Peter Behrens's Blog, page 550
January 5, 2013
My Love is Bigger Than a Cadillac.
Greatest line in rock and roll? 
©2013 Alex EmondSpeaking of GENERAL MOTORS products, I heard Don Maclean singing American Pie in November 1971. He was driving his Chevy to the levee as the obscure opening act at a Melanie ("Candles in the Rain") concert at Place des Arts in Montreal. That strange ballad, which he delivered solo, on stage with an acoustic guitar (looked to me like a Gibson) was immediately thrilling and it has held onto its power as a dislocated anthem of lost youth & a dirge for Buddy H and that famous old lost American innocence, which seems to have been getting misplaced on a regular basis, every twenty years or so, since about 1776. Or maybe 1620. Oh hell, maybe earlier. We are a people with a short attention span.
Silver Arrow Mercedes Benz at The Louwman
Followed the sign...
to the The Louwman Museum...
in The Hague...
...and saw a pack of "Silver Arrow" Mercedes Benz race cars from 1934-39
A disgraceful era for Germany, but M-B--when they weren't making supercharged limos for political gangsters--turned out some awfully beautiful and fast one-seaters.
to the The Louwman Museum...
in The Hague...
...and saw a pack of "Silver Arrow" Mercedes Benz race cars from 1934-39
A disgraceful era for Germany, but M-B--when they weren't making supercharged limos for political gangsters--turned out some awfully beautiful and fast one-seaters.
January 4, 2013
GMC in the NYT
A piece in the NYT about GMC trucks...
...and my favorite GMC, a 1976 Sierra Grande 15
...and it's twin, back in Texas:
...and my favorite GMC, a 1976 Sierra Grande 15
...and it's twin, back in Texas:
1966 GMC Handi-Van, Vancouver
Parking's tight in those alleys in Vancouver's West End. Was taupe a factory color? Seems kinda Giorgio Armani-esque for 1966. Very clean little van though. Found it in an alley a few blocks from English Bay. Walked around the corner, and there was the Bay, with freighters on the nod. 
And my favorite hotel in Vancouver, the Sylvia.
January 2, 2013
Les dragsters at Lakewood, c.1962
A French television crew came to California c. 1962 to check out the drag racing scene and shot some impressive footage at Lakewood.
The Nederlandse Citroën HY
A fleet of these machines grumble around Amsterdam.
January 1, 2013
Huerfano County, New Year's Day
©2013 Michael S MooreDecember 31, 2012
Best Trucks of the Year
Every Man's Second Car Should Be a Beater Truck...
...that was a piece I wrote for GQ (November 2012) on buying, recycling, and using an inexpensive old truck. Don't much like the term 'beater', as it implies a machine that is thrashed and can be treated with zero respect. I like mending, tuning, and driving basic old trucks. Below, some of my Autoliterate favorites of 2012. The good thing about old trucks is that they are usually for sale. And pound for pound, pretty cheap. RUST is the 4-letter word to avoid. Surface rust is fine, it's patina. Anything deeper gets very expensive. While it is relatively easy, and not wildly expensive, to drop a new engine into an old truck, dealing with a serious rust issue can be extremely costly, and often hopeless. If you're looking for a great old truck, think--high & dry climate. Think--south & west. That's where to buy. And if you live in the Northeast, plan on an adventurous road trip, or pay a good outfit--like Safe-Way Auto Transport, out of Kentucky--to bring your baby home from the desert.
Texas Dodge
Texas Chevrolet C-10
Texas F-1 Ford
Donald Judd's Dodge. Should called it The Judge
Vancouver International
Saskatchewan Econoline
Maine/Texas GMC (with Chevrolet tailgate)
Colorado Springs International
Banff Dodge
Colorado Dodge
Saskatchewan International grainer
California F-2
Saskatchewan Chevrolet grainer
Saskatchewan Advanced-Design Chevrolet
Colorado Sprinsg A-D GMC
Willys Jeep, Colorado Springs
Dodge, Times Square NYC
Citroen, Wassenaar, NL
Citroen, Wassenaar, NL
Morris, Berlin
Chevrolet, Texas
F-250 Texas
Chevrolet c-20, Los Angeles
Chevrolet Portland ME
F-100, Saskatchewan
Willys Jeep, Blue Hill ME
...that was a piece I wrote for GQ (November 2012) on buying, recycling, and using an inexpensive old truck. Don't much like the term 'beater', as it implies a machine that is thrashed and can be treated with zero respect. I like mending, tuning, and driving basic old trucks. Below, some of my Autoliterate favorites of 2012. The good thing about old trucks is that they are usually for sale. And pound for pound, pretty cheap. RUST is the 4-letter word to avoid. Surface rust is fine, it's patina. Anything deeper gets very expensive. While it is relatively easy, and not wildly expensive, to drop a new engine into an old truck, dealing with a serious rust issue can be extremely costly, and often hopeless. If you're looking for a great old truck, think--high & dry climate. Think--south & west. That's where to buy. And if you live in the Northeast, plan on an adventurous road trip, or pay a good outfit--like Safe-Way Auto Transport, out of Kentucky--to bring your baby home from the desert.
Texas Dodge
Texas Chevrolet C-10
Texas F-1 Ford
Donald Judd's Dodge. Should called it The Judge
Vancouver International
Saskatchewan Econoline
Maine/Texas GMC (with Chevrolet tailgate)
Colorado Springs International
Banff Dodge
Colorado Dodge
Saskatchewan International grainer
California F-2
Saskatchewan Chevrolet grainer
Saskatchewan Advanced-Design Chevrolet
Colorado Sprinsg A-D GMC
Willys Jeep, Colorado Springs
Dodge, Times Square NYC
Citroen, Wassenaar, NL
Citroen, Wassenaar, NL
Morris, Berlin
Chevrolet, Texas
F-250 Texas
Chevrolet c-20, Los Angeles
Chevrolet Portland ME
F-100, Saskatchewan
Willys Jeep, Blue Hill MEDecember 30, 2012
Raw Material: 5-window coupe, etc.
from our iron man in Northern California, Michael S Moore:
".while waiting for my [fourth] fuel pump for the '45 I went up to Brian's Auto Salvage in the far reaches of American Canyon and scored these...
"Yeah, well... door handles and window cranks from more than a half century ago. The trip went something like this...
'63 Pontiac, sunbaked
63 Chrysler. Maybe? 62 Imperial"...and then at the end this character showed up; 1930 five window [deuce grille] running a classic dual-carbed flat-head...the kind of stuff some guys [not me] make out of what they find at Brian's....
