A Bite of History:  by Mike Thies

American Bantam “Woody” Station Wagon

The American Bantam Car Company was a small but innovative automaker based in Butler, Pennsylvania. Originally established as American Austin in the 1920s to produce miniature cars under license from the British Austin Motor Company, the firm reorganized…

I recently bought a cherry '93 Ruby Corvette (the 40th Anniversary model) which had been stored all its life.  In recent years it was garaged, and driven very little.  Even though it has fairly new good quality Nito tires, I noticed a very serious shimmy in the balance at about 60 to 70 mph on the Interstate highways.  I took it over to Butler Tire in…

Weather is tricky for any outdoor gathering, but March is particularly fickle.  I arrived to set up at the Caffeine & Octane gathering in Alpharetta, GA on March 6, 2011 a little early because I thought I might need time to set up in the drizzle rain. Of course the lot was empty but the drizzle had now strengthened and the breeze was more like a gusty wind. The weatherman had said it would be light and even would stop by 8am.  It was still dark, so we had some time to let it…