The only airworthy and road-worthy vintage flying car on the continent will cross the block at Barrett-Jacksons January 2020 sale in Scottsdale, Arizona, where its expected to fetch close to a million dollars.The vehicle was hand-built in 1954 by the Taylor Aerocar company. Designed in 1949 by engineer Moulton Taylor, there were actually more than a few of them built.Doing double-duty driving the wheels and supplying thrust-in-air is a Lycoming 0-320, a 320-cubic-inch four-cylinder boxer engine. It sends power to the front wheels via a three-speed manual transmission, or to the rear-mounted prop.While most flying cars are really just planes with engines that turn the wheels, this one actually leans a little more on the car side all the plane parts can be removed, in fact, and you can choose to tow them behind you, or not. If you were to just drive it around like a regular car, you could do that. Want to take it out for a day of flying? Just hook up your little trailer of wings and things and youre good to go.When the vehicle is in car mode, its actually quite stylish. Being from the 1950s, it has a neat European look to it. Of course, theres nothing as stylish as falling in style that is, flying. Amazingly, this is not the first flying car auctioned at Barrett-Jackson. The firms previously sent across the block a 2004 Panoz Esperante converted into an airplane by none other than fabricator Jesse James.This particular Aerocar was up until recently on display at an air museum in Minnesota, and previously listed for US$895,000. Barrett-Jackson is offering the vehicle with no reserve. it is fully FAA-certified and has flown 781 hours since
Origin: America’s only airworthy vintage flying car heads to Barrett-Jackson
vintage
17th annual Millarville Vintage Motorcycle Swap Meet
Motorcycles and parts at the Millarville Vintage Motorcycle Swap Meet in the old riding arena. This building collapsed early in 2018, and a new arena has been built in its place. In 2019, the event takes place on Sunday, Sept. 8.Greg Williams Vintage motorcycle enthusiasts enjoy nothing more than rooting around on tabletops and through boxes searching for elusive parts and pieces that will bring an old machine back to life.Since 2003 the Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Groups Rocky Mountain Section (Calgary) has hosted a motorcycle parts swap meet in early September. It started in a small community hall in Inglewood, but in 2006 the event moved to the riding arena at the Millarville Racing and Agricultural Societys pastoral grounds south of the city. Early in 2018, however, a heavy snow load collapsed the riding arenas roof and that left the group without a venue. They scrambled to come up with a plan B and managed to pull off a mostly outdoors swap meet at Millarville.This year, things are different. The Millarville Racing and Agricultural Society has built a new, larger riding arena, and the 2019 version of the Millarville Vintage Motorcycle Swap Meet is ready to take the building for a test ride. A 24,750 square foot steel structure was designed and erected by the Ironwood Building Corp., and the building was up late in 2018. The footprint of the previous arena was 16,000 square feet. Its almost double the size of the old arena, says CVMG-RMS swap meet coordinator Janice Whitby. She adds, Theres new frontage, and the configuration of the building has changed so the table layout will be different this year.I think a lot of people are looking forward to seeing the new venue. Its brighter inside and its a building with unique appeal. The structure is new and fresh it feels modern and its got wood around the interior walls that makes it feel a little warmer, and not sterile.Yes, she says, there is a dirt floor.Its close to dust-free, however, and it helps add to the overall charm of the swap meet, she explains.A diverse range of two-wheeled products, from complete machines to parts, often turn up for sale at the event. For example, the swap meet caters not only to motorcycles, but also to scooters and, occasionally vintage bicycles and everything that goes along with the hobby including riding gear and tools.Personally, I found a really cool Belstaff motorcycle jacket here, and my husband Fred has found parts and pieces for projects that do help move them along, Whitby says.About four years ago Whitby even found a new-to-her vintage motorcycle project.A 1972 Suzuki T350 rolled in, I sat on it and my wallet fell open, she says. I brought it home and now have restored it.Whitby maintains the swap meet often offers something for just about every brand thats out there, from Japanese to European to British to American.And its not just a swap meet for motorcycles and parts, its also a large social event, she adds. I know folks who only see each other annually at this particular meet.Whitby expects about 100 vendor tables will be set up in the Millarville riding arena on Sept. 8, and says the event routinely draws close to 800 visitors. A portion of funds raised is donated annually to the Legion Poppy Trust, and tables are often given to local motorcycle charities to help them promote their own event.Millarville is a destination, its not a swap meet thats just around the corner in the city, Whitby says. That means a number of people choose to ride out and check out the event, but we also see motorcyclists who might be riding by drawn in by our signs on the highway.For many, its a first-time visit, and theyre delighted because they had no idea the racetrack or the swap meet existed.IF YOU GOSeventeenth annual Millarville Vintage Motorcycle Swap Meet, hosted by the CVMG-Rocky Mountain Section on Sunday, Sept. 8 in the new riding arena on the grounds of the Millarville Racing and Agricultural Society approx. 35 minutes south of Calgary just off Hwy 22 and Hwy. 549 (306097 192 Street, Millarville, AB). Doors open at 10 a.m. and close at 3 p.m. For more information, call 430-273-7840, email rms-secretary@cvmg-rms.ca or visit cvmg-rms.ca and click on the Events tab.Greg Williams is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Have a column tip? Contact him at 403-287-1067 or gregwilliams@shaw.ca WHAT’S NEXTSept. 15: Sixth annual Magic of Christmas motorcycle toy run. Cost of registration is a new unwrapped toy or minimum $10 cash donation. Registration starts at 9 a.m. at Century Downs Casino in Balzac — breakfast to be served. Ride departs the casino at noon, with a tour to Cremona followed by a turkey dinner at the Grey Eagle Casino. Contact Cheryl at 403-870-3024 or email her at choppergirlcq@shaw.ca for more information.Sept. 28: Annual Call of the West Museum automotive and vintage collectibles swap meet at the High River Rodeo Grounds, $4 admission, free parking,
