(sorry for the crappy wordplay, I couldn't help...)

Ok, I don't have high hopes, but I give it a try anyway : I have a big garage/parking issue.

I only have a small garage/box in the basement of a building, and I'm too old to play hide'n'seek with the other co-owners who prohibit me from doing mechanics' work ; additionally, the hosting of the Albatross was only temporary, it has to move by the end of may. Consequently, all my project are "on hold", which is seriously ruining my nerves.
So, priority N°1 now is to find a place were I could finally work at ease!

Im looking for a garage/workshop/warehouse/shed, something like 30 to 40 sqm with electricity (or even just a plot of land for the Albatross), to store my toys, and more importantly work on them. And obviously, the whole thing has to bee affordable, I'm no Rothschild ; yeah, I know, such a place on the Riviera, I'm day-dreaming, but I need to give it a try, unless I'll have to drop everything...

In conclusion, if you, my dearest reader, have the mere hint/tips/advice/knowledge about a place that would match my expectation, for rent or for sale, within a 20km radius of Antibes... Please, tell me asap! You'll have my eternal gratitude in return! And a picture of you on ShamWerks! Thanks!

---

Edit 24-03-2011 :
OK, I've found a solution... Far from perfect, but anyway : I've found a garage for rent like 5 minutes walking from my place, it'll allow me to store the Albatross or the Karmann, depending on needs. Meanwhile, I'll renovate my current garage, which I've been working in for 15 years, trying to make it more "livable".
Again, the solution isn't ideal, but it will buy me some time to organize. I have to face the ugly truth : prices are so high in the area, having a proper workshop isn't conceivable... I'll probably end up leaving the region for that same reason.
Anyway, that means you should expect some "workshop enhancement" posts real soon!

Olli Erkkilä is a 28 y.o. chap from Finland, student in a Design School ; and he had quite a great vision when he created that "Forkless Cruiser"!

Go jump to his site, not only to check out that bike (and its construction process) in details, but as well his other creations, like that Solex go-ped shown on the left...

Amusingly, Olli loves design, hot-rods, 2 and 3-wheeled kustoms, and vintage vehicules... French ones!

Just a link to Martin Otto Lambert's website, who builds metal model cars from scratch... Well, actually, model car wrecks.
Have a special look at this 81cm. long 300SL Gullwing (one of my favourite cars evah, btw), built from the plans...
The details are freakin me out.

A bike frame and a 49cc engines. Said this way, it sounds like a Solex... But come on, these ones have Hell of a style.
Have a look on Derringer Cycles, there are some pure jewels, with a look so 20's... He who would like to make me a $3500 worth present can contact me for my color scheme choice.

Just a quick link today... 'Cuz I love those vintage posters/shop signs (hence my post about NYC), here's a little web site that generates any text you enter using extracts from Flickr.
You can choose a specific picture for each of your letters to match the look you like...

The magic happens here : http://metaatem.net/words/

So brilliant and simple I wonder why nobody ever thought about it before??

[via Dark Roasted Blend]

From time to time, you can find over the Internet one of those jewels, one of those web site that makes you forget the time, and pushes you to visit each and every of its pages. Shorpy is definitely one of those.

Shorpy, subtitles "the 100-year-old photo blog", gathers hundreds of old pictures (from 1839 to 1969, more or less), of a very good quality and in a high resolution. Have a special look to the categories Cars and Trucks, as well as Aviation... A real journey though time, snapshots of another era!
You'll find treasures like Joy Ride (1924), Innerwing Inspectors (1942), Pike's Peak Champion (1920, ci-dessus), Road Locomotive (1920), Ice cream everyday (1920)...

Whatever, hurry up, go have a look at Shorpy!

... when machining turns into Art.

Do you remember those wooden dummies used during your drawing lessons? Look, I've found way better than them...
Well, for beautiful mechanics enthusiasts, at least.

So, here is the ZoHo ArtForm 01!
Not less than 43cm high, 6kg of bronze and stainless steel, all hand-made... 920 parts, 101 of which for each hand! And 85 mobile parts...

A great piece of engineering -and that's a soft euphemism- reproducing (almost) all the human body's articulations...

That's a must-see, and it's on Zoho.nl...

Via the excellent [Craftmanship Museum], which I stress you to read as well...

You probably remember Interflight Studio, which I recently told you about on ShamWerks?

I can't stress you enough to pass by the MotoArt website, yet more furniture based upon aircraft parts; I do want such a desk! (and a seat, as well...)

Don't miss their 2008 catalog (PDF format)... Nor their photo gallery, where you'll see step by step pictures of the realisation of each of their masterpieces, from it's removal from the original aircraft to its delivery at customer's place!

