DAVID MELENDY

On this day in 1970, Apollo 13 returned to Earth safely after an on-
board accident with an oxygen tank.

The Apollo 13 crew following recovery.

(Fox News) – A World War II veteran’s musty old Bentley that was left sitting
in a garage for three decades sold for $600,000 this week, much more than
was expected. But the amount paid may have been more of a tribute to the
owner than the car.

To be sure, the 1936 Bentley 4 1/2 Litre Vanden Plas Tourer is rare. It’s just
1 of 6 like it made, and the only one left with its original body. No one really
cared much about that when retired Royal Air Force navigator and pilot
Charles Blackham purchased it from its original owner in 1952, fixed it up
and turned it into his daily driver.

Blackham had been a member of the squadron that bombed Hitler’s “Eagles
Nest” retreat in April 1945, and he later made food drops in Europe after the
fall of the Nazi regime.

He used the Bentley until 1988 when it became too much trouble to keep it
running, and parked it in the garage at his home near Manchester, where
it sat rotting away until his death in January at age 96.

Blackham, center, and members of his squadron in WWII.
(H&H Classics)

The first Edsel made by the Ford Motor Company rolled of the
assembly line at the Somerville, Massachusetts Assembly Plant
on this day in 1957. More than 2/3 of all Edsel’s were assembled
at the Louisville plant, which is still in operation by the Ford
Motor Company today. The Edsel was first introduced to the
the public amid considerable publicity on "E Day"—September
4, 1957.

In the 1950s, cars were often equipped with curb feelers. They acted as "whiskers"
to alert drivers when they are at the right distance from the curb while parking to
avoid damaging the wheels or hubcaps. Curb feelers are still used today on some
hot rods when a 1950s look is wanted.

Burt Reynolds with one of his cars to go up for auction.

(FoxNews) – The man with what seems to be an endless store of Pontiac Firebird
Trans Ams modeled like the one in the 1977 hit movie “Smokey and the Bandit,”
Burt Reynolds, the Bandit himself, will be present for the auction of a 1978
example at the upcoming Barrett Jackson event in Scottsdale, Arizona.

This will be Reynolds’ fourth Bandit-style Trans Am going under the hammer in
recent years. The phenomenon kicked off in 2014 when an original “Smokey
and the Bandit” promo car sold for $450,000. It was followed a year later by
the sale of a “tribute” car owned by Reynolds for only a year for $170,000 and
finally in 2016 the actor brought out another movie promo car that ended up
fetching $550,000.

1977  (Burt will be 81 February 11)