How cool are these?

I found this painting on the web somewhere but can't for the life of me remember where!
Done in the style of a Norman Rockwell cover for the Saturday Evening Post, the artist has created something that I can imagine as a large Oil painting hanging pride of place in my living room.

Another piece of fantastic artwork that I have on my hard drive is this one, New York, 1936 I believe. Automotive related artwork never fails to delight!

Now how about a work of art created by the vehicle itself? Well OK. Here is the Bulldog emblem from a Mack truck, made into art by beautiful decay!

Gratuitous BUICK shot..

The car above is one of my all time favourites, the 1950 Buick sedanette.
There is something about old Buicks that really get to me, and the period between 1949 - 53 was for me the best stylistically. This one came up for auction in august last year, totally original and unmolested, the new owner must be very pleased.... I sure would be!

Whatever happened to....?

Do you ever wonder what ever happened to the 'next big thing' of yesteryear? Like that swish new Caddy your neighbour had back in the 50's?
Well the picture above gives a clue to what happened to most of them, a real shame too!

But what about those other things? Vague memories from childhood, something that you once remember reading about but can't quite recall where?
If like me you are a fan of those old 50's magazines that used to predict the engineering or scientific advances likely to be around 'in the future', then you may be familiar with the theory of water powered cars.
Today more than ever we need to look at alternative sources of fuel for our vehicles, not only from the ecological point of view, but also to help lessen the dependence we have on the middle eastern nations for our energy.

There has been some sort of urban myth spread for many decades based around the supposed guy that invented a car that would run on water, only to have the big oil companies buy up the idea and bury it to keep the oil business booming. While looking through those old mags once more I came across the item above.... so what did happen to it?


Next up, from December 1930 was this, the largest Studebaker in the world! Now considering you would need more than the average garage to house this beauty, and it's not the type of thing that could be tucked away and forgotten about (unless you have a very large house!) then this thing should still be out there.... anyone seen it?


Some of the new ideas turned out to be a hit, the one above first appeared in November 1933, and the notion that cars should have warning devices when turning became standard fittings sometime later.


The item above I remember fondly - because I had that very cover in blue on my bed as a kid! I wonder where that went?
Looking back through those old magazines is like looking back on man's optimism, there are jet packs and flying cars, ingenious gadgets invented for virtually every purpose both in the home and in the car. I have to admit that many of these 'predictions' for the future never happened, perhaps because along came a world war which took away many of the designers of that hopeful future.
Y'know what? Not all those inventions would have caught on, maybe I'm being unkind but I just couldn't see these anti-glare glasses going down a storm! :-)

The death of steam.

Prompted by recent posts on the excellent Viewliner blog, I decided to write a little about a subject that has until now avoided my interest -Railways!

In the period that immediately followed WWII much of Europe's rail network lay in ruins. Subject to heavy allied bombing, the rolling stock, marshalling yards, and bridges were all but destroyed which meant that mainland Europe had to begin again, but this time using diesel technology.

The railways of Britain suffered much less wartime damage than their European counterparts, and post war cash -strapped Britain decided to carry on with steam. This purely fiscal decision gave us a glorious period of anachronistic, yet endearing mode of transport.
There are few people who experienced those days that weren't moved by those big steam engines, they had a hissing, puffing, clanking presence unique to themselves, and the decision to replace them in the 1960's was a debatable one.

The task of modernising the British railways fell to a certain Dr. Beeching
who followed the mysterious logic that the best way to improve a service was in many cases to remove that service altogether! Consequently, by 1968 many thousands of miles of branch lines had been closed and those faithful old giants the steam engines were retired for ever.
What the Luftwaffe hadn't managed to destroy during six years of war Dr. Beeching managed with ease, although embarrassingly the new diesel locomotives suffered reliability problems and would often break down, leading to the reliance of an old steam engine to rescue it!

Nostalgia being what it is, those old engines are remembered in a multitude of paintings and Movie's appearing resplendent in their own particular liveries, puffing white clouds of smoke and steam as they traverse the land.
The reality was quite different however, these monsters were working vehicles and often as not were black with soot, and streaked with rust, oil, and other debris. To stand within a few yards of these magnificent machines was to become enchanted by them, the feel of the vibration as they bellowed, the smell of hot oil, the heat radiated from the steel boiler all create an unforgettable impression.

During 1968 these old giants were discarded in their thousands, 'Engine graveyards' developed, where rusting hulks stood for as far as the eye could see, awaiting the cutting torch. it is only now over forty years later, that I revisit those fine old men of steam and pay tribute to their beauty... in all their dirt streaked, soot stained grandeur!

There is a postscript to this sad tale however. Steam enthusiasts are a dedicated bunch, and the British love affair with steam has provided us with the first BRAND NEW steam engine to be constructed in 50 years! Named the TORNADO, she is set to bring the sensory experience of steam to a whole new generation of passengers!

