Hot D*mn! It's

Clever Chevrolet Europe Ad

While this ad didn't get a whole lot of good reviews over at carscoop (it was included in their "bizarre" category), I thought it was pretty clever.



But, after viewing it a couple times and linking on connected YouTube videos, I found this even better unedited one...



However, no matter how edited some websites choose to be, just the fact that Chevrolet and General Motors are still around lets this olelongrooffan

Celebrate Life.

My Apologies To TheLittlePrincess

Now Counters, regardless of what you may have read, this olelongrooffan genuinely likes people.

By demonstration, you may remember this olelongrooffan had the opportunity to test drive the Nissan Leaf a month or so ago.  While I was there I was able to snag a several of the free Leaf bracelets that sweet young thing had on the refreshment bar she was attending.

Well, a couple weeks ago I finally decided to clean the Taj Mahal, yeah, it's a once a month kind of thing, and got a bunch of those bracelets off to my fantastic nieces and nephews up in the cold white north.

Well, I am certain some of them made it to their destinations via those uniformed government employees that visit our homes 6 days a week as the Bus had an image of one of the recipients of those prized bracelets on his facebook page a few days ago.

Now, I had also sent a bracelet to TheLittlePrincess who, I thought, resided on Haven Lee Farm up in Marionville, Missouri.  A few days later, this olelongrooffan received a rare phone call from the Shark Angel informing me that an envelope has indeed arrived out on Haven Lee Farm but said envelope had been marked by our fair uniformed friends as "Opened and Contents Lost".

"No worries Steph, I have another and I'll get it off."

And I did.

Now all of the other bracelets I had sent, about a dozen, all arrived without a problem but it seems those folks up there in Marionville  Aurora, Missouri must have a thing against anything new fangled as this arrived in the mailbox at the Taj Mahal on Saturday.

But don't worry LittlePrincess, it will be, once again, off in the mail again tomorrow and by this time next week, hopefully, you will be joining all your cousins in the wearing of this free bracelet courtesy of this olelongrooffan and the Nissan Leaf.

Anybody Looking For A Motorcycle?

The Mustang GT Chase

Now, Counters, this olelongrooffan does not approve of street racing or running from Johnny Law but I sure did enjoy this short video.

And knowing no one was injured during this high speed urban chase really allows me to

Celebrate Life.

YeeHa, It's Friday

Feel free to enjoy yourself and remember to

Celebrate Life.

Random Image From The Library

This olelongrooffan is starting a series with this title.

Hopefully you Counters will enjoy the series and continue to

Celebrate Life.

Citroen Happy Days

If you have been Counting Along With Me, you know I have more than a passing interest in the Citroen automobile. If fact, with the museum pieces forwarded to me by the Bus earlier this year, I have more Citroen diecast or tin cars than any other make in my collection, including Volkswagon.

So, I was surfing around these tubes and found a blog I don't often visit and found this video. Coming from a Happy Days childhood, I find it pretty cool.



To think those dudes are still making royalties off that show!!

And finding stuff humorous stuff like this helps me

Celebrate Life.

thanks

What I Saw Today

As those of you Counting along with me know, I like pretty much anything with at least four wheels.

Having said that, Volkswagon holds a special place. Maybe because a Bug is the first car I ever bought on my own. Maybe it is because I have fond memories of my old Westfalia Camper Bus. Maybe, subliminally, I remember the Microbus I rode in as a youngster. Maybe it is because of the ad campaign they ran when I was a kid in the sixties. Maybe I will never know the real reason but I like them.

I don't know if you know the history of the Volkswagon but a abbreviated version is this. Hitler wanted Ferdinand Porsche, yes that Porsche, to develop a "Peoples Car". It had to carry four passengers, including the driver, tool along at 100 kph, or 60 mph and be light enough for four men to lift. And Porsche did it. It was the Beetle, or Type I. The Type I was special bodied for military use during WWII, a Kubelwagon, and is very similar in design to this "Thing", one of many VW's the Bus used to own.


