The Banchee

The Banchee
(South Africa)

An absolutely gorgeous open sportscar created by Tertius Van Zyl in South Africa. Tertius writes:

"Being a penniless youth and having abused my mildly tuned 850 in the mid 60s with rallying and a foray into racing, I decided that a sports car would be a great idea to put on the track. No money meant that 'if you can't buy one, make one'! Having had inspiration from a road test published in Cars & Car Conversions mag of the Unipower GT and clutching my copy (original 1969 version still in existence) of Allan Staniforth‘s High Speed-Low Cost, 'Banshee' was created over a period of about 15 years during which time I was transferred by my employer to five cities in South Africa, Banshee having covered about 2,500 miles without putting in any fuel!

"Regrettably, the Sportscar class was abolished during the course of building and my racing aspirations were curtailed anyway by the intrusion of marriage. Banshee is still hauled out on high days and holidays but has completed three 'Durban Dash' events over the past years (800 mile round trip each from Johannesburg to Durban); (photo T. van Zyl)

The Flamingo

The Flamingo
(South Africa)

Yet again Bob van Niekerk, Willie Meissner and Vester de Wit conceived and designed the follow up to the Dart; It was the Flamingo. A sophisticated GT version of the Dart with a unique styled hard top.

Approximately 128 GSM Flamingos were built in Cape Town.

The Dart

The Dart
(South Africa)

Bob van Niekerk, Willie Meissner and Vester de Wit conceived and designed this car during 1956. The Dart was its name and it proved to be almost unbeatable in South Africa as well as various racing circuits in Europe.

In England the Dart was produced as the Delta.

Some 116 Darts were built in S.A. and.... over 60 Deltas in the U.K, some of which have surfaced lately in Canada.

The Ramses

The Ramses
(Egypt)

The NSU Ramses Utilica was the first car produced in Egypt, and was the result of a coorporation between the new egyptian car firm Egyptian Automotive Co., and the german NSU. The factory was located right next to the Great Pyramids. Plans were to produce around 10.000 cars a year, most of the work being manual labor.

The NSU Ramses used the Prinz 30 as it's basis. The body, looking something like a VW Kübelwagen; it was much more square then the original Prinz, creating more space in the front luggage compartment. The square form was the result of the absence of equipment to mold metal plates in more streamlined forms. The doors and passenger windows where made of canvas on a frame, and could be complete removed. The soft top could be folded back, just like on an ordinary cabrio.

The only chrome parts that could be found on the car were the front and rear fenders - in the heat and rough egyptian environment, chrome parts tend to show blisters in a very short period of time.

Bike Book Suggestions? Bike repain classes in Boston?

The chain broke on Noah's bicycle this week, so yesterday we headed to REI to pick up a new chain, chain lube, a chain tool, and a new light for my bike (we sunk about $100, but the light wasn't cheap). I normally prefer to use a smaller bike shop, or even a local chain (Landry's), but they all require a lot more riding in traffic, while the REI is a straight shot down the Riverway/Muddy River bike path, which is a lot easier with a nine-year-old along (plus it's near ice cream, which helps motivate my young rider. And me).

One of the things I like about shifting away from using a car and to using bicycles is that they are (theoretically) machines that I can much more easily repair and maintain myself. I'm even thinking about buying a bike repair stand, to make it easier to manage.

I find a lot of bike repair info on the web, which is great. Especially videos. But I'm a book guy at heart. I'd be interested in suggestions for a basic book on bike maintenance and repair. Please let me know your favorites. I'm starting from almost zero knowledge, but I want to learn.

Also, I'm considering taking a class on basic bike maintenance. Have any of you done this? If so, which ones did you try? Please let me know of ones you've tried.

Nigerian Armoured Vehicle

Nigerian Armoured Vehicle

A Nigerian made armoured car was on Thursday launched by President in this month of August 2009 at the eagle square in Abuja.

It is the first home made armoured car, with most of the materials used in its production sourced locally, while others were imported.

It was built by two Nigerian brothers who recently relocated from the United States of America. The brothers; Victor and Johnson Obasa, came back home to use their talent to boost security and also create employment in the country.

The brothers are based in Ekiti State and the duo own a company named Mobile Truck Technology where they nurtured and built the first Nigerian armoured car.

According to Johnson Obasa, the local production of the armoured car would help in upgrading the nation's security status. "It will promote up to 50 percent security in the country, it is something to protect the armoured personnel in their line of duty and it can work anywhere. It is designed to help the nation's security; we also did it to create employment," he said.

Also, Victor Obasa in a conversation with the press stated that they were in a better position to create this kind of cars since they are in Nigeria and understand the Nigerian terrain.

He added that they were willing to do it for the government at almost half the price of importing it. "We would do it for Nigerians for almost half the price they get it outside," he said.

The truck which was tested with different kinds of ammunition, from a far range had little or no mark left on it, but from a close range left peripheral marks.

On how they created such a truck with products from Nigeria, Johnson said: "It's been a little bit of up and down's. When we encountered some challenges, the Senate president encouraged us and at the end of the day we were able to put this together."

