Archive for September, 2011

Here’s Your Chance: The World’s Oldest Car Is Up For Sale

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September 28th, 2011

The De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout is the oldest running car in the world.

This is your chance to own a “one-off”, there can never be another “world’s oldest car”. Its value can only go one way – North. It has been announced that RM Auctions of the USA will auction off the world’s oldest running car next month. Imaginatively named, the 1884 car is referred to as a De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout.

‘La Marquise’

The car was nicknamed ‘La Marquise’ after the mother of the French entrepreneur that commissioned it, Count de Dion. The car was built by George Bouton and Charles-Armand Trepardoux. It measures just 9 feet in length and features twin compound steam engines, which allows a travelling range of around 20 miles after a 45-minute coal or coke steam. Not quite a BMW M3 rival, the La Marquise will reach a top speed of 37 mph.

Water tank

Other novelties include ‘spade handle’ steering; the level of power assistance depending on when last you saw the inside of a gym, and the car seats four people back-to-back. These seats are positioned atop a steel tank that holds about 35 gallons of water.

Used car

The car has had just four owners over the years, the longest ownership period spanning 81 years. It’s had quite an accomplished life though, having been a participant in the first automobile race in 1887 and having been a double-award winner at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 110 years later. Still a fully functioning car, the La Marquise recently successfully completed four London to Brighton runs in the UK where it was always the first car away as the oldest entry.

Price

Estimated to fetch around $2,250,000, the La Marquise is one of the most important cars in the world, according to Rob Myers of RM Auctions. “With its impeccable provenance, fully-documented history and confirmation by leading historians as the world’s oldest running motor car, its sale represents a once-in-a-lifetime ownership opportunity for savvy collectors, unlikely ever to be repeated,” Myers said.

Another auction – Bentley

Ninety years after Bentley’s very first customer, Noel Van Raalte, took delivery of chassis number 3 for almost $2,000, that same 3-Litre was auctioned at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Monterey, California for $962,500, about 500 times its new price. Chassis No.3 is completely original, with the same polished-aluminium bodywork and brass brightwork as when Van Raalte bought it in 1921, and has its original engine, with matching serial number.

Craftsmanship

Even on this early example, company founder WO Bentley’s insistence on fine craftsmanship and durable engineering, a product of his background in aircraft engine design, is clearly evident. His big, robust cars – once famously referred to by Ettore Bugatti as "the world’s fastest lorries" – went on to prove their mettle in the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race, winning it five times in eight years. The first two victories – in 1924 and 1927 – came with 3-Litre models not much different from Van Raalte’s car.

Tags: Bentley, Car auctions, cars, Collecting cars
Posted in Business, Economy, Finance, Money, Personal / Internet | No Comments »

Huge Silver Haul Possible From WWII Ship

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September 27th, 2011

70 year old wreck holds a huge silver cargo in its watery grave

When the SS Gairsoppa was torpedoed by a German U-boat 70 years ago, it took its cargo with it to the bottom of the ocean. US divers are now working to recover what may be the biggest shipwreck haul ever, valued at some $210 million.

219 tons of silver

A Florida-based company, Odyssey Marine Exploration, confirmed the identity and location of the Gairsoppa, and cited official documents indicating the British ship was carrying some 219 tons of silver when it sank in 1941 in the North Atlantic some 300 miles off the Irish coast. Valued then at £600,000, the silver today is worth about $210 million, which would make it history’s largest recovery of precious metals lost at sea, Odyssey said. "We’ve accomplished the first phase of this project, the location and identification of the target shipwreck, and now we’re planning the recovery phase," Odyssey senior project manager Andrew Craig said in a statement. “We are confident that our salvage operation, expected to begin next spring, will recover this silver cargo."

