#aka Gari-BULGE-i

[spockvarietyhour]

SPECIAL FUCKIN DELIVERY ITS GARIBALDI'S PACKAGE.

[rebelrayne]

he's back......

what my husband thinks of the season six male islanders with little to no information

aka he based it on their profile in the game. under the cut because it's long.

jamal

black tony hawk. he looks like he's cooking up some drama. obviously hasn't learned to button up his shirt. i don't see how he would have had a threesome cause he doesn't even look like he could have a twosome. small bulge. he has glossy lips. i'm done with him, he's kind of boring.

lewie

his combover looks stupid. did he paint on his five o'clock shadow? semi-pro? what's that mean? he's a fucking weekend warrior? "golden retriever energy" aka he has bad hips. his body just looks gross. it's all elongated and shit... his ears don't match his fucking face. he's got chicken ass legs to be playing football (soccer). he probably cries when he has sex. who the fuck names their kid lewie? he's the kmart version of gary. he looks like he's poor. probably gets drunk off two white claws. his mouth fucking irritates me. it's like he has an asshole for a mouth. show me his picture again - ugh just look at how fucking ugly he is. his personality probably matches his looks.

also was told to attach this meme curtesy of my husband's mind:

ozzy

what the fuck does he tell his barber? like 'keep it long in the front but cut everything else i want no hair on any other parts of my body'. at least he's proportional (unlike lewie). seems like the kind of guy that would invite a girl over to hang out then breaks out a fucking bong. and then gets stoned off his ass. i've never seen that color nipple before. his jaw is the shape of a rhombus. his puppy dog eyes don't work on me. what kind of dancer is he (🤨)? because if he's an erotic dancer, he only works day shift because he's not good enough for night shift.

roberto

he actually looks kind of cool. i don't like the way he holds himself though. he looks like he could be a pirate - he looks like johnny depp. does he have to take his watch everywhere? like that citizen watch doesn't mean you have money, bro.

ryan

he looks like frodo baggins. "we have to save the shire!" probably has some hairy ass feet. he's literally trapped in the body of a 12-year-old and looks like he's 4'10". he's a singer? what's he sing? hobbit songs? where did he buy his shorts? the fucking youth section? (tries to zoom in, gets annoyed he can't). is definitely the one that is going to try to talk mc and amelia into having a threesome - then makes them compete for who's better.

[silent-era-of-cinema]

Mary Brian (born Louise Byrdie Dantzler, February 17, 1906 – December 30, 2002) was an American actress, who made the transition from silent films to sound films.

Brian was born in Corsicana, Texas,[3] the daughter of Taurrence J. Dantzler and Louise B.. Her brother was Taurrence J. Dantzler, Jr.

Her father died when she was one month old and the family later moved to Dallas, Texas.[3] In the early 1920s, they moved to Long Beach, California. She had intended becoming an illustrator but that was laid aside when at age 16 she was discovered in a local bathing beauty contest. One of the judges was famous motion picture star Esther Ralston (who was to play her mother in the upcoming Peter Pan and who became a lifelong friend).

She didn't win the $25 prize in the contest, but Ralston said "you've got to give the little girl something." So, her prize was to be interviewed by director Herbert Brenon for a role in Peter Pan. Brenon was recovering from eye surgery, and she spoke with him in a dimly lit room. "He asked me a few questions, Is that your hair? Out of the blue, he said I would like to make a test. Even to this day, I will never know why I was that lucky. They had made tests of every ingénue in the business for Wendy. He had decided he would go with an unknown. It would seem more like a fairy tale. It wouldn't seem right if the roles were to be taken by someone they (the audience) knew or was divorced. I got the part. They put me under contract." The studio renamed her Mary Brian.

After her showing in the beauty contest, she was given an audition by Paramount Pictures and cast by director Herbert Brenon as Wendy Darling in his silent movie version of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan (1924). There she starred with Betty Bronson and Esther Ralston, and the three of them stayed close for the rest of their lives. Ralston described both Bronson and Brian as 'very charming people'.

The movie studio, who created her stage name for the movie and said she was age 16 instead of 18 because the latter sounded too old for the role, then signed her to a long-term contract. Brian played Fancy Vanhern, daughter of Percy Marmont, in Brenon's The Street of Forgotten Men (1925), which had newcomer Louise Brooks in an uncredited role as a moll.

Brian was dubbed "The Sweetest Girl in Pictures." On loan-out to MGM, she played a college belle, Mary Abbott, opposite William Haines and Jack Pickford in Brown of Harvard (1926). She was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1926, along with Mary Astor, Dolores Costello, Joan Crawford, Dolores del Río, Janet Gaynor, and Fay Wray.

During her years at Paramount, Brian appeared in more than 40 movies as the lead, the ingenue or co-star. She worked with Brenon again in 1926 when she played Isabel in P.C. Wren's Beau Geste starring Ronald Colman. The same year, she made Behind the Front and Harold Teen. In 1928, she played ingenue Alice Deane in Forgotten Faces opposite Clive Brook, her sacrificing father, with Olga Baclanova as her vixen mother and William Powell as Froggy. Forgotten Faces is preserved in the Library of Congress.

Her first sound film was Varsity (1928), which was filmed with part-sound and talking sequences, opposite Buddy Rogers. After successfully making the transition to sound, she co-starred with Gary Cooper, Walter Huston and Richard Arlen in The Virginian (1929), her first all-sound movie. In it, she played a spirited frontier heroine, schoolmarm Molly Stark Wood, who was the love interest of the Virginian (Cooper).

Brian co-starred in several hits during the 1930s, including her role as Gwen Cavendish in George Cukor’s comedy The Royal Family of Broadway (1930) with Ina Claire and Fredric March, as herself in Paramount's all-star revue Paramount on Parade (1930), as Peggy Grant in Lewis Milestone’s comedy The Front Page (1931) with Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien.

After her contract with Paramount ended in 1932, Brian decided to freelance, which was unusual in a period when multi-year contracts with one studio were common. The same year, she appeared on the vaudeville stage at New York City's Palace Theatre. Also in the same year, she starred in Manhattan Tower.

Other movie roles include Murial Ross, aka Murial Rossi, in Shadows of Sing Sing (1933), in which she received top billing; Gloria Van Dayham in College Rhythm (1934); Yvette Lamartine in Charlie Chan in Paris (1935); Hope Wolfinger, W.C. Fields’s daughter, in Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935); Sally Barnaby in Spendthrift (1936); and Doris in Navy Blues (1937), in which she received top billing.

In 1936, she went to England and made three movies, including The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss, in which she starred opposite Cary Grant, whom she became engaged at one stage.

Her final film of the 1930s was Affairs of Cappy Ricks, but she auditioned unsuccessfully for the part that went to Janet Gaynor in A Star is Born.

When World War II occurred in 1941, Brian began traveling to entertain the troops, spending most of the war years traveling the world with the U.S.O., and entertaining servicemen from the South Pacific to Europe, including Italy and North Africa. Commenting on those events that had occurred over 50 years ago, she said in 1996,

I was with Charlie Ruggles in Okinawa. And I was on the island of Tinian when they dropped the atomic bomb. Colonel Paul Tibbets, who was the pilot and the officer in charge [of dropping the bomb] took Charlie and me on the plane the next day, and nobody had been allowed in that encampment. So I was on the Enola Gay.

Flying to England on a troop shoot, Mary got caught in the Battle of the Bulge and spent the Christmas of 1944 with the soldiers fighting that battle.

She appeared in only a handful of films thereafter. Her last performance inmovies was in Dragnet (1947). Over the course of 22 years, Brian had appeared in more than 79 movies.

