A bit TV drama mixed with just enough factual information to get the point across to appeal to the wider masses. Probably why vintage clips had been included in the movie. Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce are class A documentarians, so a completely dramatized version of DeLorean’s life was unlikely, but on the same note Alec Baldwin is hardly going to recite the full story in a linear fashion as a voice-over. So has the fine line between pure documentary and a dramatized Hollywood movie been met?

Movie Trailer

youtube

(note the cool eyebrows….)

On the drama side of things, the anticipation is ramped up with most of the film focusing on his arrest and trial. But the original footage of DeLorean’s arrest brings home the painful reality of how the mighty had fallen. Other cast members like Jason Sudeikis, Lee Pace, Judy Greer and Morena Baccarin prop up the story, but you cannot help but want for either a full documentary or full stage play at points.

You do get some background to the man. His influence on the Pontiac GTO, classic era muscle cars in general, the youngest division head at GM, showboating and shenanigans, a man who wanted it all and more. Glamour and pathos make you want to love and hate the character in equal measures at times, especially from the perspective of people who worked with the man at the time. The ill fated DeLorean car company helped Catholics and Protestants work together in Northern Ireland and interspersed interviews show how decisions to protect the workers came at a cost to the company. Good guy, bad guy. Like us all, a bit of both.

For those unfamiliar with John DeLorean’s story the film is definitely worth a watch, even if it’s just to get an overview of the man and his wild ride. Clearly I have a biased opinion as a muscle car fan as any morsels of information that adds to the story are worth a watch. As a pure muscle car fan aware of the man, you will always be left wanting for more information. It’s the nature of the beast with these type of films. For the non-car fan, the movie is an entertaining overview of the DeLorean story which hopefully will lead to further reading and hopefully some appreciation of those early vehicles and how they pioneered what came next.

It can be easy to criticize the balance of a movie like this one. Is it a drama, is it a documentary? Pleasing all men all of the time is always going to be hard work, so at least give this film a watch. You won’t be disappointed.

The DeLorean Story Documentary

youtube

Worthwhile links IMDB page on the film. Currently on limited release in theaters.

#DeLorean

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chicagoindiecritics · 5 years ago

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New from Al and Linda Lerner on Movies and Shakers: Driven

Jason Sudeikis is in the driver’s seat throughout this film, not necessarily in a vehicle.He drives the comedy as well as the drama in every scene spouting high speed dialogue. It’s based on real events in the early 1980’s about a renowned auto designer for General Motors (GTO, Firebird, plus), and eccentric inventor. It was John DeLorean’s dream to build the ultimate vehicle carrying his own name. Lee Pace, (Captain Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Hobbit series) plays the intimidating, scheming dreamer who wants to build a revolutionary machine at all costs. And this film shows how it cost him dearly.

Pace gets to do heavier drama with a confusing but seething characterization trying to keep DeLorean a man of mystery. Pace plays DeLorean as unbalanced as the man was purported to be.

Sudeikis plays Jim, who’s been busted for flying in drugs and is forced to out his drug dealer. He is set up in a house next door to John DeLorean and his wife. He gets involved with his neighbor against the pleas of his excitable but level-headed wife, Ellen (Judy Greer) to steer clear. But they become friendly.

Delorean is living the high life and Jim is out of his league. He’s even having trouble paying the mortgage. Jim has big dreams, too, but seems to be good at screwing things up by talking too much. Sudeikis handles the non-stop banter with eyes flashing back and forth, constantly trying to defuse with comedy, defending his recklessness to everyone, especially his wife.

In spite of his nervous behavior, you want to like him and you feel sorry for him. He just wants to be successful and he really does love his family. He’s a pilot and uses that skill to be a drug runner and he got caught. He is forced to become an FBI informant under the thumb of Special Agent Benedict Tisa agent played by Corey Stoll (First Man, House of Cards and The Good Wife TV series). His job is to catch DeLorean using drug money to finance his business.