The Kubelwagon was the impetus for the development of the Jeep here in the US. You knew I would get thejeepjunkie in here somehow, didn't ya.

Anyway, in 1955, the one millionth VW was produced and the following two images were taken. The automotive creativity and choreography involved in getting these shots taken is almost mindboggling.


The following image is cute. This is the entire ad.


Now the following shot is not a advertisement at all. That is BBB and one of his girlfriends washing his new '67 Type I down at, I think, Lindenlure, in the Ozarks on an underwater bridge. Could have been a part of their advertising, I think.


I even have a number of VW diecast in my collection.

Including this sweet old ragtop that made the trip back from Mom's Last Bus Ride with me.


So by now I am confident you are saying to yourself, 'Alright longroof, what the hell does all of this have to do with What I Saw Today?'

I was cutting through the parking lot of that grocery store that BBB protects, checking to see if there might be a shop I could visit to sell them some Celebrate Life magnets and came across this rare '57 VW Type I.

It is sweet. Bone stock, as I like almost everything. Not a bit of rust anywhere and just drop dead gorgeous. Check out the shine on that Wolfsburg Castle emblem.


See the image below? I have to share this with you. It may appear to you that windscreen is flat. I can tell you, it is not and this is how I know. Remember a number of posts back when I related my experience with thejeepjunkie's and my Travails Along I-44? One of the things I had forgotten in relating that experience. thejeepjunkie and I were tooling along I-44, in that driving blizzard, with the wipers working overtime but they just weren't cleaning that windscreen. Upon our return home and after that blizzard had melted, thejeepjunkie and I were talking to someone, it may have been the Bus, and we related our experience with those wipers and the Bus started laughing. See, that windscreen is actually concave with the curve to be facing the front of the bug. A previous owner had replaced that windshield and installed it backwards so the wipers, while touching at the ends of the wipers, could not touch the center part of that, now convex, windscreen. A lesson learned over 30 years ago and still remembered. Maybe that is why Volkswagons have such a special place in my heart.


And not just a vanity plate but a vanity license plate frame. Well deserved though.


I am not sure but I think this was the last year of the oval window. Due to complaints about the blind spot at the 'C' pillar, VW enlarged the rear window in the Type I to diminish its blind spot. Still love the old oval window.


And just in case you don't believe me that this is an old VW, ask any current, or former, VW owner of a Type I, II, or III, and they will confirm that

it is a real VW as you can see by the "pee stain" left on the parking lot by this old Type I.

And that is What I Saw Today.

It's Been Awhile

Since I posted any old funny ads. Here are two.

Just For The Dirt Sister

Vintage Ads

I love Vintage Ads.

They harken upon a simpler time and place and, quite often, are humorous, at least to me, given the change in mores that have occurred over my lifetime.

In fact, I have several Vintage Ads hanging on the walls of the Taj Mahal.

The above image is an ad for Chrysler from the mid 60's, probably from Life or Look magazine, judging from the size of this two page spread. And back then, as now, they had an overly abundant number of vehicle offerings. This ad, alone, shows 56 of them. I mean, really, did both Plymouth and Dodge need a Neon, with both of them having the same name?

As for that Swamp Buggy Races frisbee, with my signature on it? Well, that is another blog. Tease, Tease...

This one is an ad extolling the value of Valvoline Motor Oil. "Cross-Country or Cross-Town, Havoline out-performs them all." Circa mid 50's, judging by the swept line features of those cars.

This one is for The General Tire, dating from 1942. It suggests that at 50 degrees, "Drive Sanely, 40 mph"; at 70 degrees, "Slow Down, 30-35 mph"; at 90 degrees, "Don't Drive, if you must-go at 25 mph". I love it. Plus, if you double click on the image, and read the text, you can see that maintaining air pressure in your tires was not thought up by one of our current presidential candidates.

Sorry about the quality of this one but it is another Chrysler ad from the early 50's. I just love it for the ragtop and the longroof in this one. Not a lowly sedan in sight.

