The Alexandrian Taxi

Riding in a cab in Alexandria, is crazy! Cabbies don't drive in the lanes.


They prefer to make their own lanes.


The door locks don't necessarily work. On the other hand,


some cabbies call their taxis, their "second wife," donning them with what they consider sexy gadgets. This guy, had all sorts of insane horn sounds, a DVD player, CD player, a cassette player, four tachometers, numerous mirrors, a dash full of light machines, and two bobbing head dogs (okay, so there's lots of other shit in this car that VB can't explain.) Enlarge the photo to see how crazy this taxi actually is.


And there are those cabbies, who pretend their taxis are not what they are (Lada.)


But then, they're not the only ones.

Funkengroovin Wednesday - Another Street

Here's a street in Maadi Gedida. The pink Bug was spotted as we passed by, so we looped around to get a better shot. Out of the corner, across the street, VB noticed the blue Beetle. We returned two weeks later, to check out the progress, only to find both cars gone.

A pomegranate cart.

(Below 2 Photos): Pink Beetle shell near a repair shop.

(Below 2 Photos): Shiny blue Beetle at a repair shop.

(Below): The shiny blue Beetle's engine.

(Below): Brazilian?

(Below): Dash and steering wheel.

(Below 2 Photos): Front end and rear interior close up shots.

(Below): Up the street, a Bus.

(Below 2 Photos): Up on a parking area, near a U-Turn sits the apparent dumping spot, for cars with serious injuries. Makes you wonder how and if, the drivers and passengers survived.

NEWS:
(Go to the link for full articles and photos.)

(Australia - Next Two Items)
They’ve got the bug
"Quin Latimore in a quest to recruit members for their newly formed club."

Perfect Kombi nation

Build Your Own 1960 Beetle - With Legos
"This box of bits will only cost you $120 and a successful build is probably not above your skill level."

VW Design Chief: 2010 Volkswagen Beetle Will be "Less Toyish" and "More Mature"

Will The U.S. Get A Beetle-Based Pickup?

Is Volkswagen Violating The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act?
"My neighbor "Pam" recently lost her husband and was surprised to have someone call her up and ask for him. She asked who was calling. The representative was from VW Credit agency. They get to chatting and the rep asks if she knows two people from across the street and gives their names and house number. Pam is very social and say yes of course. The representative then asks if Pam could leave a note on the front door and on their VW Bug asking if the neighbors could please contact VW Credit agency. At this point Pam said "No thank you" and terminates the call."

VW sculpture going to Sparks
"The Bug that has sat on top of the former Reno fire station on Morrill Avenue since 1992 has found a new home on top of Scudders VW Performance Specialists, 630 Victorian Ave."

Jay Leno on Paul Newman
"Paul had some great cars but the one that made me smile was the VW Bug he had with a Porsche 911 engine in the back. It blew the doors off people at the lights and they could never work out why. It was much cooler than the Ferraris that other stars might have had."

Duo gives up stable jobs to go around the world in a VW bus

Magic Bus: Peter Townshend Gets a New-Generation Camper Van

Tooling around Utah parks in a VW camper van
"As Nathan Williams, co-owner of the rental company, demonstrated the van's features, I could see that a VW camper is like a Swiss army knife on wheels, with surprising conveniences tucked and folded into every nook. Fold the small table out of the way, pull out the backbench seat, and you've got a bed big enough to sleep two. (Admittedly, not the most comfortable of beds; it felt like a sofa-sleeper.)" "I discovered, to my disappointment, what the term "Weekender" means: This model lacks the built-in stove, sink and refrigerator common to classic VW campers. Instead, it has a tiny refrigerated drawer that was cold enough to keep yogurt and vegetables from going bad, but not to chill beer."

From the "Good Grief" Department:
Actor Claus Theo Gaertner's Wedding
"...The couple, who have found their 35-year age difference to be no hindrance to their six-year romance, arrived at their wedding venue in a vintage vehicle-- a VW bus...."

Morecambe and Wize - vintage VW camper van hire in the north of England

Study Says Closing Roads Might Cut Congestion. Huh?

A 100-Year-Old Dream: A Road Just for Cars
"The Long Island Motor Parkway, built 100 years ago by William Kissam Vanderbilt II, was one of the first roads built specifically for the automobile."

