Where did the weekend go?

Friday evening and we weave our way through the Friday get-out-of-town traffic to Fredericksburg, VA and the cruise at VA BBQ on Rt. 1. This cruise has been hosted by Fredericksburg Classic & Muscle Car Club for many years and never disappoints. It is a comfortable cruise with 50-90 cars each week….not like the MD cruises with 400-500 cars each week but a nice mix of local cars and some from the surrounding environs. About half the cars come out every week and the other half are infrequent visitors.

The car that spun my tires was the little yellow ’61 English Ford panel….I had one of these cars in ’63-’64 and drove the wheels off it! I had the original 4 cyl motor with four individual pipes coming out one side, like a funny car. I had a lot of fun cruising the beach cities in SoCal with that car….I can’t imagine how much trouble I could have found if I had a small block Chevy in it like the yellow one at the cruise. Jim brought out his ’46 Ford PU, “The Rotten Peach”, to share with us….he had it repainted and added a new fuel tank….ya gotta see this. Hoppy brought out his yellow ’55 Ford, the Chevy killer!? We had a great time talking to friends and making new ones….please check out the pictures at; http://rides.webshots.com/album/577539128XeTJKa

Saturday morning and we attend the 2nd Kate Waller Barrett MS show in Stafford, VA. The school opens its doors for the show so the restroom facilities are great and there was a good food vendor which helped since there were no restaurants close by. It was hot for this time of year, I think it went up to 274 degrees, which wasn’t welcome but we dealt with it. The heat crept up on me as I didn’t hydrate properly….I have to remember to do that better. The music was a victim to the many announcements and talking. After a while we just tuned out the “noise” since little music was being played and as a consequence we didn’t hear when the 50/50 was called and we probably missed other things we may have wanted to hear.

There were about 70 cars of all types from Sam’s original Model T to a 2010 Camaro….that why I like open car shows….everyone comes out! I have a few favorites….first is Brian’s red ’88 Fiero GT with the 3800SC motor! Brian had done all the work himself on this beast and it worked out just right. This type of car is often overlooked by hot rodders and I don’t know why. With its inherent great handling and killer motor possibilities this is a super street car if there ever was one! I also liked the dune buggy. I saw many of them in SoCal when I lived there in the 60’s….in fact I think the Meyers Manx was invented there. The one at the show was done flawlessly. And then there was the Noble….this is a rare car and you need to talk to the owner when it is at a show with you. It is so unique, and it’s 2000 lb weight and over 500 hp should make it a fun car on the street.

There was confusion at the award ceremony and some frayed nerves that could have been avoided but in the end most were happy with the outcome. The Princess got a plaque so she is all giggly and happy. Please check out my pictures at; http://rides.webshots.com/album/577537128IgfZZH

We left the show and cruised to the show at Foster’s Grille in S. Stafford, VA. The VA Stockers are the host club and Foster’s had gone all out to promote their show that kicks off the cruise season for them. It had been on the radio and internet for a couple of months. They had two moon bounces and radio station WZRQ 99.9. Foster also gave the participants a discount on their food AND the show was free! That’s right, no cost to enter! They had nice prizes and trophies and gave $50 cash with each trophy! I think they really wanted to support the show/cruise!? Foster’s has always encouraged participation at their cruises but this was special. They really don’t have to pay people to come to Foster’s….it’s a nice place, the food is great and they always take care of us like they want us there.

There were around 90 cars when it was done and because they threw a large net of advertising many of the cars that showed up were new to us. The yellow blown T-Bucket, the red ’49 Ford custom, the white & blue ’54 Merc and the red ’57 Chevy panel were all new. Then Richard’s immaculate blue & white ’60 Chevy and many of the usual suspects rounded out the field. My favorite was the orange & purple ‘60’s Chevy PU. This truck was perfect and had a 600 + cu. in. motor that if you close your eyes when it was running you thought you might be listening to John Force’s car! And Jerry’s yellow Willys is never hard to look at…. another classy local car. Check the pictures at; http://rides.webshots.com/album/577546273yBcVDi

It was a very long day for us so after most of the cars left we were glad to be on the road home. We had a very busy day doing what old people do with their hot rods on the weekend when they don’t have proper supervision. On the way home the RedRat wanted to stretch it’s legs so I let it go on the Rt. 17 on ramp….it’s very long (about ¾ mile), straight, flat….hmmmmm. That wasn’t me turning gasoline into noise and filling the air with tire smoke, no sir, not me….hehehehe I love that car!