She played in the stage comedy Mary Had a Little... in the 1951 in Melbourne, Australia, co-starring with John Hubbard.

Like many "older" actresses, during the 1950s Brian created a career in television. Perhaps her most notable role was playing the title character's mother in Meet Corliss Archer in 1954. .

She also dedicated much time to portrait painting after her acting years.

Although she was engaged numerous times and was linked romantically to numerous Hollywood men, including Cary Grant and silent film actor Jack Pickford, Brian had only two husbands: magazine illustrator Jon Whitcomb (for six weeks, beginning May 4, 1941) and film editor George Tomasini (from 1947 until his death in 1964). After retiring from movies for good, she devoted herself to her husband's career; Tomasini worked as film editor for Hitchcock on Rear Window (1954) and Psycho (1960).

She died of natural causes on December 30, 2002 at a retirement home in Del Mar, California at the age of 96. She is interred in the Eternal Love Section, Lot 4134, Space 2, Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery, overlooking Burbank, California.

In 1960, Brian was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a motion pictures star at 1559 Vine Street.

[papermoonloveslucy]

RICHARD CRENNA

November 30, 1926

Richard Donald Crenna was born in Los Angeles, California, the only son of a pharmacist and a hotel manager. Following high school, Crenna served in the U.S. Army during World War II, where he saw combat in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. He also briefly served in the Pacific Theater of World War II. After World War II, Crenna attended the University of Southern California, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in English literature.

In 1936, Crenna got his acting start on radio. In 1948, he originated the role of geeky Walter Denton on the radio comedy “Our Miss Brooks” alongside Eve Arden and Gale Gordon, and followed that role when the series moved to television in 1952. He remained in that role until 1957. 

He first worked with Lucille Ball when he appeared as a delivery boy on “My Favorite Husband” in "Liz Cooks Dinner for 12" on October 14, 1950. 

Crenna made his television debut on “I Love Lucy” in “The Young Fans” (S1;E20) first aired on February 25, 1952, but filmed on January 18, 1952. 

He played Arthur Morton, a teenager who has a crush on Lucy Ricardo. The character is virtually a carbon copy of Walter Denton (and even sounds similar). Throughout the episode, Walter dreams of marrying Lucy, which would make her Mrs. Morton. Coincidentally, she actually did become Mrs. Morton when she married Gary Morton in 1961, although his birth name was actually Goldaper. In 1981, Crenna and his co-star Janet Waldo (Peggy) both were voices in an animated “Daniel Boone”. 

From October 3, 1952 (the series premiere) to October 7, 1955, Crenna did 94 episodes of “Our Miss Brooks” on television. His final episode was intended to be part of season 3, but was postponed. The series was filmed at Desilu Studios and aired on CBS TV. During that time he naturally worked with many “I Love Lucy” veterans like Gale Gordon, Eve Arden, Jerry Hausner, Frank Nelson, Mary Jane Croft, Elvia Allman, Maurice Marsac, Joseph Kearns, Hy Averback, Herb Vigran, Parley Baer, Sid Melton, Gail Bonney, Sammy Ogg, and many others. 

From 1957 to 1963 Crenna returned to Desilu studios as a series regular on “The Real McCoys” playing Luke McCoy for 224 episodes. Like “Miss Brooks” the series featured many “Lucy” performers. He got experience as a director on 14 episodes. 

In 1963 and 1964, Crenna stayed on the Desilu back lot to direct eight episodes (but did not appear) of “The Andy Griffith Show.” 

In January 11, 1966, Crenna was a special guest contestant on “Password’s” Lucy and Friends week. 

Crenna was also a producer, and employed Lucille Ball for an episode of his “Make Room For Granddaddy” in 1971.  Lucille Ball recreated her Lucy Carter character opposite Danny Thomas as Danny Williams. 

In 1977, Crenna could be glimpsed in the audience when Lucille Ball paid tribute to Henry Fonda in “AFI Life Achievement Award: Henry Fonda”. 

Ball and Crenna were both on hand for CBS’s week-long celebration of their 50 years “On the Air” in late March 1978. Both were together for the parade of CBS stars on Sunday night, with Ball representing Mondays and Crenna grouped with the Friday stars along with Eve Arden. 

Their final screen credit together was another tribute, “The Friars Club Salute To Gene Kelly” in 1985. 

Later in life, he became one of Hollywood’s busiest actors, starring in "Vega$” and Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo films. 

In 1985 he won a Primetime Emmy Award for playing the title role in The Rape of Richard Beck (aka Deadly Justice) on ABC TV

His final screen appearance was the teleplay Out of the Ashes, which was aired posthumously in April 2003.  

Crenna married Joan Grisham in September 1950 and they divorced five years later with one child. He married Hannah ‘Penni’ Smith in 1957 and had 2 children.

Richard Crenna died at age 76 of heart failure on January 17, 2003.  

[diversegaminglists]

Historical World War 2 Games

Started out as a content warning list but needed to become its own list because of the sheer size of it.

This is still a WIP and all suggestions and corrections are encouraged.

101: The Airborne Invasion of Normandy

1939

1941: Counter Attack

1941: Frozen Front

1942: Joint Strike

1942: Pacific Airwar Franchise

1943: Kai

1943: The Battle of Midway

1944: The Loop Master

1945: Airwar

1945 I & II: The Arcade Games

‘43 - One Year After

50 Mission Crush

Ace of Aces

Aces of the Deep Franchise

Aces of the Pacific Franchise

Aces of War

Aces over Europe

Achtung Panzer: Kharkov 1943

Achtung Spitfire

Achtung Panzer: Operation Star

Across the Rhein

Action in The North Atlantic

Action Stations!

Admiral Graf Spee

Advanced Destroyer Simulator

African Desert Campaign

Afrika Korps

Airborne Assault Franchise

Airborne Hero D–Day Frontline 1944

Air Conflicts: Aces of World War

Air Conflicts: Air Battles of World War

Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers

Air Conflicts: Secret Wars

Air Duel: 80 Years of Dogfighting

Airfix: Dogfighter

Air Legends

Air Raid: This is Not a Drill

Allied General

Anglo-German War 39-45

Ardennes Offensive

Ardeny

Ardeny 1944

Armageddon Squadron

Arnhem: The 'Market Garden’ Operation

Artillery Brigade

Assault Wings 1944

Atlantic Patrol

Attack on Pearl Harbour

At the Gates of Moscow 1941

Avalanche: The Struggle for Italy

Avalon Hill’s Squad Leader

Axis & Allies Franchise

B-17 Franchise

B-24

Battle Academy Franchise

Battlefield 1942 Franchise

Battlecruiser

Battle for Midway

Battle for Normandy

Battlefront

Battleground 1: Bulge - Ardennes

Battleground: Ardennes

Battle Group

Battlehawks 1942

Battle Islands

Battle of Britain (1982)

Battle of Britain (1985)

Battle of Britain (1999)