The other brother Victor pledged that they would produce a vehicle carrier that would meet international standard at a reasonable price.

The Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Adamu Aliero who represented the president at the launch said it was commendable that Nigerians with talents will come home and contribute to the nation's development.

He disclosed that the President had directed the Inspector General of Police to meet the fabricators on what they required to produce the vehicle to specification.

He also called on Nigerians within and outside the country with such talents to come out and contribute to the development of their country.

"This is also to call on other Nigerians with similar talents to also come back home and join us to contribute their own quota to the country and for other Nigerians with this kind of talent to put it to use," Mr. Aliero said.

Present at the event to inspect the vehicle were top police officers and the Minister for science amd Technology, Al-Hassan Zaku who said the ministry would send a team of engineers to the base where the truck was fabricated to further examine the product.

"We will examine it thoroughly and work with the police to ensure that it is properly produced to the standard they want," he said.

courtesy of Elizabeth Archibong

Weekly Tally #9

Here's the quick stats for last week  (I'm super late in posting, because it's been a busy week of writing other stuff):

walking:  13.1 miles
biking:  49.6 miles
subway: 8 miles


 Noah and I took the T to the Common to see Toy Story III.  I don't mind riding my bike downtown, but I'm still a little wary of Noah (who is 10 years old) riding there.  The drivers are too crazy and the bike lanes are not quite well defined enough to get us all the way there.  And the T is fun sometimes, too.

We did a little geocaching by bike on Sunday, which was fun.  I need to see how many are within bike range of us--we started doing this years ago, and have slowed down a lot over the past few years.  Tracy found two caches within Brookline that were a nice easy ride, and got us riding on streets that we don't usually visit.  One of them was right near Clear Flour Bakery, which meant we had to buy pastries and bread, of course.

Weekly Tally #10

Here's the quick stats for last week:

walking:  17.5 miles
biking:  22.8 miles
subway: 6 miles
boat:  35 miles (I took Noah to Salem by boat to the Pirate Museum)
car:  10  (zipcar)


Kind of interesting that it was such a multi-modal kind of week.  Not much bike riding (I didn't have many meetings and the kids were home, so we didn't stray too far from home).  Some people have to commute more miles every day than I log in a week.  I feel lucky.

weekly tallies #11 and #12 and weekly ramblings

Okay, so I've been busy with end of summer stuff and haven't written down my logs.  Not that anyone necessarily cares, but it's a good way for me to keep track.  Numbers make me happy.  Here are the numbers for the past two weeks:

August 23-29
walking:  23.6 miles
biking:  16.4 miles
subway: 4.5 miles

This week started with three days of rain, and also Noah had a friend over to play during the days, and we didn't have a bike for him, so we rarely went anywhere by bike this week.


August 30-September 5
walking:  20 miles
biking:  40.2 miles
subway: 14 miles
car:  64  (60 by zipcar--we had to drive Saugus and beyond, 4 by cab--we bought a new vacuum cleaner in Cambridge and there was no way we were going to haul it home on the T.  The trains on Sunday were PACKED, because it was a beautiful day and 100,000 college kids just moved back to Boston last weekend, with nothing to do (no homework or exams yet)).


Now that school is back in session, my miles will continue to shift more towards walking (I put in 4 miles a day just from walking Noah to and from school and walking the dog).  Though tomorrow, I'm working a handyman gig for a friend, and that'll be a 12 mile ride (round trip), with heavy tools in tow.


Summer is officially over--car rental rates have dipped back down to normal levels.  We have to drive to Connecticut to visit family this weekend, and our two-day rental will only cost $80 (not including gas), so it's now cheaper to rent a car for excursions from the airport rather than using Zipcar.  (Too bad, because I like Zipcar better.)


Did some renovations on our bikes this week.  The cargo racks on Tracy and my bikes were broken, and the collapsible metal baskets that attach to the racks were all busted, too.  So last night and today, I replaced the racks and baskets.  Not complex, but a lot of futzing.  I'm glad to have two baskets in the back, where before I only had one (which made me very unbalanced with gallons of OJ on just one side).  All that extra metal in the back is heavy, though--that's my excuse for going so slow, I'm hauling all those pounds of steel with me.

I also replaced my bike chain, which my new chain wear gauge told me was worn out.  The bike runs a lot better now.  (I initially misthreaded it, so it was making odd noises.  Kudos to the woman at the REI bike shop (at Landmark in the Fenway) who did NOT make me feel stupid when I took it in to figure out what was wrong.  They're my favorite bike shop (tied with Broadway Bicycle School), because they are always polite and never intimidating.  The last thing I need from a bike shop is attitude.

A Mad Man Without a Car (in a good way)

There's a fun article in Sunday's NY Times about Vincent Kartheiser, one of the stars of the hit show, Mad Men.  He lives in LA and doesn't own a car--he gets around by bus and subway.  Maybe someday it'll be cool after all.  I found this interesting:

“They’ve done a study and they’ve found that people under 30 no longer view cars as status symbols or even positive things,” Mr. Kartheiser said. “They look at them as pollutants.”

