The Museum is a pretty neat place to visit as it has memorabilia from just about every period in American history. There are a few trains, some of the Presidential limos, a few planes and a bunch of other stuff. My only complaint is that is not very photo friendly. The lighting is good for looking at stuff but not so good for taking pictures. Many of the exhibits are close together.
I don't remember what this car was but I thought it was pretty neat looking.
The front of the venerable DC-3. I suppose that this could be an aspect of communication as many of the airlines in the time of this aircraft would carry airmail to supplement passenger income.
Another angle of the DC-3.
This is a plane that was used in an Antartic Exhibition.
The front of the Allegheny which is a big steam locomotive used by the Chesapeake and Ohio. This could be another aspect of communication as trains were used to carry mail. They were also one of the main reasons for the telegraph network.
Another angle of the DC-3.
A Ford Tri-Motor. Many people are familiar with the contributions that Ford made to the auto industry. They aren't as familiar with Ford's contributions to the early days of aviation. One of the more important was the system of radio beacons used for navigation.
This is a collection of phones which is definately an aspect of communication.
This is an old phone.
A close up shot of the Mustang logo.
The front of a Mustang.
The Mustang concept car which appeared in the early 1960's. I kind of wish the production Mustang would have looked like this.
One of the Presidential limos.
One of the first McDonald's signs.
That orange car at the top of your original post is a Ford GT40 Mark IV designed by Carroll Shelby - It won at Le Mans, 4 times in a row during the '60's. It beat out all the Italian sports cars and pissed off all those uppity Ferrari owners like crazy. The GT stands for Grand Touring and more info can be found here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/3406/Ford-Mk-IV.html
Ford GT40 is still a sweet looking car.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post about the GT40. I love the story behind it. Apparently, Ford entered it in the race because they wanted to buy Ferrari and Ferrari told them no. So they said, "We'll build a car that will beat yours..." and they did.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of my favorite roadsters. I have a love for cars and have owned some pretty nice ones myself (None like the GT40, that's for sure.) Then, when my son came along, he fell in love with classic mustangs when he was just 4 years old. He talked about how he was going to buy a mustang and figured out how to visit all the local Ford web sites where he left contact information for at least 6 different sales people - I had calls from all of them asking to please speak to Ian who was interested in buying a "Mustang convertible, a white one, with pony package wheels and all leather interior." That's an exact quote of what he wrote in the contact window. At first, when a sales person called, I told him that Ian was 4 years old and his credit sucked. But then it occurred to me to let Ian take the phone calls and listen to the fun that ensued. Ian, shortly after this, emailed Carroll Shelby who, oddly enough sent him a hand written letter in return.
ReplyDeleteThat must have been pretty cool for him to get a letter like that. My equivalent would be to get a letter from Kelly Johnson (who unfortunately is dead now). He was the guy that designed the P-38, U-2, SR-71, F-104 and had a hand in the Stealth Fighter (I think).
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