EGYPT:
Why are Egyptian cabbies driven to talk so much?
"Even casual travelers to Cairo soon learn one thing about the city: Egyptian taxi drivers delight in gabbing about politics, religion, the weather, their family, your family, their income, your salary — whatever — while you are captive in their cabs. Khaled Al Khamissi, an Egyptian author, recounts dozens of conversations he's had with chatty drivers in a book called "Taxi," a rolling portrait of contemporary Cairo. For him, cabbies are the city's town criers." "First published in Arabic last year and now available in English, "Taxi" reconstructs from memory 58 conversations Al Khamissi had with various drivers."

NEW TRAFFIC LAW IN EFFECT

Road Safety In Egypt Still At A Low Even After New Law Introduction
"Minibuses - which officials said transport about 2.7 million people each day - can be seen careering around the streets of Cairo with little respect for other cars and pedestrians and are the cause of a high number of collisions. Their low-paid drivers - immortalised in the hit 1996 movie Demons of Asphalt - are known to take drugs to stay awake on long shifts. "Taking the minibus is a daily adventure," said Amal Hamed, 25, who works in a clothes shop, as she waited for a minibus to take her home to the teeming neighbourhood of Shoubra. "When I arrive home safely, I pray to thank God I'm still alive."

Anyone remember seatbelts?
"A car with no licence plates is double parked, blocking the way for another parked car. The driver waits impatiently, asking the car attendant why he "allowed" it. Then he tries to push the car but fails because of the hand brakes. He resorts to using his horn, in the hope the driver will miraculously hear the noise and be reminded of his wrongly parked vehicle. Finally a man wearing a police uniform gets into the car without a glance and speedily drives off. The car attendant remains silent. He does not ask the policeman for the usual tips. The waiting man speaks only when the policeman has left. "So, the traffic law is really in force," he says to no one in particular."

Contemplating parking
"Cairo is a place of surprises. You go into the coffee shop to meet a friend, and by the time you come out the licence plate on the back of your car has disappeared. Not the licence, not the car – but the licence plate. What on earth could be more absurd?"

BAN ON COMMERCIAL USE OF GPS IN EGYPT HAS CONSUMERS FRUSTRATED
"Telecoms Law 10/2003 outlaws the import of GPS-equipped mobile phones, and retailers found selling them could lead to the confiscation of their entire stock. The same applies to any kind of commercial use of GPS technology, which includes cars equipped with GPS devices."

After VB's rant a few posts back, she decided to try to actually get her act together and add some news, as she did in the past. She figured she could go without mentioning politics, because she doesn't like to mix it with car talk, and prefers to just do a straight Funkengroovin post.
But, noooooo!
To quote Sopranos character Silvio (Little Stevie), who always quoted Michael Corleone in The Godfather: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in again."

Claudia Sternbach: BamaBus continues Santa Cruz girl's political journey
"Sisters Annie and Samantha Woods had to split up after their wildly successful trip to the Democratic National Convention in their Volvo Obama Mobile. Once back in Santa Cruz, it was time for Samantha to return to work, and the sticker-covered Volvo went along for the ride. Annie, a filmmaker, didn't feel ready to abandon the grand political adventure. So she and Gadi Rouachean, an artist friend from New York City, decided they would tackle traveling to every battleground state in the country. This time using a 1985 VW bus."
You can go to Obamamobile for lots more information, and a video where you can actually see the Bamabus.


BTW, have you checked out your 401k lately?
We did, "And I kissed America, when she was fleecing me..."
David Byrne - Miss America

Funkengroovin Wednesday - Terryville, CT Bug-A-Fair 3

News will be posted separately this week.

(Below): Tire on the front of a rusted out Bus.

(Below): The Dunne Buggy.



(Below): Double Trouble.

(Below): One of VB's favorite photos. She loves the patina, and the colors, and the fact that all these owners very artistically / strategically lined up their cars.

(Below): VB's new garden accessory (it would drive her "condo association" members crazy!)


(Below): VB likes this interior.



(Below) VB's 1987 Westfalia Weekender Edition.

Funkengroovin Wednesday - Two-tone Madness

Blog subject today: Two-toned bugs. They seem to be the new rage here, and VB keeps bumping into them, wherever she goes. Photos should be self explanatory.

