Friday, November 9, 2007

First Yamaha Motorcycle 1955

The Yamaha YA-1 was the first Yamaha Motorcycle model ever produced. The 125cc, single cylinder, 2-stroke, street bike had unique features including a cantilever seat, a plunger rear suspension system and a glove compartment in the fuel tank area.

In 1955 when Yamaha developed its first motorcycle, the Yamaha YA-1, there were about 150 motorcycle makers struggling to compete in Japan's young motorcycle industry, and Yamaha Motors was the last company to enter the fray. At this time, the company had 274 employees working in two single-story wooden buildings that served as factories where they produced about 200 motorcycles a month.

Friday, September 21, 2007

VIRGINIA - Fred's Car Museum

Fred's Car Museum
Highway 24 East
Appomattox, VA 24522
(434) 352-0606
Features: More than 65 classic and antique automobiles made from 1906 to 1980 are on display under one roof.

Jumbo Antique Fire Engine Museum
500 North Augusta Street
Staunton, VA 24401
(540) 332-3886
Features: This facility is home to the last remaining 1911 Robinson Chemical Fire Engine. The museum, founded in 1982, houses a collection of fire service items, some from the Civil War era.

Luray Caverns Car & Carriage Caravan Museum
970 U.S. Highway 211 West
Luray, VA
(540) 743-6551
Features: The museum is an exhibit of milestones in transportation, including authentically restored cars, carriages, coaches and costumes, dating from 1725 to 1941. The centerpiece of the collection is the 1892 Benz, one of the oldest cars in the country still in operating condition. Other highlights include a Conestoga Wagon, a 1908 Baker Electric, a 1913 Stanley Steamer, and Rudolph Valentino's 1925 Rolls Royce.

Morgan-McClure Motorsports Museum
26502 Newbanks Road
Abingdon, VA 24210
(276)628-3683
Features: Exhibits include the 1994 and 1995 Daytona 500 winners, as well as numerous other racing related exhibits. Features at the Museum include the Morgan-McClure Motorsports Race Team from the early years to the present. Other exhibits include a pictorial history of past drivers; past and present uniform display and pit equipment display.

Roaring Twenties Antique Car Museum
Route 1, Box 576
Hood, VA 22723
(703) 948-6290
Features: Displays cover cars manufactured from 1900 to 1935, and include most major American marques as well as some seldom-seen ones such as the '52 Henry J seen here. Facility also is an antiques center.

Wood Brothers Racing Museum Shop
21 Performance Drive
Stuart, VA 24171
(276) 694-2121
Features: This Patrick County is dedicated to one of the most successful racing teams in NASCAR history, located 30 minutes from Martinsville Speedway. Wood Brothers Racing is one of the oldest continuously operating teams in NASCAR.

Monday, September 3, 2007

NEVADA - Imperial Auto Collections








Imperial Auto Collections
Imperial Palace
Las Vegas, NV
(702) 794-3174
Features: More than 250 cars are displayed in the 125,000 square foot showroom. Among some of the models on display: Elvis Presley's 1929 Duesenberg J Derham Phaeton, Marilyn Monroe's 1959 Cadillac Fleetwood, and such rarities as a 1933 Pierce Arrow Silver Arrow and a 1961 Aston Martin DB4/GT Zagato valued in excess of $3 million.

Don Laughlin's Classic Car Collection
Riverside Resort & Casino
500 South Casino Drive
Laughlin, NV
(702) 298-2622
Features: This free-admission collection includes a changing array of rare and unusual vehicles, from limos once owned by notorious historic figures, to movie cars, to the battered motorcycle Steve McQueen rode to get away from it all.

National Auto Museum
10 South Lake Street
Reno, NV 89501-1558
(775) 333-9300
Features: This is the famous Harrah Collection, which includes period street settings and clothing to enhance the classic auto displays. In addition to a large number of classic cars, there also are numerous celebrity-owned models (such as James Dean's 1949 Mercury Series 9CM 6-passenger coupe seen here) and vehicles featured in various films.

Nevada Vintage Race Car Museum
250 SunPac Avenue
Henderson, NV 89015
Features: The museum contains vintage races cars from different eras and includes sprint cars, midgets, Indy Race League (IRL) cars and engines, as well as aircraft models depicting various eras in aviation history. It also has an extensive gallery of motor sports and aviation photos, artifacts, trophies and memorabilia.

Carroll Shelby Museum
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas, NV
Features: This facility, located at the entrance to the speedway, honors the racing legend who set record as a driver, owner and race car developer. Shelby set land speed records in 1954 at Bonneville, won the 24-hour Le Mans in 1959, created the legendary Shelby Cobra, and then, in 1991 after heart transplant surgery, created the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation dedicated to providing assistance for acute coronary and kidney care for children in need.

Sunbelt Classic & Antique Automobile Museum
Bruce Street & Washington Avenue
Las Vegas, NV
Features: An esoteric collection of such unusual display models as Frazer, Willys, Jeep, LaSalle, Hudson, Crosley, Dual Ghia (seen here) and other models along with the usual Ford, Chevy, Chrysler and other familiar makers' works.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

NEBRASKA - Harold Warp's Pioneer Village



Chevyland USA
Exit 257 of I-80
Elm Creek, NE
(308) 856-4208
Features: More than 100 Chevrolets, all erstored or in original condition, are shown in this collection located about 10 minutes west of Kearney.

Harold Warp's Pioneer Village
138 East Highway 6
Minden, NE
(308) 832-1181
Features: This is a collection of 25 buildings offering everything from a money wrench exhibit to "the world's second oldest Buick," the world's largest collection of restored farm tractors, several hundred autos and other memorabilia.

