“QUANTUM SHOT” #645
Link – article by Avi Abrams

World’s Smallest Vehicles: Some Are Ugly, Some Are Cute, All Are Fondly Remembered

As today’s economy continues to shake and stagger, most people find themselves in the “savings” and “fuel efficiency” mode when it comes to cars – and so the idea of small, easy to park and to maintain micro cars remains popular. Plus even from purely design and vintage collector’s viewpoint, these cars can possess more cuteness and nostalgia factor than your favorite childhood toys. Just like a well-worn toy teddy bear, they are extremely cuddly and adorable.

Some of these models provoke immediate “love it” or “hate it” response… Enjoy this collection and do not miss Part 1 and Part 2 of this popular series.

(images via 1, 2)

Allard Clipper, Great Britain, 1954

This car looked simply fantastic. Two kids could ride in the trunk (see image below). It had hree Wheels. And it came complete with the pilot’s goggles (just kidding). So you ready to hunt it down? Well, “it is believed that only about twenty such cars were made before the project came to an end, and only two examples are known to survive, one in a German museum and one in England.” (more info):

(images via 1)

Want a small pickup truck? Austin A-35 fits the bill:

(image via)

Italian Vespa company made not only the famous scooters, but also cars (1958):

(image via)

Hungary produced many cute/ugly models of micro cars in the 1950s. Here is Alba Regia (left) and Balaton (right), 1956:

(bottom left: 1954 prototype Uttoro; bottom right: Alba Regia)

Is this car frowning? is it grumpy? “Balaton”, again:

How many people fit in the car on the left? You must be kidding me:

(image via)

For a more exhaustive look at all Hungarian micro-car models, click here.

Variations of Goggomobile, Spain:

(images via)

De Carlo 200 Minicar from Argentina looks exactly like a toy plastic car:

(images via)

Dinarg D-200, also from Argentina, has somewhat haughty and slightly stuck-up demeanor. This model is from 1962:

(images via)

NSU Prinz I, II, III and 30 – from Argentina:

(images via)

NSU Prinz 4 shown below is better known to Russian people as the “New Zaporozhetz” ZAZ-966 – another example of “swiped” design by Soviet automakers:

(left: NSU, via – right: ZAZ, Russia)

NSU Wankel Spider sported some pleasant lines, even though it was really tiny:

Marathon Corsair had style, too:

Here is a little grey mouse: German Fuldamobile S2 (more info

(images via)

More Fuldamobiles, including an interesting Attica, produced under license in Greece:

(image via)

German Champion 400, 1953 – more info – also was a convertible:

(images via 1, 2)

Another German fascinating micro car is Tempo (making Matador and Hanseat micro-trucks since 1924). These cars are quite collectible and rare nowadays:

(more info, image via)

1960 Berkely T-60 three-wheeled convertible:

(images via)

Very attractive Crosley convertible from 1947:

(images via)

There was Crosley station wagon, Crosley “Scorpion”, 1952:

… and even Crosley Little Chief fire truck (1950):

(images via)

What about today?

Speaking of modern small and micro cars, this example from Lancia, Italy, looks pretty inviting and classy:

(image via)

Nissan Figaro from 1991 had some sophisticated roof retraction mechanism:

(image via)

On the DIY front, here is a bizarre recent one called Moonbeam, which will give you 100mpg – more info

(image via)

Rarities of the micro kind

Scootmobile and Meyra oddities (any info on these?):

(images via)

(Skoda in Prague Airport, image via)

1975 Mini-Comtesse and 1979 Mini-Comtesse Break, France:

Microbe! and Alta 200 from Greece:

Another mini-car? truck? scooter? from Greece: Delta Minitriadi, 1968 (left) and Mitsuoka BUBU Shuttle 50 from Japan (right):

(images via)

Here is a microcar starring in one Soviet movie… and a green bubble car, blown to some frightening proportions:

(originals unknown)

Then there were micro cars, small concept cars and hot rods that defied characterization. Some of them were designed by George Barris (known as the King of Kustomizers), or Ed Roth, and looked like something from Hot Wheels back catalog:

(images via)

(“Orbitron”, by Ed Roth, more info)

And we can’t forget the sinister “Hannibal” car from the 1965 movie “The Great Race”, full of James Bond-worthy tricky gadgetry:

Small Cars in Vintage Rally Competitions

Ideally suited for narrow European roads… and immensely photogenic:

(model of Simca 1000 Rallye 2, Rali de Monte Carlo 1973, via)

(Mini at Monte Carlo Rally, via)

Racing micro-cars seems like fun – more info:

(image via)

Amazingly, even with three articles in this series, we did not cover all microcar models… One good source for collectors is Microcar Club page and Wiki’s List of Microcars by country of origin. Also of interest is Minutia – MicroCars Club Magazine. Stay tuned from more coverage of unique vintage automobiles.

