Clipmarks | abramsv's 'vintage' clips

Craziest Military Vehicle Ever

Sat, 16 Dec 2006 06:14:08 GMT

clipped by: abramsv
clipper's remarks: So, what's the most unusual military vehicle you can think of? How about a moped armed with a 75mm cannon.

Clip Source: thrillingwonder.blogspot.com

Mystery Photo: One Seriously Empowered Motorcycle.

The Little (Vintage) Scooter That Could... Maybe

Any ideas what it is exactly? Can it fire??

UPDATE:

It's the work of the French Military!

"So, what's the most unusual military vehicle you can think of? Maybe the Japanese airplane-launching submarine of WW2? Or perhaps the Soviet attempts to build a flying tank? Or perhaps the 1000 ton rolling fortress the Germans tried to build in WW2? All quite odd, I agree, but barely made it past the drawing boards. For us, the oddest is a moped armed with a 75mm cannon.

After World War II, there was little money for defense spending while the nations of Europe rebuilt their industry and society. When there was some cash to spend, one had to be creative to stretch it as far as possible. The French probably accomplished the most astounding example of that with the ACMA Troupes Aeról Portées Mle. 56. Deployed with their airborne forces, this was essentially a militarized Vespa scooter outfitted with a 75mm recoilless rifle. Five parachutes would carry the two-man gun crew, weapon, ammunition, and two scooters safely to earth, and the men would load the weapon on one scooter and the ammo on the other, then ride away. More impressively, the recoilless rifle could be fired effectively on the move by the best of the gun crews. Total cost? About $500 for the scooter and the recoilless rifle was war surplus. Were they successful military machines? Well, the French Army deployed about 800 armed scooters in wars conducted in both Algeria and Indochina."

Apparently, recoil was not a problem whatsoever, and this little moped could (and did) wreak serious havoc.

Tags: military, motorcycle, weird, technology

Cutest Robots - not a toy!

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 06:43:50 GMT

clipped by: abramsv
clipper's remarks: Build your own retro-future, one rusty robot at a time

Clip Source: thrillingwonder.blogspot.com

Robots and Such

Build your own retro-future, one rusty robot at a time:

Cute Little Army of Robots

Bennett Robot Works are the "Original Art Robot Sculptures" (looking every bit like props from the "Robots" animated feature). They're made from "found objects": wood, metal, and various strange stuff found in the basement and at garage sales. There is an endless catalog of them on this site. Each robot is a miniature delight; and together they are as addictive, as an assortment of mini donuts.

If you read old newspapers, you'll see that robots were more well-behaved in the past: this one "STEAM-POWERED DREADNOUGHT CERBER" was even employed as a police enforcer in Victorian London: (more here)

Tags: technology, vintage

Transporting Unusual Loads

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 06:38:46 GMT

clipped by: abramsv
clipper's remarks: don't miss PART 2 on the website! - NASA Crawler and biggest on-highway track trains from South Africa

Clip Source: thrillingwonder.blogspot.com

The Ultimate Moving Experience, Part 1

Amazing Ways to Transport "Abnormal" (Oversize) Loads

MOVING LOCOMOTIVES:
(how they do it in EAST EUROPE)

What do you do when you need to transport a locomotive (or a vintage steam engine) over the usual highways to another city? Here is how they do it in the Eastern Europe (possibly Lithuania):

MOVING LOCOMOTIVES:
(how they do it in NORTH AMERICA)

MOVING PLANES:
"SPRUCE GOOSE" FLYING BOAT, 1947

When it comes to moving "the Biggest Float Plane in the world" and the one with the "Largest Wing-span", it certainly will provide some stunning visuals. These are some shots from 1947 showing how it was done. (you can watch the move in detail in "The Aviator" movie)

HOW THEY TRANSPORT FIGHTER JETS IN RUSSIA:

Tags: technology

Stalin's Personal Things

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 08:18:43 GMT

clipped by: abramsv
clipper's remarks: Only recently these objects became accessible for viewing, in the original locations (such as Stalin's summer "dacha"), unclassified by Russian officials, and displayed as a travelling exhibition. Here are some exhibits from that creepy "side-show"

Clip Source: thrillingwonder.blogspot.com

Stalin's Personal Possessions

Humankind's worst tyrant lived in self-imposed ascetism

You know who we're talking about: the meanest, most dangerous criminal that lived on the face of the Earth. The one who build a kingdom around himself and possessed almost unlimited power:

In his private life, however, he rarely used this power to get himself nicer things. His lifestyle was more of a soldier, of a man possessed... Except for a very few "special" things, which he cherished almost to the point of a fetish.

Only recently these objects became accessible for viewing, in the original locations (such as Stalin's summer "dacha"), unclassified by Russian officials, and displayed as a travelling exhibition. Here are some exhibits from that creepy "side-show":

Stationary set, given to him as a gift from "prosperous & content" workers.

Stalin's autograph, nemesis to the millions.

From the window of his Kremlin office he could gaze across the river to the monumental portrait of himself, hanging on the highest building:

Admiral's hat, the utmost military object-of-desire.

His private entertainment center (from the summer's cottage)

Military-grade Vodka flask

Stalin's car

Tags: vintage, history