This olelongrooffan Is Seriously Bummed Out

This olelongrooffan has lived in the Birthplace of Speed for dang near three years and have enjoyed exploring my new home and discovering the historic areas located around these here parts.

For years, I have driven by a construction mesh privacy fenced in lot over on Beach Street next to those two newly completed, yet still vacant, condo towers facing the Intracoastal Waterway. Little did this olelongrooffan realize the abandoned structure behind that fence was Smokey Yunick's Best Damn Garage in town!

That was until a couple weekends ago when it mysteriously caught on fire.

This olelongrooffan can only wonder the variety of vehicles that went through this garage door during the life of this building.

Smokey died in 2001 and in 2004 this parcel was sold to a consortium of developers with the plan to build condo towers on it as they did on the parcel to the north.

For whatever reason, there were stacks NASCAR slicks stacked up out front and out back with threaded bolts securing them in place. It appears there was plywood on top of these tires to keep out the weather. Sadly, they are nearly all ruined now.

Ironically enough, I found this fire extinguisher laying out behind his shop near that overhead door.

And this olelongrooffan can only guess at what design secrets were hidden in that file cabinet back in the day.

But actually, it's okay. Smokey always stated he never wanted a shrine in his honor and now, with his garage pretty much destroyed, those hard up real estate developers won't be tempted into turning their investment in to a museum.

And that really let's this olelongrooffan

Celebrate Life.

AC/DC, The Experience

As posted over in the Hooniverse.
No, not that AC/DC! This is Hooniverse after all.

A couple weeks ago, this olelongrooffan received an email from Nissan USA Marketing at my personal email account asking me if I would be interested in test driving Nissan's new all electric LEAF?


What? In my first post here in the Hooniverse, I doubted that any manufacturer would provide this olelongrooffan with one of their fancy-dancy new automobiles to Hoon around. Well, I guess hanging with my fellow Hoons has a distinct advantage beyond the receipt of a cool Camaro emblem for Hoonimas (thanks again BJ).

Of course I responded in the affirmative, thanks to Dearthair and the esteemed Mr. Glucker for their encouragement, and on Friday of this week past, this is what was seen down by this olelongrooffan down on the University of Central Florida campus in MickeyMouseLand.

Clearly, those dudes over at Nissan USA Marketing sure need to do more in depth research on their guinea pigs.

But of course, in an effort to satisfy my fellow Hoons, I took those idiots that intelligent marketing team up on their offer.

Now before this olelongrooffan gets to that test drive I must state that I did little research absolutely no research on electrics and hybrids in particular so I could get the real experience from the LEAF barkers and distill what I could from their eloquent sales pitch.

Having said that, at the Rolex 24 at Daytona the last weekend in January (yeah, that post is coming), I did spot the rather large Chevrolet booth and on Saturday dropped by to see the new, much heralded (by some) Chevy Volt.

Well my fellow Hoons, much like the original introduction of the Volt by its parent company, it arrived late!

However when I dropped by on Sunday it was there and I got the whole Volt experience from the lanky blonde on the right in the above image. I mentioned to her this olelongrooffan was going to be test driving a Nissan LEAF the following Friday and from then on her whole sales pitch revolved around "range anxiety", a previously unheard of term to me.

Now, somewhat uncharacteristic of this olelongrooffan, the above image is the only one I got of the Volt so the following image of the LEAF is included just to be fair.

But know this, even though Automobile Magazine mentioned the short back seat cushions in the LEAF, they were about the same size as my Mom's period correct, back in the day, Pontiac T1000. In the Volt, with the driver's seat adjusted to comfort for this 6'0" tall test driver, there was no way any adult could fit their legs and feet in the space remaining behind me. The LEAF definitely has a spacious back seat with plenty of legroom.

Not to get ahead of myself, even though I already did, this test drive was on a college campus on a Friday afternoon and, as all we Hoons know, parking on a college campus at any time totally sucks. But it was okay. I am from out of town, don't really care about a parking ticket from the Campus Commandos (no, not the Jeep Commando) and have the creative ability, as I am sure many of my fellow Hoons possess, to create a parking space. Me? I just looked where all of the cops parked and created a space immediately beside them. After all, had I gotten a ticket on the old Comanche I would have merely captured a shot of those Impalas and Crown Vics just for posterity sake and evidence. Fortunately that was not necessary.