(image via)

CONTINUE TO NEXT PART! ->

Don’t Miss the Fist Part of This Series ->

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“QUANTUM SHOT” #644
Link – article by Simon Rose

From Baby Mouse Wine… to Large Spiders & Snakes in Alcohol – All Ready to Drink!

We had such a great response to our 2009 article on unusual beer flavours from different corners of the globe, so here’s a sample of some of the more unusual and occasionally bizarre alcoholic beverages from around the world.

(image via)

Just about every culture in the world has a traditional alcoholic drink made from the plants and other ingredients that could be found locally and some of these beverages are very old indeed.

Mead, often referred to as honey wine, can range from mild ale to strong wine in terms of its alcohol content. The origins of mead are lost in the mists of time, but it appears in the history of cultures throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. Some regard mead as the ancestor of all fermented drinks.

(Polish Mead, images via 1, 2)

Moutai, commonly referred to as China’s national liquor, was first made in China over 800 years ago:

(images via 1, 2)

Chicha, a drink derived from maize in several South American countries is one of the oldest beverages on the planet. Chicha has probably been around for thousands of years, and was consumed by the Inca, but today traditionally prepared chicha is only produced in a handful of small towns and few villages in Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica.

(image via 1, 2)

Although maize is most commonly associated with chicha, throughout the Andes the word can also refer to numerous fermented drinks, made from other types of grains or fruit. Another old drink is pulque, a traditional Mexican alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of the maguey plant. The drink was has a long history and this monkey pulque jar dates from the Aztec period:

(images via 1, 2)

A popular drink in Central Asia, kumis was first mentioned by Herodotus in the fifth century BC. A fermented drink made from mare’s milk, Kumis is a mild beverage, only containing up 2.5% alcohol:

(image via)

If alcohol mixed with horse milk isn’t exactly to your taste, how about breakfast in a bottle of booze? Bakon Vodka, produced by Black Rock Spirits of Seattle is indeed flavoured with bacon (below left). Or how about vodka with chillis (below right)?

(images via 1, 2)

Here is an interesting “Aunt Sonya” (Kosher?) Vodka from Russia, and a pickle-ready feast with a “Birch Porch” vodka:

(images via 1, 2)

As well as bacon as an ingredient in liquor, meat has featured for many years in bottles of Mezcal from Mexico. The worm is actually the larva of one of the moths that live on the agave plant. No one is sure where the tradition of adding the worm to the bottle came from, but it is possible that it serves to prove that the alcohol content is high enough to preserve the worm in a pickled condition.

(image via)

Lizard wine from China might not sound too appealing, but apparently tastes a little like brandy, improves eyesight and as a bonus can protect against evil spirits (below left).

(images via)

Another wine with supposed medicinal qualities, helping with everything from coughs and colds to liver disorders, is baby mouse wine from Korea (above right). Yes, it really does contain newborn baby mice, which are drowned in rice wine, before the bizarre mixture is stored somewhere dry and dark for up to a year before it is considered drinkable.

Just like baby mouse wine, snake liquors from South East Asia are also considered cures for a variety of ailments, including impotence, back and muscle pain and hair loss (below left). These drinks usually contain highly poisonous snakes, such as cobras (below right):

(image via)

If snakes aren’t really for you, how about scorpions and spiders? This distilled rice grain vodka from Thailand, complete with a farm raised scorpion, is banana flavoured and sweetened with sugar cane (below left).

(images via)

This Thai rice whiskey contains a large non-venomous spider (above right) and is apparently an acquired taste. Or how about this Mekong River Eel Wine from Laos? -

(images via)

If you prefer your liquor devoid of creatures of any kind, Bau Da Vietnamese rice whiskey is made from plain boiled rice and comes in this rather attractive container (above right).

The World’s Strongest Drinks

In terms of sheer alcohol content, Everclear is considered the world’s strongest drink. A grain alcohol, Everclear can contain 95 % or 75.5 % alcohol or 190 and 151 proof respectively. Vodka tends to be 40 % alcohol or 80 proofs. Drinkers rarely consume Everclear on its own and it is usually only used as an ingredient in cocktails:

Bacardi 151 (above right) has an alcohol content of 75.5% or 151-proof and is also used in cocktails. The spirit is flammable and used in flaming drinks such as B-52’s. Bacardi also really do use a flame arrester on the bottle.