Battle of Britain: 303 Squadron

Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory

Battle of Britain: Memorial Flight

Battle of Europe

Battle of the Bulge

The Battle of the Bulge: Tigers in the Snow

Battleship 88: Iron Hero

Battles in Normandy

Battlestations: Midway

Battlestations: Pacific

Battlestrike: Force of Resistance

Battlestrike: The Road to Berlin

Battlestrike: The Siege

BBC Battlefield Academy

Beyond Normandy: Assignment: Berlin

Beyond Pearl Harbor: Pacific Warriors

The Big Three

Birds of Steel

Bismarck

Bismarck: Death of a Battleship

Blazing Angels

Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII

Blitzkrieg Franchise

Bomb Alley

Breakthrough in the Ardennes

Brothers in Arms Franchise

The Bulge: Battle for Antwerp

Call of Duty

Call of Duty 2

Call of Duty 3

Call of Duty: Finest Hour

Call of Duty: Legacy

Call of Duty: Road to Victory

Call of Duty: United Offensive

Call of Duty: World at War

Call to Arms

Campaign

Cannon Strike

Carrier Strike: South Pacific 1942-44

Carrier Aces

Carrier Force

Carriers at War

Chain of Command

Chain Of Command: Eastern Front

Clash of Steel: World War II, Europe 1939-45

Close Assault

Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far

Close Combat: Cross of Iron

Close Combat: Gateway to Caen

Close Combat III: The Russian Front

Close Combat: Invasion: Normandy - Utah Beach to Cherbourg

Close Combat: Last Stand Arnhem

Close Combat: Panthers in the Fog

Close Combat: The Battle of the Bulge

Close Combat: The Longest Day

Close Combat: Wacht am Rhein

Codename: Panzers Franchise

Combat Command

Combat Command 2: Danger Forward

Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord

Combat Mission 3 - Afrika Corps

Combat Elite: WWII Paratroopers

Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines

Commandos: Strike Force

Commandos 2: Men of Courage

Commandos 3: Destination Berlin

Company of Heroes

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts

Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor

Company of Heroes 2

Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault

Company of Heroes 2: Theater of War - Case Blue

Company of Heroes 2: Theater of War - Southern Fronts

Company of Heroes 2: Theater of War - Victory at Stalingrad

Computer Air Combat

Computer Ambush

Computer Bismarck

Computer EastFront

Counter Action

Crete 1941: Fallschirmjager

Crusade in Europe

Daisenryaku Franchise

Daitōa Mokushiroku: Goh

Damage Inc.: Pacific Squadron WWII

Dam Buster

The Dam Busters

Das Boot: German U-Boat Simulation

Day of Defeat

D-Day (2004)

D-Day (1984)

D-Day (1992)

D-Day: America Invades

D-Day: Normandy

D-Day: The Beginning of the End

Deadly Dozen

Deadly Dozen: Pacific Theater

Decision in the Desert

Decisive Battles of WWII Franchise

Deep Strike

Desert Commander

Desert Fox

Desert Rats Franchise

Destroyer

Destroyer Command

Dive Bomber

Dnieper River Line

Dogfight 1942

Dogfight: Battle for the Pacific aka Pacific Warriors II: Dogfight

Dogs of War (Unlicensed Axis & Allies adaptation)

D: Ōshū Shinkirō

Down in Flames

Dreadnoughts

Dunes of War

Enemy Front

East Front & East Front 2

Eastern Front

Elite Forces: WWII - Iwo Jima

Elite Forces: WWII - Normandy

Empire

Eric Young's Squad Assault: West Front

Escape from Colditz & the remake Coldiz Escape! (Not affiliated with the 1970s Coldiz TV show)

Europe Ablaze

European Air War

Europe in Flames

Faces of War

Fall Weiss

Fall Weiß 1939

Fathom's 40

The Few

Field of Fire

Fighter Ace 3.5

Fighter Command: The Battle of Britain

Fighter Duel

Fighter Squadron: The Screamin' Demons over Europe

Fighting Steel

Fire Brigade

Fire Mustang

First Battalion

First Over Germany

Fortress Europe: The Liberation of France

Frontline Franchise

Gary Grigsby's Pacific War (1992)

Gary Grigsby's Pacific War (2000)

Gary Grigsby's War in Russia

Gary Grigsby's War in the East: Don to the Danube

Gary Grigsby's War in the East: Lost Battles

Gary Grigsby's War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945

Gary Grigsby's World At War

GATO

Germany At War: Barbarossa 1941

Gewetensvragen

G.I. Combat: Episode 1 - Battle of Normandy

Goh II

Great Battles of WWII: Stalingrad

Great Naval Battles: North Atlantic 1939-1943

Great Naval Battles: North Atlantic 1939-43 - America in the Atlantic

Great Naval Battles: North Atlantic 1939-43 - Super Ships of the Atlantic Great Naval Battles Vol. II: Guadalcanal

Great Naval Battles Vol. III: Fury in the Pacific, 1941-44

Great Naval Battles Vol. IV: Burning Steel, 1939-1942

Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal Campaign

Guderian

Hearts of Iron Franchise

Hidden & Dangerous Deluxe

Hidden & Dangerous 2

Hellcat Ace

Hellcats Over the Pacific

The Heroes of the 357th

Heroes of the Pacific

Heroes of WWII

Heroes Over Europe

Hidden and Dangerous Franchise

High Command: Europe 1939-'45

The History Channel: Battle for the Pacific

The History Channel: Battle for the Pacific

History Legends of War: Patton

HMS Cobra: Convois pour Mourmansk

Hunter Killer

iBomber

iBomber Defense

iBomber Defense Pacific Il-2 Sturmovik Franchise

iPanzer '44

Iron Aces

Iron Aces: Heroes of WW2

Iron Cross

Iron Front: Liberation 1944

Iron Storm

Iron Tank: The Invasion of Normandy

Iwo jima

Jagdstaffel

Jagdverband 44: Screaming Eagles

Jane's Combat Simulations: Attack Squadron

Jane's Combat Simulations: WWII Fighters

Kampania wrześniowa

Kampfgruppe

Kikō Shidan

Kishi Densetsu

Knights of the Desert

Lancaster

Lead Soldier

Legends of War: Patton's Campaign

Liberty Wings

London Blitz

Luftwaffe Commander: WWII Combat Flight Simulator

Making History: The Calm & The Storm

Making History II: The War of the World

Malta Storm

Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

Medal Of Honor: Airborne

Medal of Honor: European Assault

Medal of Honor: Frontline

Medal of Honor: Heroes

Medal of Honor: Heroes 2

Medal of Honor: Infiltrator

Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun

Medal of Honor: Underground

Medal of Honor: Vanguard

Men of War

Men of War: Assault Squad

Men of War: Condemned Heroes

Men of War: Red Tide

Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2: WW II Pacific Theater

Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 3: Battle for Europe

Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator: WWII Europe Series

Midway Campaign

Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan

Military History: Commander - Europe at War

Mortal Skies: Modern War Air Combat Shooter

Moscow to Berlin: Red Siege

Mud and Blood 2

Muzzle Velocity

Nations

Naval Assault: The Killing Tide

Night Gunner

Norm Koger's The Operational Art of War Vol 1: 1939-1955

North Atlantic Convoy Raider

No Surrender: Battle of the Bulge

Objective: Kursk

Offensive

Officers

Operation Apocalypse

Operation Europe: Path to Victory 1939-45

Operation Crusader

Operation Iceberg: The Battle for Okinawa

Operation Market Garden

Operation Thunderstorm

Operation Whirlwind

Order of Battle: Pacific

Order of Battle: World War II

Order of War

The Outfit

Out of the Sun

Overlord (1994)

Overlord: The Invasion 6th June 1944

Over the Reich

P-38 Lightning

P47 Thunderbolt

Pacific Fighters 

Pacific Gunner

Pacific Storm

Pacific Storm: Allies

Pacific Strike

Pacific War

Panthers in the Shadows

Panzer Attack

Panzer Battles

Panzer Campaigns: Bulge '44

Panzer Campaigns VI: Korsun '44

Panzer Campaign VII: Kursk '43

Panzer Commander

Panzer Command: Ostfront

Panzer Corps Franchise

Panzer Elite

Panzer Front

Panzer Front Ausf. B

Panzerfront: Barbarossa 1941-1945

Panzer General Franchise

Panzer Grenadier

Panzer-Jagd

Panzer Killer!