Delorean is one messed up dude and you find out later in the film why. He has control issues. It’s always got to be his way is the highway, whether he’s driving or not. He’s demanding, rude, and self-centered. His wife, Christina (Isabel Arraiza) seems to live in fear, jumping to his orders.

The film is played like a TV crime story. Even though Sudeikis, as Jim, talks at max speed, the story proceeds slowly bouncing from Sudeikis on the witness stand to his relationship to DeLorean and the web it created. Corey Still is essentially is the loathsome FBI agent who doesn’t really care about Jim or anyone else. All he cares about is getting another conviction.

Director Nick Hamm and Writer Colin Batemen teamed up again (The Journey). The camera work is pretty straightforward, although the most visually arresting scenes are the party scenes in DeLorean’s mansion.

Batemen sure puts a lot of words in Sudeikis’ mouth which he delivers rapid-fire throughout. Sudeikis as an appealing con man gives an impressive performance in a movie that’s uneven. Judy Greer grabs the scene whenever she’s on camera. She’s the loving wife who is well aware of Jim’s shortcomings and of his continually putting the family in harms way.

Credit to the Director and the Production design team for the early ’80’s details, especially for the costumes, hair and makeup. And for the disco music of that era, including Get Down on It, Boogie Oogie Oogie, Full Tank, Funk Drive. At times, the film devolves into a kind of TV court drama, even including a periodic musical stinger a la Law and Order.

A credit at the end of the film thanks everyone for working under difficult circumstances. The film was shot in Puerto Rico during Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Sudeikis shines with both his comedy and drama in a less than stellar movie. It has a great cast who tell an interesting story that gets a bit bogged down in the details. Even though the DeLorean car was a clunker, you may want to take this film for a spin.

Universal Pictures 1 hour 48 minutes R

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thatsnotcanonpodcasts · 6 years ago

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Dune, Epic Games Store & Quantum Tunneling

In this latest episode we start with news that Dune is set to start shooting soon and the central cast is listed. It appears it is not a remake but a complete reimagining of the story, with promise it is going to be close to the book. At least it does not have Dwayne “the Rock” in it like some many other dismal remakes over the last few years. Also it is not a Disney remake or a Marvel movie so it should be completely different and fun. Next up we discuss how Epic is possibly “stealing” personal data from Steam and the possible implications involved. That’s right, Bill Gates has warned of the arrogance of software developers/studios etc catching the attention of governments and here is a prime example. This is right on the heels of Google being fined by the European Union again. We also hear about a possible link between Epic and the Chinese government from the Professor; who also raises the question of who is stealing the data. Last topic of the week is the break-through in Quantum Physics that will see a need for new textbooks to be printed. The best part about it is that some of the people involved are from Brisbane. That’s right folks, roll up and admire the great minds delving into physics and shaking the world from Brisbane. Remember to take care of each other and stay hydrated, till next time, stay Nerdy.

EPISODE NOTES:

Dune Movie - https://comicbook.com/movies/2019/03/18/dune-reboot-synopsis-production-begins-frank-herbert/

Steam vs Epic - https://www.pcgamer.com/valve-doesnt-sound-too-happy-about-the-epic-store-copying-steam-data/

Quantum Tunnelling - https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/this-will-go-into-textbooks-queensland-scientists-clock-quantum-tunnelling-20190318-p51592.html?fbclid=IwAR0HWaRlMa2TunPtabCvYWq1lGeQ3TrhPu2V_fOWifpQ8iorI_R91rjanqQ

Games currently playing

Professor

– Tetris 99 - https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/tetris-99-switch

– Apex Legends - https://www.ea.com/games/apex-legends

Buck

– Game of thrones by GT Arcade - https://got.gtarcade.com/

Other topics Discussed

Philippines church bombings

- https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/27/asia/philippines-church-explosion/index.html

Dune (1984 movie)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(1984_film)

