Owner: Worlds Off the Beaten Path URL:http://worldsoffthebeatenpath.wordpress.com/ Join Date: Wed, 30 May 2007 04:26:56 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Part travel blog, part road do's and dont's, part musings
Site statistics:Click here
How to Avoid Becoming Roadkill 2007-05-26 05:05:21 Here are a few tips that some of you pals of mine may wish to be keen on just to be on the safe side.
Be visible at all times. While crossing the street or driving on the road. Alerting people to your whereabouts will help put the necessary safety measures in order. So if you are just on foot, drivers will see you and keep from hitting you. And if you happen to be driving, then your fellow drivers can maintain the space necessary to avoid any unwanted collisions. (more…)
Read more:Avoid
, Becoming
, Roadkill
How to Survive a Crash II 2007-05-24 05:05:18 Still, such car paint horrors should be taken in stride since one should be quite grateful for having gone through the entire ordeal with no more than a few bruises along one’s shoulder blades and temple—having received the latter when the side of one’s head made a memorable impact with the side of the car. (more…)
How to Survive a Crash I 2007-05-22 05:05:26 …with your neighbor’s one-horse open sleigh carriage.
Seriously. In this life, one has to contend with a lot of things but crashing the nose of one’s car into the side of your neighbor’s one-horse open sleigh carriage, a well-known beloved Yuletide season décor, may perhaps be one of the oddest things that could happen. (more…)
The Mad Scramble 2007-05-19 05:05:33 As the craze for well-made cars grew, a similar feverishness with vintage sports cars, vintage cars and vintage racers developed in auction blocks all over. Vintage being used in this case to mean any number of well-structured cars—particularly fine machines of special significance–that came out before the war.
Automotive specialist departments in a great number of museums were put up. And as more and more collectors with amply-filled pockets sought out the charms of the old alongside the new, a mad scuffle among them began. (more…)
Pick-up, Glorious Pick-up 2007-05-16 21:37:08 I have a pick-up. I own one. I drive one. It’s a 1995 model. Mitsubishi. Maroon. I know Toyota and Honda has got the auto market cornered but what can I say, this car has lasted me more than 10 years now. I’ve had it since 1995 and it’s now 2007. Nearly 12 years come June. Isn’t that a kick in the pants? (more…)
Observations, Again 2007-05-15 05:05:20 In the 80s, well along the time that the oil scares happened, people began to demand more from a car than mere function and style. After all, by the 80s, most, if not exactly everyone, had a goodish number of car choices. The “people’s cars”–those purposely designed for individuals of the working class, had already come out. And around this time, the quality of car operations were also much improved.
Before the war, the affluent bought cars like Rolls-Royces or Hispano Suizas (more…)
Read more:Again
Observations & Notions 2007-05-12 05:05:59 It is wholly interesting to note how things change. The 50s had their grease machines, the 60s their drag racers and the 70s their low riders. One will most likely note that for nearly the length of four decades, the car industry was focused on one main consumer draw: individuality. (more…)
Nearly Roadkill II 2007-05-10 05:05:01 So there I was, embracing the asphalt, my knees stinging from the impact of hitting the ground at a full-speed, no holds-barred body throw. After, there were grime and muck stains on my pant legs. But I still managed to do me poor best, hopping on home with knees the size of hefty billiard balls. (more…)
Read more:Roadkill
, Nearly
Nearly Roadkill I 2007-05-08 05:05:37 Life is funny in its cycles. Something happens and then time passes, only to have the entire thing circle right back to the beginning.
I was in an accident last week. Or rather, a squirrel was in an accident last week. I WANT TO BELIEVE (in true X-Filean fashion of course) that rather by killing it, I actually helped the poor thing along with its transition to a better place. Or, for those who believe in the notion of rebirth, you can hold to the thought that I had helped it along to a higher plane of existence. (more…)
Read more:Roadkill
, Nearly
How to Avoid a Charging Squirrel 2007-05-04 21:36:16 WHILE DRIVING, BE alive, ALERT, awake, enthusiastic. Or if you hold to the quick approach in these matters, be alert. Watch out for anything on the road and those from along the sides. Keep your eyes peeled for just about anything. (more…)
Read more:Avoid
, Charging
, Squirrel
Lost to Ireland 2007-06-27 19:00:26 This was some ten years back, perhaps nearly fifteen but I remember it with a keenness and vividness that tells me it was one of the best times in my life.
