Top 5 Cars that are Perfect for Modification

My Brother Preston with the 1969 Porsche 911E

Here is one of the special cars my father owned.  It had been modified for street use, because the motor was made for a race car owned by his cousin Bill Stroh.  Below I've posted an article about 5 cars that can me modified to add horsepower. Thought you'd enjoy the ride.            

http://www.maybellinebook.com/2011/11/william-preston-williams-lll-remembers.html  Read more

All of the pistons and rings were forged by hand out of aluminum, as well as many other parts to be extra light weight, everything about this motor was designed for ultimate performance and many races. this was no ordinary car" 

When my father bought the car it had to be tuned down a bit, to make it safe for the road.  The car had a specialized breaking system to support the high speeds.  The suspension was modified as well all to make it fast and safe.  Best of all it looked original. 


Top 5 Cars that are Perfect for Modification

Not so long ago, 0-60 times in the sub 6-second region were surely the domain of supercars that came with a hyper-costly price tag. These days, you can get a sub $30k sedan that will do that. It’s likely this kind of performance is not quite enough for you though, so we’ve put together a list that comprises the 10 best everyday automobiles that are easy to modify and by doing so, they can be metamorphosed into dream cars.

These cars are popular and they are popular for very good reason. They’re all solid performers and they witness a huge amount of aftermarket support, too. And there’s another good thing – even if speed isn’t so much your thing, there are tons of dress-up items in the shops for them as well.

 

5. Dodge’s Caliber SRT-4

It may not be quite the heart flutterer that its predecessor was, but with its bargain-basement cost and its 300 horsepower, turbocharged engine, it’s certainly a worthy contender on this list.This represents a Gen-Y muscle car, and comes with an obscenely powerful engine, a budget chassis, and a 0-60 time which only a rocket from an RPG can match. Modification: The Caliber SRT-4 most certainly could use a limited slip differential. The 300 horsepower engine whacks all its power to the front wheels, and these front wheels fully determine in which direction the car will go.

 

4. Subaru WRX

There’s really nothing not to like about a turbocharged sedan that’s rally-bred and comes with a 0-60 time that’s sub 6-seconds. Yet, the car has room for five.

Although. when it first hit the scene back in 2000, the face was not at all attractive, but very rapidly it became established as the rally driver’s go-to-ride, which of course appeals to the lads who love to go fast. Modification: The 2009 version of the WRX has 41 horsepower more than its otherwise identical predecessor. With the older ’08 model, a first step is to tune the ROM, together with the turbo-back exhaust. Those with the newer and slightly more powerful WRX, might wish to stiffen the chassis with a solid set of coilovers.

 

3. Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart

The Lancer Evolution, Mitsubishis’ latest offering, is bigger in power, size, capability, refinement, and also on price. It would be nice to save on a bit of cash and get the Evo IX MR, but the problem is the honing damage can be rather frightening. Thus, it’s wise to plump with the latest Lancer Ralliart.

It’s got the same drivetrain as the Evo X minus a differential, same engine, minus 54 horsepower, and it’s got paddle-shift dual clutch transmission, but here, it’s minus the S-Sport mode. On the racetrack, the Evo X would greatly outperform the Ralliart, but on the street, both vehicles feel very alike.

The Ralliart is a super car at a super price, and an intelligent Ralliart owner can happily invest in the lighter Evo X parts to make their alterations. Modification: It’s a very balanced car, is the Lancer Ralliart, and perhaps it’s unwise to carry out any modification that may impact this balance. However, tuners such as GST and AMS are enjoying horsepower gains of over 30 horsepower with nothing other than a ROM tune. Thus, it’s sensible to begin there.

 

2. Volkswagen GTi

Still one of the very best, it’s the original hot hatch. The sport-tuned Golf has experienced an extremely loyal following for the past number of decades, and the auto’s popularity is as strong now as it ever was. The GTi in North America is not quite the newest, but it still has the 200 horsepower, 2.0-liter turbocharged four.  Modification: The current GTi, just like its predecessors, responds particularly positively to an ECU tune. It’s a simplistic and cheap modification, while the dynamo charts demonstrate that the upgrade provides huge horsepower as well as torque gains through the rev band.

 

1. Honda Civic Si

With the new Civic Si’s 197 horsepower, 2.0-liter engine, it’s the most energetic Civic to have been sold in the U.S. Further, it comes with one of the top 6-speed manual transmissions around, a very nicely balanced chassis, and an LSD option. Modification: It’s going to be a costly business to get any more power out of the naturally-aspirated K20.