Sunday cruised to the Manassas, VA Burger King near the airport to attend the Bull Run Street Rods annual show. We like this show because it’s on grass and it is always well attended by pre 60’s cars. The show's main sponsor is Burger King and it always run well, everything happens when it should and no grumbling is heard about the show. This club is another one of Virginia’s premier car clubs….they are well respected and their show is one of the “can’t miss” shows of the year around here. Some years it has rained on show day which makes the venue a real challenge but this year the weather was near perfect. A short little shower around 10:30 helped dust off the pollen then sunshine the rest of the day. I think there were around 170 cars which is near what the show can handle comfortably and the parking was more organized than years before.

Many very nice cars….please check out the pictures at; http://rides.webshots.com/album/577536407ZCbaai The one I liked best was the pearl ’32 Ford PU with the Boss 429 Shotgun motor. I took a picture of the car and walked to the next one then went back and did a double take….I could see through the grille….no radiator? The radiator was in the truck bed….nice! The owner told me the motor was from a drag boat and its 1800hp had to be detuned to around 800hp for the street! This was one cool truck! I also liked the orange & black Camaro with the neat engine compartment housing the 427….cool. The Princess liked the way the black ’34 small block sounded….the one driven by another lady! She says the Princessmobile should sound like that too….I said all it takes is money!? The look she gave me told me I should not worry about what I will be doing this winter! Hehehe We met many old friends at the show and made some new ones too. I had a couple people walk up to me and ask….”Are you Chuck the Slacker?” After I said yes they told me how they like to read my stuff and how they follow us on HotRodHotLine. That helps when you write this stuff and wonder if people read it and if they like it….a little feedback is good!

We cruised home and our old bodies crashed in the A/C so we got a few hours of rest before our adopted children (Dan & Ramona) drove us to dinner. Now to rest up for next weekend….I love this hobby!

A frustrating weekend

The weekend looks ominous, weather wise but Friday evening at VA BBQ is what we need to get our hot rod fix….the Princess and I love to drive the hot rods so when they are parked, some of the fun stops for us. Most of the 40-45 cars that came through were the usual suspects but I liked the pink & black ’55 Ford convertible. It has a factory built sensing device that detects rain and will raise the top by itself, if the vehicle was stationary…. remember this was in 1955! I also liked the two tone green ’59 Ford convertible, a classy ride.

Those of you who know me also know I have some friends that are….a little out there….it might be you! Anyway as I was getting up to take pictures Fred came over and sheepishly said he had something to show me in his car? Fred drives a green & silver ’66
Plymouth Barracuda, not that his choice in cars has anything to do with he showed me….grin. You will have to ask Fred what it was that he showed then gave me….I will never look at a frog the same, ever again….I now have a terminal case of eye trauma and the doctor says the flashbacks should lessen over time if I stay on the meds….we’ll see.

Saturday the weather guessers say the rain is north and we won’t get any till evening….I checked the radar and saw rain all around us but nothing hitting the ground so we took the hot rods to breakfast. We arrived at Bob Evans for breakfast was planning on organizing the cars to go to the show in Thornburg with us. We were about half way through breakfast when we began to watch it rain on the hot rods….not a lot, just enough to make a mess. Since no one else had showed up, we finished eating and slowly drove home to garage the cars and dry them off…. Since it seemed like it was not going to quit raining the rest of the day we decided to stay home and watch a movie.

