Some words to coincide with episode 38
These are the episode notes for Episode 38.
We cover topics such as Basic Income Guarantees and how they are similar to motorcyclists and the lifestyle.
We also talk about AB51 and lane splitting, the GSX-R250, and flat tracking.
Some summer topics include talking about overheating and the desert… specifically the Honda Proving Grounds, located deep in the California desert.
The last issue that we cover is Vaporware. There’s the current hot topic named Skully and the helmet that they promised. Their story is nothing new. Vaporware is as old as work contracts themselves. But, perhaps the most intriguing story of all regards the Dale – a futuristic car of the time.
Skully : Skully is still making the rounds in the news sphere this week due to a recent lawsuit being filed from within the company. Isabelle Faithhauer, a former executive assistant to Skully CEO Marcus Weller
allegedly was asked to falsify expenses, practice fraudulent bookkeeping, and was not paid for overtime.
Allegedly the brothers took in millions, and then spent much of said millions on lavish trips, cars, and strip clubs. All in all they pullued in $2,446,824 from Indie GoGo backers—that’s 979 percent of the $250,000 goal that they had established to get up and running. Sounds like they had a little pre-party before hand. It is my assumption and opinion that they are typical dirtbags who don’t value money and investments in human capital. Perhaps they thought they had the helmet game in the bag so to speak , and thought that there would be plenty of money left to schmooze and show off to other investors with with.
In light of the vaporware debacle, two other helmet-tech companies, Fusar and Ruroc, are offering to console “burned Skully customers” with their own products.
While investors are getting fleeced by the former Execs of Skully, Bell actually has a 360Fly helmet that can record in 360 degrees , can live stream footage, and apparently has haptic features that function as a collision detection system to warn riders of movement outside their field of vision.
The Dale:
Speaking of public fleecings and vintage vaporware, here is a story that’s incredible yet 100 percent true. This story comes straight from the bowels of Los Angeles – a place where tales are spun on the daily that can barely keep pace with the facts in this classic case of He/She said.
In 1973 America fell into the throes of a global oil crisis. To understand the problem we need to go back in time however …way, way back.
Oil, as we are told, comes from fossil fuel, which is literally just that- the liquid byproduct of decomposed dinosaurs, gold rest their souls! Yes, I said ‘gold rest’ because oil is colloquially known as black gold in many places. Apparently we can thank dinosaurs for dank whoolies, motovlogging, and the 12 o’clock boys, not to mention every awesome squid video from Florida.
Although cavemen or any bipedal humanoid for that matter never walked with dinosaurs (thanks Land Of The Lost for leading me astray in my youth!) I’d like to think that they in some way contribute to our pool of refine-able black goo. If Encino man wouldn’t have been lucky enough to be discovered and thawed by the Weasel in the 1990s, it’s possible that he could have decomposed and helped me get a few miles down I-5 here in SoCal.
Getting back to 1973 but staying in Encino, the American Oil Crisis was about to meet it’s match head on. That match up would be championed by OPEC on the Ivan Drago side, and G. Elizabeth “Liz” Carmichael playing the part of Rocky for the good ol’ US of A.
Liz was a housewife in Encino. The hardworking mother of five had managed to earn a degree in mechanical engineering in her ‘spare time’. In 1974 she launched the 20th Century Motor Car Corporation with a prototype called the Dale.
The Dale was only one of many cars designed in the 70s to overcome the hurdles of fuel economy and the mounting oil crisis. It was a three-wheeled aerodynamic master piece that would reach 60-70 mpg and come in at a price just under $2000. It was constructed from Reardon metal – an aerospace plastic substance that claimed to be able to withstand an impact with a brick wall at 50 mph.
The Dale brochure claims that the car was capable of 85mph from the 2cyl 4stroke 850cc motor. Two trannies were available, a 3 speed automatic or 4 speed manual.
There were no wires in the car whatsoever. All of the electronics were on printed circuit boards.