So, get rid of the stock headlights and instead swap them for HID Kits and LED headlights from someplace like XenonHIDs.com. Next, get some stickier tires and you’ll very likely love the look and the performance.

Happy Birthday to my Sister, Billee Bee, 60 is the new 30

 

Be sure to visit Billee Bee's Video-Blog, Meandering with Billee. She documented her 59th year.

 

 Billee Bee actually looks closer to 30 than 60.

 

 No real fur for Billee Bee.  She's an animal rights advocate

Billee and Al Jarreau....McCallum Concert...backstage!  1st 60th Birthday Week-end celebration!

Visit Billee Bee's Meandering with Billee Video Blog

http://meanderingswithbillee.blogspot.com/

Maybelline's Success Story a lost thread in America's Fabric.

Wonder Company of the 20th Century.

was spending $200,000 a year in advertising, with Maybelline ads appearing in forty popular magazines as well as Sunday newspaper supplements and specialized journals such as Theater and Photoplay. Between 1915 and 1929, he’d spent over a million dollars to advertise Maybelline. His little eye beautifier now had wide distribution in the United States and Canada.  Everywhere you went, close-up photos of eyes darkened with Maybelline projected a provocative--but no longer sinful--eroticism.

Tom Lyle Williams in 1929, from an article in a trade magazine.

In fact Tom Lyle had just launched his 1929 “Springtime is Maybelline Time!” campaign, featuring an idealized lovely young miss looking up adoringly at her man through starry eyes. The offers to vendors pitched display cartons, each holding a half-dozen eye makeup containers, and urged druggists to try product placement by the soda fountain, “forcing extra sales.” Tom Lyle felt that the ad would assure continued prosperity for the company, meaning he could afford to leave Maybelline in the hands of his brother Noel while he and Emery headed out to California for a few days.

On October 29, 1929, a news flash announced that the Dow industrial average had fallen almost twenty-three percent, and the stock market had lost a total of sixteen billion dollars in value in a month. Sixteen billion dollars.

Tom Lyle knew the stock market crash would be devastating for the country in general, and would certainly ruin many companies. Although Maybelline, as a family-owned business, was not directly affected by the Wall Street disaster, there was no question that the aftermath would be devastating. Who would choose to buy eye cosmetics over food for the family?


The prosperity and opulence of the Roaring Twenties were gone, disappearing along with the vamps who had loaded up with Maybelline’s seventy-five-cent product. In order to keep his company alive in the years to come, Tom Lyle knew he would have to find ways to keep his product in the public eye, yet at a price women could afford. The flashy, flapper look was quickly devolving to a more demure look fit for austere times.


Despite the national situation, he felt good about the future. In fact, when Noel showed him a story in The Wall Street Journal about a brand-new skyscraper being constructed over the old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York--the Empire State Building, the tallest structure in the world--Tom Lyle took it as a sign that the bad economy would be only a temporary dip in the road.


He was rarely so wrong. When Emery suggested an ad tie-in to the Empire State Building--Things Are Looking Up, featuring young women with gorgeous eyes gazing up at a new skyscraper--Tom Lyle backed it enthusiastically...until it became clear that for most of the country, things were looking very much down. They abandoned the new ad campaign as the market continued to decline, wages plummeted, and credit dried up. When industrial production also collapsed, many businesses went with it.


But not Maybelline. Although innovative and widespread advertising was responsible for a lot of the company's success over the years, it was not the whole story. So was constant innovation in the lab, and that spring, thanks to the introduction of an improved waterproof eye makeup, total sales rose to $750,000--at a time when most businesses were struggling simply to keep their wallowing businesses afloat.


Read more about Maybelline's success during the worst economic downturn in American history and it's secret to becoming the most successful cosmetic company in the world in

The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.

Happy Birthday to my Maybelline Cousin, Chuck Williams - BB1 - A Guy with a Passion for Fashion when it comes to Classic Cars

 

Charles Allen Williams, aka Chuck - BB1..... with two of the cars from his personal collection. Chuck, like his great-uncle, Tom Lyle Williams, carries on the tradition of collecting EYE CATCHING Automobiles.

Chuck's great uncle, Tom Lyle Williams, with his 1934 Packard.  Tom Lyle worked for several years to save enough money to buy his first car in 1917. The Paige, called the most beautiful car in the world, ignited Tom Lyle's passion for custom cars.

