Hobo Jungle

[webenda]

My family had a '48 Buick Roadmaster in the early Sixties that felt like you were riding in a tank.

You aren't too far off there Wolf, the Buick Dynaflow transmission was developed for the Buick M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer (1944.)

[MurphOnMillerAve]

And the Buick Roadmaster automobile had great image, right into the 50's.
I have a very clear memory of a Buick Roadmaster moment when I was a boy. While standing at a snowy corner waiting to cross the street with two friends , such a car, identified by it's having four portals in its front fenders, as far as we were concerned, owned by a cool lady in our neighborhood , came to a stop at the stop sign. Once stopped , she apparently hit a switch under her dashboard (I saw her lean forward) which made sand flush out in front of and, in a few seconds, under the waiting rear wheels. We heard it activate and saw the sand spread, giving the car the extra traction necessary to move confidently forward . That was just about the coolest of the cool. My friends and I made a point of asking her son (our contemporary) about the supposed feature on his mom's car. He and she confirmed the feature having been installed, indeed.

Yet another episode in the Life of Murph-the-boy.

[2railjon]

Vintage Porsche tractor! Nice!!!!

[Tom Dempsey]

But can it outrun a Lamborghini?

[E7]

But can it outrun a Lamborghini?

Maybe! It's the roadster model.....a bit lighter than the coupe!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

But can it outrun a Lamborghini?

Maybe! It's the roadster model.....a bit lighter than the coupe!

Lamborghini actually does make tractors: http://www.lamborghini-tractors.com/en-eu/

[Roy]

You aren't too far off there Wolf, the Buick Dynaflow transmission was developed for the Buick M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer (1944.)

This was the fastest thing we had on tracks, until the M1 Abrams. It could go 50 mph on roads. It used an aircraft radial-type engine.

[Tom Dempsey]

But can it outrun a Lamborghini?

Maybe! It's the roadster model.....a bit lighter than the coupe!

Lamborghini actually does make tractors: http://www.lamborghini-tractors.com/en-eu/

Lamborghini was and is a major tractor and truck manufacturer. The "sports" cars were in response to Enzo's arrogance. As the story goes, the head of Lamborghini commented that he could build a better sports car than Enzo's latest product at a car show. Enzo expressed the view that he was full of it. Five months later the Contach debuted. (It was quite capable of whippin' a Ferrari's ***).

[rex desilets]

There is also the story about Ford attempting to buy Ferrari, only to be haughtily rejected by Enzo. So Ford put together a racing team for the Group 6 championship, beginning with a Lola. The rest is, as they say, history, with GT-40's finishing 1,2 ,3 in 1966 at LeMans.
I recently heard that one of those cars fetched north of $4MM at auction. Unfortunately, one would not fit in my garage, so I passed on it

[HONDO74]

There is also the story about Ford attempting to buy Ferrari, only to be haughtily rejected by Enzo. So Ford put together a racing team for the Group 6 championship, beginning with a Lola. The rest is, as they say, history, with GT-40's finishing 1,2 ,3 in 1966 at LeMans.
I recently heard that one of those cars fetched north of $4MM at auction. Unfortunately, one would not fit in my garage, so I passed on it

Well, for a measly $450,000 you can get a brand new one and you can drive this one on the street.

Or for just a little less money you can get a Lamborghini Aventador .

http://www.caranddriver.com/ford/gt

[Tom Dempsey]

Another famous Enzo the ******* story is the job offer he made to Carroll Shelby. Shelby ended up so pissed off that he went home and started Shelby American with the intention of beating Ferrari at Le Mans, at which Enzo considered the first place podium to be inviolable Ferrari property. Took Shelby until 1965 and all the money Ford could through into it, but the job got done.

[robert.]

There is also the story about Ford attempting to buy Ferrari, only to be haughtily rejected by Enzo. So Ford put together a racing team for the Group 6 championship, beginning with a Lola. The rest is, as they say, history, with GT-40's finishing 1,2 ,3 in 1966 at LeMans.
I recently heard that one of those cars fetched north of $4MM at auction. Unfortunately, one would not fit in my garage, so I passed on it

Well, for a measly $450,000 you can get a brand new one and you can drive this one on the street.

Or for just a little less money you can get a Lamborghini Aventador .

http://www.caranddriver.com/ford/gt

I saw a gt 40 get rear ended pulling out of the local ford dealership.

[webenda]

Well, for a measly $450,000 you can get a brand new one and you can drive this one on the street.

Excerpt from Car and Driver review...

Nobody is luckier than me, I think, as I stride up to the GT, doors levitated to a spread eagle, and thrust my right leg in, twist sideways, and . . . ah, no, that didn’t quite work. Let’s try sitting down on the wide sill, swinging a leg in, and—ow!—just bashed my head on the FIA-spec roll cage hidden behind the low-hanging headliner. Okay, stand up again, right leg in, twist while bending the left knee a bit, and—pop!—I feel a tendon go. There’s a white-hot flash of shooting pain in my knee, and as my left leg collapses like the bridge on the River Kwai, I tumble backward into the GT and voilà! I’m in!

[rogruth]

That getting in the car story really sounds true.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

That getting in the car story really sounds true.

Amen to that! Such gyrations are the reason I switched from low-slung coupes and sedans to my ML SUV. Plus, I have more reasons to haul stuff than need to be sleek in a car too low for my frame . ( But I miss my Beemers.)