Cool Engines - Volvo B21

Definitively the cleanest Volvo B21 engine bay I have ever seen. I hope that next year we will get to see the rest of the car catch up to this level of quality.

2012 Swedish Car Cruise-In at the Triple X Rootbeer Drive-in

What a better way to start the car show season at the Triple X Rootbeer Drive-in but with a gathering of Volvos and Saabs. After all, these look quite at home with grey skies and a little rain. A little different from  last year's gathering which happened on a sunny but very chilly day. As always I gravitated to the older cars. Some were present last year, still, there was a couple I had not seen before.

Sunday Drive - Entrada a la Central Aguirre

Beautiful palm trees line up the road leading to the old Aguirre sugar mill company town in Salinas, Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico Loves the Suzuki Samurai

Puertorricans have a love affair with the Suzuki Samurai. Head out of San Juan and into the island's interior and you won't drive a mile without passing one on the road. From close to stock to all out modified, convertibles or hardtops, SJ410s almost exclusively. These mid-80's versatile 4X4s have a 1.3 liter, 63 hp (47 kW), 4-cylinder engine to keep it going. Small, nimble and economical, they are perfectly suited for the tortuous, narrow and maintenance-challenged roads of the island's interior. However, that low entry point into the world of offroading brings a sad footnote in the form of unethical, uncontrolled use of these vehicles along already stressed river systems causing sedimentation and erosion. By all mans, enjoy your 4X4 but please drive responsibly!

Volkyland Spotlight - 1958 VW 23 Window T1 Samba

This 1958 Deluxe Microbus or Samba is definitively the one to have if you enjoy cruising around. This one is a little older than the one I saw last year but just as cool.

Sunday Drive - Puerto Rico's PR-52 at Cuesta de Salinas

This time last Sunday I was enjoying the beauty of the Southern coast of Puerto Rico along the Autopista Luis A. Ferre (PR-52). Good times...

Volkyland Spotlight - VW T1 Krankenwagen / Ambulance

I have seen the pictures but this is my first encounter with an original VW Krankenwagen (ambulance). This T1 ambulance got to be the coolest microbus in the Volkyland collection. A very nice piece overall and a microbus variation I am sure I won't see again in a long while.

The Douglas DC-3s at San Juan International Airport

For me, no trip to the Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico can be complete without taking a few minutes to enjoy the old DC-3s sitting on the back of the airport. These planes belonged to Four Star Air Cargo, a defunct cargo airline that operated between Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands beween 1982 and 2009.

N131FS now sits quietly on a corner awaiting it's fate.

Volkyland Spotlight - VW T1 Type 21 F - Fire Engine

Very cool to see one first hand. A bit simpler than the Unimog-based fire truck I saw last year. Another cool VW of the Volkyland collection. The question I have is, will it get there before the house burns down? ;-)

Just another microbus stuffed with equipment.

Volkyland Spotlight - VW Type 147 Fridolin

One of the coolest vehicles at the Volkyland collection in Yauco, Puerto Rico is a Type 147. Also know in the VW community as a Fridolin. These vans were produced for use by the postal service in Germany and Switzerland in the early 1960's. This one has been nicely restored unlike the one I photographed last year.

Click on the images to enlarge.

Very nice shade of yellow.

Spotted - International Harvester L-110 Pickup Truck

Spotted this beautifully restored 1950 International Harvester L-110 pick-up truck in Plaza Las Americas a couple weeks ago. Nice piece of work on a rare truck.

Spotted - Toyota Crown S50 Station Wagon

When I started this latest trip to Puerto Rico I was hopping to see a Toyota Crown. Just when I had lost hope, there it was, forgotten and rusting away in somebody's front yard...

Volkyland Spotlight - VW Type166 Schwimmwagen

The Schwimmwagen is just what I need to cross those pesky rivers in the Northwest! Or hang out in the beach in the Caribbean ;-)

All kidding aside, this is a fabulous vehicle and I am grateful to the guys at Volkyland for giving me a demonstration of the propeller mechanism and checking out the engine compartment. It is a simple solution to what seems at first hand like a complex problem. More about this cool museum on a previous post...