 

 

1917 Paige Model 6-51 information

100 Years of Maybelline,  1915 - 2015.....

The Maybelline Story Embraces Vintage Fashion, Make up, Hair, Maybelline Ads, Classic Cars, as well as drama, intrigue History and Real Americana. 

Read about Tom Lyle and his love for beautiful automobiles in the Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.

Try this homemade rich, decedent, dark chocolate extravaganza,

Eva, Frances, (the Bride,) Tom Lyle,  Noel James, (the Groom, in the shadows,) Bennie and my grandfather, Preston - Chicago, 1917

Try Frances'homemade rich, decedent, dark chocolate extravaganza

(The ad on these video's are not an expression of my Political views, they are placed by YouTube)






3 – 8 oz packages of Bakers German sweet chocolate
3 eggs
1 pint whipping cream
1 ¼ Tbsp. Vanilla
3 Tbsp. Powdered sugar
2 boxes of Social Tea Biscuits
Melt chocolate in double boiler.
Separate eggs, beat yolks with sugar,
Beat egg whites and add-
Add vanilla.
Add ½ pint whipped cream, (save ½ pint for topping.)
Line loaf pan with cookies.
Add layer of chocolate mixture.
Continue layering cookies and chocolate mixture, ending with chocolate.
Store in refrigerator and slice and serve with whipped cream.


 if you want to know about the Bride, who waited a year, for the sake of Maybelline, read The Maybelline Story soon.

L'Oreal Paris "Maybelline Story Movie"

 L'Oreal Paris purchased the Maybelline Company, in 1996 renaming it  Maybelline New York in 2004. 

Please  be aware of some discrepancies.....

Mabel Williams, wasn't trying to win over her boyfriend by having beautiful eyes, that's her father in the picture

Maybelline was named Lash-Brow-Ine in 1915 not 1913

 Tom Lyle was a 19 year old entrepreneur, not a chemist.

Maybelline was bought by L'Oreal Paris in 1996, so for almost 20 years now Maybelline's parent company has been in Paris. What would Tom Lyle, Noel James and Mabel Williams have thought in 1915, if they could have looked in a crystal ball and seen 100 years into the future. With the attacks on Paris last Friday night, this has been quite a  compelling thought. God Bless Paris!

Chica Chica Boom Chic! Excerpt from The Maybelline Story featuring Fox Star, Betty Grable

Betty Grable featured in 20th Century Fox Pictures, Down Argentine Way.

“LEARN BETTY’S SECRET FOR BEAUTIFUL EYES,”

the ad said. Arnold had thoroughly retouched the before and after photos—producing illustration more than photography—to convey a smooth and beautiful complexion. The tiny before shot revealed a pretty girl with pale brows and lashes, while the after showed a lushly made-up young beauty. Tiny print mentioned that Betty Grable was featured in the film Down Argentine Way. This way, Tom Lyle reasoned, even if the movie tanked, the ad would still work since it didn't play up the film’s title. In the ad, Betty was quoted as saying, “It’s easy to have lovely alluring eyes…The magic secret is Maybelline eye make-up.” Emery’s copy gave step by step application instructions, ending with: “Then, the joyful climax…when you form your brows in graceful, classic lines with Maybelline smooth-marking Eyebrow Pencil.”

Tom Lyle wasn't the only one taking a risk on the film; so was Daryl Zanuck. Twentieth Century Fox studios had been counting on Alice Faye’s box office power to help solve their financial woes. Would a goofy, light-hearted romp set in Argentina appeal to Americans in a year when dramatic films like The Philadelphia Story and The Grapes of Wrath would take most of the credits? A few westerns had done well, and Ginger and Fred were still dancing. Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour had starred in the popular Road to Singapore—which had nothing to do with Singapore and was oblivious to Japanese imperialism in the Pacific.

 Fox wanted something fresh, and if they couldn’t cavort in Europe or the Pacific, they’d take their fun and games elsewhere. South America seemed like a pretty safe bet. With that lively Brazilian music, movie-goers could transport themselves to a place where war didn’t exist.

The gamble paid off. In October of 1940, FDR relieved everyone by saying, “I have said this before, and I’ll say it again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.”  The film opened that same month, and the public adored Betty Grable and Carmen Miranda in her outrageous costumes. Revelers everywhere, like Evelyn’s crowd at the Biltmore, learned to samba to tunes like “Bambu Bambu.” The age of Carmen Miranda movies and music had begun. Chica Chica Boom Chic!