Panzerkrieg: Burning Horizon 2

Panzers East!

Panzer Strike

Panzer Tactics DS

Panzer Tactics HD

Pathway to Glory

Pathway to Glory: Ikusa Islands

Patton Strikes Back: The Battle of the Bulge

Patton vs. Rommel

Pearl Harbour

Pearl Harbor: Defend the Fleet

Pearl Harbor Encounter

Pearl Harbor: Strike at Dawn

Pearl Harbor Trilogy: 1941: Red Sun Rising

Pearl Harbor: Zero Hour

Pegasus Bridge

The Perfect General Scenario Disk: World War II Battle Set

Piotrków 1939

Plane Arcade

Power at Sea

Protivostoyanie: Opaleonniy sneg

PT-109

P.T.O.: Pacific Theater of Operations

P.T.O.: Pacific Theater of Operations II

P.T.O.: Pacific Theater of Operations IV

The Pure Wargame

Pursuit of the Graf Spee

Red Orchestra Franchise

Reach for the Skies

Red Skies

Red Skies: Von Stalingrad nach Berlin

Red Thunder

Rising Storm

Rising Sun

Rising Sun: Imperial Strike

Road to Moscow

Rommel: Battles for North Africa

Rommel: Battles for Tobruk

Rowan's Battle of Britain

RUSE: The Art of Deception

Rush for Berlin

Rush for the Bomb

Russian Front II: The Kursk Campaign

Russia: The Great War in the East 1941-1945

S2: Silent Storm

S3: Silent Storm - Sentinels

Sands of Fire

Search and Destroy

SeaWolves: Submarines on Hunt

SeaWolves II

Second Front: Germany Turns East

Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe

Secret Weapons Over Normandy

Sega Ages 2500: Vol.22 - Advanced Daisenryaku: Doitsu Dengeki Sakusen

Sherman M4

Sid Meier's Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies

Silent Heroes: Elite Troops of WWII

Silent Hunter Franchise

Silent Service

Silent Service II

Sniper Art of Victory

Sniper Elite Franchise

Soldiers at War

Soldiers: Heroes of World War II

Special Operations

Spitfire

Spitfire '40

Spitfire Ace

Spitfire Attack

Spitfire: The Battle of Britain

Spring 1944

Squad Assault: Second Wave

Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942

Steel Panthers Franchise

Storm Across Europe

Strategic Command 2: Blitzkrieg

Strategic Command 2: Patton Drives

Strategic Command 2: Weapons and Warfare Expansion

Strategic Command: European Theater

Strategic Command: WW II Global Conflict

Strategic Command: WWII Pacific Theater

Strategic Simulations: Commander's Collection

Strategic War in Europe

Strikers 1945

Sub Battle Simulator

Sudden Strike Franchise

TAC: Tactical Armor Command

Talonsoft's 12 O'Clock High: Bombing the Reich

Talonsoft's West Front

Tanke Da Juezhan

Tank Operations: European Campaign

Tanktics

Tank Warfare: Tunisia 1943

Task Force 1942

Team Assault: Baptism of Fire

Theatre of War

Theatre of War 2: Africa 1943

Theatre of War 2: Centauro Theatre of War 2: Kursk 1943

Theatre of War Collection

Their Finest Hour: Battle of Britain

Time of Fury

Third Reich (1992)

Third Reich (1996)

Tiger Hunt

Tigers on the Prowl

Time of Fury

Tobruk: The Clash of Armour

Torpedo Fire

Total Victory: Victory or Defeat

Trench Warfare - Mod for Wolfenstein 3D

Typhoon of Steel

Unity of Command

UMS II: Nations at War

Uncommon Valor: Campaign for the South Pacific

Under Fire

Under Southern Skies

Unity of Command: Stalingrad Campaign

Up Periscope (1983)

Up Periscope! (1986)

U.S.A.A.F. - United States Army Air Force

V for Victory: Utah Beach

V for Victory: Gold-Juno-Sword

V for Victory: Market Garden

V for Victory: Velikiye Luki

Vulcan: The Tunisian Campaign

War Birds Franchise

WarCommander

War Diary: Burma

Wargame Construction Set II: Tanks!

War in Russia

War in the Pacific: The Struggle Against Japan 1941-1945

War in the South Pacific

Warship

War Times

War Thunder

WarZone 3: WWII Edition

Western Front: The Liberation of Europe 1944-1945

White Death

Winds of Steel

Wings of Destiny

Wings of Fury

Wings of Prey

WolfPack

World at War: Volume II - Stalingrad

World War II Combat: Iwo Jima

World War II Combat: Road to Berlin

World War II: Frontline Command

World War II General Commander: Operation: Watch on the Rhine

World War II: Pacific Heroes

World War II: Panzer Claws

World War II: Panzer Claws 2

World War II: Sniper - Call to Victory

World War II Trivia

World Wars: European Conflicts

World Wars II: Pacific Conflicts

Wulfpack

WW2 Air Force Commander

WW2: Time of Wrath

WWII: Battle Over the Pacific

WWII Battle Tanks: T-34 vs. Tiger

WWII: Desert Rats

WWII GI

WWII Online: Blitzkrieg

WWII Tank Commander

[cynthiajayusa]

Community Celebrates Pompano Bill

Pompano Bill

1926 – 2018

Like so many other, I was deeply affected when I heard that Pompano Bill had passed away.  At first, I went into a deep silence and just wanted to be alone to collect my thoughts. A sense of calm overcame me as I thought that Bill had just ended a spectacular journey we call life on earth.  Bill and I often talked about our community, politics and of course, gossip. One thing is certain, I came to trust him like a father. In our last conversation he shared with me the fact that he decided not to undergo Chemotherapy while in the hospital.  I refused to consider that he was telling me his time had come. Denial, as you know, is one of the first phases of dealing with grief. Ironically, as I checked my last email to him regarding Hotspots business, the subject line was “time to relax.” God knows, I did not want him to take it literally by going to his eternal resting place.  

William Calcaterra, aka Pompano Bill, was born on January 12th, 1926 in Norway, Michigan.  He had a normal childhood, however, as he matured, he realized that he was different.  Back then the word gay wasn’t used, instead the word was “queer.”  Growing up in such a small town of 3,728 people, he kept his difference suppressed.

He graduated high school in June of 1944 and was immediately inducted into the Navy, attended Radio Operator School in Madison, Wisconsin and was assigned to a ship in the Pacific Theatre.  World War II ended and he returned to the U.S. 

While still on active duty and stationed in San Francisco he stumbled into a bar on Market Street, not realizing it was a bar frequented by homosexuals, and was invited out for cocktails at the Saint Francis Hotel and treated to a weekend of fun and luxury. He saw that gentleman again during the week. Although he said the experience was amazing, shortly afterwards he got his discharge papers and returned home, where he again went into suppressing his desires.   A year later, with the GI Bill, he went to Ferris State College and then moved to Detroit and completed his education at the Detroit Institute of Technology.  It was in Detroit that he really discovered gay life. 

While in Detroit he had his first relationship, which ended due to his partner being drafted for the Korean War.  After graduating from college, he joined IBM (which Bill says stands for I’ve been moved) in 1951, where he stayed until retirement 36 years later in 1987. During his employment at IBM he made his way up to middle management and was transferred to many places throughout the country.

