1770 Cugnot. Steam engine that needs to be relit every 15 minutes, weight 2½ tonnes, top speed 2.25 mph, and reportedly caused the first vehicle accident by knocking down a stone wall. Makes any other three-wheeler seem downright sensible.

They did, but sadly it never entered production.

In the early days of airline travel, before flight both the passenger and the person’s luggage went on a scale. If there was an upper limit to be adhered to, if it was done to ensure the airplane didn’t get overloaded, or if they paid according to weight, I don’t know.

Best part is that the Ducati engineers reportedly got the handling right, as befits an Italian company. BMW did it too with their cruiser version (that James Bond made famous), while the rest seem to care mainly about how the bike looks.

They have a privately operated toll motorway in Japan, where the police has decided not to patrol much, letting Porsche and Lambo owners let off some steam. Seems to work ok.

But then I rode my motorcycle through Ontario some years ago, not wearing a helmet (medical reason, have Danish papers to show the police). Didn’t see a single police car, and regularly visit Norway and Sweden. Rarely see cops there either, only automatic speed traps. Not that I’m speeding (much), but I don’t have to…

I know it isn’t a stock option, but this bosozoku van does deserve mentioning...

Much less fall where they are aimed.

Better ways to deal with the suicide cult the US has become, when it comes to energy consumption:

Except neither Finland nor Sweden have joined NATO yet, as Turkey wasn’t keen on accepting it unless some Turkish opposition figures (labelled ‘terrorists’ by Turkish prez Erdogan) get handed over to him for prosecution. Apparently this has been worked out in some dirty deal, but as I said, they’re not in yet.

Enzo agreed.

1913 Scripps Booth Bi Autogo: Four wheels and Detroit’s first V8 engine.

Built with parts from 32 different cars, most of which probably looked good.

I’m no fan of the monarchy, but Queen Elisabeth meeting PM Liz Truss and dying immediately afterwards commands some respect.

The thing has counterbalancers. Main reason for a 270 degree crank is the the more pleasing sound like that of a v-twin.

The very first Saab prototype, 15% larger and with a carbon fiber body.

Criminals on the whole aren’t known for being the sharpest knives in the drawer. The ones who get caught the way these morons did, suggest so.

Small correction: The little microcar was originally named ‘Fend Flitzer’ after the engineer Fritz Fend, who had worked for Willi Messerschmitt during the war. The latter gave his permission for the more famous name to be used, but other than that there was no connection to the company building airplanes.

Oh yes, I drove one back then, inherited from my late mom-in-law. ‘Orrible car. Drive it through a puddle of water and you have about a minute to find a place to pull over, when it began running on two cylinders instead of six. Then there’d be a 15-20 minutes wait (depending on season) before you could start the thing…

Like any other air force’s display team, it’s all about entertainment and about selling the idea that a military is a good idea. Not pointless at all, at least not seen from the air force’s point of view.