The last show of the year....no kidding....I think....

We had four cars in our caravan to the show at Hayfield HS in Alexandria, VA on Sunday….Fred, Debie & Granddaughter in their ’57 Dodge, Dan & Ramona in their ’55 Chevy and the Princess and I with our coupes. We like to support shows that have a purpose that we think is important enough to spend our dollars and time on….this is one of those things. AUTO SHOP! Most of us gear heads have spent time in auto shop when we were younger. Right after we invented the wheel we invented something to put it on and then we had to make it go faster….and here we are! I have good memories of my auto shop days and the discipline that I came away with because of that experience. I think that even if one doesn’t make that occupation a life’s career, it never hurts to know more about the conveyance most of us will have to deal with the rest of our life!?

I think there were 70-75 cars in attendance, some came for a while then left but most stayed for the whole event. The weather was perfect if not a little warm….but OK. The venue was good in that there were many food choices and indoor restrooms available within easy walking distance. It was in a shopping center parking lot so many people visited the cars that were not “car people”. This is a good thing because we get to share our hobby with people that do not know about it or do not understand it….this is always good. But with that brings an activity that is always present but this kind of setting exacerbates it….People/kids that do not respect others property. We had to ‘guard’ the cars all day from kids trying to jump on the running boards or wheels of the cars or trying to open the doors. Someone got through our vigil and scratched Fred & Debie’s Dodge pretty bad, it will have to be repainted because it went down to the primer!

The event had many nice cars but I liked the silver ’46 MG TC and Steve & Sallie’s orange Mustang. I have known Steve for a few years and have heard him talking about his Mustang but never saw it till Sunday! I am partial to the ’69-’70 Mustang and theirs is one of the nicest I have seen. I also liked the black ’32 traditional highboy with the zoomies and the three early Broncos. Wyatt was there with his crowd pleasing DeLorean and Ray brought his very red HHR to share. It was a great day to be able to drive the hot rods and share our passion with others….even though the Princess didn’t win anything. Of course I’ll have to take her shopping shopping this week to blunt the trauma of her not wining anything….I think there will be more shoes in the closet by Friday! hehehe

Living a Dream

The Princess and I decided to take advantage of the glorious day Tuesday and drive to Stephens City, VA for lunch. It’s a 160 mile round trip from Stafford through the Virginia country side. We like to travel the Interstates as much as the lesser roads so we used I-66 & I-81 to get to our destination. We think it is actually safer on the interstates and usually the roads are in better condition. We also like to drive our coupes to give others a chance to see part of what makes us Americans…. The independence of Hot rods are an important part of the fabric of our American heritage and it gives us pleasure sharing that experience with all that see or talk to us while we travel. Hot Rodding speaks to the ingenuity and effectiveness of the American spirit….A never ending quest to make things better or different is fundamental in Hot Rodding. This difference is also about going against the grain a little or in today’s vernacular, thinking out of the box. An individualistic spirit like Hot Rodding is difficult for some to understand and we like to explain it every chance we get, even if that just means a friendly smile and wave to a passing motorist on I-66! We like to shock the non-car people by showing them we are not knuckle dragging mouth breathers but nice folks that are not afraid of being a little different. I’ll get off my soapbox now!

The trip was uneventful and the experience at Butcher Block Buffet was good. The food was normal for a southern “country” buffet, tasty and honest. The restaurant was clean and the service was attentive and cheerful. When we parked the hot rods I noticed a car carrier next to the restaurant….it had an “old” car on it. Upon closer examination I discovered it was a ’34 Nash! I used to own a ’34 Nash resto-rod! Mine was a large 4dr but this one was the lower priced Lafayette model, a lot of subtle differences and dimensionally smaller from mine but still a very rare car! It was from NJ going south….I waited a while for the driver to return so I could ask about the car but he/she never came back.

If anyone would like to receive email notices of our upcoming adventures please let me know at wherewereyouin62@comcast.net we plan on driving the hot rods all winter, weather permitting.

No really....It's the last show of the year!

Friday evening and rain is threatening….but we go to VA BBQ in Fredericksburg, VA anyway! This “rain” thing is getting to be a real pain, it’s difficult to plan anything with the hot rods. And since my atomic powered chair heater is running out of fuel I think the season is winding down for us this year. Old & Cold don't mix!

We arrived and parked near the building with T-Bucket John, he had his witch/wench with him which was OK since Sat is Halloween! Most of us put out candy for the kids/adults and settled in for a few hours….in the cold….Tell me why do we do this again? There were about 20 cars total for the evening….some came, set up and realized how cold it was and packed up and went home. Some of us stayed till about 8:30….Why?

There was a black ’63 Ford Galaxie that I had not seen before that was very nice. Two new Camaros showed up, I like the yellow one, and a new orange Challenger! And the pug pirate was way cool…. please check out the pictures.

We cruised home and the traffic was horrendous on Rt. 1 going south, we were going north so we were OK but the southbound traffic was backed up 3+ miles! The RedRat is a “hot rod” which, I was told by the builder Don, is the reason it doesn’t have a heater! Makes sense….but after the motor is warmed up a little there is enough radiant heat from the 502 that gets inside to keep me warm! In fact I have to crack the window a little to let some of the heat out! I don’t need no steenken heater….the Rat will provide! I love that car!

The last show of the season....maybe?