Raicilla is often called Mexican Moonshine and is usually more than 100 proof. It is generally known as a homegrown version of tequila or other similar Mexican drinks, but has begun to be produced commercially in recent years.

(image via)

Absinthe is another highly alcoholic beverage, with an alcohol content of between 45% and 74%. An anise-flavoured spirit derived from herbs, Absinthe is usually green, but can also be colourless. Because of its strength it is usually diluted with water. Absinthe originated in Switzerland and became very popular in late nineteenth and early twentieth Paris among artists and writers, who were all thought to be fans of ‘the green fairy’, as the drink was often known. Absinthe spoons originated at that time, used to dissolve a sugar cube in a glass of absinthe to sweeten it and take away some of the bitterness. Such spoons, some of which had logos or brand names on them, are now collector’s items:

(images via)

By 1915, absinthe had been banned in many countries as an addictive drug, mostly due to presence of small amounts of thujone, blamed for the harmful effects of drinking absinthe. However, there appears to be scant evidence that absinthe is any more dangerous than other spirits. In the 1990’s, several European countries began making absinthe again. Here are a few examples of absinthe from the Czech Republic, which often have a high alcohol content and there’s even a cannabis flavoured brand.

(images via 1, 2)

If you’re interested in sampling any of these mind boggling strong drinks, or indeed any of the above weird concoctions, maybe your drink could be served in a bottle like this one, which is possibly especially designed for taking shots:

(images via 1, 2)

Here is a flask disguised as binoculars… to see double, or doubly clear? (order it here):

(image via)

So there you are, a look at the weird, the wonderful, the unusual and the plain bizarre liquors of the world. Cheers!

(image via, see more here)

Drink responsibly. You know.

(original unknown)

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Simon Rose is the author of science fiction and fantasy novels for children, including The Alchemist’s Portrait, The Sorcerer’s Letterbox, The Clone Conspiracy, The Emerald Curse, The Heretic’s Tomb and The Doomsday Mask.

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“QUANTUM SHOT” #643
Link – article by ‘betweenthelines’

Books, Bookstores and Libraries That Are Out to Get You

Do you know that there is a certain sub-genre (sub-sub-genre?) of murder mysteries concerned with the world of authors, manuscripts, rare and deadly books – with the emphasis on deadly books?. Typically, they feature an indefatigable hero leaping around libraries in a race against time, unearthing cyphers, ancient manuscripts and clues hidden in old books.

Thrillers like this belong to a popular sub-genre called bibliomysteries, and as the name suggests, they all concern some sort of bookish skull-duggery. Book lovers love them but if you’re tempted to read one here are a few words of warning. Books can be fatal, as this eager reader is about to discover:

The Book With The Iron Clasps (left), The Book of Death on the right

This deadly tome is called ‘The Book with The Iron Clasps’ and its story lies in the novel of the same name. Written by Angus B. Reach in 1848, it’s the first-ever detective novel (!) and it’s illustrated by George Cruikshank. It may well be a cracking read but don’t try to open it – the Borgias have poisoned the pages. It’s just the first of many books best kept under lock and key…

The bad news is that some books have plain it got it in for you and in fact there are thousands of dangerous books lurking on the shelves. Spotting them should be no trouble – there’s no need to crack a code with a title like “The Book of Death”…

Unfortunately as with all the best thrillers there’s a twist to the tale – readers are not the only ones at risk. Budding authors are told to ‘write about what you know’ but few of them realize just how dangerous writing can be. Bibliomysteries have a habit of biting the hand that writes them:

Sometimes these hapless hacks are cut off mid-sentence long before getting the work to the publisher in the first place. Manuscripts that threaten to expose the truth about the perils of the page are ruthlessly brought to a full stop:

By now even the bravest bibliophile will be glancing at their bookcase wondering if their next read might be their last. Look out for those shelves, by the way – more than one bibliomystery starts with a body under a pile of books. (Did they fall or were they pushed?) I’d choose a short book next if I were you and even then you might not get to the last chapter to find out whodunnit:

Is nowhere safe? Surely the library can provide some sanctuary? Hah! That, gentle reader, is just what they want you to think! Libraries are full of books which makes them the deadliest places of all:

As for bookshops, well, there’s nowhere better to spend a quiet five minutes but from now on it might be better to just cross over to the other side of the street. Used bookstores are dying by the dozen but this is ridiculous:

Things are obviously worse than anyone suspected. Let’s play safe and just accept that books are best avoided:

Is nobody safe? It might be better to ask an expert. What about that most – ahem – noble, upright, sainted individual, the book collector?

