Archive for October, 2014

World’s Oldest Running Car

Tuesday, October 28th, 2014

World’s Oldest Running Car Sells for $4.62M in a 3 minute bidding war October 7, 2011.

This is the oldest motor vehicle car in the world that still runs. It was built one year before Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler invented the internal combustion engine.

The world’s oldest running motor vehicle has been sold at auction for an astonishing $4.62 million, more than double the pre-sale estimate, as two bidders chased the price up in a three-minute bidding war.

The 1884 De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout drew a standing ovation as it was driven up onto the stage at an RM Auction in Hershey, Pennsylvania – to prove that this 127-year-old car really does run!  And attracted a starting bid of $500 000, which was immediately doubled to $1 million. Encouraged by the applauding crowd, the bidding went swiftly up to $4.2 million (4.62 million including the 10 percent commission) – before the car was knocked down to an unnamed buyer.

The Dos-a-Dos (Back-to-Back) Steam Runabout was built in 1884 by George Bouton and Charles-Armand Trepardoux for French entrepreneur Count de Dion, who named it ‘La Marquise’ after his mother.

In 1887, with De Dion at the tiller, it won the world’s first ever motor race (it was the only entrant to make the start line!) covering the 32km from the Pont de Neuilly in Paris to Versailles and back in one hour and 14 minutes (an average of 25.9km/h) and, according to contemporary reports, hitting a breathtaking 60km/h on the straights.

La Marquise has only had four owners, remaining in one family for 81 years, and has been restored twice, once by the Doriol family and again by British collector Tom Moore in the early 1990’s. Since then, it has taken part in four London-to-Brighton runs and collected a double gold at the 1997 Pebble Beach d Elegance in California.

For more pictures see https://www.flickr.com/photos/flymall/sets/72157649010644652/

 

 

 

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Flymall October 2014 Newsletter

Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

Welcome to our October newsletter.  Lots going on at the Flymall.   Pat Kraemer made her first flight in our Piper Arrow for Pilot’s N Paws http://www.pilotsnpaws.org/. We are happy to be supporting this organization dedicated to helping our K9 friends find forever homes.  You can follow Pat on her Pilot’s N Paws adventures on our forum found on our home page http://flymall.org/ – click on the forum tab and then under Pilots & Pets click on Pat’s Pilots N Paws Adventures.

Aircraft sales are up with sales from everything to business jets to light sport aircraft.  If you have an aircraft to sell we have several options for you to utilize the services of the Flymall.  See http://flymall.org/magento/index.php/used-aircraft.html and click on Our Commission / Rates Fees for more information.  We can also list your classic/collector car or motorcycle on the Flymall.

Pat Kraemer will be at the Montgomery County Airpark (KGAI) open house this Saturday October 18 2014 at the 99’s booth. Stop by and say hello.

As some of you may know, we have an interest in rare European three wheel vehicles and we’re pleased to add this rare 1912 Auto-Carrier (http://flymall.org/magento/index.php/used-aircraft/1912-auto-carrier-delivery-box-van.html) to our collection.  Harry attended the RM Auction at the AACA fall meet in Hershey, PA to bid/purchase this vehicle.  You can check our class & appearance schedule http://flymall.org/flight-training.html#schedule for shows that we will be attending with the Auto-Carrier.  If you have an interest in three wheelers you can join the “Three Wheel Association” started by Harry Kraemer. Details are at http://flymall.org/magento/index.php/tech-tips/three-wheel-association.html.

If you would like to follow Harry’s wheels & wings blog just click on the forum tab on our home page and under Laytonsville Cruise In click on Harry’s Blog.  You can also follow Harry on Facebook.  A link to our Facebook page can be found at the bottom of our webpages.