The glass was made of a material called Rigidex, and the body and frame were made from Reardon metal, referred to as ‘rocket structural resin’ in the brochure.
Liz was a remarkable woman, standing near 6 feet tall and very persuasive in nature. She secured nearly $3million in advance sales in 1974. She incorporated the company in Nevada, and occupied a modern office suite on Ventura Blvd. in Encino. She also told investors that she had rented 3 aircraft hangars where production would begin (either in Burbank or Canoga Park depending on the account), and had moved to a satellite location in Dallas TX.
She sold stock to investors and prospective buyers alike claiming to have raised $30million USD and planning on having 88,000 units produced by the end of 1975.
Soon Newsweek and People magazine ran articles generating interest in the car and trying to boost momentum for the project. According to one source, the Dale was even a Showcase Showdown prize on the Price is Right in early 1975.
It wasn’t long after a failed test run in late 1974 that the doors began to come off The 20th Century Motor Car Corporation. The California Securities Commission stopped sales of stock because Twentieth Century was not licensed to sell stock in the state. Shortly after that the California Department of Corporations accused her of illegally selling franchises and units of cars that were not tangible. The ensuing inquiries prompted the Department of Motor Vehicles to get involved as well. The DMV said that 20th Century had no license or permit to actually manufacture cars in the state, and therefore the operations were illegal.
The Following quotes are from Bill Hall who was an investigator for the DMV. He visited the R&D lab followed by the production hangars. (Sourced from unsolved.com):
“We went to the research and development lab… people appeared to be busy. But in wandering through the lab I saw no evidence that they were designing a vehicle or in the process of making a vehicle.”
“I went to this airport. Upon entering I discovered… the hangars were absolutely empty. No tools. No machinery. Nothing but a little dirt on the floor. They had rented this for only one month. And the rent had now expired. So they actually did not have a factory that they were representing they had.”
About this time Liz fled to Dallas. Two weeks later though, the district attorney filed criminal grand theft charges against her. Meanwhile in CA, Bill Hall obtained a search warrant to execute upon the R&D lab of 20th Century. This quote again is sourced from unsolved.com:
“On inspection of this vehicle it was not a viable vehicle at all. It had no engine. Two-by-fours were holding up the rear wheel. The accelerator was just sitting on the floor. It wasn’t even attached. The windows were not safety glass. They would bend back and forth. The doors were put on by regular door hinges, like one might find on a house door. The vehicle just absolutely did not exist.”
Apparently the model in the Encino lobby was of the same quality and non-functionality as the one Bill Hall had encountered.
In late January of 1975 20th Century’s Public Relations representative William Miller was murdered by a co-worker, Jack Oliver. Oliver shot Miller 4 times in the head, and shortly afterward the discovery was made that the two had been in prison together in San Quentin.
In February other top executives were arrested for fraud and conspiracy to commit theft. According to an online article, Liz Carmichael and 20th Century would put out ads in the newspaper for positions at the company, but instead sell stock to the applicants.
After the arrests, a judge ordered the company into receivership, and the Dallas Sheriff’s Dept went looking for Liz Carmichael, but she had disappeared leaving behind some questionable items in her home.
She was eventually arrested in April of 1975. It was at this time that she was identified as Jerry Dean Michael- a wanted bail jumper and counterfeiter. She was convicted for all charges from her life as a man, and now faced new criminal charges. In 1975 after posting a $50,000 bail, Liz disappeared again into the ethos. It wasn’t until 1989 after NBC aired it’s Unsolved Mysteries episode dedicated to her fraud and disappearance that she was captured again in (¡)Dale, TX (!) selling flowers at a roadside stand.
Sources:
https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2010/02/01/the-dale-brochure-in-full/
http://unsolved.com/archives/elizabeth-carmichael
http://jalopnik.com/murder-transsexuals-and-the-price-is-right-the-story-464820740
http://www.3wheelers.com/dale/dale170294.pdf
http://www.mclellansautomotive.com/newsletter/articles/2005/dec/02/1975_05.pdf