Quick Search of DRB:
Lijit Search
drb rss about
suggest
advertise
subscribe
rss rss
rss
airplanes | animals | architecture | art | auto | boats | famous | cool ads | funny pics | food | futurism | gadgets | history | japan
military | music | nature | photo | russia | sci-fi | signs | space | sports | steampunk | technology | trains | travel | vintage | weird

Friday, March 23, 2007

Ghost Cars of the World


"QUANTUM SHOT" #144


Ghost Cars of Venezuela

Seeing these ghostly apparitions that still ply the highways and country roads of the (mostly) developing countries, makes us better appreciate what we have (even though we complain about high maintenance, repair and gas bills). The logistics required to make these cars marginally road-worthy boggle the mind. Driving them is similar to boarding abandoned roller-coaster, you never know if there is a crash waiting at the next turn.

Thanks to Tony Pearson, who sent in these photos, we now have a little better idea of what the driving in Venezuela looks like.

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

all-wheel steering
Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Taxis are not in any better shape:
Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Cuban Buses

Disregarding the condition of other cars in Cuba (almost all of them would throw US safety expert for a loop, and US vintage car collectors are amazed at how some ancient models still drive around), take a look at the public transit buses in Havana. Very strange.

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles
(image credit: Simon Ward)

More ghastly vehicles

Most are from the former communist countries (Borat-mobiles)
(images credit: email, originals unknown)











Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles





The last image is a common practice in India - this is how they drive vehicles from one factory to the other, half-built.

Aggressive ghosts:





Convertible "wishful thinking":


The utmost in "wishful thinking":
Travel, automobiles

but here is something that's even scarier than any old car road hazard:
Travel, automobiles

Vehicles in Iraq

...deserve their own category. Some of them refuse to die even after being "freshly squeezed" by your friendly neighborhood tank:

Travel, automobiles

Travel, automobiles

Permanent Link...
Category: Automobile,Travel
Related Posts: One Day in Life of a Russian Motorist, Scary Trucks

READ LATEST POSTS:


The Great Sperm Race: The Most Extreme Race on Earth

Scaling it up to the size of real human beings...

Biscotti Bits
Mixed Links & Images

Incl. "Fantastic Voyage: Mind-Boggling Medical Animation"

BEST OF THE YEAR
DRB Best of the Year: 2009

Articles to inspire and inform, plus fun!
COMMENTS:

SF ART & BOOK REVIEWS:
Don't miss: The Ultimate Guide to SF&F Writers!
Fiction Reviews: Alastair Reynolds "Chasm City"
Short Fiction Reviews: Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness" (with pics)
New Fiction Reviews: The Surreal Office

MORE RECENT POSTS:


Plane Obsessed: More Jet Hotels and Houses

Sweet dreams of blue skies guaranteed


Future Plate Tectonics

Earth's crust moves at a snail's pace... we hope


Hallucinatory Architecture of the Future

Love, Peace, and - Metropolis


Bad, Twisted & Bizarre Toys

Your kid may still like them, but...


Lots of Snow!

Snowed under in the most epic way


Retro Future: To The Stars! - Part 3

Rare, gorgeous futuristic space art from unlikely sources


Weird Festivals & Strange Celebrations

Some just a bit bonkers, some totally nuts


Funny Money: Unusual and Fascinating Currency

Works of art, works of forgery and... hyperinflation


Smile! You're in Politics (Funny Pics, Part 4)

Fighting... Sleeping... Negotiating...


Female Androids' Shapes & Anatomy

Alluring steel-plated companions


Hi-Tech & Low-Tech Bicycle Madness

Including bicycle parking trees and a wild sky lane


Praise to a Common Duck: Airborne Super Creatures

At a cruising altitude of a jet, in a deadly cold and no air...


10 Possible Sources of "Avatar" in Classic Science Fiction

Going beyond the obvious "Dances with..."


Mysterious Non-Egyptians Pyramids

James Gaussman and the Jewelled Pyramid of China


The Eccentric Brilliance of Stan Mott

The craziest vehicle ideas you ever likely to see


When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs

Super Crocs, Boar Crocs, Pancake Crocs...