Ira Walker of Walker Aviation has been restoring snow cars (the predecessor of the modern snowmobile) for many years.  He is very knowledgeable on the history of snow cars.  A few of his restored snow cars have sold on the Flymall.  Ira has a few snow cars listed on the Flymall http://flymall.org/ in the store under Powersports or you can simply search our site for snowcar.  We also have some pictures of one that he is currently working on listed there.  To find out more about Ira and his company Walker Aviation just click on the Walker Aviation tab on our homepage http://flymall.org/.   Ira can build you a modern version of a snow car to your specs. Contact Ira via his page on the Flymall for more information.

If you have not checked out of events calendar, you can view it at http://flymall.org/events/.  We have started tagging events so that you can search for an event that supports your favorite charity or that provides money/funding for a certain medical research like alzheimer’s.  For example you can search our calendar for alzheimer’s to find all events that support alzheimer’s.  We have over 25 different categories in our events calendar so there is something for everyone.   Did you know that our events calendar can send you an email reminder about an event?  When you search for an event and open that event you have the option called remind – It’s very simple.    And if you are a Beatles fan like we are our events calendar has a Beatles category that shows significant/historical dates in Beatle history.

If you would like to advertise on the Flymall Wheels & Wings site we have numerous options for you. Please contact Harry for more information.

Thanks for signing up for our newsletter and stay tuned next month for more updates and exciting news.

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Buddy Holly’s original 1958 Ariel Cyclone motorcycle