Sawyer's Sandhills Museum
440 Valentine Street
Valentine, NE 69201
(402)376-3293
Features: (No Web site.) Exhibits include a 1907 Cadillac roadster, 1911 Austro-Daimler, 1909 Buick, 1909 Flanders and 1916 Paterson touring car.

Stuhr Museum
3133 West Highway 34
Grand Island, NE 68801
(308) 385-5316
Features: This complex is called "The Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer" and covers many aspects of prairie life. The 200-piece Antique Auto and Farm Machinery exhibit includes an 1880 threshing machine, early steam engines, tractors, and numerous examples of horse-drawn and tractor-drawn farm implements, hay rakes, cultivators, plows, potato planters, and more. It also includes 15 antique automobiles, including buggies, a 1909 Model T, a 1913 Overland and a 1903 American.

Monday, May 21, 2007

WASHINGTON - LeMay Collection

LeMay Collection
Tacoma Dome
Tacoma, WA
Features: This new museum is scheduled to open in 2007 adjacent to the Tacoma Dome, housing more than 3,000 vehicles. That would make it the world's largest auto collection, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Famed auto collector Harold E. LeMay put the collection together. It will be displayed in a 750,000 square foot building, on a 9-acre property, the total cost of which is estimated at $100 million. It will feature a spiral track in the soaring Great Hall, to display 150 cars at a time with the rest stored in facilities below grade.

Lynden Pioneer Museum
217 Front Street
Lynden, WA
(360) 354-3675
Features: The museum includes a life-size replica of Lynden's historic downtown circa 1900 and more than 60 vintage buggies, cars and tractors.

Saturday, February 3, 2007

NORTH CAROLINA - Backing Up Classics Auto Museum







Backing Up Classics Auto Museum
Next to Lowe's Motor Speedway
4545 Highway 29
Concord, NC
(704) 788-9500

Estes-Winn Antique Auto Museum
111 Grovewood Road
Asheville, NC 28804
(828) 253-7651
Features: The museum, founded in 1965, is housed in the historic Biltmore Industries weaving shop. Cars on display range from a 1913 Ford Model-T to a 1928 Chandler to a 1955 Austin FX3 London cab. Also on display is a variety of horse-drawn vehicles.

C. Grier Beam's Truck Museum
111 North Mountain Street
Cherryville, NC
(704) 435-3072
Features: Founded in 1982 by the Carolina Freight Carriers Corp. as part of its 50th anniversary celebration in the original gas station where the company began. More than 7,500 square feet of vintage trucking memorabilia from the past seven decades.

Museum of Automobile History
P.O. Box 427
Lowell, NC 28098
Features: A huge collection of auto memorabilia -- records, films, posters, literature, scale models, period costumes and tools.

North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame
119 Knob Hill Road, Lakeside Park
Mooresville, NC
(704) 663-5331
Features: Besides the hall of fame section, the museum area -- dedicated to all types of racing -- features more than 35 race cars. Great moments in racing's are shown in movies in the Goodyear Mini-Theater.

North Carolina Transportation Museum
411 S. Salisbury Avenue
Spencer, NC 28159
(704) 636-2889
Features: The museum is located on the site of what was once Southern Railway Company's largest steam locomotive repair facility. It features an authentic train depot, antique automobiles, and a 37-bay roundhouse that includes 25 locomotives, dozens of rail cars and other exhibit areas. The museum offers seasonal train rides.

Wheels Through Time All-American Transportation Museum
Maggie Valley, NC
(828) 926-6266
Features: This huge 250-item collection of vintage motorcycles and cars includes such seldom-seen marques as a 1932 Clobes and a 1915 Locomobile.

Winston Cup Museum
1355 North Martin Luther King Jr. Drive
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(336) 724-4557
Features: The history of the Winston Cup Series is chronicled in this collection of cars, driver uniforms, trophies and photos.

Friday, January 5, 2007

Buy A Car With Bad Credit - When Is The Right Time To Purchase A Car?

Buy A Car With Bad Credit - When Is The Right Time To Purchase A Car?
If you are thinking about purchasing a new car with bad credit, timing is important. Sadly, millions of people are living with bad credit. Unfortunately, it takes time to improve or boost credit rating. Still, if you need to buy a new car, there are options. Before buying a car, carefully consider whether now is the right time.

Can You Buy a Car with Bad Credit?

Buying a new or used car with bad credit is very possible. Of course, there are some disadvantages. Because of a bad credit rating, many lenders consider bad credit applicants a huge risk. Thus, they are likely to increase the interest rate on the auto loan. This way, if and when a loan defaults, the auto lender is able to recover some of their money. Furthermore, some dealership will not approve a bad credit loan application unless there is a co-signer or down payment.

When is Buying a Car with Bad Credit a Good Idea?

If you are hoping to quickly improve your credit score, buying a car with bad credit is a wise move. Rebuilding or re-establishing credit is challenging. However, if you obtain an auto loan, and make regular payments, your credit will improve in as little as six months. Increasing your credit score opens the door for lower rates on future auto loans and credit account.

Because bad credit auto loans have higher interest rates, you must be in a position to afford higher monthly payments. If possible, finance a low amount. You may choose to buy an inexpensive car, or purchase the car with a sizeable down payment.

Purchasing a New Automobile after Bankruptcy or Repossession

If you experienced a recent bankruptcy or repossession, consider postponing buying a new car. A bankruptcy or repossession is extremely damaging. Hence, if financing a new vehicle, you may obtain an interest rate 18% or higher.

To avoid excessively high rates, consider rebuilding your credit first. You may apply for an unsecured credit card or store credit card. After 12 months of timely payments, your credit score will have likely improved. Make a habit of reviewing your personal credit report. Once your credit score has improved, now is the time to finance a new vehicle.