The Art of Science, the Science of Art

Recreating nature in glass... and more


The Extraordinary World of Ex Libris Art

Mythic, bizarre, fantastic


Outrageously Creative Ads, Issue 12

Unexpected Weirdness & Visual Candy

FULL ARCHIVES (with previews, fast loading):

October-November 2009 -- September 2009 -- August 2009 --
June-July 2009 -- May 2009 -- April 2009 -- March 2009 --
February 2009 -- January 2009 -- December 2008 --
November 2008 -- October 2008 -- September 2008
August 2008 -- July 2008 -- June 2008
May 2008 -- April 2008 -- March 2008
February 2008 -- January 2008 -- Dec, 2007
November 2007 -- October 2007 -- Sept, 2007
August 2007 -- July 2007 -- June 2007
May 2007 -- April 2007 -- March 2007
February 2007 -- January 2007 -- Dec, 2006
November 2006 -- October 2006 -- Link Lattes

CATEGORIES:
airplanes | animals | architecture | art | auto | boats | books | cool ads | funny pics | famous | futurism | food
gadgets | health | history | humour | japan | internet | link latte | military | music | nature | photo | russia | steampunk
sci-fi & fantasy | signs | space | sports | technology | trains | travel | vintage | weird


Discretion Advised! These cartoons contain some extreme animated violence!






Airplanes
Animals
Architecture
Art
Auto
Boats
Computers
Cool Ads
Extreme Weather
Food
Funny Pics
Futurism
Gadgets
History
Humour
Link Latte
Military
Music
Nature
Oops Accidents
Photography
Robots
Science
Science Fiction

Space
Sports
Technology
Trains
Travel
UE Abandoned
Vintage
Weird



Advertise here for your next book promotion!


Avi Abrams
Rachel Abrams
M. Christian
James Golbey
Simon Rose
Paul Schilperoord
Scott Seegert
Constantine vonHoffman
Steve Levenstein

- Join Our Team -
Guidelines






  • Sorry to disappoint you, but the dragonfly is more akin to an rc airplane or car than a robot. It's also available at your local Radio Shack for USD 50.00
    Read more

  • Somebody seriously needs to develop a robotic honeybee since the real ones are disappearing... and what will pollinate the fruit trees (and bazillions of other things) if they're gone?
    Read more

  • Trully Amazing!
    Read more

  • This pictures are great. the bugs are great :)
    Read more

  • Aren't these massive wiring bad for your health?
    Read more

  • I have worked at many radio stations over the years. Some of these pictures are TAME compared to the nest of wiring I've seen. One engineer even said that it was easier to run a new wire than to trace the one that needed replacing.
    Read more

  • Hey John, take the picture of your wiring nightmares and send them over to us!
    Read more

  • ужас! кошмар электрика...
    Read more

  • The Cray is NOT a bad job. Part of the PM on a Cray, and any other Supercomputer that I have worked on has been to measure the impedance of the wire and trim until it is within spec. The wires have to look like this because it would be insane to lace them have to unlace them all trim them and relace them all.
    Read more

  • The MD-80 is actually not a bad job, neither is the cray 1 (if that is what those bins of what looks to be 24 gauge wire is for). In both cases, it's just a lot of wire, at least it's not being stretched and thrown around in a mess. It's all orderly and bundled
    Read more

  • никогда не видел столько проводов
    Read more

  • it's not Russian, but Belarusian. You wrote it yourselves - Minsk, Belarus
    Read more

  • MZKT stands for Minski Zavod Kolesnyh Tjagachej or Minsk Plant of Wheeled Trailors.

    It is in Minsk, Belarus.

    So the trucks are Belarusian .They are used by Russians though.
    Read more

  • "MAZ 543 with "Grad" missiles"

    It is "Smerch" (Tornado), not "Grad".

