RE: Pic Of The Week: 50s throwbacks

RE: Pic Of The Week: 50s throwbacks

Friday 7th December 2012

Pic Of The Week: 50s throwbacks

Iron Curtain runabouts for fighter jocks on air and autobahn alike in this week's POTW



They don't do press pics like this any more, that's for sure... Researching some pics for his rant about engines earlier in the week Dan unearthed this glorious slice of 50s propaganda from the Mercedes picture archive. It certainly paints a lively picture of life in Cold War Germany as a pair of American fighter jocks do the classic 'point over there at something' male model pose aboard an F-86 Sabre Dog while a 300SL Roadster awaits for some flat out autobahn action beside.

50s tech at its finest on land and air
50s tech at its finest on land and air
Life peering over the Iron Curtain probably wasn't always so jolly but we can live the dream, while perhaps skirting over the fact the direct-injection technology that made the 300SL so notable (and its engine so mighty) had in fact been perfected by Daimler-Benz just a few years before for use in Messerschmitt 109s, gifting German pilots a get out of jail free card against carburettor-fed Spitfires and Hurricanes. Fuel injection meant the 109 could dive away, fuel supply unaffected by negative G, while British pilots would have to half roll to follow, losing precious seconds in the process. Disadvantaged or not, the Merlin gatecrashed the thread following Dan's blog about engines as one of the most emotive sounding motors ever so national pride and nostalgia prevail there too.

We digress.

The pic is cheesy as hell but since when has that been a reason not to.

Traditional (4:3)
Computer widescreen (16:10)
TV widescreen (16:9)
Portrait (smartphone, etc)

Author
Discussion

Oddball RS

Original Poster:

1,757 posts

217 months

Friday 7th December 2012
quotequote all
TBH its one of the more interesting pictures on here, rather this than a car covered it masking tape for a fake 'reveal'

jimmy the hat

429 posts

146 months

Friday 7th December 2012
quotequote all
The 300SL is without doubt one of the best-looking cars ever made. Not too sure about the orange wheels but, much like Megan Fox's allegedly manky hands, I think I could learn to live with them.

Cheers, Jim

PS 350SL is no minger either.

P-Jay

10,551 posts

190 months

Friday 7th December 2012
quotequote all
First recorded use of the infamous 'catalogue pose'?

another 3 points

936 posts

196 months

Friday 7th December 2012
quotequote all
Still got a F86 at Duxford, wonder if they'd let me reproduce the shot using my VX? ...OKay...Okay.. I'll ge my coat.

Seriously though, if you're lucky and you get the chance to see the F86 flown you'r in for a threat, and the engine is fantastic to listen to aswell.
Good on Duxford for keeping it and many other aircraft flying.

garypotter

1,483 posts

149 months

Friday 7th December 2012
quotequote all
Stunner of a car, I saw one on the M25 a few months ago the same weekend as the Goodwood rival (putting 2 & 2 together) absolute stunner but my 2 daughters could not see the attraction....

So sad for them.

irocfan

40,152 posts

189 months

Friday 7th December 2012
quotequote all
great pic

RacingBlue

1,394 posts

163 months

Friday 7th December 2012
quotequote all
Yep, I'll be using that as my wallpaper thumbup

Timmay0

425 posts

194 months

Friday 7th December 2012
quotequote all
Fantastic picture, it would be nice to see some more retro photos in future weeks (maybe some group B insanity?)

bigblock

772 posts

197 months

Friday 7th December 2012
quotequote all
The headline 'Iron curtain runabouts' is surely more applicable to cars of the eastern bloc rather than cars of the west. Then again a photo of a couple of GDR pilots on top of a Trabant would not be as glamorous.

f328nvl

507 posts

217 months

Saturday 8th December 2012
quotequote all
You can buy an F86 for $20k, but a 300SL convertible will cost you about £3-400k. No idea what running cost comparison is, and no I guess you can't use an F86 as a daily driver, so you'd need another vehicle too.


http://www.military-heat.com/27/military-jets-sale...

Dr Interceptor

7,743 posts

195 months

Saturday 8th December 2012
quotequote all
Interesting point on the carb fed Merlin engines - being a Farnborough lad born and bred we have a lovely bit of history in allowing those engines to perform negative G manoeuvres.

If you've been to Farnborough recently, we have a Weatherspoons - The Tilly Shilling - named after Beatrice Shilling, a female engineer from back in the day... she raced motorcycles, and was by all accounts a proper tom boy. During the war, she developed a small diaphragm which was seated inside the Merlin carburettor, which permitted the Spitfire to perform very brief negative G action without the engine cutting out... The pilots nicknamed the diaphragm 'Tillys Orifice'.

If you go into the Weatherspoons, in the back left hand corner (near the Gents), there's a one off locally commissioned painting featuring Beatrice Shilling sat on her motorbike, parked in front of the Clockhouse Tower in Farnborough, with a Spitfire flying overhead.

But yes, cracking photo that is.


timewatch

881 posts

193 months

Saturday 8th December 2012
quotequote all
Oddball RS said:
TBH its one of the more interesting pictures on here, rather this than a car covered it masking tape for a fake 'reveal'
Yes I agree, great photo!

TW>>>

Housey

2,076 posts

226 months

Saturday 8th December 2012
quotequote all
JAM35F said:
It's an F-86D Super Sabre (nicknamed the sabre dog), not an F-86. Only one letter difference but very different aircraft technically.
F-86D Sabre, not a Super Sabre to be even more correct wink

Madmatt74

273 posts

156 months

Saturday 8th December 2012
quotequote all
Id like to know what their looking at thats better than a shinny plane and an SL? biggrin

Numeric

1,393 posts

150 months

Saturday 8th December 2012
quotequote all
Never realised this model of Sabre existed - I thought they went straight to F100 Super Sabre while I guess this is the all weather version of the Sabre? That and the Merc - happy but slightly dangerous days? (both safety and armageddon)

FestivAli

1,085 posts

237 months

Sunday 9th December 2012
quotequote all
For balance, can anyone on PH remember the Trabant brochure with the Mig-17?

(given the Sabre has the nose radar it's therefor a later model and hence a 15 would be too early... I'll get my coat)

marmitemania

1,566 posts

141 months

Sunday 9th December 2012
quotequote all
An English electric lightning and an Aston DB5 would also be a cool pick, naturally the gents in the pic would have the requisite mustache and possibly a pipe for good measure.

Dan Trent

1,866 posts

167 months

Sunday 9th December 2012
quotequote all
Dr Interceptor said:
Interesting point on the carb fed Merlin engines - being a Farnborough lad born and bred we have a lovely bit of history in allowing those engines to perform negative G manoeuvres.
Top stuff, thanks for sharing that!

Dan

Fury1630

393 posts

226 months

Monday 10th December 2012
quotequote all
Here's a couple I made earlier




Edited by Fury1630 on Monday 10th December 13:54

LuS1fer

41,082 posts

244 months

Monday 10th December 2012
quotequote all
So many Mustang/Mustang shots...