Below: Maadi



Below: The Khan (Souk, Market, Bazaar)



Below: Car chase in Maadi


Below: Maadi







A Somewhat Perverse(?) Assortment of
NEWS:

VB says, "keep these creeps away from my baby!" ('65 VW Beetle Convertible)
VIDEO: Man Who Makes Love With Cars

Article from JAVNO:
"A man who claimed he had a sexual intercourse with over 1,000 automobiles, now defends his romantic feelings towards cars, the Telegraph reports.

Edward Smith, who lives with his current “girlfriend” – a white Volkswagen beetle he calls Vanilla – is persistent in his belief that he is not mentally sick, and he does not show any wish of changing his lifestyle."
There's more: Documentary Of The Week My Car Is My Lover Wednesday, 5, 10pm
"We also meet Jordan, a 20-year-old who lives nearly 2,000 miles away, in Missouri and also expresses his feelings through music.
Like Edward, he also caught the love bug when he fell for a classic VW Beetle."
And more: Man who's had sex with 1000 cars gives new meaning to auto-erotic, and more, The man who has sex with cars, and possibly the original article all others refer to: Man admits having sex with 1,000 cars, "My Car Is My Lover is on Five on Wednesday, May 28."

Sorry Beck's, but Saying 'Different by CHOICE!' Doesn't Make it So (Video and more information.)
"To draw attention away from its absence of a sound position in the beer market (unless "favorited beer of the band 'Black Label Society'" counts), Beck's tries wearing the message "Different by Choice."

This new spot -- produced by Anonymous for agency Lowe Worldwide & Partners -- compares the mediocre green beer to avant-garde painters, punk rockers and the VW bug, among other subversive cultural icons."


Two pals start their own ‘Meals On Wheels’
"...Jeff’s wife, Elizabeth, owned a ‘71 Volkswagen Super Beetle when they married in 1986. Jeff had told her he would restore the car. “Taking it apart is the easy part,” he says. “Getting it back to brand-new is the really long and hard and arduous part.” Over the years, there were a lot of distractions...."

"In 2004, Jeff, 53, bought a huge homemade grill — a converted 275-gallon recycled fuel oil tank — to indulge in one of his other passions: barbecuing. He was pondering how to move the grill when his eye landed on the new chassis he had bought for the Volkswagen. Once he had installed the grill in the Beetle shell, he had not only saved himself from “the humiliating defeat of junking the car I couldn’t finish,” he also had a proposal for a new business with a catchy name: Carbecue...." (More information at the link, but sadly, no photos.)

Vroom to spare
"TILTON – For hot rod and custom car enthusiasts, the sixth annual Laconia Custom Nationals, which has drawn more than 600 entries to Gunstock Ski Area in Gilford, is a chance to share their passion with like-minded people and swap shop notes on what's happening in their retro world."

"Moe Camire, 70, of Chelmsford, Mass., brought along a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle he spent hundreds of hours restoring over the past 15 years." (Photo and more info at the link.)

Volkswagen Cuts Karmann from 2010 Golf Convertible product

Plug 'er in and drive away
"FOR the sake of the environment Ric Smith is using his 20 years of mechanical experience to change his red VW into an electric car."

Volkswagen Bus; It was as loveable as it was slow and it set the tone for all the minivans that would follow
"Chrysler's minivan might have struck with more ferocity in 1984, but Volkswagen got the wheels rolling decades earlier and for different reasons." (Full article at the link.)

Business in Maidenhead, Connexions Berkshire
"Connexions Berkshire has recently taken delivery of its first branded vehicle, a mini replica of an original VW Camper. Based on the Subaru Samba, the van is branded in the Connexions colours and logo." (Photo at the link.)

Festivals and children – It doesn’t have to be torture
“Every year more and more people are taking our vans to festivals because they’re a really civilised way of coping where facilities are often pretty basic. Festival rentals have trebled since 2004 and Glastonbury weekend was fully booked six months ago, so it really has been a huge growth area for us.” (More info and a photo at the link.)


The music video is somewhat of a lucky find for VB, and coincidental at that. Last week VB, and The Boss Man, watched an excellent movie about the 1980's skinhead movement in the UK, This Is England. As VB was looking for an appropriate music video, she plugged in "two tone" for a search. She then came up with, among other things (like two-toned painted fingernails,) a music movement called 2 Tone, which became popular with UK skinheads during the 1980's.
From Wiki: "The music term 2 Tone was coined by Jerry Dammers of The Specials, who has said he came up with the idea because he liked the black-and-white check pattern on his scooter when he was a young mod.[citation needed]However, many people think the name refers to black-and-white outfits worn by rude boys and skinheads — and to unity between black people and whites."