Dune (Frank Herbert novel)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(novel)

Dune: The Musical

- https://www.timeout.com/edinburgh/theatre/dune-the-musical

Sony pictures hack

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Pictures_hack

Google loses antitrust lawsuit and fined $1.7 billion

- https://www.ibtimes.com/google-loses-antitrust-lawsuit-fined-17b-blocking-rivals-ads-2777873

Bill Gate’s warning to tech companies

- https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/13/17009146/bill-gates-big-tech-companies-apple-inviting-government-regulation

Everybody wants to be a cat (That’s not canon productions podcast)

- https://thatsnotcanon.com/ewtbacpodcast

Justin Trudeau explains quantum computing

- https://insidetheperimeter.ca/canadian-prime-minister-justin-trudeau-explains-quantum-computing/

Crysis melts fast gaming computers 10 years on

- https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2018-why-crysis-still-melts-the-fastest-gaming-pcs-10-years-later

Scientist from China defends human embryo gene editing

- https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/nov/28/scientist-in-china-defends-human-embryo-gene-editing

Sydney united to build a Quantum harbour city

- https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2019/03/12/sydney-united-to-build-a-quantum-harbour-city.html

Apex Legend News

- Season 1 battle pass - https://www.pcgamer.com/au/apex-legends-first-battle-pass-shows-how-badly-it-needs-better-cosmetics/

- New hero : Octane - https://au.ign.com/wikis/apex-legends/Octane

Game of thrones characters

- Robb Stark - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robb_Stark

- Tyrion Lannister - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrion_Lannister

Johann Sebastian Bach’s bio

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach

Supermoon 2019

- https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/mar/20/rare-super-worm-moon-will-loom-large-as-it-coincides-with-equinox

- https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/best-time-and-place-in-australia-to-see-tonights-spectacular-supermoon/news-story/a71bde874e489251ae1099ba1f60d705

Shoutouts

19 Mar 1953 - The Academy Awards were televised for the first time. “The Greatest Show on Earth” was named best picture. Gary Cooper won the best actor award for “High Noon.” Shirley Booth won best actress for her role in “Come Back, Little Sheba.” - https://wtax.com/news/030030-today-in-entertainment-history-march-19/

19 Mar 1965 - The wreck of the SS Georgiana, valued at over $50,000,000, said to have been most powerful Confederate cruiser, discovered by then teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence exactly 102 years after its destruction. - https://www.onthisday.com/day/march/19

20 Mar 2003 – Invasion of Iraq, was the first stage of the Iraq War (also called Operation Iraqi Freedom). The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 and lasted just over one month, including 21 days of major combat operations, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq

Remembrances

15 Mar 2019 - The Christchurch mosque shootings were two consecutive terroristmass shootings at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, during Friday Prayer on 15 March 2019. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern referred to the attacks as "one of New Zealand's darkest days". - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christchurch_mosque_shootings

15 Mar 2019 - Larry DiTillio, American film and TV series writer. He is famous for his works such as the original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series. He wrote the most episodes throughout both seasons, totalling 17 episodes as well as directing one. In 1985, he wrote the feature-length film He-Man and She-Ra: Secret of the Sword. He was responsible for the original bible of the spinoff show, She-Ra: Princess of Power, and came up with most of the character names. DiTillio is known for his role as executive story editor of the science-fiction series Babylon 5 and for writing or co-writing most of the episodes in the animated series Beast Wars. He was also a writer for the updated 2002 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series. He died of Parkinson’s disease at 71 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_DiTillio

19 Mar 2005 – John Delorean, American engineer, inventor and executive in the U.S. automobile industry, widely known for his work at General Motors and as founder of the DeLorean Motor Company. DeLorean managed development of a number of vehicles throughout his career, including the Pontiac GTOmuscle car, the Pontiac Firebird, Pontiac Grand Prix, Chevrolet Cosworth Vega, and the DeLoreansports car, which was later featured (in modified form) in the 1985 film Back to the Future. He died of a stroke at 80 in Summit, New Jersey - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_DeLorean

