Five cursed and haunted cars

Interesting stuff from Autoblog -- cursed cars

Five cursed and haunted cars (link).

4. Surrey, England's Ghost Crash

This one is straight out of a campfire story. Crashes are common on Britain's A3 highway, so when police received multiple calls on December 11, 2002 about a set of headlights veering off the road, they rushed to the scene fearing the worst. When they arrived however, no crash was evident. Undeterred, police continued to search the scene until they stumbled upon a wrecked maroon Vauxhall Astra, nose-down in a ditch, covered in undergrowth, with a decomposing human body inside.

The car had left the road and ended up in the ravine. Police estimated the young man crashed five months earlier and could find no evidence that any other car had been involved. Was the soul of this departed motorist drawing attention to his final resting place with ghostly headlights? Our gut says maybe.

Cateye Velo 5

Bike computer... also known, somewhat grandiloquent-ly, as a cyclocomputer.

This Cateye Velo 5 is about 7-8 years old already. Still operates on the same battery (CR-something.

The above photo was made on the go, the speedometer reading is about 5.6 km/h. I nearly fell off the bike taking the picture, so no higher speed was achieved in the interests of safety. 

Now in the clock mode (above), while the speedometer reading is 0.0 km/h - consistent with staying put, no mistake here. The time is 15:39. Over the 7 or 8 years I have had it, I never bothered to adjust the time so it is now 1.5 hours late. The 1 hour is probably due to the summer/winter time malarkey. Also, this thing winters in my cold country villa which is uninhabited in the winter, with temperatures sometimes falling as low as minus thirties. Still it gradually un-thaws -- as do many other electronic devices (including radios, game consoles, TV sets that I leave there) and works OK during warmer times. I could probably set the right time but you do have to find the manual first.

Dst 211.03 is a trip distance, which I haven't reset in a long time.

Top speed achieved is 27.9 km/h. In fact, this is not the topmost speed as I once hit 40 km/h down some slope but unfortunately accidentally reset the computer thereafter.

Odo: 781.3 km. This is the length I traveled by this bike since I installed the computer. Overall, there's about 2,000 km on this bike. But I ride it only once every two weeks.

All modes can be cycled through by pressing one button -- the only one it has.

Odometer.

Lada 2102 on Journey Across America

A Lada Club Finland Lada 2102 on a 2014 journey across the US (a facebook photo stream).


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DIM: Dodge Intrepid

Another post in DIM -- Detroit Iron in Moscow which is a series of posts where I do a bit of car spotting and photograph "Detroit iron" in Moscow -- i.e. full-size American automobiles that I see on Moscow streets, lanes and especially in back yards whilst not specifically looking for them. 

Today's subject is this Dodge Intrepid Second Generation full-size car (pictured below) and was found on a dealer's lot.

The first Chrysler product on this series... to be fair this one is neither RWD nor does it seat six people but is surely classed as a full-size car as it checks most of the other boxes -- V6 power (at least), length over 5,000 mm, a roomy passenger compartment, etc.

It may have been in a minor accident -- or, God forbid, it struck somebody in the safe hands of its previous owners... also "rust coloration" is visible in places. This car is likely over 10 years old at the very least as production was ended in 2003. But it is now available to buy as somebody's trade-in at my Ford dealer where I made these photos yesterday.

Chrysler's LH platform, cab-forward design or something. I actually like the look of this car... coming from a time when car designers were willing to try something new, to introduce new concepts and their designs ended up mostly looking much better than current blobs of cars which almost all look boring and unappealing... to me anyway, also bloated like.

Other than the front end, it doesn't look that bad for a ten (at least) year old car.

The 100 Greatest Japanese Cars of All Time | Edmunds.com

The 100 Greatest Japanese Cars of All Time | Edmunds.com 

All 100 photos too!

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WUS Thread: 293 Years of PChZ Exhibition

Raketa watches...

293 Years of PChZ Exhibition -- link to WUS thread containing a link to pictures from the exhibition.

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Casio Taps the 1980s for Its Retro Line of Smart (Looking) Watches - Gizmodo

Casio Taps the 1980s for Its Retro Line of Smart (Looking) Watches (link to Gizmodo article)

Apparently Casio is about to offer a line of retro Casio watches... which is a good thing. 