Anyway, after parking and heading toward the exhibit that would allow me to experience the LEAF I spotted this mobile electricity generating device.

Now modern technology is awesome and I, for one, can't wait for its arrival but as you can see in the following image, this technician for AeroVironment is totally frustrated by this modern technology and its presence in his world.



Yeah, that instant energy producing device was in an old-fashioned broken-down status and no amount of technical bulletins were going to get it up and running during the time this olelongrooffan spent at that exhibit that Friday afternoon. BTW, total cost of that instant charging device, less the truck, $185,000.

And that kind of cash will instantly provide charging for four of these devices for the Nissan LEAF or any other hybrid/electric vehicle as all of these type vehicles possess the same universal plug in devices.


In the LEAF, it looks like a snout as it emanates from the front of it.

Now as those of my fellow Hoons who still read my offerings know, while this olelongrooffan is a car nerd, I am not totally proficient at car reviews or other offerings of professional car bloggers. Therefore, thankfully, Mr. Glucker offered his suggestions as to what to provide in this blogpost.

Get a full on rear shot.

Get a full on shot of the left rear.

Get a full on shot of the front of it.

Get a full on shot of the right front of it.

As you can see, this olelongrooffan follows directions to a T!

Now, as my fellow Hoons can surmise, this was not an exclusive test drive that Mr. Glucker and Mr. Odell are privey enough to experience. No, this olelongrooffan was just another dude off the street who could experience the drive of the LEAF. Hell, they even had one of the much-hacked signs on the corner asking folks to come on in and drive one. But it's okay, this olelongrooffan still had a blast.

Anyway, my tour guide through this experience was from out in LA land and mentioned, several times, about his buddies who experienced much better than the expected range of 100 miles while out and about in one of the "first mass produced electric vehicles." And the words "range anxiety" did not, once, come out of his mouth. I guess Nissan USA Marketing trains their staff very well.

When one of my fellow tour attendees questioned him about the look of the motor, my tour guide responded that Nissan thought the conventional look of a valve cover might calm some of the concerns of the general public about the look of an electric motor.

As an aside, the cockpit lever to release the cover to access the plug in receptacle has the shape of a conventional gas pump on it.

Since this test drive, this olelongrooffan has looked at most all of the blogs and hard copy links I could find and just about every one of them mentions the headlights are designed to minimize air flow around the side mirrors so I had to include that reference as well.



Now, my fellow Hoons would suspect, as I did, that an electric vehicle would provide an excellent opportunity to provide a charging device for every one of our mobile devices, i.e. cell phones, MP3 players or whatever else we happen to enjoy these days.

But alas, unlike the Volt, the LEAF possesses only one 12 volt power adapter. The battery that powers this vehicle provides too many volts, if you will, to power those needs. It does have a single 12 volt battery that is recharged by a solar panel above the rear hatch.

And I did read somewhere that reviewer thought the "C" pillar was overly large for a vehicle of this size. With that assumption, I must agree. Think of the driver's side of the Cube, if you will.

After the
indoctrination
orientation with the specifics of the LEAF, I was able to get my proctor aside for some specific questions my fellow Hoons had emailed this olelongrooffan to ask.

How does the heater work? It is a resistance type with a 12v powered blower.

What is the range loss when utilizing the heater, a/c, radio, wipers, headlights? About 10% was the response.

How does the a/c work? It is a conventional a/c unit with a compressor but instead of a belt driven unit, it is motor driven off the 12v system.

Does the range vary with the amount of weight the vehicle is carrying? longrooffan note: Every question with respect to range was answered with the caveat "Range will vary with driving style."

What is the vehicle constructed of? (This olelongrooffan was thinking it would be exotics such as carbon fiber and other lightweight materials) The body is constructed of conventional steel although some of the interior components are constructed of recycled plastics such as milk jugs and carpet underlayments.

Who is your target market? Basically we are looking at those who are interested in conserving the environment, those who are interested in saving money and those IT types who understand modern technology. (slam olelongrooffan!)

What is the insurance rating? None yet.

