The Weinermobile is a hot dog shaped car that has been around in the US since the late 1930’s. Developed as a promotional gimick for the Oscar Mayer sausage company. While there have been several variations of the weinermobile over the years, one thing always looks the same and that is the sausage on top of the car. The one pictured above from the 1950’s resides at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit and looks not much different to the fleet of 7 Weinermobiles doing the rounds of the US today. Every year the company recruits a new set of drivers known as “hotdoggers” to take the cars around the country to parades and events that helps promote the company.
Another funny video this week where someone took the phrase “The only way it would go faster is if it went backwards” literally. The guys in this footage seem to be having a bit of fun in their modified Fiat 126. It looks like they have somehow grafted a front wheel drive engine steering and suspension into the fiat in place of the standard Fiat rear engine. It sounds like a hell of a lot of work to pull off this effort but does make for some funny driving especially when the passenger is also steering the Fiat’s original front end (now back end). The film looks to be taken in Poland, so the Fiat 126 in question may actually be the Polski Fiat 126p built under licence by Poland’s FSM (Fabryka Samochodów Ma?olitra?owych). If you know any more about this car or know of any other cars with crazy mods drop us a line below.
The Tatra T603 was a Czech built car made by the 3rd oldest car maker in Europe. The T603 started life in 1956 and was built until 1975, it featured three headlights and a rear engined air cooled V8. With is rather odd styling the T603 was chosen to appear in the 2005 movie Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, raising the profile of a car that was once not well known outside communist European Countries. Almost entirely hand-built, Tatra’s were not for everybody; normal citizens could not buy them. They were reserved for Party elites, Communist officials, factory presidents and other notables, as well as being exported to most other Communist nations as official cars. Even Fidel Castro had a white Tatra T603.
After 1975 a more modern and conservative styled Tatra hit the market, known as the T613 it saw limited production and sales up until its face-lifted brother the T700 went out of production in 1999. Today the Tatra company is concentrating on truck production but company president has hinted at they are looking at the feasibility of launching a retro T603. Would you buy one? hit up our comment form below.
When designers come up with new car designs you would think they would go out to market research just to check that the public like it and then do a few tweaks. Even if they stuff up you would think management would say.. hey no one is going to like that and send them back to the drafting table, well what went on here? The AMC Pacer would have to be the ugliest car of all time, there isn’t a bit you could like. There have been several polls for the ugliest car over the year but the Pacer comes up tops most times, The AMC Gremlin (its sister) always ranks high, as does the Ford Pinto, The Chevy Aztek and the poor old Edsel from Ford. The Pacer was a two door compact produced between 1975 and 1980 it more resembled a jellybean on wheels than a car. You might remember the “Mirthmobile” in the Hit 90’s movie Wayne’s World and they had a stretched and convertible one in the sequel. The car also came in a station wagon form and with lovely wood panelling that was also just as hideous. The only thing I can’t understand with the whole Pacer story is AMC made 280,000 of them, who would have bought one?
If you have a Pacer and think we are being a bit unfair or have another ugly car to note drop us a line!