    Anonymous said...

    it's not Russian, but Belarusian. You wrote it yourselves - Minsk, Belarus

    It's Russian just by one, but the main reason - it was invented in Belorussia in the time when it was a part of Russia.
    Read more

  • @casus belli please avoid making Russian what is well-known to be Soviet - Victory Day on 9th of May is USSR achievement, not RSFSR one; strategic armed forces were done in Soviet time (not Russian); etc etc etc. And if you take it for granted - even "modern" Topol missile system were designed and launched in production (and then suspended in early 90s). In other words, current Russian system can not do anything apart feeding huge bureaucracy machine and filling up oligarch's pockets ;)
    Read more

  • The Rubezh" MAZ-543M to which you refer is an anti-ship cruise missile launcher of the CSSC family of missiles (Silkworms, Seersuckers, etc...NATO designations).
    Read more

  • Euthanasia machine?
    Read more

  • The back of the first machine reminds me of a USB connector.
    Read more

  • It's a USB hub which for no good reason has a big red button - it has been on Gizmodo but I can't be faffed to find the link...
    Read more

  • http://www.productdose.com/article.php?article_id=5085

    Despite the skull and crossbones that cover the bright red button at the center of this Self Desctruction USB Hub and give it the aura of impending doom if you get anywhere near that button, the device is actually just a four-port USB hub. But in those moments in front of your computer when you lose a ton of work, get fired via email, or slow processing simply breaks the camel's back, sometimes a resource for even merely mimicking your own self-destruction can provide relief. You'll be happy when you wake up the next morning that it wasn't real.
    Read more

  • It may be a USB hub, but it is very similar to the controller for a 100 ton sheet-metal press at a factory I worked at back around 1987.
    Read more

  • Looks like I'm not the only one with human like USB stick cozy design:

    http://farm1.static.flickr.com/53/148857173_11c09f04cb_m.jpg

    http://farm1.static.flickr.com/54/148857172_5dd321c7ea_m.jpg
    Read more

  • I think hydroflame was adorable.
    Read more

  • WHAT A GREAT SERIES! Thank you for the inspiration! If I don't get my garden work done, it is the fault of the friend who sent me the link to this great article!
    Read more

  • Great post, but I don't think that Leninism is the reason that Moscow never got jet-powered ice-sleds.

    BTW, how about tagging the Flickr set as Public Domain or CC instead of "All Rights Reserved"? These images are in the public domain, after all.

    Cory
    Read more

  • YeaH Duuudz,

    Like don't diss Marxism Leninism! Soviet Union, China, Cuba, North Korea, Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao, Chauchesku... That was just a fluke. Just because Marxism has turned every country it touches into a poverty stricken facist hell-hole, doesn't mean there is anything wrong with Marxism or Leninism! Marxism failed because the people in those countries where inherently inferior and evil - Why if good white upper middle class bay-area hipsters like Cory Doctorow were leading the revolution, it would be nothing but kittens and cupcakes for everyone! After all, Cory is so much cooler than a bunch of dirty and ignorant cossacks.
    Read more

  • Insightful and profoundly witty though Anonymous' critique may be, it misses doctorow's point. There may well be very good reasons for criticizing communism, but jet-powered ice-sleds isn't one of them.

    These are great pictures, and thanks for posting them. But I've got to agree with doctorow, the commmunism crack is silly, particularly since it was only thanks to the revolution that backward, monarchist, agricultural Russia left the dark ages and actually became industrialized.
    Read more

  • This is what they were planning instead...I particularly like the deranged "palace of soviets" designs.

    Anyway, they did get jet powered ice sleds. Or close enough.
    Read more

  • Unrealized Moscow & sleds: Awesome links! Thank you
    Read more

  • I'm with the first anonymous poster- clearly Lenin was responsible for the failure to realize futurist visions not only in Russia, but in every other country in the world. I think he must have used commie magic, or something.
    Seriously though, obviously this vision of the future never came to pass because it's _completely absurd_. Those sleds are hard to make out, but aren't those propellers in front? They appear to float in mid-air, unconnected to the vehicle. It'd be great to have the streets filled with those- one could imagine the carnage if they crashed into anything.
    Read more

  • If you take into account Cory's aberrant post about Allende's "internet", you'll realize that even tho he hates "Big Brother", he thinks that it would be really cool if a communist had succeeded to create the tools used to supervise the unwashed masses. As a Chilean I feel insulted.

    And tho obviously this vision of the future never came to pass because it's completely absurd, the reason they never got to try and attempt to develop that technology (and learn from those mistakes), has a lot to do with their social collapse.
    Read more


Send us your topic ideas, site suggestions, rants or sweet unpublished poetry. We love to hear from you.



Misc.:
Compare Prices
Samsung LED TV