Does the battery wear down like a cell phone does. No, once the battery has a charge of whether 20%, 50% or 80%, whatever, it will maintain that charge. So if you drive to the airport with a 60% charge and are gone for 2 weeks, when you return, you will still have a 60% charge.

So, after prodding my proctor, if you will, it was time for this olelongroofan to get some seat time in the Nissan LEAF. At the time I paid it no consequence but my Proctor directed me toward a young man who then directed the would be riders along with this olelongrooffan to another ride. It was he and I solo in this maroon colored 2011 Nissan LEAF.

As we settled into this ride, in an effort to get comfortable with him, I asked if he worked for Nissan? As I suspected when I asked him if he worked for Nissan, he replied no, he was a Marketing Major at UCF and he was just working this deal for a few extra bucks.

"So, you don't mind if I drive this car?"

"No sir," that 20-year old told this 51-year old longrooffan.

Well, my fellow Hoons, that regulated test drive was a short drive around the UCF Arena and I took every advantage of it I could.

A brief drive out of the staging area, turn right and go about three city blocks through a pedestrian heavy environment.

"Would you mind turning off that radio, and let me lower the window to hear that pedestrian friendly beeping noise to warn others we were about?" Yeah, I heard it.

Now around the back of that arena there is an S-curve in the road that allowed this olelongrooffan to experience the LEAF's oversteer when hitting that 15 mph designated S curve at 25+ mph.

Then back onto a nearly deserted four lane road with a full on median. Checking the rear views and blasting that torque rich motor (is it really an engine?) to the max and then slamming on the brakes, not once but several times, and then approaching the final turn back onto the roadway that would take us back to the home port.

I asked him if this was it? His response? "Let's go another round."

And we did!

In total Hoonworthy style this olelongrooffan thrashed that Nissan LEAF and that youngster riding in the copilot seat did not say a word. I was even able to get a chirp from the front tires but it was while accelerating around a corner. But still, I think even minimal tire squall from an electric vehicle is admirable.

Regardless of overall range, that vehicle possessed excellent straight forward acceleration and, while not a Tesla, it silently screamed! And as much as I slammed on the brakes, I did not experience any brake fade. As a matter of fact, if you discount this olelongrooffan entering an S curve at more than acceptable speed, the LEAF handled quite well.

And I am proud to state that when I sat down in the driver's seat of that LEAF, the dashboard told me I had a range of 84 miles. After driving that thing about two miles, when I exited it, the remaining range was 61 miles! Hell Yeah!!

But, in typical olelongrooffan style...

I wanted to share with my fellow Hoons a shot of the dashboard of this car of the future.

I was able to get these few shots. This one of the disclaimer that lets you know that "Big Brother Nissan" will be following your every move Black Box style...

...via the NAV system offered through the Nissan Motor Company. Ironically, that NAV system showed every roadway in the area except Interstate 4!

But know this, my fellow Hoons. I tried to get an image of the active dashboard from the gorgeous blue LEAF in the display area of that exhibit but when I asked one of the attendents to display the dashboard on that vehicle, he explained there was a "technical glitch" with that car.

Yeah, the future is here but "technical glitches" still abound and that is why this olelongrooffan is sticking with my "blue plate special" four cylinder, five speed, four wheel drive, 19 mpg producing Jeep Comanche for the foreseeable future.

But AC/DC rocks!!

And on that Friday afternoon, this olelongrooffan was really able to

Celebrate Life.

A Couple Classics

So, this evening over at Hooniverse, this olelongrooffan did a couple posts about this past weekend's Daytona Dream Cruise and I thought you Counters might enjoy them.

But I saved this one just for you Counters out there.

Amidst all the blowers, fiberglass Ghias, street rods and overly restored vehicles, this olelongrooffan spotted these two and wanted to share them with you.

While slightly modified, they still have a stock appearance and are desirable to this olelongrooffan. And to be honest with you, I didn't verify the make of that pickup but I believe it is a late 1930's or 1940 Chevrolet product.
And that vehicle of the same vintage parked next to it? Well Counters, it is a
Harley Earl designed LaSalle. Originally designed to be the in between vehicle between the Oldsmobile and the Cadillac for General Motors in the late 1920's, it was a bit more agile and enjoyed a relatively sporty following. Nowadays, the LaSalle owners and the Cadillac owners have the Cadillac-LaSalle Club as their common association.
Now there is a much greater history of this marque than this olelongrooffan is aware of but I can tell you this: I doubt there are any late 30's Cadillacs with an Indian blanket as the front seat upholstery.