Famous Birthdays

19 Mar 1848 – Wyatt Earp, American Old West lawman and gambler in Cochise County, Arizona Territory, and a deputy marshal in Tombstone. He worked in a wide variety of trades throughout his life and took part in the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which lawmen killed three outlaw Cochise County Cowboys. He is often erroneously regarded as the central figure in the shootout, although his brother Virgil was Tombstone city marshal and deputy U.S. marshal that day and had far more experience as a sheriff, constable, marshal, and soldier in combat, born in Monmouth, Illinois - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyatt_Earp

19 Mar 1955 – Bruce Willis, American actor, producer, and singer. He has since appeared in over 70 films and is widely regarded as an "action hero", due to his portrayal of John McClane in the Die Hard franchise (1988–2013), and other such roles. His credits also include Pulp Fiction (1994), 12 Monkeys (1995), The Fifth Element (1997), Armageddon (1998), The Sixth Sense (1999), Sin City (2005), Red (2010), The Expendables 2 (2012), Looper (2012), and as David Dunn in the Unbreakable film series: Unbreakable (2000), Split (2016) and Glass (2019). He was born in Idar-Oberstein, Rhineland-Palatinate - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Willis

22 Mar 1947 - James Patterson, American author and philanthropist. Among his works are the Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Women's Murder Club, Maximum Ride,Daniel X,NYPD Red, Witch and Wizard, and Private series, as well as many stand-alone thrillers, non-fiction and romance novels. His books have sold more than 300 million copies and he was the first person to sell 1 million e-books. In 2016, Patterson topped Forbes's list of highest-paid authors for the third consecutive year, with an income of $95 million. His total income over a decade is estimated at $700 million. Born in Newburgh, New York - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Patterson

23 Mar 1912 - Wernher von Braun, German rocket scientist, He was one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany during World War II and, subsequently, in the United States. He is credited as being the "Father of Rocket Science". He was born in Wirsitz, Germany (now Wyrzysk, Poland) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun

24 Mar 1874 – Harry Houdini, Hungarian-born American illusionist and stunt performer, as a magician Houdini started out by performing card tricks before moving on to escape acts. He began first to escape from handcuffs, challenging local police to cuff him first. He moved on to an act escaping from a locked water filled milk can, straitjackets and then most famously a Chinese water torture cell where Houdini had to hold his breath for 3 minutes. He became the most famous vaudeville act in America, often filming his escapes. Born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Houdini

Events of Interest

19 Mar 1932 – Sydney Harbour Bridge opens, a heritage-listed steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district (CBD) and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic image of Sydney, and Australia itself. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Harbour_Bridge

19 Mar 2008 – GRB 080319B: A cosmic burst that is the farthest object visible to the naked eye is briefly observed. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRB_080319B

20 Mar 2015 - A Solar Eclipse, Equinox, and a Super moon all occur on the same day - https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/150318-total-solar-eclipse-equinox-supermoon-astronomy-spring/

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

Email - [email protected]

Twitter - https://twitter.com/NAmalgamated

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6Nux69rftdBeeEXwD8GXrS

iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/top-shelf-nerds/id1347661094

RSS - http://www.thatsnotcanonproductions.com/topshelfnerdspodcast?format=rss

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newsintodays-blog · 6 years ago

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DeLorean film drives back to the futuristic '70s to close Venice festival

New Post has been published on http://newsintoday.info/2018/09/10/delorean-film-drives-back-to-the-futuristic-70s-to-close-venice-festival/

DeLorean film drives back to the futuristic '70s to close Venice festival

VENICE, Italy (Reuters) – The DeLorean sports car entered movie legend as the time machine in the “Back to the Future” films and returns to the big screen in “Driven”, a comedy thriller about the downfall of its creator, which closed the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.