Wednesday, October 8th, 2014

Buddy Holly’s original 1958 Ariel Cyclone motorcycle. This treasured item was a gift to Waylon Jennings in 1979 by members of Holly’s original Crickets, Joe B. Maudlin and Jerry Allison on the occasion of his forty-second birthday. The story of how this iconic piece of Rock ?n’ Roll history came to them and the role that it played in both Buddy’s and Waylon’s respective lives is nothing short of legendary. On May 13th, 1958, three young, very exhausted, and newly successful musicians found their way to Ray Miller’s Motorcycle Shop in Dallas, Texas. They were at the forefront of creating a style of music that was rapidly redefining America’s musical tastes, combining Country, Pop, Rockabilly, and Rhythm and Blues into a new sound all its own. Buddy Holly and the Crickets were new superstars at the dawn of Rock ?n’ Roll. Having just returned home to Texas from a world tour, the trio set out to buy new motorcycles as presents for themselves to celebrate their hard work and good fortune. Upon landing in Dallas, they made a spur of the moment decision to skip their connecting flight home. They decided to each buy a motorcycle and drive back home. (Their love of Marlon Brando in “The Wild Ones” inspired their decision.) Taking a cab from Love Field into the city, they walked into a Harley Davidson dealership where they were shown the door by the proprietor who failed to recognize the young celebrities, thinking instead that they were bums. Their next stop was at Ray Miller’s Triumph and Ariel Motorcycle shop. When they walked in, both the owner and his mechanic recognized them instantly, and they were given the royal treatment. Joe Maudlin, the Crickets’ bass player, immediately fell in love with a Triumph Thunderbird motorcycle and bought it. Jerry Allison, their drummer, bought a Triumph Trophy. Buddy Holly was transfixed by a dark red Ariel Cyclone 650cc in the showroom, and decided that it was the bike for him. That model, only built for that one year (1958) and with only a production number of 200, impressed Buddy as something very unique and special, and he knew that he had to own that bike. Buddy picked out the Ariel and they all paid in cash. Besides their new wheels, the trio purchased matching Levi jackets and peaked caps adorned with wings. Buddy, Joe, and Jerry rode the 350-mile trip home in a thunderstorm. The tragic event surrounding Buddy Holly’s death has become known as “The Day the Music Died,” a phrase borrowed from a lyric written by Don McLean in 1971 from his hit song, “American Pie.” In this portion of his song, McLean referred to the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) on February 3, 1959. Buddy assembled a new band for his “Winter Dance Party Tour”, consisting of Tommy Allsup on guitar, Carl Bunch on drums, and fellow West Texan and friend Waylon Jennings on bass. Buddy and Waylon had become the best of friends when they were both heavily involved in the music scenes of Lubbock and Littlefield, Texas some years before. Despite being a guitar player, Buddy gave Waylon two weeks to learn bass guitar and young Waylon accepted. . The tour was to run from January 23rd, 1959, beginning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was scheduled to end in Springfield, Illinois on February 15, 1959. By the time February 3rd had rolled around for the show held near Clear Lake, Iowa, Buddy and the band were exhausted, cold from the bitter winter weather, and some were sick with the flu. They were all looking for some relief and any extra free time that they could manage. Buddy had decided to charter a small plane that night to get them to their next performance in Moorhead, Minnesota to escape the freezing tour bus. Waylon and Tommy Allsup were asked by Buddy to join him on the plane. Earlier that evening, The Big Bopper approached Waylon asking if he would possibly consider giving up his seat on the plane, as The Bopper had been sick, wrestling with the flu. Waylon told him that as long as it was okay with Buddy, it was okay with him. At the same time, Ritchie Valens was trying to make a similar arrangement with Tommy Allsup. The two flipped a coin, and Ritchie Valens won. Valens had now secured the remaining seat on the plane. Buddy teased Waylon, accusing him of being too scared to get on the plane. Waylon justified his decision saying he thought it best that The Big Bopper should go instead of him. Buddy then said to his friend, “Well, I hope your damn bus freezes up again,” and Waylon snapped back, “Yeah, well I hope your ol’ plane crashes.” The next morning, the news poured in from every outlet: the plane had crashed in the snow. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and the pilot, Roger Peterson, were all dead. Waylon was devastated, and he actually believed in his heart that what he had said to Buddy the night before inadvertently caused the plane to crash. Waylon had lost his closest friend, and for years after carried with him the guilt that he was to blame. He gave up playing guitar and performing for two years, eventually leaving Texas for Arizona in hopes that he might find his way again. After Buddy’s death, the Ariel motorcycle stayed with the Holly family. The bike was barely six months old when Buddy died, and his father kept the Ariel well-maintained in memory of his son. In 1970, the Holly family decided to sell the motorcycle, transferring ownership to Mr. W. Sanders of Dumas, Texas. Five years later, Mr. Sanders sold the Ariel to Joe Waggoner of Austin, Texas. (Joe Waggoner retained ownership of the motorcycle until June of 1979. He recounted, at that time, that the Ariel had barely over four thousand miles on it, and except for replacing the tires and new exhaust pipes, the motorcycle was totally original and untouched.) Mr. Waggoner decided to sell the Ariel after being approached by Jerry Allison, Joe Maudlin, and a third member of the Crickets, Sonny Curtis. They told Joe Waggoner that they wanted to buy Buddy’s Ariel and give it to Waylon Jennings as a birthday present. Once again, fate played its hand and Buddy Holly’s Ariel Cyclone found its way to Buddy’s closest friend, Waylon Jennings, on his forty-second birthday. When Waylon returned to his hotel room after a show, he found the motorcycle sitting in the middle of his room. Recounting his reaction to the gift, Waylon said, “What else could I do? I swung my leg over the seat, stomped on the kick-starter, and it burst, roaring to life on the first kick. It was midnight and it sounded twice as loud as bouncing off the walls of the hotel room. I knew Buddy wouldn’t mind!” This 1958 Ariel Cyclone with a high compression 650 cc headmaster engine bears engine number CNLF 4510, chassis number CAPR 1069. Waylon kept the motorcycle in the den of his Brentwood, Tennessee home lovingly nicknamed “Southern Comfort.” It was always a conversation piece, as well as a surprise to those seeing it for the first time. People were shocked, and often exclaimed, “You’ve got a motorcycle in your house!” The Ariel remains beautifully preserved and symbolic of a pivotal time in American music history, still with just over four thousand original miles and not having been ridden for over twenty years

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