Category:
Cars
Cars
The Pedestrian Horn
We've posted before about Los Angeles auto dealer Hilton Tupman who, back in 1948, invented a "pedestrian horn" that he used to honk at motorists.
Great ideas like that tend to get recycled. So, recently artist Yosef Lerner unveiled a pedestrian horn for the 21st century. His intent was satirical. He wanted to make the point that honking at people can be obnoxious, whether you're on foot or in a car. But for a while he was actually offering his pedestrian horn for sale on his website, at $699 each. He decided to stop selling them because (as he told Gizmodo) he didn't want "to contribute to any more noise in this city!”
For the record, Tupman didn't invent the idea of a pedestrian horn. Actress Eleanor Whitney had rigged one up in 1932.
Chambersburg Public Opinion - Apr 9, 1932
And as early as 1927, there's a report in the NY Times about an unnamed man from Southampton, England who had attached a "miniature but noisy motorhorn" to his walking stick and then "sounded warning blasts to the more fortunate ones in automobiles when he was about to cross."
New York Times - Oct 7, 1927
Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 19, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Motor Vehicles, Cars, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults
Miss Anti-Freeze
It's Anti-Freeze Week! Or, at least, it could have been if DuPont was still promoting this car-maintenance holiday. It usually fell sometime in mid to late October.Here's a few of the young women on whom the title of "Miss Anti-Freeze" was bestowed.
Grenola Gazette - Oct 16, 1952
Pike County Dispatch - Oct 8, 1953
Taylor Daily Press - Oct 20, 1953
Wausau Daily Herald - Oct 12, 1953
Alabama Citizen - Oct 30, 1954
Salem News - Oct 17, 1955
Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 21, 2019 -
Comments (2)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1950s, Cars
Follies of the Madmen #445
Yes, it's perfectly safe to drive your one-ton car on the same surface as the 150-lb iceboat.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 22, 2019 -
Comments (6)
Category: Business, Advertising, Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers, Death, Sports, 1960s, Cars
“Breakfast” by Cyriak
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 19, 2019 -
Comments (3)
Category: Annoying Things, Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers, Death, Destruction, Food, Highways, Roads, Streets and Traffic, Surrealism, Foreign Customs, Fictional Monsters, Cars
Water Bottle Warning
A water bottle left on a car seat may potentially be a fire hazard. How? Because the water can act as a magnifying glass, concentrating the sun's rays and setting the upholstery on fire.This was news to me. During past road trips, I've left water bottles on the car seat many times.
Via Book of Joe
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 24, 2019 -
Comments (3)
Category: Stupid and/or Dangerous Products, Cars
Cow Dung AC
Photos posted on Facebook by Rupesh Gauranga Das who writes:Best use of cow dung I have ever seen
It’s in Amdavad
To counter 45 degrees heat temperatures and protect car from getting hot
Mrs. Sejal shah has plastered her car with cow dung
It’s in Amdavad
To counter 45 degrees heat temperatures and protect car from getting hot
Mrs. Sejal shah has plastered her car with cow dung
The Indian Express offers some further explanation:
Traditionally, in rural India, there is a common practice of applying cow dung on floors and walls allowing it to dry, as it is believed that coating it makes the structure remain warm in winters and cold in summers. Also, as it is a regarded as a natural disinfectant and mosquito repellent, the practice is quite common in villages.
I have to say, Mrs. Sejal Shah did a very professional-looking job of applying the cow dung to her car.
Posted By: Alex - Wed May 22, 2019 -
Comments (5)
Category: Cows, Cars
The Jetway 707
Built by American Quality Coach. Introduced in 1968. Its design was based on the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado. Some more info from coachbuilt.com:[American Quality Coach's] first product was an airport limousine - the AQC Jetway 707. It was 28' long with a wheelbase of 185", had 8-doors, seated twelve to fifteen, and featured twin rear axles - the first stretch limousine known to use them. The Jetway 707 featured an unusual vista-cruiser-style raised roof, with integral sky-lights and a completely enclosed cargo area with a hinged rear door.
A complete line of AQC hearses, ambulances, combination cars and limousines were planned, but unfortunately all of their working capital was tied up in the tooling for their first run of airport limos, and when they failed to sell, the firm was forced to abandon the other coaches. A current owner believes that only 52 Jetways were built between 1968-1970, although professional car historian Bernie DeWinter believes that the number is closer to 150.
A complete line of AQC hearses, ambulances, combination cars and limousines were planned, but unfortunately all of their working capital was tied up in the tooling for their first run of airport limos, and when they failed to sell, the firm was forced to abandon the other coaches. A current owner believes that only 52 Jetways were built between 1968-1970, although professional car historian Bernie DeWinter believes that the number is closer to 150.
Posted By: Alex - Mon May 20, 2019 -
Comments (2)
Category: Motor Vehicles, Cars, 1960s
Hardee’s Road Runner and Ernie
Two lame-o's seeking to capitalize on SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT popularity are employed to endorse burgers.
Many, many more Hardee's commercials here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Feb 24, 2019 -
Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Fads, Stereotypes and Cliches, Junk Food, 1970s, Cars
The car that’s like a bicycle
Nasser Al Shawaf was frustrated by the fact that he didn't get any exercise when he drove to work. So he teamed up with Dutch firm BPO and together they've created a car that has bicycle pedals instead of a gas pedal. So, you have to pedal to get your car to move. The faster you pedal, the faster it goes. The brake is controlled with a hand lever. The details:The system essentially has three basic settings. In traffic, it has a "Drive Slow" option, while highway use necessitates the "Drive Fast" setting. When the car is stopped, but the driver still wants to exercise, there’s a "No Drive" option, which disengages the pedals from the throttle.
I suppose it would provide a disincentive to speeding if you had to pedal like crazy to keep going fast. So in that sense it's similar to the Deaccelerator that I posted about recently. Though it might make it hard to overtake people. After all, what if you got tired as you were trying to frantically pedal? And what if you were in mixed driving conditions where you had to switch rapidly from slow to fast speeds? How easy would it be to transition from slow to fast mode? Overall, I can only see this having very limited appeal.
More details.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jan 20, 2019 -
Comments (4)
Category: Bicycles and Other Human-powered Vehicles, Inventions, Cars
The Deaccelerator
Richard Schulman's solution to the problem of speeding: make it harder for motorists to step on the gas pedal. From the Chicago Tribune (Nov 20, 1986):The device attaches to the gas pedal of cars and trucks and is set for a maxiumum speed. Once you reach that speed, the accelerator becomes harder to push down. So if, for instance, your Deaccelerator is set at 55 miles per hour, your gas pedal operates normally until your car reaches that speed. To go faster, you must exert more pressure with your foot.
Schulman invented it in the mid-1980s, and even started a company, the Deaccelerator Corporation, to market it. As of 2005, he was still publishing about it, but evidently the idea met with resistance (pun intended) since I'm not aware of any cars equipped with the device. The people who need it most would be exactly the ones who would refuse to buy a car that had one.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jan 06, 2019 -
Comments (6)
Category: Inventions, 1980s, Cars
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |