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How Google Books Helped Remake a 1906 Oldsmobile

Despite the immense success of the services offered by Internet giant Google, there are still those who believe that a search engine or a virtual library are just passing moods. For the rest of us, the most of us, Google has become a way of life, the tool of our trade or, for some, the main source of research and, why not, development.

With probably the entire human history, arts or sports getting their place online these days, it's no wonder that if one looks hard enough, one can find pretty much everything he wants, likes or needs. Take Bob Ferry, for instance.

The 51-year-old machinist spent a lot of time online, searching one of Google's services, Books, for any and all reference related to the 1906 Oldsmobile Model B Runabout. His interest was not just a passion, but a need, one to rebuild the iconic model.

As one of the horseless carriage replica builders that come online each day and discuss, remember and at times recreate the wonder vehicles of the beginning of the automotive age, Ferry spared no expense and managed, using countless hours of his life sweeping through Google Book's mechanics-related magazines (copies of Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Horseless Age, Harper's gasoline engine book and more), to build from scratch a more or less exact replica of the aforementioned model.

What did he come up with? A carriage powered by a 12 horsepower Briggs & Stratton 12 hp engine, 17 years of age, and a hydrostatic transmission ripped from a 15-20-year-old Craftsman riding mower.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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