I have a couple retro Casios myself... and you can find them in my collection listing on the right hand panel on this blog or use "Casio" in the categories.

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How To Spot A Fake Luxury Watch - Business Insider

How To Spot A Fake Luxury Watch (link to article).

Some helpful, if truistic, advice...

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Lada Love: Lada Cars 1972-87

A new series of posts on my blog -- Lada Love -- all about Lada car appreciation.

I start by cannibalizing my earlier post on the USSR Auto Industry Exhibition, from which I pull these pictures of Ladas.


VAZ 2101 Zhiguli (Lada) in rally livery.

VAZ 2103 Zhiguli (Lada) - deluxe version of the 2101.

2103 and 2106 behind it.

VAZ 2108 Lada Sputnik. Three-door front wheel drive, the first front wheel drive Lada.

These by no means all Ladas...

HMT time machines return with higher price | Times of India

Not quite gone yet: HMT watches

HMT time machines return with higher price

BANGALORE: This may be your last chance to grab a piece of history. A fresh and perhaps the final batch of legendary HMT watches arrived in showrooms in the city....

According to sources in the HMT watch division, production of mechanical watches was suspended because of lack of manpower and capital. With supply drying up, no showroom in the city had any mechanical watch till last week.

However, a few bulk orders recently made the company start manufacture of these watches. About 2,500 mechanical watches were manufactured, less than 1,000 of which have been earmarked for retail buyers.

 More...

 Sans salary for a year, HMT employees finally get paid 

Moscow Park

More park walks from me. The Ostankino park in August 2014. Nice walk it was.

Oak tree... looks less than happy.

Park alleyway.

PTS Resources Catalog 2014-15 Chinese Movements

New catalog of Chinese (mostly) movements available on the PTS Resources website.

PTS Resources Catalog 2014-15 (opens PDF)

Enhance Your Lighting - GE Commercial Jeff Goldblum

Slava 2427 Automatic

Slava 2427, automatic, day-date calendar.

RDR

It is a current offering from Slava (what's left of it). Personally, I like it. 

The watch has a sporty-, heavy duty look about it -- but it's all for show, just style no substance, Slava made many such watches in the 1990s-2000s. But I still like them for some reason. 

A promo photo from Slava's website.

One look at the back will tell you the watch is an automatic.

It is.

The Slava caliber 2427 in a later years version... soon there will be no more of them. I think they will disappear before the handwind (i.e. S2409, S2414 and S2428) versions. The S2416 is already no more.

Twin barrels... only by Slava.

DIM: Lincoln Town Car 2nd Gen in Traffic

A post in the Detroit Iron in Moscow (DIM) series of posts where I do a bit of car spotting and photograph "Detroit iron" in Moscow -- i.e. full-size American automobiles that I see on Moscow streets, lanes and especially in back yards whilst not specifically looking for them.

And mostly I see them in Moscow backyards... but not today. For the first time since I started this series and in any case since I don't even remember how long ago, I have seen a piece of Detroit iron actually rolling in traffic.

So today's DIM is this Lincoln Town Car 2nd Generation 1990-97.

 

Watch of the Day: Slava 2428

Watch of the day (WOTD) some days back -- my Slava 2428, a current model bought, I think, in 2012.

Slava 2428, handwind, day-date calender -- not set.

Slava's twin barrels (and different color screws for some reason)

Diecast: Lada 2107 1:43

I do not specifically collect diecast car models, yet have some.

The most favorite is my diecast Lada 2107 -- the Lada 2107 happens to be one of my all time favorite cars as it was one of the two cars I learned to drive in and the first car that I drove myself. 

Lada 2107 is the deluxe version of the Lada 2105 itself an upgrade on the Lada 2101 based on the Fiat 124.

Even though it may be hard to believe from these first two pictures, this diecast model is what a proper diecast model should be...Front view.

I mean, of course, there are better and more detailed diecast models around, including those of Lada cars, but they tend to be bigger in scale. 

As regards, 1:43 diecasts, I have yet to see a better detailed and more functional (i.e. opening doors, hood, trunk) models...Side view. 

Back view.

3/4

And this is why it is an example to most other 1:43 (or smaller) diecast models -- because everything opens! The hood opens...

And you can have a look at a pretty detailed motor.