At the same time, teens and young women in their twenties identified with Grable’s saucy blond beauty and lively spirit. In droves and busloads they crowded into dime stores to buy Maybelline. Tom Lyle immediately parlayed his new bombshell into another full-page color ad. Alice Faye had worked out her contract differences with Zanuck and signed along with Betty Grable to do Tin Pan Alley, another light-hearted musical, but Alice didn’t want to do business with friends, including Tom Lyle. Arnold got around this by developing an ambiguous photo-illustration that resembled both Alice and Betty. The caption read, “Adorable with Maybelline,” and audiences weren’t sure if the model was Faye or Grable--which was exactly what Tom Lyle wanted.

Vintage Beauty Secret: Ponds Vanishing Cold Cream and Witch Hazel, is older than Maybelline

 Nana in 1978, 77 years old.

When Nana was a teenager during WW1, she was already a fan of the miracle cream that kept her skin moisturized while also removing her Maybelline.  As more expensive moisturizing creams became available through the years, Nana continued her nightly routine with Ponds Cold Cream.  In fact she made a science out of it until she perfected it into a facial as good as it gets.


Here's Nana's secret to flawless dewy skin, a trick that kept her looking 20 years younger than her actual age, until the day she died at 77.  

As a girl, I'd sit in her bathroom at night watching her apply ice cold Ponds Cold Cream, which she kept in the refrigerator right next to the tea bags she had ready to depuff her tired eyes. 

"Darling, first you remove all your Maybelline, face makeup and lipstick with Ponds," she'd say, washing her ponds off with a hot  towel, holding it on her face for a minute until it cooled down.  

Next she'd reapply the Ponds, but this time, sitting down in her chair in front of a magnifying mirror where she could study every line on her face.

"Always stroke up, never down darling," she'd say as I followed her example for the next two or three minutes.  She'd stroke her neck 100 times, then do the same thing with her face, using quick strokes from the chin, to the cheeks, around the temples and up to the forehead.  

"It takes practice," she'd say making sure I did it correctly.

"Do it again darling, but this time start at the chin, go around the nose and up to the forehead until your skin is bright pink from the blood coming to the surface."

Once she was satisfied with the results, she'd apply a hot  towel several times until all traces of the Ponds were removed, then wash her face with Neutrogena skin soap.  


Once this labor of love was finished, she'd apply her home made mud pack (Check out the recipe for Nana's Mud, by scrolling down through my blog), apply the tea bags to her eyes (also found in past blogs), lay on her hydroculators (this too, just scroll down) and relax listening to classical music for the next half hour. 


When she washed off the Ponds, or the mud pack, she'd soak a cotton ball with Witch hazel, wipe it over her face and neck as an astringent, than apply eye cream, face cream and hand lotion. She'd top it all off by brushing her hair 100 times, looking radiant when she finally went to bed. 

To this day I still practice most of Nana's beauty tricks and I must say my skin looks pretty good for my age.  Give it a try once a week or more if you have time and experience a facial as good as any professional could give you.

Ponds Vanishing Cold Cream ad in 1917

Ponds Cold Cream

Original Maybeline in the red box with little  brush 1917

Read more about Nana's obsession to perfection, read about her in my book, The Maybelline Story.  Purchase a signed copy from my website today!  

Tom Mix a legend in his own time...The highest paid Star at Fox... until Talkies made his' future uncertain.

Tom Mix did his own stunts long before there were stuntmen and doubles handling the dangerous stuff. His silents for Fox were big box office and kept that studio solvent.

One of the top box office stars of the 1920s ...

Tom Mix has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  In 1958, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. And at the 1987 Golden Boot program, Mix was the recipient of their In Memorial Award.

Tom Mix was a genuine Hollywood legend and his lavish lifestyle reflected that status, as his salary at Fox reached $17,500.00 ..... PER WEEK.

Tom Mix, loved fast automobiles, and drove them with accelerator to the floorboard.  Over the years, the ownership of the Mix death car has changed several times. In August, 2009, it was sold at a Bonhams auction 
 

AUBURN CORD DUESENBERG

After all these years, the iconic star’s personal toy, the 1937 Cord 812, will now be out in the open again, at the Amelia Island Concours d’ Elegance in 2012. 

When my grandfather, Preston Williams, met Tom Mix in Hollywood, in 1927, he called his brother Tom Lyle and told him he had to get to California and see Mix's car collection.  Tom Lyle and Emery not only took Preston's advice, they eventually moved to California, bought Rudolph Valentino's home in Hollywood and like Tom Mix, had this custom, 1940 Packard Victoria, made by Bowman and Schwartz.

Tom Lyle's Packard Victoria today, owned and restored by Bill Snyder in California.