Cool things found in the blog "Progress is fine, but it's gone on for too long"

 Beer run! Filling up belly tanks with beer for the guys that just stormed the beach at Normandy

 probably looks like any old tank at first, but then, did you see that there are 4 tracks? Not the usual two

 Peter Sellers

 yup, it's a real Bugatti, factory racer

 amphib plane, stored in a hanger because getting it flying would take 2 fortunes and a winning mega millions lotto ticket

the 1936 Henderson before the restoration http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/07/1936-henderson-at-rhinebeck-grand.html

 a new image of the Count de Sakhnoffsky designed been truck, and this is a info card that was handed out at the trucks display... front above, and the reverse side below . For the gallery: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/09/extraordinary-designer-of-automotive.html

 terrific album cover art

 the cat tracks added onto the tractor give it so much more traction

a wheel pattern only used on Canadian trains, it looked familiar to me, and I remembered the train at the Nethercutt museum http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2011/05/private-pullman-palace-railcar-century.html

For the write ups of these photos, and so much more, including tools, munitions factories, Canadian museums, great things that were made in US and Canada, and extremely researched written descriptions of inventors and inventions: http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.ca/

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The Count De Sakhnoffsky Cord, L-29, one of one, just sold at RM auction for $2.4 million

Designed by Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky for Grand Rapids, Michigan’s Hayes Body Company, this “one-off” design statement was conceived and built specifically for international show competition, and today it remains one of the crowning achievements of the Classic Era. The Count, the son of an advisor to Czar Nicholas II, was an automotive enthusiast from his youth. Following the Russian Revolution, he made his way to Paris where he quickly developed an outstanding reputation for his natural design prowess.

Following training in engineering and art school, the young Count applied his talents to some of the world’s finest chassis of the 1920s, including Minerva, Packard and Rolls-Royce. His designs for Vanden Plas in Belgium earned four successive Grands Prix d’Honneur in Monte Carlo from 1926 through 1929. In 1928, Hayes Body Company of Michigan recruited and sponsored the young de Sakhnoffsky’s emigration to America, and Packard’s Alvan Macauley attempted to lure the Count away. Nonetheless, de Sakhnoffsky remained loyal to Hayes, and he quickly displayed remarkable versatility by designing the 1930 Marmon Model 78 line and the contrastingly tiny American Austin, which continued little changed through 1940 as the American Bantam.

Since Hayes was primarily a mass producer of automobile bodies, de Sakhnoffsky proposed a “one-off” coupe based on Cord’s new L-29 to company management as a styling exercise to perhaps win contracts from Cord or more adventurous work from other manufacturers. While the long and low L-29 chassis provided the perfect canvas for the Count’s European design sensibilities, he decried the ‘squarish’ lines and upright windshield of the basic factory-built body design, retaining only the front and rear bumpers and sleek radiator shell and the basic front and rear fenders, which he subtly restyled.

A masterpiece, de Sakhnoffsky’s sinuous and sporting coupe elevated closed-car styling to heights previously enjoyed only by open designs. Unique touches included a dramatically swept hood featuring a pair of decorative creases from the radiator to the flanks of the cowling and horizontal cooling louvers. A valance atop the steeply-raked and low-cut windshield concealed a unique track for the horizontal wiper mechanism, a layout that was in fact the earlier brainchild of Cornelius Van Ranst. Running boards were eliminated by virtue of the lengthened front fenders sweeping beyond the sculpted leading edges of the doors. The hood’s accent creases were picked up by the doors, swept downward in line with the curvature of the windows and then back up to smoothly hug the bottom of the rear window before joining to stretch down the rear deck and terminating in a spear.

photos and info from http://www.rmauctions.com/CarDetails.cfm?SaleCode=AM12&CarID=r118&Currency=USD

This car went with Sakhnoffsky on the 1930 European car show circuit, and won 3 concours events. The first American car to do so. Pairs, Monte Carlo, and Beaulieu in England

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I love tow trucks. I love COEs (cab over engine)... and streamlined anything are cool.. so the streamlined COE tow trucks are pretty much the peak of the genre