Origin: 17th annual Millarville Vintage Motorcycle Swap Meet
6 awesome vintage racing video games that’ll take you back
Pole Position was the hottest driving game of its day in 1984. It featured one of the first video games with a somewhat intelligible human voice.Atari They don’t make ‘em like they used to. In fact, they make ‘em better. There is no denying the incredible, raw entertainment power of today’s video consoles and games. There are plenty of captivating, high-definition, online-enabled racing games for all platforms available today, including mobile phones. But there’s something to be said for the simplicity of the games of yesterday and the metaphorical day before that, back when there were fewer buttons than you had fingers and when glitches in the game could be fixed by blowing into the console. Ah, those were the days, and this is a list of some of the games from those days. Tell us which games you’d add in the comments. The Need for Speed II — 1997 The Need for Speed was first released in 1994 for the 3DO console followed by the PC, PS1 and Saturn. It was awesome, and if you even knew someone who had it you were cool. But three years later they made it more exclusive by releasing the sequel just on Playstation and PC. What made the game so revolutionary was the presence of traffic on the race course, and police that would chase you. And of course the epic crashes that send the cars flying and flipping through the air. Who cares if you win if do seven backflips? Sega Rally Championship — 1994 The boppy 1990s beat of the intro soundtrack to Sega Rally Championship is enough to take you back to 1994. The graphics are grainy, but the nostalgic of the running commentary — “Medium left; long hairpin turn; woah!; caution, medium left, medium right; finish! — is enough to make you want to start scanning eBay for a used Sega Saturn console. Gran Turismo — 1998 Gran Turismo made its debut in 1998 on the original PlayStation. It was well-received for its top-notch graphics (at the time) and variety of licenced vehicles. The game was so successful, it’s now PlayStation’s top selling video game franchise. Currently, there are seven editions of Gran Turismo, with the most recent, Gran Turismo Sport, released in 2017. Mario Kart 64 — 1997 It was difficult to decide which Mario Kart is the best, because the Italian plumber has been karting for some time. Super Mario Kart was released on Super Nintendo in 1992 and still has the potential to rob you of an hour or two, but it was five years later in 1997, when that first thumb joystick on the Nintendo 64 was first making calluses on children’s thumbs, that developers really hit the nail on the head. With its dynamic gameplay and characters, 3D graphics, hidden shortcuts and four-player split screen capability, Mario Kart 64 literally added another dimension to racing. Dibs Yoshi! F-Zero — 1991 Like a lot of the old Nintendo products, F-Zero for Super Nintendo debuted in Japan first in 1990, followed by North America in 1991. The game featured four different futuristic hovercars to choose from, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Fire Stingray has the highest top speed, just an FYI. Stunt Car Racer — 1989 For an idea of how far we’ve come in the realm of video games, consider that when Stunt Car Racer hit the market in 1989, it was critically acclaimed for its graphics. Today, even though it’s pixelated and the tracks are basic, the single-player game that features elevated tracks you can drive off of and damage your vehicle, does what a good game should do: challenging players while simultaneously delighting
Origin: 6 awesome vintage racing video games that’ll take you back
YouTuber fits vintage Dodge pickup with 212-cc lawn mower engine
Carson Duba, a.k.a. EverythingWithWheels on YouTube, has a thing for Predator engines. It says so right on his YouTube About page: Let’s fix something or put a Predator in it! Words to live by, truly. For Duba, the most recent manifestation of this mantra is a vintage Dodge Ram that runs on a US$120 212-cc Predator motor, a power plant designed for vacuums, mowers and pressure washers. Designed for, perhaps, but not relegated to, because the motor moves this little truck just fine, forward and backward, at speeds up to 32 km/h. When Duba’s friend who’d had it kicking around the yard gave it to him, the early ’80s Dodge Ram 50 had a four-cylinder engine. That was scooped out clean to make room for Duba’s more-modest solution. The 6.5-horsepower motor sits on a custom-made platform with its throttle connected to the vehicle’s pedal. It took some negotiation to get the clutch, 60-tooth sprocket and chain to ship power to the five-speed manual transmission and lug the heavy truck around. But, well, take a look at the results! Possibly the best feature? The fact that it looks and drives like a truck, but still starts like a lawnmower, with a pull cord that’s fed through the body and pulled from under the front driver’s side wheel.