I dunno for you, but I know what I'll ask Santa Claus for next December... Well, if he wins the lottery by then.

Yet another link to a great site... Plan59.com, "the museum of mid-century illustration" : hell of a program!

The most difficult part have been to choose 2 of those vintage illustration to make this article, there's so many great pictures!
Here's a short selection : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, ... I give up, there's too many of these!
So, a bunch of 40's-70's US adverts-like vintage pictures... Pure gold mine to me!

Here is a picture that made me think... I found it on the blog of Dan Phiffer.

On the left Earth, the volume of the ball sitting on Europe represents the total volume of water existing on our planet (sea water, ice, lakes, rivers, ground water, clouds).
On the right one, the volume of the ball represents all the air of our atmosphere (at sea level density).

I was a bit surprised regarding the volume of water, so I did the calculus myself : 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water, that's a 1387 kilometers diameter sphere... From which only 1% of liquid fresh water.

So, and of my ecologist story... Back to the usual concerns of ShamWerks...

Be sure that if I see anyone of you guys, dumping his wasted oil down in the nature, he'll get my fist in his face...


Picture credit : Adam Nieman and the Science Photo Library

You know how much I'm fond of techy parts, especially those with an aeronautic origin... Furthermore if it's Vintage...

Precisely, I've found on the Net the site from InterFlight Studio, which produces some real state-of-the-art furniture... Expensive as Hell, you guessed it, but there here real good ideas to keep in mind. Well, anyway, if a rich ShamWerks reader wanted to offer me a present, the green desk above, made of a B-25 rear elevator, would fit perfectly my home...

In the same area of concern, you may want to do a regular stop on the Comptoir de l'Aviation, there's pretty often some really nice aeronautic parts...

That's it, the little picture with the white border, that you were frantically shaking while blowing on it, to reveal faster the image (which is useless, actually)...
The all-digital revolution had to go though this : February 2008, Polaroïd closes the last factory which produced the "Pola" films in the Massachusetts.

So, make sure you carefully keep your old polaroïd photos, and try to imagine how you will explain what it was to your grand children in 20 or 30 years from now... OMG, they won't ever believe us.
If you really miss the Pola, you'll have an ersatz with this product... The rest belongs to History.

[Via Gizmodo via Washington Post]

Just a little picture, shot by a friend of mine (Piet "Wüt Wüt" E12) a few weeks ago in Amsterdam... And which tends to proove I've got an homonym outta there, who knows what to do with a couple of sprays cans!
Humm, I'll try to find back my own graffs as well... Click on the picture to see it fullsize!

Soooooo classy... Many thanks, amigo!

Here is one of the reasons of my absence on ShamWerks the past few weeks.

A fucking bunch o'keys, which makes me feel like I'm a prison guard... Aaah, old houses...
It's been long and difficult, full of surprises, but finally, I've got a roof above my head that I'm owner of... Expect lots of "deco" articles in the next months on ShamWerks!
New at-home, new internet connection, a bunch of articles ready to be published... This site should seriously wake up in 2008!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Just a little web link today... LostAmerica.com, mandatory to visit asap, if like me, you love the fifties' design, especially from the US... And the special feeling present in old junkyards, abandoned gas stations, miscellaneous wrecks, from the same era.
A great photography work, almost exclusively done by night (!), plus some hints about the technics he used to get to this result... Don't know for you, but it sure gives me ideas...

And from the same author, way more pictures on FlickR... This one is great... And one more for Teddy...

I already told you about this extraordinary story of a Plymouth Belvédère, buried in Tulsa (Oklahoma), in 1957...
Here it is, she's been unearthed. And... Well, pictures will tell more than words.

First observation : in 50 years, we've done a lot of progress regarding insulation ; the concrete coffin got filled up by water, everything's rusted... And the fake enthusiasm of Boyd Coddington (by the way, have a look at American Hot-Rod), co-presenter of the televised party organized for the car's unveiling, won't be enough to forget the sour deception of all vintage cars enthusiasts worldwide...

Wanna know more? :

• All the pictures and videos on Madness US Cars (French)
• Buried Car's official website

Unfortunately, I could have guessed it folks...

Here is a link to a blog I visit on a daily basis... You may have already found the link to it in the left column : it's Jérome "La Guêpe" Gomez's blog (nb: "La Guèpe" means "The Wasp" in French, 'cause of his needles...).
He already impressed a lot of people over the Internet forums, like on the mICROCOSME Project, or on Soldeli's Karmann-Ghia.

Real competent craftsmen are uneasy to find ; those who have the passion, who share it, and show the way they work, are extremely rare... So, make sure you keep this address, and have a look at this website...

Waiting for the day I'll send you my KG's bucket seats, La Guêpe...