Eventually, Bill had the good sense to move to the Florida.  After a few years he became bored and bought a camera.  In 1992 he started his second career as a photographer and was published as Pompano Bill in Scoop Magazine. Since then he has worked for Outlook, Buzz, 411, Express, The Blade and, for the last dozen years or so he was very happy shooting exclusively for Hotspots Magazine. Over the years he has accumulated tens of thousands of pictures, which have become his life, he says they are like his friends. He had all his old photos organized in shoe boxes and digital images were stored on 2 computers.  He often wondered what the stories were behind some of the people he captured on film when he looked back at them.  As many of you know, Pompano Bill had a huge heart and donated much of his time to charities including Poverello, Tuesdays Angels, Broward House, The Pride Center and so many others. 

Scott Holland once asked Pompano Bill:  What are the benefits of living longer?

Bill replied: “You can teach an old dog new tricks, outliving a few assholes, the ability to meet and enjoy younger people…especially those that like to hear about gay history that I experienced.” 

A CELEBRATION OF LIFE

Many have asked if funeral or memorial services will be taking place.  One of Bill’s closest friends, Toni Barone, reminded me that he did not want anything special or grandiose after his passing.   It is our understanding that a few family members will be arriving to discuss plans and we will announce the outcome of their decision the moment it happens.  One thing is certain, if a celebration of life takes place, it will be one to remember!

Now, I find myself trying to fill yet, another hole in my heart…

A special thanks goes to Scott Holland for contributing the biographical content of this article

From a Grateful Community

Last week, our community lost an icon and friend.  Bill touch many lives over the decades as he served our community, not only as a photographer but as a mentor and friend to many.  With so many condolences still pouring in, we thought the best way to communicate our feelings just was to capture a few comments that capture the essence of a man who was loved and admired by so many:  

Brad Casey: Dear Friend

It has been a day of reflection on my 27 year of friendship and association with Bill Calcaterra, Pompano Bill. It’s been a difficult day but I am at peace with his passing. Both Pompano and I knew his day of crossing the Rainbow were near. He was tired of fighting Cancer and loosing his eyesight. He now can see clearly and can rest. Thank You Pompano Bill for an amazing 27 years.

Richard Gray:  Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB

He was an amazing man with an incredible zest for life.

Michael Goodman:  Public Relations

He was so much a part of our community. I have very fond memories of him. He left his mark.

Billy Sand: Friend

R I P. Will always love him

Stephen R. Lang: Co-worker and dear friend

I don’t know what exactly to say and I have loved this man since the second time I met him. [The first time he did his groping thing.] We have had a wild ride standing next to   and he ALWAYS looked out for me and making sure I was getting my shots and doing my job. I remember one of his BIGGEST warning about nightclubs was the smoke and how he got some sort of Cancer from it. He was a Trooper and loved my many–including myself. Una famiglia italiana e un dono di Dio.

Michael Albetta: Broward Sherriff Community Liaison

Memories captured from my dear good friend who now rests in Heaven, William “Bill” Calcaterra aka POMPANO BILL.. Our beloved LGBT community will miss him more than we think. Let’s honor one last request from Pompano Bill: GET OUT TO VOTE AND VOTE DEMOCRATIC!

Jose Javier: Friend

I think every gay man in South Florida has a picture taken by him. I never got a chance to have a long conversation with him, but the short chat after he had taken a picture where always nice. Will be missed. Rest in peace Pompano Bill Calcaterra.

Mike Trottier:  Co-worker and dear friend

Pompano Bill…You can rest now my friend. Miss you already Peanut Butter!

Row lliescu:  Equality Florida

Don’t be sad! Of course, we will miss you, Pompano Bill—but what a life you lived–an example to all of us to seize the day and make the most of every situation–or so it seemed. Indeed, the place won’t be the same without you, but it’s immeasurably better because of you. I look forward to celebrating your life with the throngs who adored you.

Steven Walker: Friend

I was in two of his photos in Hotspots Magazine. One all dressed up at The Opera Broward Center, the other less put together in the pool at Inn Leather-tee hee!

Ken Evans:  Our Fund

Sad to learn of the passing of Pompano Bill. A wonderful friend to so many of us in the LGBTQ community. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Bill without a smile or his camera ready to take that perfect shot. He will be greatly missed by our community. Thank you for all the memories Pompano…Rest In Peace good friend.

Howard Andrew: Talent Scout

I found myself driving to Pompanos Bills house today, and sitting in the car outside of his home. Shaking my head for not stopping by earlier, and for always saying I’ll stop by tomorrow I’ll stop by tomorrow I’ll stop by tomorrow. We’ll, tomorrow has come and Bill has gone. Don’t wait to see friends and loved ones…. Don’t miss the chance to tell someone you love them. Life is short….. Rip Bill

Robin Bodiford:  Attorney

I loved Pompano Bill. He had such a wonderful vibe and over the years such a big part of our community and also chronicled our community.

Kevin Clevenger, Poverello

Rest in peace Pompano Bill

Kenneth Flood: The Pub

So sad to hear of the passing of Pompano Bill Calcaterra. I have known this man pretty much since day one when I first moved to Fort Lauderdale. He was such a kind wonderful man. He always greeted me with a Hug & a Kiss(or three,LOL). I am saddened by the loss of this man, a treasure, R.I.P. my friend.

Daniel Curtis:  Friend

I’m celebrating the life of my friend Mr Pompano Bill Calcaterra.

The Snapchat & Instagram of his time from the Golden Cost to the Golf Cost South Florida has been best pictured by you!

I’ll lend you my ear anytime! Thank you for for your gifts the smiles & magic in our memories! You’re having a great time in the afterlife this I’m sure! Salute and cheers my friend…

Jim Libonati:  Friend and former Hotspots Executive

I miss him very much; like others we had a great history as friends, and he was once my neighbor back in the late 80’s… RIP My dear Friend!

Gary Resnick: Mayor, Wilton Manors

“Our community has lost an Icon and a loving man who gave so much to so many”

Toni Barone: Close Friend, Community Leader

“How do you say goodbye to such an Icon?  Our community will come together and heal but right now, we are still coming to terms with our loss.  

Steve and Zak:  Owners of Ramrod

We grieve the sudden loss of a long-time community member and dear friend

Michael Murphy:  Photographer

I’m not sure how to express my love for Pompano, my own shortened nickname, in a paragraph. Over 25 years of sharing great images with one another, playfully bumping each other while shooting, comparing butts and bulges and yes telling secrets. I’m grateful that he had the best life, surrounded by so many people that loved him and that he loved even more. Many of us forget that when he was young and gay, he couldn’t be out.

So, his last 25 years, the 25 I got to enjoy alongside of him, truly were his Golden Years and he lived every minute to the fullest!  I love you Pompano!

Watch for next week’s edition of Hotspots for a special photographic retrospective of Pompano Bill’s life and legacy.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/10/25/community-celebrates-pompano-bill/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazin.blogspot.com/2018/10/community-celebrates-pompano-bill.html

[hotspotsmagazine]

Community Celebrates Pompano Bill

Pompano Bill

1926 – 2018

Like so many other, I was deeply affected when I heard that Pompano Bill had passed away.  At first, I went into a deep silence and just wanted to be alone to collect my thoughts. A sense of calm overcame me as I thought that Bill had just ended a spectacular journey we call life on earth.  Bill and I often talked about our community, politics and of course, gossip. One thing is certain, I came to trust him like a father. In our last conversation he shared with me the fact that he decided not to undergo Chemotherapy while in the hospital.  I refused to consider that he was telling me his time had come. Denial, as you know, is one of the first phases of dealing with grief. Ironically, as I checked my last email to him regarding Hotspots business, the subject line was “time to relax.” God knows, I did not want him to take it literally by going to his eternal resting place.  

William Calcaterra, aka Pompano Bill, was born on January 12th, 1926 in Norway, Michigan.  He had a normal childhood, however, as he matured, he realized that he was different.  Back then the word gay wasn’t used, instead the word was “queer.”  Growing up in such a small town of 3,728 people, he kept his difference suppressed.