RIP Steam?.... Not quite!

Raw colour.

As an Artist I am continually aware of the amazing work achieved by my fellow painters. I look at all subject matter and styles and I can appreciate most types of work, but every now and again there is an artist that stands out by a country mile!

Tom Fritz, for me is just such an artist.

In subject matter Tom generally stays within the Hot-Rod era of the 1940's, and his paintings display a passion for his subject. It would be easy to say that this depiction of old cars and bikes, coupled with the sense of movement that Tom manages to put into his paintings would be an obvious hit with me as an old car nut myself, but it's the blaze of colour that Tom Fritz achieves which for me is the trademark of his work.


I remember reading somewhere the words of an artist that said:

"When I see the work of Frans Hals it makes me want to paint, but when I see the work of Rembrandt ...it makes me want to give up painting!"

.... and when I look at Tom's work I know that feeling!


Tom Fritz is to me the premier example of how light, colour, and subject matter can combine to make a painting exceptional, and each time I see his work spurs me on to raise my game!

More beautiful decay # 4

Continuing the theme of 'Beautiful decay' here are a few shots gathered from the web. There are quite a few talented photographers out there that really have an eye for what elements combine to makes old things beautiful!


Light, colour, patina or texture, and the randomness of nature are often the greatest ingredients when each meet on old steel. The fact that the old steel itself was once a handsome creation too adds yet another dimension.

I find it amazing that there are still so many saveable cars out there that, with a little (or a lot of) work could once again sweep along the highway as they did half a century ago.

Looking back I guess the period between the 1930's and the 1960's will become known as the years that held the most innovation, design, and downright class - be it cars, Art Deco buildings, or the Fedora hat...bring back Fedora's I say!


And finally for today I include a photograph of something that has absolutely nothing to do with old cars, rust, decay, or any of the subjects of my usual ramblings. It came from the same great photographer that took the old vehicle pic's above and is included here simply because it's so darned beautiful!

New car - shock horror!

I am going to do something here that I never thought that I would do. In this blog of old cars and rust, I am going to include a brand new car!

Don't get me wrong new cars are just fine, safe, reliable, and mostly economical they do a great job, but what I really miss most is the involvement that used to go with car ownership. Back in the day owners used to actually take time and trouble over their Automobiles, they would fit accessories, wash and polish the exterior, even fix them when they broke.

Today we see an Automobile as a tool, it performs it's function and is then left outside until needed again before finally being discarded.
We don't spend those Sunday mornings polishing them any more, and anyway, they have no chrome on them to polish up like before. Imagine the satisfaction a newly polished chrome smile of an early 1950's Buick gave to it's owner....


Or the simple pleasure of buffing up a real good shine on any of the old 'Jellymould' shaped cars like this '41 Chevy master delux...

.... Nope! - new cars just aren't the same...or so I thought!

It so happened that while browsing the net this afternoon I came across something that caught my imagination, possibly for all the wrong reasons. It has 'love it or loath' it styling, no crumple zones or safety equipment to speak of, it's impractical, and quite expensive for what would only be considered as a 'toy' by many.

The car in question is the French made RUMEN


Now I know a little about the French insofar as they are superb innovators when it comes to motor cars, think of Citroen's traction avant, DS series, or the simple but brilliant 2cv and bold French styling and innovation become clear.


What we have here is a car that has such whacky styling that it pleases from every angle, styling that takes cues from the 1930's and '40's Bugatti's perhaps, but this vehicle is made of up to the minute components giving modern performance and reliability. Just take a look at this interior.

Caught your breath yet? :-)
Now let's take a look at some of the cool features, for example notice on this interior shot how the gear lever is operated through the dash, rather than the fllor mounted option shown earlier. The gear levers are connected to a 5 speed (tip-tronic) gearbox, which in turn is harnessed to a 998cc three cylinder motor.


With disk brakes all round and, an all up weight of just 550kg this thing should fly!
From the aesthetic point of view, as I mentioned earlier you will either love it or hate it, such radical styling is bound to invoke extreme opinions... I love it!


Quite apart from the performance and fun factor that this car undoubtedly offers there's something else... can you guess what it is? Well, this car has that 'Sunday morning polishing' factor that I mentioned seems to be lacking in today's vehicles.
This car has curves, it has chrome, and it all comes in a neat, high quality, and manageable package that won't take up the whole day to clean or ever become a chore, the Rumen invites you too polish her.

Now pride of ownership is one thing, but once she's gleaming again it's time to hit the road and enjoy her, which is where the detachable roof section comes in real handy!


If you would like to find out more about this great little car, or your lucky enough to fancy buying one then go here where you can also see more high-res photo's and technical details.