I drove from Dublin early morning straight to Country Clare after flying in the previous day from New York. I was on a much needed vacation and so was quite anxious to go off on my journey. In Ireland
, one still sees a great deal of villages, some so clean and tidy they were postcard pretty. One drives along the countryside with the feeling that one is in the middle of a fairytale. Endless fields, winding roads that were no more than ditches and towering cliffs. (more…)
Classic Cars for Art Part II 2007-06-25 19:00:22 Limited editions like the supercharged Bentleys of which only 50 were built, the Type 57SC chassis from Bugatti that were only around 30 in number when they were produced and the 2900B Alfa Romeo which were fewer than 40, are much harder to buy, much less find. Cars of this pedigree rarely, if never, go up for public sale. To own a car like this, a client has to know where it is first and who actually owns it since a number of them are bought by holding companies or agents that merely act as the middleman in these cases. (more…)
Read more:Classic
Classic Cars for Art Part I 2007-06-23 18:06:18 In the last fifty years or so, one of the many phenomena that have risen is the perception of a vintage car as a piece of art. Thus, instead of being valued as well as pursued only by those who have an abiding fondness for cars, or affording cheap racing kicks for those who do not have the millions to spare for a car that is more modern in its features, prices for these older cars began to climb at a quick rate. As one can expect, the trend was led by cars that carried the names Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. These cars rose in value quite faster than all the others and thus, were constant record breakers in several auctions. This started the trend of classic cars as delectable collector’s items. (more…)
Read more:Classic
Super cars, Super stars Part II 2007-06-19 18:05:36 But, of course, like all the great things in this world, change was inevitable. As the sports cars racing at Le Mans—the best known area, then as now for racing pursuits of this sort—became more and more specialized, it became ever the more harder for private owners to obtain a racing champ, drive it over to the race meetings, take into competitions and still drive it home. By the time 1965 came rolling, the GT-breed of cars were no longer unable to hold their own with the sports prototypes that ran at most of the races. The triumph of the 250 LM from Ferrari in 1965 was a surprise win for everyone at the Le Mans. It was also the last that racing car that could, very realistically, be driven on public roads. (more…)
Read more:Super
, stars
Super cars, Super stars Part I 2007-06-16 18:05:26 These are the cars that each and every automotive enthusiast dreams off, whether they be young or grown. These are the cars that carry the names everyone knows. Names surrounded with Italian mystique like Bugatti, Ferrari and Lamborghini. Or those who carry along the charms of old-world glamour, of the traditional like Aston Martin and Bentley. And still, there are others that bring to mind thoughts of technological brilliance like Porsche. (more…)
Read more:Super
, stars
The Phantom Double Decker Bus Part II 2007-06-14 18:05:25 Still, accidents of the same sort followed. Hundreds of motorists too complained of being dreadfully forced off the road by a phantom, double decker, red bus. Rumors had it that the said phantom was always seen careening round the corner from what used to be St. Mark’s Road into the Cambridge Gardens. The location was near the Ladbroke Grove underground station. (more…)
Read more:Phantom
, Decker
Against the Commonplace 2007-06-07 18:05:23 One had to keep in mind though that, like a number of classic cars out there, machines worked over by coach builders were more than likely not to be used for everyday driving. It was simply too impractical, by half.
Despite this, the coach building business was a popular one, particularly for the lucky ones who didn’t think the asking price for a unique car was too rich for their blood. Some simply wanted cars to add to their collection of already formidable showroom supercars and were all but free as well as able to spend as much as they wanted. (more…)
The Mass Produced Part II 2007-06-04 19:05:20 Still, it is worth noting that during the pre-war days, customers could choose the car’s body after picking out a chassis. A customer could opt for one from a selection provided by the company or could put forward a personal design. In the case of those who wished for the supremely unique, coach builder services were the answer. (more…)
The Mass Produced Part I 2007-06-02 18:05:21 With the number of automotive manufacturing plants that have emerged in many portions of the world, cars are looking more and more alike than ever. Mass produced designs are appearing left and right on our roads. The streets are riddled with cars that sport nearly the same look, the same lines, the same body. Of course, one can hardly complain when talks turn to matters of efficiency, comfort and performance. (more…)
Beyond Vintage 2007-05-30 19:00:18 Of course, even if one had an excellent, vintage car to count on or even a model that was part of a limited collection edition, there was still a need for a car that could handle day to day tasks. That is, a car that could be driven to work, to the bank, the grocery. An exceptional old car is all every well and good but can hardly drive a Rolls Royce Phantom or a Ferrari Testarossa without causing quite a stir. Nope. Not in a million years. (more…)
Read more:Vintage
A Drive in Ireland 2007-06-29 19:00:26 One can see why a number of people lose their hearts to Ireland
. In place of the fast-paced highways and basic insanity of city roads, the roads in Ireland are delightfully empty. In most villages only an hour or two away from Dublin, there are no honking and rude cab drivers that cut one off in the lane. There are no speeding six wheelers that brake behind a car with only frightening inches to spare. (more…)
Ferrrari’s Red Head: The Testarossa 2007-07-03 03:33:19 Dramatic on the road: that is certainly one description that perfectly matches Ferrari’s 1980s sports car to a tee, the Testarossa. Along with the straked gills that went down all the way to the flank of the machine, the Ferrari Testarossa seet a new trend in motion in an instant when it was finally launched to acclaim and success in the market during the year 1984. (more…)
Driving in Dumaguete 2007-07-17 16:45:19 For my yearly Asian vacations—something that I have been doing for five years now—I picked out an island in the Philippines to spend sunny days of merry frolicking: Dumaguete.