Origin: YouTuber fits vintage Dodge pickup with 212-cc lawn mower engine
The Gruppe5 2002 is an 800-horsepower V-10 vintage BMW
An Indiana-based company led by some experienced race car builders is planning to construct an 800-horsepower 2,200-lb homage to the 2002 BMW, the sedan that paved the way for the brand-defining 3 Series. With the Gruppe5 2002, new kid on the block Gruppe5 Motorsport is hoping to resurrect some of the same allure as the BMW turbo models built by German race team AC Schnitzer and raced in Group 5 in the ’70s. In place of the 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine normally found in the 2002, however, Gruppe5 Motorsport’s experts will plug in one of two modified BMW S85 V-10s, a 5.8-litre and a 5.9-litre. The ‘smaller’ V-10 makes a respectable 744 horses, while the 5.9-litre puts out 803 horsepower. Both will run with a six-speed sequential manual transmission. Riley plans to get the car down to the advertised race-ready 2,200 lbs by employing Daytona Prototype tech to the steel 2002 chassis, and adding bonded carbon-fibre body panels, an aluminum roll cage and pushrod suspension. To generate the desired 2,400 lbs of downforce, the vehicle will be fitted with a huge wing to the rear, a great gulping under-bumper diffuser and a front splitter. Over-the-top ambitious builds like this often get announced and aren’t always executed on. But this project has some race-building clout behind it, with experienced BMW tuner Steve Dinan contributing the V-10 engine; Bill Riley of Riley Technologies (who won Daytona with Dinan back in 2011) bringing the chassis and construction; and Gruppe5 Motorsport founder and BMW enthusiast and racer Tom Zajac spearheading the efforts. All we can say is good luck, boys, because we really want to see this one come together.
Origin: The Gruppe5 2002 is an 800-horsepower V-10 vintage BMW
This Dutch company will electrify your vintage Porsche
A Dutch firm called Voitures Extravert wants to convert your vintage 911 into a fully electric vehicle. The company’s Quintessenza conversions were introduced last year, with the goal of a five-build run, with maybe another 12 for 2019. However, now the company is announcing it’s going to increase the number of cars converted to three per month, a total of 36 per year. The conversion involves much more than just an engine swap: Voitures Extravert is also a restoration expert and can customize your vehicle to any taste that you want. It has explicitly stated it won’t convert models from the 1960s, but it will take your ’70s and ’80s machines and backdate them to look like older models. Modern conveniences can be added to the rest of the drivetrain as well, to boost safety. Powering the conversion is an electric motor in the same place as the original engine; the running gear now makes 672 lb.-ft. of torque, which puts the car’s performance specs closer to those of a 1970s race car. The weight distribution has also been improved by way of the front-mounted batteries. Range for the electric Porsche isn’t too horrible either; the 58-kilowatt-hour battery can power the car for up to 200 miles (321 km), and fast-charging allows 100 km of range to be added in just 15 minutes. The conversions obviously aren’t cheap: they cost about US$338,000, or about $450,000 Canadian. But at least you can say you’re trying to save the planet, one classic at a
Origin: This Dutch company will electrify your vintage Porsche
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