The 75th Venice International Film Festival – Screening of the closing film “Driven”, Out of Competition – Venice, Italy, September 8, 2018 – Actors Jason Sudeikis and Lee Pace pose next to a DeLorean on the red carpet. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

John DeLorean, who designed muscle cars for General Motors before striking out on his own with the futuristic, gull-winged sports car that bore his own name, has gone down in history for his company’s spectacular collapse.

“Driven” recounts his last desperate effort to save it, getting involved in a cocaine smuggling deal that turned out to be an FBI sting, set up with the help of neighbor Jim Hoffman, a star-turn for Jason Sudeikis, best known for “Horrible Bosses” and “We’re the Millers”.

The 75th Venice International Film Festival – Screening of the closing film “Driven”, Out of Competition – Venice, Italy, September 8, 2018 – A DeLorean model is seen on the red carpet. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

Director Nick Hamm grew up in Northern Ireland where the British government had lured DeLorean to build his factory in a bid to bring economic prosperity to a depressed area riven by deadly sectarian violence.

While the story has a dark underbelly, Hamm said it had to be a comedy.

“If you’re going to take people on a story of entrapment, coke deals, models, cars – fast cars in a retro ‘70s world – do it in a humorous way,” Hamm told Reuters in an interview, adding that he had taken inspiration from ‘70s-period movies such as “Boogie Nights” and “American Hustle”.

Played by Lee Pace, star of ABC fantasy comedy series “Pushing Daisies”, DeLorean comes over as a huckster, selling a hollow version of the American Dream, something Hamm said had contemporary relevance in a world where “buffoonery is somehow celebrated”.

Slideshow (2 Images)

“Somehow the egotist, the entertaining politician, the one that has the greatest, quickest, fastest line, the one that is best on television, is somehow the best one for you in your life,” he said.

“This is a movie that shows you that these people are not what they (say they) are, and if you’re sucker enough to fall for that then more fool you.”

Filmed in Puerto Rico “because it looks like California in 1970s”, the movie was almost derailed by Hurricane Maria which devastated the island last year.

“We didn’t know whether we, physically, could actually go back,” Hamm said.

“But we had a massive local crew, probably 400 or 500 people that, if we didn’t go back, wouldn’t get a paycheck. So really there’s no option. In the end you go back, you make the movie to the best of your ability, you give people a paycheck and you build an infrastructure or an industry.”

“Driven” played out of competition as the closing movie at the Venice Film Festival.

Writing by Robin Pomeroy; editing by Jason Neely

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todaynewsstories · 6 years ago

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DeLorean film drives back to the futuristic ’70s to close Venice festival

While the story has a dark underbelly, Hamm said it had to be a comedy.

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“This is a movie that shows you that these people are not what they (say they) are, and if you’re sucker enough to fall for that then more fool you.”

Filmed in Puerto Rico “because it looks like California in 1970s”, the movie was almost derailed by Hurricane Maria which devastated the island last year.

“We didn’t know whether we, physically, could actually go back,” Hamm said.

“Driven” played out of competition as the closing movie at the Venice Film Festival.

Writing by Robin Pomeroy; editing by Jason Neely

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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The post DeLorean film drives back to the futuristic ’70s to close Venice festival appeared first on Today News Stories.

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robertkstone · 7 years ago

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2019 BMW i8 Roadster First Drive: Back to the Future

I never bothered to figure out exactly what it was, but I recognized it immediately. Growing up in a farming community, I have the smell of an orchard on the first hot day of spring burned into my memory. Frankly, I’d rather it wasn’t, as I’m pretty sure it’s rotting fruit. As I rolled roofless through Majorca’s back country in near silence, the unpleasant scent flooded the little cockpit of the new BMW i8 Roadster, accompanied by a torrent of memories.