Each and every time I go to Asia, it’s always a surprise. The Ang Kor Wat in Cambodia remains lovely, the Buddhist temples in Japan are remarkable for the sense of respectful silence that animates the simple structures. In Dumaguete, what one greets and meets at every turn is the sea, the sun and the dust. (more…)
Read more:Driving
Driving in New York 2007-07-14 01:16:26 IN all the cities, in all the world, none come close to the frenetic and basic insanity of the streets of New York
. Cab drivers gunning down the highways with devil-may-care attitudes. Bus drivers stopping mere inches just before it can rear-end one’s car. Such encounters are typical of New York. Whereas driving in Irish countryside like the County Clare is like dreaming through plains of endless green, in New York the dream is noisier and crazier. Here, driving requires more than the laid-back attitude that one can assume as one enjoys the quiet in the face of nature’s serene beauty. (more…)
Read more:Driving
Interiors: Plain Glory Part II 2007-07-12 03:12:24 Ferraris did tend to be exhibit rather plain interiors in the past. This practice has continued to some of their models. However, the high costs of tools necessary to mould plastic is such that it makes sense for the Maranello plant to depend on the Fiat part bin for indicator stalks and control knobs. There is even a tradition of this, as Ferrari coach builders have often bough small parts from the same sources for their cars. (more…)
Read more:Plain
Interiors: Plain Glory Part I 2007-07-10 08:44:20 With a great many thanks to the competition pedigree that all Ferraris hold, a number of the company’s models followed the same design cues: that is, the cars were furnished with interiors that were rather plain. In true racing fashion, racing cars after all were stripped of any excess weight that could tie down the car and hold it back in the middle of the track. Parts essential to boosting and extending engine power well beyond standards were kept and anything else that did nothing in the way of that were immediately discarded. (more…)
Read more:Plain
Driving as Privilege 2007-07-07 04:43:44 Ferrari also considered and incorporated traditional construction techniques with the TR. The company employed a tubular frame—one that came with steel and alloy paneling which was suspended on double wishbones and oil springs front and rear. The huge 18-inch 46 cm alloy wheels were clad in very low profile rubber that was well able to absorb the muscular 360 foot pounds of torque the car was capable of generating. After all, pushed all the way, Ferrari claimed that the TR could notch up to 194.5 mph or 313 kph. The rubber tires were, essentially, another precautionary measure if and when the driver of the said car decides to go and reach for that record, if not exactly set out to surpass it. (more…)
Read more:Driving
Testarossa II 2007-07-04 19:43:41 The twin camshafts per bank along with the 48 valves of this Ferrari model were highly able to extract a 41 bhp from the 5 litre engine at a rousing 6750 rpm—a rate that was, as far as driving experts in those days were concerned, completely fearsome. The Bosch Motronic engine management that controlled the fuel injection as well as the electronic ignition were also welcome additions to an already formidable set-up. (more…)
Driving in Dumaguete II 2007-07-19 07:45:21 One remarkable feature of the streets in Dumaguete is the preponderance of motor bikes or what the locals like to all scooters. It’s very similar to a bike in that it also has two wheels and a seat but seems more stable in its base than a normal bike.
Whereas scooters commonly seat a person, two at most—in my experience at least—in Dumaguete, the norm is three. Each and every single time I drove out in the late mornings to go for a brunch, I would se these motorists on the road. There ere instances of an entire five women fitted on the back of the scooter. You can very well imagine the nightmares it gave me whenever I saw the wheels wobble. Seldom did these people wear helmets as well. (more…)
Read more:Driving
The Ferrari F40 2007-07-26 01:27:36 If Porsche broke the ground for six-figure costs in the UK with the 959, it was Ferrari
that really sowed the seed of the new crop. For its fortieth anniversary in 1986, Maranello took the wraps off a celebratory car. It was noisy, cramped, harsh and thirsty and it made a Testarossa look like a grandma’s car. It was the F40 and for a while, it would steal the crown of the world’s fastest car. (more…)
Recommend Site To A Friend