Evolucion Reggae - 2Tone The Special & Madness

More Road Trips, Road Food, and TV coming (VB has been procrastinating.)

Funkengroovin Wednesday - Cartastrophy

Or When Bad Taste Interferes With The Best Of Intentions

How often have we all seen a car and asked WTF? Here are two examples of car pimping attempts gone awry. Next question (rhetorical): What were they thinking! (Click on the photos for enlarged and detailed views.)


Below- An old Mercedes. The closest auto VB could come up with is the Grosser Mercedes, which appears to be very similar except it has no split window. Maybe a Mercedes fan could help out here.


Below- VB is not sure if the window is original. The owner spoke no English but did indicate that he did not "chop-chop" / "bzzzzzz" (buzz saw) the top off.


Below - No Smoking (The Owner uses a rag as a gas cap.)


Below - The car looks great until you get a close up view of the wood trim - cringe! You see this wood trim on a lot of trucks around town, but on a Mercedes?



Below - A real chop job. This is a VW Type 3 Karmann that had the roof cut off. Go ahead and start screeching! Let's not even bother with the color theme - that's just over the top. Does it make you want to cry? Yeah. VB too.











NEWS:

Collectible Classic: 1966-1973 Volkswagen Squareback - (Lots of photos and more detail at the link.)
"OUR CHOICE
A '68 or later with fuel injection, but we'll forgo the automatic, thanks. Sahara beige or Indian red are the right colors, but for a custom touch, two-toning can be tastefully done."


The Beast of St. Patrick Revisited - Hoboken Parade Day Visitor's Guide
"Wow, is Hoboken so full of raging drunks that it needs to have it's own St. Patrick's Day?"

"There's actually a very sane and sober reason why Hoboken has chosen a date other than March 17 to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. In order to ensure the best bands and optimum turnout, forward-thinking Hobokenites decided against competing with the world-renowned Manhattan parade that takes place on the actual date of the Feast of St. Patrick. Should Hoboken choose to celebrate the event on that day, the Hoboken parade would be nothing but Mayor Roberts riding down the street in a green VW Beetle with the top down and a couple of drunks too wasted to find the PATH train. Various towns throughout New Jersey have taken similar measures, making Hoboken the kick-off for "St. Patrick's season," if you will. "


Sunny weekend brightens fast-food pit stop car show - (Read more and check out the photos at the link.)
"Nearby two Volkswagen Beetle lovers were busy answering questions about their vintage bugs.

Randy Resetar is a Phoenix transplant from Maryland, which, he said, he doesn't miss much except for its fresh seafood. His 1961 Beetle with rubber sunroof has been customized to the point that it can't be driven around except to shows. Its 2300-cc engine develops over 200 horsepower and requires special racing fuel."

Why I love: Beetle-based cars
Author discusses his "favorite Beetle spinoffs: The Bus, The Thing, Porsche 356, The Dune Buggy."

From PC World: Friday Roundup of Weird Stuff
"In my hippie days, the radical seventies, I owned a VW bus. At the start of a road trip, I'd wrap a hamburger in aluminum foil and throw it into the engine compartment. By noon, lunch would be ready. (I tossed wet sneakers there, too, but not while the burgers were cooking.)
Technology has made that technique obsolete; witness the "Exhaustburger Cooks While You Drive" device. (Sure it's probably Photoshopped, but I'll bet it'd work.)"

If that makes you salivate for more, then check out the following articles.
Ask Autoblog: How do you cook with your car engine?
About Cars; Slow Down, Roast's Ready
Meals on wheels
Cooking great meals with your car engine. The heat is on.
An Experiment with Cooking with your Car. "Save time and electricity by recycling some waste heat!"
A little road skill can feed the driver
How To Cook Food on Your Car Engine "As Demonstrated by Me and a Chicken Sausage"
Around Britain With A Paunch: Cooking On A Car Engine
Wikihow: How To Cook Food On Your Car's Engine
Eating, Drinking, Cooking and, Oh Yes, Driving, Too
And, if you have room for dessert: Car-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies, step by step
Lastly don't forget about the barefoot chef, and his advice on how to cook on your exhaust


The three videos VB wanted to post were "Embedding disabled by request".
VB's first pick was Kentucky Headhunters - It's Chitlin Time.
Just go to the link and enjoy.