As a lifelong sci-fi enthusiast, I’ve always been fascinated by the ability of a scent to transport you back in time. Given the option, I’d still prefer a DeLorean with a Mr. Fusion, which can be directed to the exact date and time I’d like to visit or revisit, but until then, the i8 Roadster in good weather is a decent stand-in.

There are more than a few similarities. Both are wedge-shaped exotics with mid-mounted gasoline engines. Each sports a pair of signature top-hinged doors giving way to seating for two. Just as the DeLorean gained more features and got greener as the sequels progressed—going so far as to switch from dirty plutonium fuel to literally recycled garbage—so too has this updated i8 improved. It may not fly yet, but it flies down a country road better than ever.

To get there, BMW did more than cut the roof off (though that’s literally how the first prototype was made). Improvements in battery technology over the past few years have led to a larger battery with more powerful cells, giving both the Roadster and Coupe more power and greater EV range and hybrid fuel economy. Battery capacity jumps from 7.1 kilowatt-hours to 11.6 kW-hr, extending range from 20 miles to 33 per BMW’s testing on the generous New European Driving Cycle standard. (For context, the EPA rated the 2017 i8 for up to 15 miles of all-electric range.) All-electric driving now has a top speed of 65 mph in Drive (up from 43 mph) and 75 mph in eDrive mode.

With the extra available power, the electric motor at the front axle generates an extra 12 hp for a total of 143; torque holds at 184 lb-ft. At the rear, the turbocharged inline-three has found an extra 3 hp and no extra torque, but a particulate filter cuts exhaust emissions. The 8-hp electric motor/generator connected by belt to the gasoline engine is unchanged. Total system output climbs to 374 hp from 357. BMW wildly underestimates 0–60 mph at 4.6 seconds. The pre-refresh i8 Coupe we tested did it in 3.8 seconds with less power and only 130 fewer pounds to pull.

The updated Coupe model gets the same enhancements.

You won’t notice the extra 17 hp from the driver’s seat, but you will notice how little the gasoline engine is pressed into service. The old model’s lower battery output and EV top speed meant you’d regularly hear the little I-3 kick on to provide extra acceleration and higher speeds. Now, you’ll be surprised at how rarely it intrudes. The i8 isn’t just quiet cruising through town. It’s quiet on the freeway and even on a back road if you’re stuck behind a tourist’s rental car. The always-peaked torque is more than enough to zip you around in most situations with a perfectly linear whoosh of power.

The most impressive aspect of the i8 continues to be how it blends power when the gasoline engine fires up. You hear it rather than feel it, as despite the two powertrains not being mechanically connected, they work in perfect harmony, and you mostly hear it because BMW employs electronic sound enhancers in the cabin to boost the pleasant growl from the intake. Once engaged, the gasoline engine doesn’t change the character of the car. It simply makes it quicker. It’s not eye-bulging supercar power, just an appropriate amount for the chassis and tires. It’s every bit as quick as it needs to be, so you can use all of it whenever the mood strikes.

Just as you don’t feel the gas engine integrate into the power delivery, you don’t feel either the front two-speed or rear six-speed automatic change gears. Only by coming off the throttle and going quickly back on in the middle of a shift did I get a stiff-legged response from the rear transmission, and only once.

The sum of the parts is a car as suited for shooting down the freeway as it is whipping down Majorca’s unreasonably narrow mountain roads. Like a pure EV, instant power is always at hand for passing. Slotted into Sport, the gas engine becomes a full-time employee and runs up and down the revs with an angry little snarl to complete the sports car experience.

A wide track and low center of gravity, the latter afforded by the batteries between the seats, gives the car a confident demeanor. The steering is quick and light, affording you great precision in a corner. It doesn’t talk much, likely due to the power being sent to the front wheels. The car is stiffly sprung, as its look would suggest, and combined with the width and shortness of it, it feels like it would be impossible to get a wheel off the ground while cornering no matter how hard you tried. The seats aren’t bolstered particularly heavily, but the car corners so flat and the cockpit is so snug that you don’t really need them to be.