He graduated high school in June of 1944 and was immediately inducted into the Navy, attended Radio Operator School in Madison, Wisconsin and was assigned to a ship in the Pacific Theatre.  World War II ended and he returned to the U.S. 

While still on active duty and stationed in San Francisco he stumbled into a bar on Market Street, not realizing it was a bar frequented by homosexuals, and was invited out for cocktails at the Saint Francis Hotel and treated to a weekend of fun and luxury. He saw that gentleman again during the week. Although he said the experience was amazing, shortly afterwards he got his discharge papers and returned home, where he again went into suppressing his desires.   A year later, with the GI Bill, he went to Ferris State College and then moved to Detroit and completed his education at the Detroit Institute of Technology.  It was in Detroit that he really discovered gay life. 

While in Detroit he had his first relationship, which ended due to his partner being drafted for the Korean War.  After graduating from college, he joined IBM (which Bill says stands for I’ve been moved) in 1951, where he stayed until retirement 36 years later in 1987. During his employment at IBM he made his way up to middle management and was transferred to many places throughout the country.

Eventually, Bill had the good sense to move to the Florida.  After a few years he became bored and bought a camera.  In 1992 he started his second career as a photographer and was published as Pompano Bill in Scoop Magazine. Since then he has worked for Outlook, Buzz, 411, Express, The Blade and, for the last dozen years or so he was very happy shooting exclusively for Hotspots Magazine. Over the years he has accumulated tens of thousands of pictures, which have become his life, he says they are like his friends. He had all his old photos organized in shoe boxes and digital images were stored on 2 computers.  He often wondered what the stories were behind some of the people he captured on film when he looked back at them.  As many of you know, Pompano Bill had a huge heart and donated much of his time to charities including Poverello, Tuesdays Angels, Broward House, The Pride Center and so many others. 

Scott Holland once asked Pompano Bill:  What are the benefits of living longer?

Bill replied: “You can teach an old dog new tricks, outliving a few assholes, the ability to meet and enjoy younger people…especially those that like to hear about gay history that I experienced.” 

A CELEBRATION OF LIFE

Many have asked if funeral or memorial services will be taking place.  One of Bill’s closest friends, Toni Barone, reminded me that he did not want anything special or grandiose after his passing.   It is our understanding that a few family members will be arriving to discuss plans and we will announce the outcome of their decision the moment it happens.  One thing is certain, if a celebration of life takes place, it will be one to remember!

Now, I find myself trying to fill yet, another hole in my heart…

A special thanks goes to Scott Holland for contributing the biographical content of this article

From a Grateful Community

Last week, our community lost an icon and friend.  Bill touch many lives over the decades as he served our community, not only as a photographer but as a mentor and friend to many.  With so many condolences still pouring in, we thought the best way to communicate our feelings just was to capture a few comments that capture the essence of a man who was loved and admired by so many:  

Brad Casey: Dear Friend

It has been a day of reflection on my 27 year of friendship and association with Bill Calcaterra, Pompano Bill. It’s been a difficult day but I am at peace with his passing. Both Pompano and I knew his day of crossing the Rainbow were near. He was tired of fighting Cancer and loosing his eyesight. He now can see clearly and can rest. Thank You Pompano Bill for an amazing 27 years.

Richard Gray:  Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB

He was an amazing man with an incredible zest for life.

Michael Goodman:  Public Relations

He was so much a part of our community. I have very fond memories of him. He left his mark.

Billy Sand: Friend

R I P. Will always love him

Stephen R. Lang: Co-worker and dear friend

I don’t know what exactly to say and I have loved this man since the second time I met him. [The first time he did his groping thing.] We have had a wild ride standing next to   and he ALWAYS looked out for me and making sure I was getting my shots and doing my job. I remember one of his BIGGEST warning about nightclubs was the smoke and how he got some sort of Cancer from it. He was a Trooper and loved my many–including myself. Una famiglia italiana e un dono di Dio.

Michael Albetta: Broward Sherriff Community Liaison

Memories captured from my dear good friend who now rests in Heaven, William “Bill” Calcaterra aka POMPANO BILL.. Our beloved LGBT community will miss him more than we think. Let’s honor one last request from Pompano Bill: GET OUT TO VOTE AND VOTE DEMOCRATIC!

Jose Javier: Friend

I think every gay man in South Florida has a picture taken by him. I never got a chance to have a long conversation with him, but the short chat after he had taken a picture where always nice. Will be missed. Rest in peace Pompano Bill Calcaterra.

Mike Trottier:  Co-worker and dear friend

Pompano Bill…You can rest now my friend. Miss you already Peanut Butter!

Row lliescu:  Equality Florida

Don’t be sad! Of course, we will miss you, Pompano Bill—but what a life you lived–an example to all of us to seize the day and make the most of every situation–or so it seemed. Indeed, the place won’t be the same without you, but it’s immeasurably better because of you. I look forward to celebrating your life with the throngs who adored you.

Steven Walker: Friend

I was in two of his photos in Hotspots Magazine. One all dressed up at The Opera Broward Center, the other less put together in the pool at Inn Leather-tee hee!

Ken Evans:  Our Fund

Sad to learn of the passing of Pompano Bill. A wonderful friend to so many of us in the LGBTQ community. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Bill without a smile or his camera ready to take that perfect shot. He will be greatly missed by our community. Thank you for all the memories Pompano…Rest In Peace good friend.

Howard Andrew: Talent Scout

I found myself driving to Pompanos Bills house today, and sitting in the car outside of his home. Shaking my head for not stopping by earlier, and for always saying I’ll stop by tomorrow I’ll stop by tomorrow I’ll stop by tomorrow. We’ll, tomorrow has come and Bill has gone. Don’t wait to see friends and loved ones…. Don’t miss the chance to tell someone you love them. Life is short….. Rip Bill

Robin Bodiford:  Attorney

I loved Pompano Bill. He had such a wonderful vibe and over the years such a big part of our community and also chronicled our community.

Kevin Clevenger, Poverello

Rest in peace Pompano Bill

Kenneth Flood: The Pub

So sad to hear of the passing of Pompano Bill Calcaterra. I have known this man pretty much since day one when I first moved to Fort Lauderdale. He was such a kind wonderful man. He always greeted me with a Hug & a Kiss(or three,LOL). I am saddened by the loss of this man, a treasure, R.I.P. my friend.

Daniel Curtis:  Friend

I’m celebrating the life of my friend Mr Pompano Bill Calcaterra.

The Snapchat & Instagram of his time from the Golden Cost to the Golf Cost South Florida has been best pictured by you!

I’ll lend you my ear anytime! Thank you for for your gifts the smiles & magic in our memories! You’re having a great time in the afterlife this I’m sure! Salute and cheers my friend…

Jim Libonati:  Friend and former Hotspots Executive

I miss him very much; like others we had a great history as friends, and he was once my neighbor back in the late 80’s… RIP My dear Friend!

Gary Resnick: Mayor, Wilton Manors

“Our community has lost an Icon and a loving man who gave so much to so many”

Toni Barone: Close Friend, Community Leader

“How do you say goodbye to such an Icon?  Our community will come together and heal but right now, we are still coming to terms with our loss.  

Steve and Zak:  Owners of Ramrod

We grieve the sudden loss of a long-time community member and dear friend

Michael Murphy:  Photographer

I’m not sure how to express my love for Pompano, my own shortened nickname, in a paragraph. Over 25 years of sharing great images with one another, playfully bumping each other while shooting, comparing butts and bulges and yes telling secrets. I’m grateful that he had the best life, surrounded by so many people that loved him and that he loved even more. Many of us forget that when he was young and gay, he couldn’t be out.

