A rare gem, shared by Dep-O Magazine... the NSU Prinz owners manual "tips"

What do you do when you buy any kind of project these days? You get onto eBay. And when I searched for ‘NSU Prinz’, ‘Owners’ Handbook’ popped up. Yes, it might be useful. But more importantly, owning a car is never enough – you have to own loads of related stuff as well (like the enamel mug, two workshop manuals and a selection of keyrings and badges which are now dotted around the office shelves…)

The manual has proved to be an absolute gem. It belongs to a different age completely, one where manufacturers trusted their customers with their own cars. Where modern manuals will tell you how to operate the central locking and where to put the ignition key but will then gently infer that the warranty will be invalid and legal action will swiftly follow even half-hearted attempts to open the bonnet, the Prinz manual just stops short of telling you how to fully disassemble and re-assemble the whole car using just a spoon and a ball of hairy string. And it does it all with a superb sense of humour. It’s actually funny.

Tips From NSU, reproduced here for your enjoyment. Some still make perfect good sense, some would cause many in this Health & Safety obsessed world to choke on their decaf Frappucino. Which is no bad thing. Don’t miss tips No.2, 16, and 18. Strangely, apart from giving me a good chuckle, the manual and the attitude it conveys has made me warm to the car enormously. I like NSU more because of it, it makes me sorry that they’re not still around making their wonderfully over-engineered cars. And as if I needed it, gives me one more reason to get the orange beast back on the road.

 Awesome find! read the entire NSU purchase situation, from which this was excerpted
http://www.dep-o.co.uk/features/in-manual-our-ebay-gem-of-the-month/

Have you heard of the Detroit Maker Faire?

there is a 500 dollar limit to what you can pay for stuff you get a kids toy faster with

"With a limit of $500 spent on modifying a kid’s Power Wheels car – hacker spaces race for the championship in the 2012 Power Racing Series.

The innovative racing series makes engineering entertaining and approachable. The goal of the Power Racing Series is to advance technology education and encourage people to try something new. (And have a good time, too.)"

found on http://www.makerfairedetroit.com/

you're familiar with the plight of the old American cars in Cuba, but had you heard of the Harley's that are kept running? Here's a great story and photos from Southsiders MC after the link

Here is an exerpt of the future book being photographied and written by Gunther Maier, a German Photographer installed in Santa Fe NM.
 Gunther is also looking for an publisher, please contact him at : gunther@newmexico.com
 And have a look at his website: http://www.roadhousepictures.net/3/artist.asp?ArtistID=35011&Akey=T568YEK8

Not surprisingly, many Harlistas keep their motorcycles in coveted spots in the living room or on the patio, not the garage. And toddlers began playing on the machines as soon as they can crawl. Some Harlistas ride the same motorcycles their grandfathers owned before the revolution.

Today only a few hundred remain nearly a half century after the island’s last Harley dealership closed. “They’re an endangered species,” said Jose Angel “Pipi” Perez, a Cuban mechanic who restores Harleys. “They are disappearing.” But Cuba’s hogs aren’t gone yet thanks to the remarkable efforts of a group known as Harlistas. Harlistas have kept their engines running despite decades of hardship and economic isolation. Almost all their motorcycles are at least 50 years old.Yet they find a way to keep them alive, scavenging parts from battered old trucks, lawn mowers and even anti-tank guns.

After the United States cut off trade with Cuba in the early 1960s, Harlistas couldn’t get any spare parts, not even tires or brakes. So they were forced to improvise. One old-school mechanic used barbed wire to fix broken chains, another started cutting up cake boxes to make engine gaskets. That led to his nickname, Cake Box, which sticks to this day.

Harlistas have done whatever it takes to keep their motorcycles on the road, even it means using:
 * Pistons from Russian trucks.
* Chains stripped from the conveyor belts of a pre-Castro Coca-Cola factory.
* Fiat ambulance horns from Poland.
* Exhaust pipes made from tubes ripped from electrical transformers.
* Tires from VW Beetles.

this is only a small part of the entire post I found on the superb http://southsiders-mc.blogspot.com/2012/01/harlistas-by-gunther-maier.html
Man, I like that blog!

Monowheel circa 1952, photos by Dean Loomis. WW2 was just over, and anything was possible

These were all photographed for Life magazine, as this was being prepped to get to a motorshow in 1952. Sleuths who try to figure out where, would need to look for a Bob's Speedo Service and a Hancock gas station in 1952.

Found on http://interweb3000.blogspot.com/2012/02/vintage-monowheel.html
via http://thenewcaferacersociety.blogspot.com

The monowheels in Men In Black 3 look a lot like this one http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2012/03/men-in-black-3-mib3-is-going-to-be.html

New Cafe Racer Society blogspot always has cool stuff, here's just a sample of recent posts

 this guy above should be given a medal for being an inspiration to make the thing you want when no one sells one. Take a Vespa, use it to power a watercraft. Brilliant, and fuel efficient I bet. When you get to the otherside of the water, dismount the scooter and use it to get around, then return to find no one has stolen your watercraft cause no one can figure out how!

 how to make an innertube tire, and why

 Above: in the words of Jack Benny "Now that's just silly"

 Awesome useful art

"damn" and "it". My hat is off to it's creative maker!

For a lot more cool motorcycle related stuff: http://thenewcaferacersociety.blogspot.com

Auto Enthusiast March 2012 has an article on the Justice Brothers Racing Cars musuem, and the Smith Master Valve Special...

 I learned that the above, a Sprint Car built in the very early 1930's was only raced once, at 100mph for 35 miles, and then sat in a San Antonio garage for 51 years. That is a terribly sad story.

The engine is a 1928 Chevy, but the head is a patented Rotary Valve piece, and that is remarkable. More jaw dropping is that it was made by a guy who got only to 5th grade in school.

the Firestone balloon tires have no tread.

images from http://www.streetrodderweb.com/features/1002_justice_brothers_racing_museum/photo_07.html

The coolest hot rod trophy I've ever seen. Wow. My compliments to the creator, and the Helldivers CC for giving it to a hot rodder of their choice.

 I see a cocktail shaker, fuel filter, half a fule pump, wingnut steering, hinge seat, headlight glass for the dome, 3 thermostats, a couple taps and sockets, tail light, and chrome trim

Is this not the coolest car parts art / hot rod trophy you've seen? I've seen similar art sell for thousands. 

The coolest things I found at the 2012 Grand National Roadster Show, #1 - Erik Salin's "California Color" Kustom Kulture and electric guitar fusion

http://eriksalin-art.com/guitares/guitars.html