Gairsoppa

The 412-foot Gairsoppa had been sailing from India back to Britain in February 1941 bearing a cargo of silver, pig iron and tea, and was in a convoy of ships when a storm hit. Running low on fuel, the Gairsoppa broke off from the convoy and set a course for Galway, Ireland. It never made it, succumbing to a German torpedo in the contested waters of the North Atlantic. Of the 85 people on board, only one survived.

On the bottom

The Gairsoppa came to rest nearly 15,400 feet below the surface, where for decades it was lost to the world. A previous effort to locate the shipwreck failed. Odyssey found it relatively quickly, and insists the depth of the site won’t prevent a full cargo recovery. "We found the shipwreck sitting upright, with the holds open and easily accessible," Odyssey chief executive Greg Stemm said. Photographs released by the company show clear details of the Gairsoppa, including a ladder leading to the forecastle deck, a waist-high compass used by the helmsman, even the hole in the steel hull blown open by the torpedo.

Technology

The find highlights the influential role that modern technology has come to play in the business of finding shipwrecks, with vastly improved sonar equipment, global positioning systems and advanced deepwater robots that scour the world’s oceans for booty.

Shipwrecks

UNESCO estimates there are some three million shipwrecks worldwide, with billions of dollars in sunken treasures and priceless knowledge that can be recovered from the depths of the ocean, including vast amounts of naturally occurring copper, silver, gold and zinc deposits waiting to be discovered. "The majority of the world’s ocean floor has not yet been explored," said Odyssey president Mark Gordon, who told AFP that the discovery at some 15,400 feet beneath below the ocean’s surface is a treasure trove for companies like his.

Tags: Gairsoppa, Shipwrecks, Silver, Sunken treasure
Posted in Business, Economy, Finance, Money, Personal / Internet, Technology | No Comments »

I Think I Just Got Scammed

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September 25th, 2011

You cannot let your guard down even for a split second

Thieves and scammers work a 24/7 day every day. It’s more like a 365/24 job. I am a writer so I sit in front of my computer most of the time. It’s an easy calculation: No sit and write, no dough. I can earn only as fast as I can dream up new ideas and new plots and then I have to sell everything.

Sunday

Today is Sunday and I’m sitting here, more out of habit than anything else. I looked at the headlines, checked my bank account, looked at a couple of other things and then started playing Freecell, the patience game that comes built into the Microsoft programs. The phone rings. Remember, today is Sunday. “Is this Mr. Smith speaking?” Yes, it is. “Congratulations, Mr. Smith. You have been selected at random to receive a free stay at a resort town on the coast in any five star hotel of your choice. Just give me a few details and I will get things moving.”

Details

She started by asking for my full name, my address, my phone number (she had just called me). Then she asked for my credit card number and after some hesitation I handed it over. It was when she asked for the 3 numbers on the back of the card that I refused. She asked me to hold while she called her boss, the manageress. This lady was smoother and silkier, spent some time inquiring about my health and then repeated the offer. She also explained why she needed the 3 numbers on the back of my card and I argued, telling her that she didn’t need them and that anyway I wasn’t going to give them. She then demanded them and I said this conversation is over and put down the phone.

Be wary

There is no end to the ingenuity and smartness of these scammers. They will do anything to get at your money. I suppose if they have a success rate of 1 in a 1000 calls they are doing well. Their costs are minimal, and they’re sitting around doing nothing anyway. They may as well spend it on phone calls that may raise a bit of cash. Their major business strategy is coming up with a new plan every few weeks or months and deciding on a new neighborhood or town to try their nefarious schemes.

Tough times

We are living in tough times and all the signs point to things getting worse. This is the time when many ordinary folks become desperate at the sight of hungry children and turn their thought to making money any way they can, even if it means crossing lines for the first time in their lives. But this is also the time when folks who are fortunate enough to have some savings or a little spare cash to be extra cautious. Keep your eyes and ears wide open and your fists tightly closed.

Tags: Beware scammers, Credit card fraud, Scammers, Telephone scams
Posted in Business, Economy, Employment, Finance, Money | No Comments »

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