Toy Peddle Car

On a visit to Brussels a few years ago, I became interested in my, then, five-year-old granddaughter, Anya’s pedal car and took a lot of photos of it. Later research showed that this toy is a Chinese copy of the original Murray Comet pedal car made in the 1940s and ‘50s. These days authentic Comet cars sell for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars

Leffe Belgian Ale

Leffe was traditionally (since 1240) brewed at the abbey in Dinant, Belgium, although I've seen on the web that, since it's acquisition by InBev, it has been brewed in the big Stella Artois brewery at Leuvan.

Type 82 Kübelwagen

The Type 82 Kübelwagen (a contraction of Kübelsitzwagen, bucket seat car) was designed by Ferdinand Porsche for the German Wehrmacht in 1938 as a light-weight utility vehicle, similar to the design criteria for the US military’s Jeep. The car was based on the chassis and drive train of the Volkswagen. With its air cooled, four cylinder engine and self-locking differential, it was versatile and dependable in different terrain and weather conditions. The car was assembled at the Volkswagen plants in Stadt des KDF-Wagens, present day Wolfsburg. From 1940 through 1945 50,400 of the cars were built. Interestingly, the bodies for the Kübelwagen were made by the American owned firm, Ambi Budd. I’ve found one source that said that the company had been nationalized by the German government before the war. This model is based on the late 1943 version of the car that was used by the 65^th infantry division of the Wehrmachtheer in Italy. 

Staropramen Pilsner

Staropramen Czech Pilsner  beer.

Hallstadt Culture ArtifactsHelmet

According to Wikipedia, ”The Hallstadt culture was the predominant Western and Central European culture of Early Iron Age Europe from the 8th to 6th centuries BC…” Early Celtic people developed an economy based on salt mining in the West of Austria near modern Salzburg. Archaeological excavation has been conducted in the area since the mid-nineteenth century. The pieces modelled here, helmet, cuirass and axe head, date from the late Bronze Age, c. 650 to 475 BCE.

Helmet

Cuirass

Ceremonial Axe Head

1965 Lotus 33 Climax

The 1965 Lotus 33 Climax won the constructor’s championship that year and Jim Clark won the driver’s championship in the car. The car was powered by a 1.5 Liter Coventry Climax V-8 engine. This model is dressed in the livery of Clark’s car in the British Grand Prix. 

Honda RA272

I’m having fun revisiting the 1965 Formula One season and learning about the details of the beautiful cars. This is a model of the Honda RA272 that won the Mexican Grand Prix that year. Driven by Richie Ginther, it was the first Japanese car to win a Formula One race. The car was powered by a 1.5 Liter, 60 degree V-12 engine.