Maybe I'm younger than I thought (at heart, anyway).

RelayRides. Possible alternative to Zipcar?

At a recent Boston green festival at Government Center, I came across a new company, RelayRides.  They're a carsharing company/service that works sort of like Zipcar--you reserve a car online, pay a certain hourly rate, and drive.  The big difference is that RelayRides doesn't own the cars--they're owned by your neighbors.  In fact, if you own a car, you can join up and start renting out your car.  They provide the insurance.

Their web site is pretty detailed.  On the surface, it seems like a good model.  It's a way to make a lot of cars available for sharing, people who own cars get compensated, and the company makes some money but doesn't
have to own a zillion cars.




I know there are tool sharing and other kinds of sharing sites out there, but this car site is the first I've seen in the Boston area.

Has anyone out there tried this yet?  Let us know.

BAILEY LMP2 ( SOUTH AFRICA )

This is an African Phenomenon for 2011. Below are the stats straight from the makers mouth describing this awesome beast.

"Bailey Cars took the Bold and Brave step of building a current day Prototype car in 2009. Its taken 2 years of intense design and manufacture to produce this master piece of south African engineering.

The car has had many firsts for South Africa such as full carbon Tub, full CFD body design and building a car to the A.C.O Le Mans 24 hours regulations

The car is available to customers who would like to compete in sports car racing throughout the world in events such as ALMS, Le Mans series, Asian Le Mans Series and even the South African Le Mans Series and RSA GT challenge.

Chassis

· Carbon composite monocoque chassis

· Monocoque certified to all ACO and FIA structural and crash standards

· Adjustable pedal box and steering column

· Safety equipment includes 6-point lightweight seat belt harness

· Plumbed in fire extinguisher system

Engine

· 460hp maximum as regulated by ACO
· The engine must be made in a minimum of 1000 units in 12 consecutive months and must come, either from a grand touring car, Or from a large production car.
· Choice of homologated BMW, Lexus, Toyota or Nissan 5000 cm3 8 cylinders maximum. maximum
· Or 3200 cm3 forced induction engine with max 6 cylinders
· Diesel not allowed in LMP


Suspension

· Double wishbone layout all round

· Pushrod rocker type with damper and coil over spring all round

· Third-spring option for front and rear suspension

· Frictionless bearing seals all round

· Same upright all round

· Angular-contact wheel bearings all round

· Chromoly steel-fabricated TIG-welded wishbones

· Quick adjustable ride height, camber, and toe

· electrically power assisted rack-and-pinion



Fuel System



· 90-litre bladder type fuel cell

· Dual Low-pressure fuel lifts pump plus dual high-pressure pumps




Transmission


· Ricardo sequential-shift gearbox

· Six forward speeds plus reverse with torque input capacity in excess of 500 Nm

· Adjustable gear ratios

· Paddle shift as standard

· Gear oil cooling system



Bodywork


· All body panels of lightweight infused epoxy glass composite construction

Brake System

· AP Racing six-piston aluminum calipers all round

· 380 mm diameter ventilated discs front and rear

· Full carbon brake set up as option



Wheels and Tyres


· Wheel dimensions 11”wide x 18” diameter front

· 13” wide x 18” diameter rear

· 3 piece wheels

· Centre lock and anti loosen to FIA standards


Cooling System


· 1 water radiators

· 8-litre dry sump oil tank

· Twin engine all cooler

· Twin Electric oil scavenge pump

· 1 intercooler

· Driver air-conditioning system



Electrical System



· Military-spec chassis wiring loom

· FIA-regulation emergency power cut-off switch

· External start jump plug

· Digital dash display and with full data logging

· Xenon headlamps



WEIGHT

· Minimum weight as specified by ACO 900kg excluding driver and fuel


Bailey - Beautifully Engineered Cars

http://www.baileyedwardscars.co.za

The African Bull Dog ( KENYA )

Sustainable by all means.

Mombasa (Kenya) is the location where this unique prototype was conceived. Details are outlined from their Facebook page.

Completed

30th January 2011

The vehicle

The african bull dog is a Kenyan Built Off Road 4X4 Vehicle and MPV; This car is built for every day use, it can be used in farms as a produce cart, or even as an ambulance at Marsabit desert to provide emergency care to the forgotten communities and as a truck to ferry drugs to those remote places that you have never heard of!; With ample backing, the African Bulldog can do for Kenya what the Citroen 2CV did for France and the V.W Beetle for Germany!

Company Overview

Heino Autoworx is a Leading 4x4 vehicle workshop based in Mombasa at the Mtwapa Creek, Kenya. We have been involved in the maintenance of 4x4 vehicles and S.U.Vs for years and we decided to push the boundaries.

Description


The African Bull Dog is the brain child of Engineer Heino, he has a vast experience in the automotive and boat industry. The crew has been working tirelessly to ensure that we meet our target and we build a vehicle that meets the standards of the 4X4s we work on on a daily basis.

Mission


4X4 Extreme Efficient Performance!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/African-Bull-Dog/160682840649799?sk=wall