I spotted it that Saturday afternoon and my being able to share it with you...well it is that, which lets this olelongrooffan

Celebrate Life.

Another Milestone

Well, Counters, this olelongrooffan has been reaching a bunch of milestones over the past few months.
It all started with By The Numbers celebrating its birthday back in May of this year.

If you have been Counting Along With Me, you will remember that this olelongrooffan let his longroof go on down the road to that Hoon on the Space Coast.

Subsequent to that sale, this olelongrooffan, after several vetoes of my vehicle choices, was able to acquire my latest daily driver, the Indian. An interesting note about my latest and greatest four wheel drive. As was mentioned in that blog, this is the second six cylinder MJ this olelongrooffan has owned. In the comment section of that blogpost, thehorsefarmer revealed that he too owned a six cylinder MJ back in the day. Well from all of the search results I can find, there were only around 30 of the six cylinder versions of the MJ produced for the initial 1986 model year. Between thehorsefarmer and this olelongrooffan, we have owned 10% of the production total for that version of the iconic MJ! I know that is a trivial fact but hey that's why By The Numbers works for me.

Just a short time later, my 89 year old neighbor, yeah he had a birthday on October 4th, bestowed upon this olelongrooffan "Bert's Car" which I was able to flip overnite for a cool six Benjamins. The milestone here? It was the shortest time I have ever owned a car and the shortest distance this olelongrooffan has ever driven a car I owned!

Ironically, the same day this olelongrooffan sold "Bert's Car" to sweet Mary, I met up with Mr. Williams who hooked me up with a new job in a new industry, gave me the sorely needed break this olelongrooffan was looking for and for that I will be ever grateful to him.

I also have moved into the modern ages and have gotten a touch screen cell phone.

Now lest you Counters think this olelongrooffan is squibbling precious fiscal resources, know there is a story behind my acquisition of this piece of modern technology.

And of course I am going to share it with you.

Last year, 2009, I knew I was not going to be able to afford a trip to Fantasy Land to spend Christmas with my daughter, Jessica, in addition to buying any type of gift for her. I had been down just before Thanksgiving and we talked about this and she was okay with it. "Heck, Dad, it is just a few weeks away and I totally understand the situation we are in." I love that girl.

Anyway, on my drive back to the Birthplace of Speed, I did some mental calculations on how much I could spend on her gifts, while still meeting my monthly expenditures, and it amounted to about fifty bucks. Sh*t! Fifty Bucks for a fifteen year old girl? What a pittance.

Well, lo and behold, as always seems to happen to this glass half full olelongrooffan, on that very same drive across the hinterlands of the great state of Florida, my cell phone vibrates with notice of an incoming call. It was from a client to whom I had submitted a proposal for Manuel Labor and this olelongrooffan to work some wonders on their kitchen. I was awarded the contract but the catch was it had to be done between Christmas and New Years as they were going to be out of town that week. I hemmed and hawed, did some mental calculations while following an orange toting semi truck, and ultimately agreed but at a cost premium to my clients. They were so elated they agreed and Jessica's gift budget was greatly increased.

When I was down there visiting with my beautiful Jessica, I got to meet several of her 15 year old girlfriends, all of whom are really sweet. This olelongrooffan did notice that all of them had touch screen phones, except for Jessica whose daily driver cell phone was a basic, camera equipped, provided by Dad, flip phone.

So this olelongrooffan knew what Jessica's gift for Christmas, 2009 would be. The touch screen phone you see in the above image.

Now I am sure you Counters are wondering how this olelongrooffan came to be in possession of it?

Well, Jessica lost it once in April and again in August. The first time I forked over the insurance deductable and Fed Exed her that phone. The second time, her Mom had changed her email address and when she emailed me about the loss, that email went straight to spam and it was promptly deleted by this olelongrooffan. As I did not respond, her Mom switched up her family plan and got Jessica her own touch screen via the process. As, by this time, this olelongrooffan had over three hundred bucks invested in this piece of modern technology, I simply filed another, legitimate insurance claim for Jessica's lost phone and had Metro PCS activate it with my phone number and filed my old daily driver flip phone in the cabinet with six, or so, other cell phones. But as this was an insurance claim, no operations manual or accessories were included. Luckily this olelongrooffan has alot of patience to figure it out and a charger for one of those obsolete phones fits my new one.