So, his last 25 years, the 25 I got to enjoy alongside of him, truly were his Golden Years and he lived every minute to the fullest!  I love you Pompano!

Watch for next week’s edition of Hotspots for a special photographic retrospective of Pompano Bill’s life and legacy.

from Hotspots! Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/10/25/community-celebrates-pompano-bill/

[itsworn]

Bruce Leven’s Gran Turismo–Winning 1951 Ford Coupe

It Took 60 Years to Do it, But Bruce Leven Now Has the Sports Rod He Wanted as a Kid

The notion that ordinary cars can become extraordinary is the basis for HOT ROD magazine and its readers. The model of the manufacturer as the creator went straight on its ear. The consumers—like you and me—are the ones calling the shots. Cars and their parts merely become our building blocks, spawning a feeding frenzy of would-be enthusiasts with a mantra: “One day I’m gonna.”

Bruce Leven can identify. “I wanted to build this car since I was 16,” he says. “I’m 78 now. I just fell in love with it.”

The car Bruce fell in love with 60 years ago is Ron Dunn’s 1950 Ford club coupe. That was the seed for this one, but to understand this car you have to understand that one.

Ron Dunn and his shoebox as Eric Rickman saw it in June 1957. Ron got the car as a gift from his parents. He drove almost directly from the dealership to the shop. The similarities are unmistakable, right down to the big wheel openings and the perimeter grille and roll pan.

Ron’s “Monte Carlo” (what he called it) owed a great deal of its fame to Dean Batchelor. Dean was as comfortable in a Ford as he was in a Ferrari. Case in point, when his stint ended at Hop Up—a decidedly hot roddy/custom car magazine—he slid right into the seat at Road & Track, which was very sporty. Years later he wrote a bunch of books about Ferraris and hot rods.

Back then he was also good friends with Valley Custom’s Neil Emory. Neil’s son, Gary, recalls, “Dean would pick up Dad, and they’d go to lunch talking about whatever car Dean was testing at the time.” And the sports cars he brought were different to the core, which influenced Ron’s car.

Europe taxed on displacement, so cars there had smaller engines. Smaller engines meant smaller bodies, which required higher roof lines to fit occupants. Neil and Clay approximated those proportions by removing a 5-inch band from the perimeter of the body of Ron’s coupe—think of it as chopping the body rather than the top. (Neither the idea nor the process was original; Edsel Ford had his people do the same thing to a Zephyr to make the original Continental—its name and shape inspired by the cars Edsel saw on “The Continent,” aka Europe). A 1957 revision made Ron’s more like a sports car, with a mesh grille, roll pans, and delicate nerf bars front and rear. The Monte Carlo name was no stretch; this was a European-inspired car.

Lincoln’s 368 was the second-biggest engine made in 1956, making it appropriate for a period-influenced sports car. It’s also physically massive, requiring a custom pan and belt driven oil pump to fit in the slimmed-down shoebox. Dan Brewer at Shaver Racing Engines coaxed more than a horse-per-cube from it, a respectable ratio for the age the car represents.

Ron’s car wasn’t fast with a stock flathead six engine that appealed mostly to grandfathers and fleet operators at best. But particularly after the 1957 rehash, the car had the spirit of being a hot rod, as some people believed the movement was progressing.

Bruce’s car isn’t a clone. Part of the “one day I’m gonna” mandate says you’ll bring to bear your own experiences and interests. And Bruce’s experiences and interests are wholeheartedly in sports cars—starting with a Porsche RSR in the 1970s, a purchase that led to IMSA, Trans-Am, and even IndyCar racing.

Stock dashes get a bit bulky in a sectioned car, not to mention the shape kind of limits options, so Lindsey Butler and Justin Messer built this one entirely from scratch. Touching upon his sports-car roots, Bruce chose a Nardi wheel.

He chose Wicked Fabrication in Auburn, Washington, to execute the project on his recently found 1951 club coupe.

Sectioning is the defining element of the car, but since this is an homage more than a clone, the team took a different approach. Guided by Bruce and Craig, Adam Hart and Josh “Pappy” Green sliced the body in two, slid the upper half into the bottom, and crept up to the ideal amount (which works out to a band 2-1/2 inches wide removed at the back to about 5-1/2 inches out of the front

Some modifications sometimes invite more work. “All of a sudden, the top looked like it had a big bulge in it,” Bruce recalls. So Lindsey Butler and Pappy thinned the crown 1-1/2 inches, a process called pancaking. This opened the door for another modification that fits the sports-car theme. Trimming the skin made it too narrow to fit the top, so it was cut down the middle and then the sides welded in place, which left a gap down the middle of the top. They filled that gap with a skin from a shoebox sedan with a longer roof, so now the rear section followed a more gradual curve and floated off the back of the roof. “That was an opportunity,” Bruce says. “The ’58 Impala had a fake vent in the roof because sports cars like the Mercedes Gullwing had a real one.

Craig built up an inner lip in one side of a 1951 grille surround with plastic body filler to create a new grille shape. After scanning, he tuned it in CAD and mirrored it to create the rest of the grille, which was machined from 6061 aluminum. The hood straps pay homage to European racecar construction.

After rust repairs and sectioning, all that remained of the front fenders were their tops. The chin and tail each got a pan, and Craig made up a grille border like the revised Monte Carlo. He reshaped a 1951 grille surround slightly, had it scanned and mirrored to make a perimeter, and then Dick St. John machined it from aluminum. “Bruce wanted to take some of the peak out of the hood,” Craig explains. By the time they would have finished, they could have made a new hood from aluminum more easily, which is what they did.

Early in the transformation the car got a new Art Morrison chassis located just around the corner from Wicked. One of Bruce’s mandates was independent rear suspension. “When we were racing, there was a guy who ran a Jaguar sedan with an IRS setup and a quick-change centersection,” he recalls. “That really stuck with me.”

Designing any suspension from scratch is no walk in the park, but as luck would have it, the guy who cast the reproduction NOVI IndyCar wheels—Ray Franklin at Vintage Engineering—happened to know how to set up IRS. “We used Thunderbird uprights, but built the rest of the suspension from scratch,” Craig says. With the wheels in place and the car at its final stance, the Wicked crew set about making the wheel openings round, but with a hint of a flare.

The fuel tank is basically a shell for an ATL bladder. The small box on the left houses the battery, and the kit on the right has a bag of tools and knock-off mallet. The Wicked crew made the strap hardware and Miller made the straps.

“I didn’t want it to just look like a sports car,” Bruce admits. “I wanted it to have enough power to back it up.” He chose a highly unlikely powerplant: a Lincoln 368ci Y-block, a term coined by Ford referring to its fully skirted V8 engines of the 1950s. Dan Brewer at Shaver Racing Engines built the engine. It has the goods: polished and nitrided crank, Carillo H-beam connecting rods (that measure a whopping 7.063 inches!), and JE pistons, oversized 0.03 inch for 373 ci of displacement. The 368 heads have large valves, so Dan replaced them with stainless Manleys. By virtue of a 75cc chamber, the compression remains low at just shy of 9:1.

This engine wasn’t easy to fit, either. “It’s 3 inches taller than a big-block Chevy,” Craig says. “And, oh boy, is it heavy!” The shallower engine compartment meant mounting the engine low requiring a custom pan, which Dan Olson built. What’s more, the oil pump interfered with the crossmember (FoMoCo Y-blocks are side-oilers). “So we did an external pump belt-driven like a dry-sump pump, although single stage,” Dan clarifies.