 This is typical of the Count de Sakhnoffsky design... he was tops in auto design in the 30's http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/09/extraordinary-designer-of-automotive.html for a gallery and info about his work

All found on the HAMB thread http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=219018&page=110&highlight=coe

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Tucker's 2nd try (The Carioca) was from a De Sakhnoffsky design, and potentially would have been made in Brazil

cover illustration of the Carioca from Dec. 1955 Car Life magazine found on aldenjewell's Flikr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/autohistorian/3516254868/

read all about it: http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Tucker_Carioca or check out the project at Rob Ida: http://www.robidaconcepts.com/carioca.html

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The 1937 Jungle Caravan International Harvester designed by Count De Sakhnoffsky

Via: http://farbror-sid.blogspot.com/

and http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/09/extraordinary-designer-of-automotive.html

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Extraordinary designer of automotive and everything else... Count De Sakhnoffsky. Emphasis on the LaBatt's streamliner

the above 3 are via: http://www.eevamoritz.com/lab47.html

1934 Esquire magazine sketches

1937 D-35 Jungle Caravan



He was amazing in automotive design work.... having designed for Austin, Bantam, Cord, Auburn, Packard, the '33 Nash, the '34 LaSalle, the 1935 Chrysler Airflow, the 1937 D-35 Jungle Caravan, and notably, the 1934 12cyl Packard 1108 Sport Phaeton (for LeBarron), said to be one of the most beautiful designs of an American coachbuilder.... however he may be most easily remembered and revered for the design of the LeBlatt's Beer trucks. Beer and alcohol advertising in post prohibition was hghly restricted in Canada and the Labatts Company needed public attention so they commissioned him to conceive a tractor-trailer that would both haul huge loads efficiently and serve as an instantly recognizable travelling billboard, and with customized "cab over engine" White Motor Company tractors pulling brilliant red and gold streamliner trailers. Vicktor Schreckengost (who replaced him at Murray Ohio Bicycles) assisted him in the design of the first-cab-over-engine truck for Cleveland's White Motor Company.

There is reference to his design of furniture, and interior home elements like radios. He also had been the chief bicycle designer for Murray-Ohio prior to 1938. He was perhaps the greatest pedal car designer of all time... in 1937, Steelcraft, the Cleveland-based pedal car division of the Murray Ohio Manufacturing Co claimed as much anyway, and he was the winner of the Grand Prix at Monte Carlo for six consecutive years in the Elegance Contest for his "juvenile automobile" designs. His 2nd version for LaBatt, produced in 1936, was the winner of the ‘Best Design’ award at the New York World’s Fair in 1939.

Esquire magazine, in 1934 hired de Sakhnoffsky to become the technical and mechanical editor. The magazine immediately became a showcase for Sakhnoffsky’s design concepts of cars, trucks, boats, bathtubs, movie theatres with alternating seats for more legroom http://www.lepoix.de/html/reference/sakhnoffsky_streamine_design/inner_circle_streamline_architecture.htm , a swimming pool with rubber escalators, executive desks, and an air-conditioned jungle caravan. Joining the US Army in WWII he rose to the rank of Lt. Col. at war's end.

He even published a book "A Portfolio of Antique and Modern Horseless Carriages"

http://wmspear.com/Bantam/alexis.html

http://www.brewtruck.co.uk/archive/Labatt%20Breweries%20Streamliner.pdf

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/whitetrks.htm

http://www.canadiandesignresource.ca/officialgallery/?p=781

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/labatt_white_article.htm

http://www.chromjuwelen.com/de/partner-und-mitglieder-blogs/blog.hemmings.com/attilio-gatti-no-wonder-he-drove-internationals.html

http://www.fulltable.com/VTS/aoi/s/sakh/back.htm

http://www.roadtransport.com/blogs/big-lorry-blog/2008/08/-the-keeper-of-the.html

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2008/08/19/four-links-another-beer-truck-sighting-jalop-hearts-russian-military-vehicles-another-dc-garage-railcar-return/

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