As an aside, thejeepjunkie showed up at Happy Hour today with a new company provided Blackberry, replacing his daily driver flip Nextel.

Finally, this olelongrooffan fan was able to survive another year and reached a milestone 51 years of age one week ago today. It was a quiet celebration but know there was one.

So, anyway, what is the latest milestone in the life of this olelongrooffan?

Well, Counters, some time between around 9 Eastern Daylight Time last evening and around 4 this afternoon, October 6, 2010, the number of visitors to By The Numbers passed the total of

100,000.

That's right. 100,111 to be exact.

As By The Numbers was first published on May 19, 2008, that means that on the average day, By The Numbers gets 115 hits. I would suspect that many of them are from my rather large family but I am still stoked. Last time I checked, I was getting around 30 hits a day.

Thanks Counters.

And where would these potential Counters be from? The last few on this list this olelongrooffan got for free from somewhere says they are from:

Springfield, Missouri...I know that is family...
San Fernando
Waterford, Michigan
Oberschefflen, Baden, Wurtenberg
Monterrey, Nevada
Albany, California
Wasilla, Alaska...I sh*t you not. I guess she really wants me.
Amsterdam
Lexington, Kentucky
Knoxville, Tennessee
Toronto, Canada
Willington, New Jersey

Man, what a variety of locations.

But know this Counters, having all of these milestones occur, plus the fact it is one of my two Friday nights per week at my new job, sure lets this olelongrooffan

Celebrate Life.

A Barnfind For This olelongrooffan

"This book is for anyone who has ever owned, driven, or yearned for a sublime automobile. It is for the brotherhood of those who are stirred by the beauty of a Grand Marque, by the excellence of an honest design made real in metal, or by the exasperating, exciting individuality of a thoroughbred performer."*

As anyone Counting Along With Me knows this olelongrooffan is Car Crazy.

As I have mentioned numerous times in past blogs, I am confident my brothers and I inherited this passion from my Dad, TheGentlemanFarmer.

I mean with 9 kids, and another on the way, he was able to procure this 1932 Ford Model A while living in a huge *ss house in Shrewsbury, Mo, working at a printing company and driving two VW microbuses.

Later, after a move to the Ozarks, he was able to acquire this super cool longroof along with an Optimist pram sailboat. This 1967 Ford Country Squire, by and away, is the foremost reason my moniker is 'longrooffan'.
And I can remember taking a cross diocese trip, one in which TheGentleManFarmer did not let my schoolwork get in the way of my education, and we spotted this wrecked Chevy Nova on the hook. We were traveling, for whatever reason, in my maternal grandmother's 62 Chevy Bel Air and when this future longrooffan spotted it across from Miller Motors in Mountain View, TheGentlemanFarmer turned around so I could check it out further. By the way, he did, too. I am sure you observant Counters Out There will recognize the long sleeve, button down collar oxford shirt this olelongrooffan is sporting in this photograph as the type of fashion statement I still make.

Of course, a few years later this happened: and the GentlemanFarmer, in his unimitatable way bestowed this wonder of delights
to this olelongrooffan for my participation in the adventures of that Sweptline Series Dodge pickup.

Well, one of the photographs that brings me the fondest photographic memories of my youth is the one shown below. Yeah, me reading The Treasury of the Automobile on the floor of his den at 1822 S. National, Springfield, Missouri.

I even included a reference to it on my first blog over at Hooniverse, 'How This Hoon Became A Hoon'.

By the way Counters, it is 8:15 pm EDT and if you have been following along with me, a huge double prop military helicopter just flew north along my beach.

So, anyway, much speculation has been put forth toward the location of this copywritten in 1961 coffee table sized book, but to no final avail.

Now if any of you Counters have clicked on any of the blogs on the blog list just to the right, you will notice that the vast majority are automobile related (you should see my favorites on my home page).