This was the 50th anniversary of the Hoppers car club and the 3rd of their Halloween shows we have attended. Think about it....a club that has been in existence for 50 years! And some of the original founding members are still in the club! I don’t know many other clubs that have been around that long and kept some of their core intact.. ..Amazing! This year they also had special recognition for the 1959 cars, the year they started their club.

Every year that we have attended this event the attendance record from the previous year has been broken and this year was no exception, there were 182 cars registered! Not bad for an out of the way show at the end of October! But with that increasing attendance comes the only complaint I have about the show was that the staff was not prepared for the volume of cars again. They had to scramble to get enough registration cards and the tallying of the votes took longer than expected (25 min.). I know how difficult it is to try to guess how many cars will attend an event while you are setting it up. I have been there know the balancing you have to do between spending the money for printing verses having a lot of obsolete printing left over that will have to be thrown away. Their club members adapt and overcome the glitches and the event presses on. Good job!

As is my prerogative I will single out a few cars that I think are ones I would have picked for parking in my garage! The red & white ’59 Dodge was really cool; swivel seats, push button trans and all! Think about where you would get body parts & molding for that car? Amazing! I like the black ’48 Chevy PU.. ..The purple highlights and the pin striping were trick and the whole truck was just right.. ..The big block didn’t hurt either! The red/cream ’55 with the sanitary engine room was drop dead gorgeous, check out the motor room, and his wife drives a blue/white ’56 that takes a backseat to very few! The green ’62 Chevy flat top post was one of my favorite although it had a little too much motor (did I say that?). I like the ’61 & ’62 a lot but most people do the bubble tops, I like the flat tops and this one was really nice. There usually is a lot of Mopar’s at this show and this year Tony’s added to the crowd. Dan & Ramona won a top 30 award but Andrew and the Princess came home empty handed. And Andrew was a double looser because of the shirt he wore! Something about a local professional team that uses the pointy ended ball? I need to find another show to go to before winter so the Princess can win something going into the long, long winter. It’s like they say the last thing you think about before going to sleep is what you dream about.. ..the last show can’t be a ‘looser’ for the Princess.. ..the winter is way too long.. ..hehehehe The Hoppers Halloween show is usually the last deal we do for the season but this year may be different because of all the rain re-scheduled shows coming back in November.

They set up for a ‘generation’ picture shoot for the Camaro guys so Andrew got to be in that with his blue Camaro.. ..They should try that at more shows with Mustangs too? I had to teach some guys in a new Cobra some respect for old cars on Rt. 66, while we cruised back the 82 miles to Stafford.. ..I love that car!

The "R" word again....

It started raining Thursday evening and It is still raining now! The cars stayed in the garage all weekend! I'm getting tired of this! Maybe move to AZ?

Playing with cars & airplanes in the rain.

Saturday….and it’s raining….so what else is new? We have had 12 events cancelled this year because of rain! But this Saturday we were committed rain or shine to the car display at Culpeper Regional Airport as part of their 10th annual AirFest. The AirFest is a display of vintage aircraft and an airshow with the vintage aircraft flying. The show features the only civilian Harrier in the world….that is an amazing piece of technology. The first time I saw one was in the ‘60’s at Edwards Air Force Base in California. It was the prototype aircraft and it was then called the Kestrel P1127. That day at Edwards was so hot that the Kestrel could not get air born vertically from a standing position. The AirFest also had T-6’s, T-28’s, a T-34, a Naviaon and many other flying examples of our aviation heritage. Dan and I had been working on the display since last October and we arrived around 6AM at the airport to lay out the parking. Fortunately the Army was at the other end of our display lot setting up their recruiting display and the headlights from their vehicles helped us set up in the dark. Ray & Terry from Wounded Warrior Project set up their race car display and the rest of the cars started coming in. Stuart brought his red & white GT-40 that was much admired. Wyatt brought his DeLorean that is always a hit with the spectators. Andrew brought his blue Camaro and Tony brought his Super Bee, both represent the muscle car era. Garland brought a Bentley that has a history. Dan brought his black '55 Chevy and I brought the RedRat so we had some real hot rod representatives. Hehehehe The Princess was off to a craft show with our two daughters and the grandkids....It was a nice quiet day at the airshow....I didn't say that! We had invited about 20 cars but because of the forcasted rain we ended up with 8! It did rain from 9Am to 1PM off and on, the sun would come out so we dried off the cars and then it would rain again….repeat 5 more times! In spite of that we had a great time sharing our cars with thousands of spectators that were attending the AirFest. If we are allowed to participate again next year we will have a deeper representation of the car culture to display. I didn’t shoot many pictures because we were handing out flyers about our display and talking to the many spectators that were asking questions about the cars. I did shoot a video, enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/user/502SizeMatters#p/a/u/0/7lkg5AONsxs

Down the straight away

The Princess and I have been staying home for the last couple of weeks....we had some things to deal with and I think we are OK now. We have decided to lighten up on the organized car show scene and move into cruising more. So we have two more shows and one display and a couple cruises for this season and we will finish them out. Next year will be different, you will not see us at so many local shows....We are on a few more email lists like Jerry's at DoubleJSound that will give us more choices of things to do on the weekends....choices.

With the Princesses help I got the RedRat on the road today! Whoppie.... Dan & Ramona and the Princess & I took a trip to Colonial Beach and the Happy Clam to check out our repairs to the RedRat....just a little minor adjusting and I'll be better than new! It still has that homing quirk that whenever we get close to Carls Ice Cream the car just goes there! I love that car!