This one, although probably not as PC as is warranted in today's climate, I just find it funny.

And another old Schlitz ad for the Complaint Department Manager.

My friend, Carri, sent this to me a while back. While, technically, not an ad, written copy I thought was pretty hilarious.

And just a couple found around the pipes.

And after seeing the above ad, can I surprise you with the following?

How did we not see that one coming? "Not that there is anything wrong with that."

Anyway, the New York Public Library is exhibiting Vintage Cigarette Ads and I thought I would put up a link to it for those crazies, such as me, who enjoy this type of stuff. Can't afford a trip to the Big Apple between now and the end of the year? That's okay, you can check it out here.

I Want One Of These

Please!

Cool Ad

I know the jeep junkie works for Goodyear and I should be loyal to the brand, but I sure like this B.F. Goodrich ad.

Go For the Gusto, The Ads

So I spent a good portion of this rainy, coastal, central Florida, Saturday trying to figure out why this piece of Bluetooth technology I bought last spring won't work. Have yet to figure it out though. Probably will get the Kid to take a look at it next time he is over. Also tried to get the door mechanism on the front passenger door figured out on the old FalconStationBus but couldn't do that either. Will wait for the jeep junkie to take a look at it.

So I did what I seem to do best these days. Looked around on the web for some off the wall crap to post on this blog.

Found some over at Plan59. Cool old ads, not car related, but related to a blog I did yesterday on the Beer that Made Milwaukee Famous, and I thought I would post them here. Hope you enjoy.

Is this the first, although oversized, Ipod? Given the mediocre expression on her face, I would guess she is not as enthralled with the blond dude as he is with her. More like, "Dude, can you tell I am listening to music and not to you?"

Notice, also, that beer can has a pull tab opening.


This can does not. Hey, JohntheNeighbor, wish you had a cutie like that to help you restring that reel?

TV, beer glasses, earrings, and bottles on that picnic in the park watching baseball!! Cool!!!

Forget Raiders of the Lost Ark, this is Raiders of the Schlitzbox, and love that dachshaund.

Everybody is just to damn happy in these ads.

Had to include this one just for the jeep junkie and CDM.

and after all that fun, Pepto-Bismol is absolutely necessary.

Go For the Gusto

The other nite when I was over in Sl-Ocala delivering the vacationing school marm home from that Mickey Mouse airport, I saw a billboard, sorry no image, advertising Schlitz beer.

The ad copy read "Gusto is back, 55 or older (Must Show ID).

I was surprised. I had only thought of Schlitz in the abstract recently. I captured the following image while doing the Mario Andretti road trip with the foam guy on our way to Lake Stockton about a month ago.

Then I remembered I had this image in my library, trying to figure out when I would use it. Here seems to be a good time.

Anyway, it appears Central Florida is one of the test markets for the reintroduction of Schlitz Beer to the masses, but you must, apparently, be 55 to be able to acquire it. I looked in my local ABC liquor store and it is not available here yet. The kid working there, when I asked about it, did not even know what it was. He asked me if it was a micro brewery? I told him, No, It was the Beer that made Milwaukee Famous.

The official website is here. Here is an article about this comeback.

I guess retro Mini Coopers, HHR's and Land Cruisers aren't enough. Now we get retro beer.

More Stuff I Like

While I am waiting for the fries to cook in the oven and the grill to warm up to cook that steak, I thought I would try to post more stuff I like. Let's see if it works.
driving the old van with a shirt and tie on.

think car seats will fit in this longroof?

I love this longroof.

Only one, Privately built, of these was ever built. At least in the civilian version.

Ketel One, Rocks

Gotta love him smoking in this ad.

Yet another Cool VW ad.

Citroen DS21 grill. Would love this in my home.

Just a cool old truck

Would love to see one of these in person.

Saw these on several blogs. Apparently, all the rage in Japan these days.

my brother Tom used to have a 65 just like this. Forest Green


My brother Jim's current bus and grandson.