The brakes have a whiff of that familiar hybrid wonkiness to them as they transition from regenerative to mechanical, and having just wrapped-up a year behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Bolt EV, I have two thoughts on the matter. First, the feel of the BMW’s pedal is vastly superior, as you would hope of a car multiple times the price. It still feels artificial, but it’s closer to the feel of a purely mechanical system than anything else on the market. Second, I long for more control of the regenerative braking. The i8 does everything for you in that regard, and I prefer the Bolt’s ability to drive with just the throttle pedal and fine-tune regenerative braking both with driving mode and a steering wheel–mounted paddle.

The real limitation of the handling and braking components, though, remains the tires. BMW has done a commendable job of balancing handling performance and low-friction efficiency in its tire choice, but it remains a difficult compromise. Most of the time, you won’t notice it. On the day you really want to drive it like a sports car, though, you’ll need to be cognizant of the tires, brake a little earlier, and brake in a straight line. Trail braking invites understeer. The tires have a lot of grip in them, but you can and will ask too much of them if you drive it like an M4.

You’ll also want to make liberal use of the DSC Sport function. In its default mode, the traction and stability control system is conservative and won’t give you much if any power when the steering wheel isn’t centered. If you want to leave corners aggressively, you need to switch it to Sport. You’re left with plenty of don’t-bin-it safety net but are allowed to get on the throttle with some gusto exiting a corner, enough to make the inside rear wheel slip a bit.

When the red mist isn’t clouding your mind, you’ll find driving quickly in an i8 a special experience. Roof open to let the sun and smells in and gas engine off to hear the world, you feel more connected to the scenery blurring by the windows. It’s not just a drive in the hills. It’s a drive with the hills.

Getting the roof down requires slowing to under 31 mph for all of 15 seconds (with the same time and speed requirements to put it back up). The switch is hidden under the center armrest, and the control for the roll-down rear window is next to the rearview mirror. By default, the rear window stops with an inch still exposed to act as a wind blocker, and it does a pretty good job of it. You can set it wherever you want, roof up or down. BMW has also added self-adjusting louvers to the hood vent to prevent hot air tumbling into the cabin when the roof’s open.

The targa-like section of roof that comes off stores vertically where the vestigial rear seats would be in a Coupe, taking up as little space as possible and leaving you with a storage slot behind the seats. Running the width of the interior, it’s big enough to slide in a few items such as backpacks, briefcases, duffel bags, and maybe a small carry-on or two. Be glad for it, because the trunk is big enough for maybe two backpacks, and there is no frunk.

As you might imagine, getting luggage behind the seats is easier with the top open, and so is getting in and out of the car. Given the i8’s monocoque design, the sills are wide and must be climbed over as gracefully as possible. Complicating matters slightly is the long windshield, which places the header nearly over your head if you have short legs and sit close to the dash. It makes an already cozy cockpit feel even tighter.

You’ll also have to look around the massive carbon-fiber A-pillars, especially when attacking a particularly sharp corner. Per BMW, they’re no thicker than those on the Coupe, which is not only an impressive engineering achievement given the butterfly doors now hinge off them but also cold comfort from behind the wheel.

This is the story of the i8 Roadster in a nutshell. It’s a collection of small compromises and eccentricities you’re happy to make for a car that, as a reader once told me, “looks like the future.” Said eccentricities are, like the rest of the car, more polished this time around, and the whole vehicle has a feeling of being 20 percent better than the last iteration.

Usually when we make excuses for a car’s impracticality and idiosyncrasies, it’s for some charming but flawed British or Italian thing, but this German, with its unmistakable future-now looks and wholly unique and involving driving experience, has earned a place in the hall of cars I recommend for people who care more about the journey than the destination. Especially the ones who have $165,000 to spend, a love of technology and/or the environment, and a desire to stand out in the supercar crowd. All 10 of them.

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