Adrian C. Sinnott's Traveling Sketches

In the US, it’s mustache and the UK, moustache. It can also be used to describe just one half of the typical moustache. I was rereading an Agatha Christie Poirot mystery and Poirot mentions the “moustaches” meaning the complete hairy upper lip. Mine has never quite assumed the proportions of the fellow below. Good thing, too, or I’d find my face accidentally attached to the most recent part of the house or car I’ve been fixing.

I'm trying for the world's record but it has to grow another 11 feet.

Taking a page from the Muppets, we here at Barking Hollow Labs would like to submit, for your review, our proposal for the latest in electric personal transportation. Space-saving, equipped with all the amenities, and due to our own patent-pending design, range-limited only by your stamina.

Who needs a plug-in hybrid when you can have "PedalCharge!" All the advantages of a plug-in . . . without the long extension cords!

Ferrari has just announced it’s own hybrid. It’s green in more ways than one. The name is a bit lame (Hy-Kers, does this mean you have to drive wearing your Timberland boots?). Still it can do 0-60 m.p.h. in 3.5 seconds.

It's not for me, I only buy convertibles.

A friend from Australia sent me some photos of a “Bull Nose” Morris. Variations of this car were built from the Teens into the Twenties.  Most cars have a “face,” but this one would make a great character.

Excuse me, I'd prefer "ethyl."

Tetra-ethyl lead was added to fuel to increase it’s octane rating. It’s still used in aviation fuel for piston-engined aircraft.

The rumor mill has it that BMW might bring back it’s Isetta micro car as a challenger to the Smart brand. When I was a kid, this was about the cheapest “car” you could own. In Ireland, where the taxes on cars were very high, the three-wheeled version was licensed as a motorcycle which made it even more inexpensive to run. The local bank manager owned one. ISO (the original designer of the car, based in Spain), Velam (in France), Romi (in Brazil) all produced an Isetta. BMW bought the rights to produce it from ISO and then added their own BMW drivetrain from their motorcycle. Heinkel (these were even produced in Ireland for a short time) and Messerschmitt also produced tiny, motorcycled engined cars. The cars had only one door and it encompassed the entire front. The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum has the world’s largest collection of microcars and is based in Madison, Georgia.

Yeah, I know, but it gets 50 miles to the gallon without batteries.