One of them is one I call "More Car Stuff", although his title is "Tamerlane's Thoughts". It is an excellent, insightful blog, not just obscure cars but food and geopolitics to boot! Anyway, Kashgar216 did a blog a couple weeks ago about Powell's Books up in Portland, Oregon. He mentioned he found a great automotive related book he found there from his youth. He also threw down the gauntlet in that he was headed back up there from Northern Californey and if his followers wanted anything, we had better get there before he did. Turns out Powells.com was having a huge sale and it was liquidation time!

So, this olelongrooffan accepted that challenge and headed over to that site and I am so grateful to Kashgar for directing me that way but especially for a heretofore unknown Steve for doing this in 1967:Seems Steve had bequested his father a copy of 'The Treasury of the Automobile' for his Dad's birthday and now, some 43 years later, Powells wants to sell that copy to me.
Well, Counters, the sale price of that highly desirable book was a belief defying
$5.20 plus a whole $6.98 shipping and handling.
You got it....a total of $12.18 for one of the most formative books of my youth!

Yeah Counters, this olelongrooffan finally got my barn find, even though it is of the print variety.

So, this olelongrooffan ponyed up that $12.18 and today a driver of a Big Brown Truck delivered that book to the Taj Mahal.
And even though a buck or two is nearly impossible to come by these days,
this olelongrooffan is going to have a great time reading the sans-sarif 1961 generated font on this ole book as I continue to

Celebrate Life.

Be back in a couple weeks!

*from the forward of The Treasury of The Automobile.

Happy Birthday

and not just to TheGoodAttorney, although on this date in 1963 he was brought into this world. That's right Counters, the same year as my olestationbus!

But no Counters, this blog is about another birthday, one that occurred on June 29, 1956. Because, TheGoodAttorney, thejeepjunkie and this olelongrooffan just aren't into celebrating our birthdays these days, after all, we Celebrate Life every day and you should too.

Now, I am sure you Counters are wondering whose birthday we celebrate this warm, at least for this olelongrooffan, Chamber of Commerce kind of day?

If you Counters out there remember, this olelongrooffan takes pride in the fact that I am able to traverse the countryside and seldom have the need to travel on the Eisenhour Highway System.

I have blogged about it many, many times.

Well, Counters, today is the birthday of the signing of the Federal-Aid Highway Act on June 29, 1956.

Yeah, this olelongrooffan is confident this has absolutely no significance in your life but I happen to find it quite interesting. H*ll, even my friends at Happy Hour here at the Taj Mahal thought it was quite fun.

Now, even though this olelongrooffan doesn't traverse that Interstate Highway system as much as everyone else out there seems too....

I am appreciative of what the creation of this highway system has brought to our society and our automotive society....

I mean, if there was never a Federal-Aid Highway Act, would we ever see advertisements such as this

or this classic double page print ad such as this one classic in Life magazine
And although this creation was long before the passage of this act, it's creation was certainly done during the FDR reign and he was an early proponent of the National Transportation Network.
And, certainly, this bridge would never have been proposed without the represented Highway Administration Act
Yeah, this is a bridge over the Hoover Dam, which in itself was an engineering marvel.
I mean, check this out.
Imagine some dude, or dudette, sitting in an office and designing this in the abstract...
then having construction workers, following a detailed set of plans, actually constructing this
in the field at just a few hundred feet above the surface of Lake Meade?
And bringing it all to fruition on yet another span of the Interstate Highway System.
Just awesome, I must say.

So we have that Civil Engineering marvel.

But, as previously mentioned, what about the service vehicles?

This huge *ssed tow truck would never have been engineered if those International trucks in that ad had never been concieved.
Nor would have this one!
But this olelongrooffan has this to say about that.

If it wasn't for the Eisenhower Highway System, I would never have seen the World's Smallest Bicycle, placed on the rear of this minivan, probably carrying a group of dwarf clowns to the Circus down in Southwest Florida.
But, then again, if this olelongrooffan stayed on that Highway System I would d*mn sure never have seen this billboard
out there in Never, Never Land that most don't seem to have the pleasure of getting around to in this world we live in.

And, because of this, this olelongrooffan gets to, really,

wish the TheGoodAttorney and the Federal-Aid Highway Act a Happy Birthday and to

Celebrate Life.