The weather guessers said that Sunday would be worse? We would have severe thunderstorms, large hail, lightning, wind, tsunami, hurricanes, tornadoes and the four horsemen of the apocalypse descending on our little part of the planet. So we planned on doing something else with the hot rods….like waxing them in the garage! Finally Sunday morning and with the dawn came a light sprinkle that quickly stopped. I re-checked the house generator, filled the bathtubs with water and secured all the porch furniture so the storm wouldn’t blow the furniture to Bermuda! And we waited for the impending deluge….the sky started turning blue? Little white puffy clouds started appearing? The wind stopped? Were we in the eye of the cataclysmic event that was to befall us? No….the weather guessers were wrong….again! We thought maybe their forecast was just a little late but the nice weather stayed till after dark! So we didn’t go to Crabby Oyster because of the storm that never came! So I’ll never understand why everyone believes what those bozos say about climate change for years down the road when they haven’t been able to predict the weather 24 hours out! Maybe it’s just me but when I worked, had I been wrong so often like they are I would have been unemployed long long ago!
Anyway….a very frustrating weekend for all the car people around here, I guess we should find solace in not having to deal with the weather that Mississippi and Alabama got. Next weekend we have three shows and one cruise scheduled….let’s see what the weather guessers can cook up.

Best laid plains....

The Princess got sick Monday and was off work and dealing with pain in her back all week so we cancelled all our hot rod plans for the weekend. Saturday she thought she was getting better so I took her in the RedRat to BK in Manassas, VA. We arrived a little early but the wind was blowing and it was cold so we sat in the car for about an hour before we decided to leave.

We decided to attend the Bruster's cruise in Stafford, VA and see how her pain did.... She started getting cold after we were there a couple hours and I could tell she was uncomfortable so we left early from there too.

I don't know if she is really sick or she just likes to ring that little bell she uses to get my attention! grin We will see how she mends this week and that will determine what we do next weekend.

Nothing but cruisin

Friday evening and we try to get to the first cruise of the year at VA BBQ in Fredericksburg, VA. I say “try” because it’s 16 miles from home but sometimes it takes a while to get there because of Friday night traffic on Interstate 95. Some of that traffic boils over onto Rt. 1 then gridlocks the traffic everywhere. It was worse than usual tonight because of the Easter weekend and people are traveling. The Princess didn’t get home till 5:30 so we got a late start. In spite of that we slithered out of Stafford to travel about 25 miles on meandering less traveled back roads and arrived at the cruise about 6:30. Some friends told us of taking over 3 hours to make the trip on the main roads….

As the night unfolded it was becoming obvious that we were going to have overflow attendance tonight! There were about 90+ cars visiting throughout the evening. The youngest visitor was in a purple car of unknown manufacture with a questionable roll bar….she looked a little distracted but was nevertheless enjoying her cruise. There was a nice blue ’49 Chevy panel truck with a nifty graphic on the rear door and Allen brought his green Corvair convertible with the old California tag to share with us. Larry drove his Ford Model T tub with the Model T 4 cyl engine that has been hot rodded! Check out the pictures of this, I will be doing an individual article on this car sometime soon so look for it on my blog; http://autoessentials.blogspot.com/ I also liked the black ’38 Chevy flat bed truck and the green ’69 Roadrunner but my favorite was the green ’52 Hudson Commodore. It was the last year for the big luxurious Hudsons….after that they just built the Hornet, Wasp and Jet. We cruised home around the traffic that was still gridlocked at 9:30; I hope this is not a portent of things to come with the traffic on Friday.

Saturday we left the Stafford WAWA at 2PM sharp and headed to Manassas, VA and the cruise at BK on Rt. 28 by the airport. We arrived about 2:45 and the place was filling up! A year ago at the same time there might be 10 cars there, now people start coming earlier and earlier….if this trend keeps up it may turn into an all day deal?! The parking filled up and overflowed to the grass behind the parking lot on two sides! I have seen more cars there but I estimate when we left there were at least 160 cars, and we left at 5:30! I guess the warm weather brings everyone out.

There was a very nice blue & white ’55 Chevy big block, just neat as a pin along with the green & white ‘52 Buick that looked just right. There were three Willys, Bill’s Orange one with the blown early Hemi, Jason’s brown one with the blown Chevy big block and the green one with the 2-4V Chevy big block. I also liked the red ’41 Chevy PU, it too was near perfect….but the coolest car for me was the red ’69 Camaro with the dark blue flames….the big block & engine bay was very trick, you have to check it out!