Oh well. Maybe it’s better to just wait for the film to come out. And look on the bright side – you probably won’t be able to get your hands on any of these bibliomysteries in the first place. Look what happened to the guy I got them from:

I write about old books for the UK’s leading book collecting magazine, Book and Magazine Collector, under the byline ‘betweenthelines’. I’ve collected bibliomysteries for the last ten years. Apart from the first the ones above date from 1904 to 1959 and are a mixture of American and British titles and editions. Collecting mystery stories by theme is fun and relatively inexpensive and I’ll write more about this soon. In the meantime you can read about plenty of other interesting old books on my website, www.anewlookatoldbooks.com. Please join me each Sunday evening for the book of the week.

Be careful while outside some sinister bookshops, too… Even if you escape the clutches of “fatal” books, you can still fall victim to a store’s drain pipe:

(original unknown)

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Link
Scroll down for today’s pictures & links.

Mouse vs. Concrete

Dramatic, some may say epic video of poor mouse’s escape from the clutches of concrete… made for Centraal Beheer Insurances (Netherlands). Watch other brilliant video ads for the same Dutch client, featuring Bill Clinton, or some poor guy at the picnic.

Link

Today’s pictures & links:

Dubai Skyline Today and in the (Dubious) Future

Perhaps the best picture of today’s Dubai skyline that we’ve seen:

(image via)

And the projected one for the future (if not for the economic woes, of course):

(image via, click to enlarge)

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The Mushroom

Vintage creativity, unleashed… A postcard from 1905:

(image via)

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The Stone House

Flintstones lived here… in the Fafe Mountains, Portugal? – here are Google Maps coordinates:

(image credit: Feliciano Guimaraes)

Here is a video of this fairy tale house’ interiors, and more info

Flintstones car has also survived through the ages:

(original unknown)

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Strange and Previously Unknown Deep-sea Creatures

National Geographic presents some neat photographs of New Species, “Living Fossils” Found in Atlantic. Here is a rare basket star, for example (see more here):

(image credit: David Shale, National Geographic)

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Mixed fresh links for today:

Overgrown Desolation: Gagra, Once Splendid Russian Resort – [wow pics]
Innovative Products from the Past that Never Were – [interesting]
Offshore Oil Strike Family Game! – [so weird]
How-To: Watermelon Carving – [cool video]
Vintage Coupons: Victorian Art – [collection]
Hottest Gadgets of the 60s, 70s, 80s – [overview]
Crowd Sourcing Archeological Expedition to Mongolia – [cool project]
Kong Kong Reactions – [funny video ad]
Tornado Forming over Billings, Montana – [wow video]
Wedding Photography Disaster – [fun video]
Beautiful and Horrible Sound The Turbine Makes – [wow video]
Painting with Water – [wow video]

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Cosmic Trains

As sort of an afterthought to our article about cool Japanese Trains, here is a truly neat retro-future-styled train, which would make a great 1950s toy (remember Flash Gordon?):

(images credit: Andrew)

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Quite unthinkable today… only mildly amusing in 1910:

(image via)

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No One Suspects the Bird

Bird-shaped traffic “spy” camera is only one of the many unique and somewhat wacky ideas that ATOHMS (Thomas Valcke) presents on his site:

(images credit: Thomas Valcke)

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Don’t do this to your pet, even if you are an inventor:

…even for the sake of “walking out the dog”. A Poochmobile from 1939:

(image via ModernMechanix)

Check out other weird things done to dogs in the name of technological progress here.

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What a Thought… Leviathan with Teeth!

Remember our article about Prehistoric Super Crocs? Turns out, the creatures in the abyss possessed even more frightening set of teeth, eating fellow whales for breakfast – more info

(images credit: C. Letenneur, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (left), G. Bianucci, Universitá di Pisa (right), via)

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Elephant on Skis

A Stunt Elephant, Honky Tonk Freeway, Sarasota, Florida… More info about this dubious entertainment can be found here, together with a video.

(photo credit: Mary Ellen Mark)

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Canvas Earth… Great Photoshop

This quite memorable stone fish was made for the Worth1000 “Canvas Earth” contest, by afeldman:

(image credit: Worth1000)

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All Shook Up

(original unknown)

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“QUANTUM SHOT” #642
Link – article by Avi Abrams

Streamlined Train Wonders of the Art Deco Era

Don’t miss our previous article Super High Speed Trains in Japan and France. Here is another collection of cool and technologically splendid trains that caught our attention recently.

