I just learned Guy Martin brought his 164 mph van to the 2016 Silver State Open Road Challenge (an annual race in May)

see the entire episode at

Mr Norm's van.... since 1977, it's been groovy baby with a 440, Dana 60, and probably a cool stereo too. The 2nd owner bought it from Mr Norm in 1979, and kept it til 2016

Mr. Norm developed the conversion van concept as a substitute for the declining market share in muscle cars and scored another first. He opened a van department in the fleet office to supply the burgeoning van conversion business with vehicles. He purchased 280,000-sq. ft. of additional property to store the increasing automotive inventory. Grand Spaulding became the Number Two Dodge dealership in volume sales.

http://moparblog.com/mr-norms-van/

This 1977 B200 Long Box with a 440, Dana 60 rear, and power everything not only features crazy paint but a mural of the final 1970s Mr. Norm’s Super Charger funny car in action. Kenny Safford was the driver, but this van was owned by none other than Mr. Norm Krause himself, who had the murals painted on this van and drove it before it was sold in 1979. It then stayed with the same owner for the next 40 years or so.

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/check-amazing-stories-behind-barn-finds-hidden-gems-2016-mcacn-show/

Found and restored, Penske's Blue Hilton

After an exhaustive restoration process, Team Penske has unveiled one of the most unique pieces of its history, a customized 1972 International Fleetstar truck known in the racing circles as “The Blue Hilton.” The truck was one of the first known enclosed transporters used for racing purposes. It served the team in various capacities from 1972-1983.

the Blue Hilton transported the No. 66 McLaren that Mark Donohue drove to victory in the 1972 Indianapolis 500 – the first of Team Penske’s record 16 wins in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” In conjunction with its sister transporter, “The White Hilton,” it was used to transport the powerful, championship-winning Porsche 917s that dominated the landscape of the Can-Am Series in the early 1970s with George Follmer and Donohue before it was sold in 1983.

Until Jerry Breon, a long-time Penske team member, located the sales listing in an automotive trade magazine in the fall of 2015, this historic vehicle was thought to have been scrapped. The truck was purchased from George Boyd of Urbana, Illinois, who had utilized it while competing in various racing series until retiring it to a spot on his property.

 He was the only owner of the truck after its days at Team Penske. After verification and removal from the Boyd property, the Blue Hilton was towed to the Penske Truck Leasing (PTL) Collision Center in Ft. Wayne, Indiana where the restoration began with the help of Donohue’s original blueprints.

They took it to truck body manufacturer Morgan Corporation, who was able to supply many of the original extrusions used in building the box section. One Morgan employee had been with the company when the Blue Hilton was constructed in 1972, and provided invaluable advice during the rig’s restoration. While the aluminum skin of the box section appeared well-preserved, much of the internal steel structure had corroded after decades parked in an Illinois field.

“When you talk with the crew members that drove and worked out of this transporter over those years, and you look at the photos from the many cars it carried, you see how the Blue Hilton was an integral part of our history,” said Bernie King. “It’s certainly very much a part of the Team Penske heritage. Everyone at Penske Truck Leasing that was involved did a fantastic job of restoring this truck to how it was when it ran and carried many of the team’s winning cars.”

http://www.teampenske.com/news/index.cfm/a/666/53212/TEAM_PENSKE%20RESTORES%20ICONIC%20TRANSPORTER
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2017/02/27/team-penskes-1972-international-transporter-the-blue-hilton-lives-again/

I just love discovering a new artist, and new type of art, and then realizing it's vehicle related and I can share it with all of you. Particularly when it's a combo of things I dig, photography, Victorian retro Greco-Roman paintings, and this trains/busses/garages/scooters admiration I have

Alexey Kondakov imagined figures from classical paintings as part of contemporary life, in his ongoing series ‘The Daily Life of Gods’ where he sees classical paintings brought to everyday life, seamlessly integrated into the existing urban fabric.

Carefully photoshopped onto buses, down alleyways, and in stores, Caravaggio’s ‘David and Goliath’, William-Aadolphe Bouguereau’s ‘Nymphs and Satyr’, and Cesar Van Everdingen’s ‘bacchus’ — to name a few — seemingly become part of daily life in Kiev.

Perfectly-executed shadows and light between the two otherwise desperate images give the resulting pictures a painterly quality, forming the impression of a new era where mythological creatures and religious figures meet contemporary urban existence.

The idea came to Kondakov when a picture of people drinking wine on Tumblr caught his eye, and he had the urge to replace the group with his own entourage. "Then I thought, 'What if I invite these gods into our reality and imagine they are on streets of modern Kiev?'"

"Then I wanted to transform a noisy company of cheerful kids who gathered to spend time together in the city or go to the movies. And in these heroes I saw the work of other artists." Kondatov wants to be clear, though, Daily Life of Gods isn't a commentary on society or religion or art.

the above is one of my favorites of John Godward, Idleness (girl with a kitten) 1900

Yes, I'm a nut for Victorian paintings in the classical genre. Godward was good at marble, but absolutely amazing at fur. Alma Tadema was incredible with marble.

"Song Of The Angels" William Bouguereau 1881

They somehow look like they belong there, their forlorn expressions and sad demeanours matching the tatty seats of the bus or the floors of the subway. It’s very amazing, even if Alexey would have us believe it’s got a more serious undertone.

Ukrainian artist Alexey Kondakov takes scenes and figures lifted from classical paintings and drops them into modern-day life. Bouguereau’s Song of the Angels appears to take place on an empty subway car for example.

http://kondakovnapoli.tumblr.com/
https://www.facebook.com/alexey.kondakov.48
http://showdeskpublishing.tictail.com/product/alexey-kondakov
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2017/01/alexey-kondakov-classical-painting-photos/
http://www.boredpanda.com/classical-modern-city-painting-daily-life-gods-alexey-kondakov/