The top end wasn’t any easier. The stock Lincoln manifolds mount the carburetor below the ports—a no-go performance-wise. “In the ’50s Mercury went to Daytona for speed runs,” Bruce says. In a nutshell, famed race-car builder Bill Stroppe lopped the windshield frame off a 1957 convertible and hired famed Sprint Car builder Eddie Kuzma to craft a canopy of sorts. He then built a thumper of an engine, hiring Hilborn to build an injector among other things. “Hilborn made four sets of those injectors,” Bruce says. “I found a guy with a Lincoln injection who wanted to trade it for a welding machine! So I bought that thing.”

Dan sent the injector back to Hilborn for new shafts and a general rebuild. He also converted it to use a FAST ECU, but rather than weld bungs for the injectors, he made a system to hide it all, making tall blocks that mount between the injector manifold and the heads, carving them out for ports, then machining pockets adjacent to these ports. “The injectors mount inside those finned blocks so you can’t see them,” he says.

The relatively low compression and smallish ports dictated modest cam specs (224 degrees duration at 0.05- and 0.448-inch lift). Despite this mild tune, the engine made a respectable 389 lb-ft of torque at 2,800 rpm and 375 hp just shy of 5,000 rpm—not exactly a barnburner, but up to the popular horsepower-per-cube performance mandate when this engine was new.

With the individual components complete, the car went to Byers Custom and Restoration. Alan Donald, Howie Davis, Jered Lobbin, and owner Jon Byers prepped the body. The colors come from a 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL, likely Modegrau (exterior) and Aschblau (interior). “We couldn’t use the old color codes because they don’t translate to modern paints,” Jon says. “But it just so happens that the codes cross-reference real closely to two modern Porsche colors.” Those are Grauschwarz (exterior) and possibly Graphite Blue, and Jon applied both in PPG DBC.

Adam Hart formed the simple, sports-car-inspired bucket seats. Tony Miller from Stitches Custom Auto Upholstery in Poulsbo, Washington, trimmed them in a combination of antiqued leather. The 2-inch latch-and-link hasps harken to military-surplus harnesses, yet accommodate passenger-car webbing.

Tony Miller and Tom Bidle at Stitches Custom Upholstery in Poulsbo, Washington, tag-teamed the cockpit. They used a combination of Denim Blue and Tracker Brown distressed leathers for the seats, and an Irish Cream distressed leather for the headliner. They also made the hood straps. The floor wears tan German square-weave carpet.

Bruce Leven’s sectioned shoebox does a number of things more than looking good. For one, it fulfills the sports-car promise that Ron Dunn’s car made so many years ago. For another, it bridges a generational gap; Sony’s Kazunori Yamauchi, creator of the company’s flagship driving game Gran Turismo, dubbed it Best of Show at SEMA’s 2016 event in Las Vegas. The award includes induction into the game’s future editions, where it will be exposed to future generations.

Most important in a global sense, it makes good on this premise that we build upon the work of others. At the very least, it gives us hope that someone, somewhere, still looks at cars like this and thinks, “One day I’m gonna.”

Hilborn produced injectors for Bill Stroppe’s 1957 Mercury “Mermaid” Daytona program. One of Bruce’s friends found this one, a lucky proposition, as Hilborn made only four and he needed one to clear the lower hood line. Hilborn rebuilt this one and Dan Brewer set it up to run electronically with a FAST ECU.

Rather than spoil the vintage vibe by exposing the injectors, Dan machined risers that house them—they have pockets adjacent to the ports. And because the factory Lincoln rocker covers are a thing of beauty, he machined them to match.

Josh “Pappy” Green made the inner fender panels and Adam Hart fabricated these inserts. The louvers don’t match any existing dies—Adam cut and hammered them manually. Hand-bucked rivets hold the insert in place.

The engine spins an alternator, Saginaw power-steering pump, and an oil pump, three things not available then or now for the Lincoln Y-block, so the Wicked crew made one-off brackets. The expansion tank likely came from a Ford FE and corresponds with a crossover tube, a necessary component because the Hilborn injector lacks the feature.

Extensive body reshaping meant making the core support and associated structures from scratch. Pappy built it in the likeness of race-car construction using flared-hole dies to add lightness.

Classic Instruments fashioned a set of gauges in the likeness of vintage Jaeger pieces. Dick St. John machined the housings and Lindsey Butler made the brackets.

Ian Dunn wired the car with period-style, cloth-covered wire from American Autowire, but instead of fuses he used circuit breakers. Again, Dick St. John and Lindsey Butler made the housing and bracket.

Even with an S-10 tail stock, the Borg-Warner T5 puts the shifter far forward for a sports car. Adam knew there was a better way to move it back, and he came up with this pantograph mechanism that puts the shifter within reach.

The pedal assembly started as Wilwood, but all that remains are the pedal arms and cylinders. The Wicked crew fabricated a new bracket and a repeater-arm setup that fits the tight confines between the engine and chassis.

In the weight-saving spirit of race-car construction, Bruce specified thin plastic windows and insisted on eliminating the regulators. That meant an alternate means of securing the windows in the up position, which Adam obliged with cabinet latches.

More than saving weight, eliminating the windows also meant opening the door in the way that most grand-touring cars were entered in the 1950s. Also in touring-car style, the pull strap doubles as the latch release. The door top extends the dash shape.

The exterior door buttons also evoke the image of 1950s sports cars. Ian Dunn built these around Mazda mechanisms then machined the main ring, and shaped a piece for the little finger pull, welding the two together.

Most Americans won’t recognize semaphores, but they were the default turn signals on European cars into the 1960s, making them perfect for this car’s theme. These particular ones came from a Volkswagen Beetle.

Kirk Brown, aka Crafty B Nostalgic Speed, makes fuel fillers. Adam recessed the body for it. Note the polished trim piece around the perimeter.

The roof vent was a creative and appropriate way to solve a problem. Pancaking the skin left a big gap down the middle. They used a sedan roof skin that’s longer and has a less-pronounced crown.

Bruce says he liked the idea of the 1951 trim spear, but not its bulk, so Jeffrey Gibson machined a thinner spear and bezel. Adam recessed it into the body.

The wheels resemble the ones Halibrand cast for Novi’s Indy car in the 1950s. These 15×5-1/2 and 15x7s are the first that Ray Franklin at Vintage Engineering cast in their likeness. They’re authentic down to the magnesium alloy and Dow 7 coating.

Ray Franklin consulted on the independent rear suspension. It runs a Speedway Engineering centersection with Porsche 930 CV joints, gun-drilled axles, and late-model Thunderbird uprights.

The fuel tank is basically a shell for an ATL bladder. The small box on the left houses the battery, and the kit on the right has a bag of tools and knock-off mallet. The Wicked crew made the strap hardware and Miller made the straps.

The FAST system Dan Brewer set up with the Hilborn gear relies on the distributor for the engine-speed signal. A real magneto won’t work, so he used one of Joe Hunt’s mag-look distributors. Oddly enough, the one from Ford’s Y-block fits.

Back in old grand-touring days it was common to swap plugs mid-race, and teams often made plug holders for the engine compartment. Few were as trick as this one carved from aluminum.

The hood would’ve required so many individual custom panels that the work justified making a new one from scratch in aluminum.

Dies don’t exist to do these louvers, so just as he did for the inner-fender panels, Adam formed these manually.

Mounting switches overhead keeps them out of the way yet close enough to reach. Lindsey Butler made the surround and Ian Dunn made the switch plate itself.

Adam fabricated the pop-out window frames. He also fabricated the latches, patterning them from the ones Volkswagen used on the Beetle.

The post Bruce Leven’s Gran Turismo–Winning 1951 Ford Coupe appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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