You know how they say: “1000 destinations to travel, before you die”, “1000 awesome things to try, before you die”, “1000 ways to prepare pasta, before you die” (really, they should sell a book “One simple way to prepare a poisonous mushroom, before you die”). But we agree, there are multiple worthy activities to undertake in your lifetime. Learning about awesome trains and railroads is one of them.

(images via LIFE MAgazine 1, National Geographic, November 1939, 2)

The gorgeous streamlined steam and diesel locomotives from the 1920s-1930s scream “steampunk” and “dieselpunk” to anyone who can appreciate it, and also provide an ample field for research for train historians and collectors. This was the era of The Mighty Streamlined Machine, and it plainly shows even in black-and-white photographs that remained. Here is the glamorous “Broadway Limited” Express:

(image credit: Andy Romano)

Milwaukee Road Hiawatha F6 Engine competes with the Packard LeBaron V-12 Coupe:

(art by Jack Juratovic, “Road and Track”, November 1935 – via)

F7 competes with Duesenberg:

(art by Jack Juratovic, “Road and Track”, November 1935 – via)

Many streamlined mighty engines prowled the nation at the time, including ones on C&NW (Chicago & North Western), the Hiawathas on the Milwaukee Road, the Aeoles steam engines on the Burlington Route (as backup to the famous Zephyrs):

(images via)

And of course, “20th Century Limited” on the NYC (New York Central System):

Milwaukee Hiawatha’s Skytop Panoramic Room:

(images via 1, 2)

Union Pacific strange-looking M-10000, and another Union Pacific streamliner:

Pennsylvania Railroad Locomotive (Designer Raymond Loewy) from 1939:

(images via)

To see more great examples of streamlined locomotives, go to this great site.

Back in England, the A4 4468 Mallard, one of the A4 series from LNER’s Express Pacific, reached the world speed record for a steam locomotive (202.58 km/h) in 1938.

(images via 1, 2)

More Mallards: 60022 engine (illustration by Robert Ayton from ‘The Story of Railways’, 1961) and LNER Gresley A4 Pacific:

(images via)

Soviet Railways S-ZhD 2-3-2v (left), and А691 4-6-2 locomotive of the Italian State Railway (right). Top speed – 150 km/h, built in 1939:

(images via 1, )

NMBS/SNCB: 12.004 was a streamlined 4-4-2 passenger locomotive of the Belgian National Railroads. Top speed 100 mph in 1939 -

(photo by Marc Petit)

These engines were living, breathing mysteries of steam and iron. Many years from their heyday, the wonder still remains:

(photo by National Geographic, November 1939, via)

Interesting Train Art and Concepts

Retrofuture concept for a gigantic passenger train, introduced in 1947 (Note the spacious interiors and huge bed options) – more info:

(images via)

“Mine Clearing of Arctic Regions”, by Vladimir Kufeld (click to see the bigger version):

(image credit: Vladimir Kufeld)

Another unholy union: huge steam locomotive and a World War I battleship, by Marco Edel Rolandi (click to see the bigger version):

(image credit: http://anacardo.cgsociety.org/gallery/340944/)

The idea is not new – here is a Victorian postcard, featuring even weirder Combined Ship & Railway Locomotive (from Hildebrand’s, a turn-of-the-20th-century German chocolate company):

(image via)

Here is the steampunk church / train hybrid, courtesy Silverwhite

(image credit: Silverwhite)

Futuristic train by Benedict Campbell:

(image credit: Benedict Campbell)

All Sorts of Train-Related Coolness

A bunch of mining steam trains in China:

(image via)

Even more interesting convergence of trains – Triple Railway Crossing in Richmond, Virginia:

(photo by National Geographic, November 1939, via)

Interesting locomotive spotted in Omsk, Russia. It doubles up as a power station: built in 1960, it can generate 300 kWatts -

(image via)

Another weird Russian locomotive – with an engine from small Moskvich car, photo taken in Krasnoyarsk in the 1960s:

(photo by Yury Lucevich, via)

How about Tama the Cat as a train conductor in Japan? More info can be found here, but it seems that this cat boosted local economy by at least $10 million in tourist visits. Here is the obligatory cat image “I’m in ur stashion, chekin ur tikits”:

(image via)

“Unloading Passengers” (photo by Bob Avery) -

(image credit: Bob Avery, Railpictures.net)

Steam Engines Used as Street Trams in the Czech Republic, especially neat-looking in the winter’s traffic:

(photos by Michal Uhler)

Backyard Train – Russian version of Thomas the Tank Engine? It seems that this miniature train is a good helper in household construction:

Is this train broken? -

No, it’s not broken in any way, this is the Mt Washington, New England, cog train, designed to go on a steep incline (more info)

(images via)

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