We left BK about 5:30 with Steve, Jimmy, Dan, Dale, The Princess & me and headed back to Stafford for the weekly Bruster’s cruise in progress. When we arrived there were about 60-70 cars parked with Gary announcing and playing music. We unpacked and set up under the awning of the emergency care place (closed) and settled in to complete our evening of fun with hot rods….but Steve was hungry! Now Steve is usually a nice guy but since he has been on that tofu, bean sprout and cooked yard bird diet he sometimes gets a little cranky when it’s time for him to eat! So Jimmy and I thought it would be better for all the people attending the event if we just took Steve to Sam’s for dinner….real quick….we had to quell the demons in Steve’s tummy. After we ate Steve was a happy camper again and the world was once again in balance. I didn’t begin taking pictures till it was almost too late….so I only got about ½ of the cars recorded….next time bring the flash & monopod!

There was the black ’59 Ford retractable from Colonial Beach and JV, our friend who drives a car with no doors, T-Bucket! Al drove his black ’62 409 post to remind us what SS cars looked and sounded like back in the day. The red ’54 Ford with the 5.4 motor was really special but my favorite was the two tone green ’64 Plymouth….one of the cars I wouldn’t mind cruising in!

Gary Sullivan recognized Ron Phillips for his hard work and dedication to this cruise for the last many years. Ron is the reason the cruise enjoys the success that it does and attracts people from miles around. He is diligent every week ensuring sponsorship and setup for the event. Thanks Ron, for providing a place for vehicle enthusiasts around Stafford to hang out and enjoy our cars. The event closed down around 9:30 but a few of us hung around and talked till 11:30! It’s what we old people do since we have no life and we are not supervised well enough! Hehehehe -3=93

The 2010 season is underway....and it's cold!

Saturday, March 27, 2010 and we attend the 4th annual Skills USA show at North Stafford High School in Stafford, VA. This is usually the first show of the season around here so everyone looks forward to it and in fact it is the target completion date for some that work on their cars over the winter (don’t ask me how I know that). The show has been improving every year and the trend continues. The weather was sunny but very cold; a major change from last weekend where temps were in the 70’s and this weekend I think it was -265 degrees.

One of the nice touches at this show are the awards….they are mostly made by the students at NSHS in Susan’s graphic arts class and they have never been a disappointment….this year they were a knockout! The students also run most of the show with the major sponsor, Herlong Associates Inc., assisting with MC duties. The students were selling hot coffee and food all day, the Princess says it was very good and the coffee helped dull the cold. There were a couple vendors and the Stafford County Sheriff Deputies with their Bustang, a seized vehicle from a drug bust that they have put into service to educate and illustrate one of the down sides of drug involvement…. you lose your stuff! And speaking about losing your stuff, the students set up a “jail” to raise money for Skills USA. The guy with the Model T and his crew had me arrested for something, I don’t remember what it was for but you know how those Model T guys always exaggerate everything….grin So I bought my way out of jail before I got time to sit down….I don’t know what kind of message it sends when the perp gets to buy his way out of jail? And how come it cost me $20 and everyone else it was $5-$10? I think the Princess had something to do with that!? Anyway it’s all in fun and for a good cause and If I didn’t give the $20 to Skills I would probably just bought something silly with it….like headlight fluid. The Air Force JROTC presented the Colors and we all saluted the Flag while the National Anthem was played….It gives me chills every time we do that!

Last year’s attendance was 170 vehicles and this year’s 158 registered vehicles may have something to do with the weather…. did I mention it was cold?

The vehicles were varied from the Model T to new Camaros and Mustangs. By far the most represented car was the Mustang…. there were plenty of old ones like Ray’s blue ’66 to Pete’s white 428R….it’s interesting to see all the different engine mods that can be done to the late model Mustang in the interest of lower emissions and fuel economy….yeah right! The Corvettes were well represented too including the yellow flamed one that I’ve seen for a few years now and it’s always a crowd pleaser. There were many “older” cars too….street rods and customs. The early Falcon with the killer Ford motor and the yellow ’32 5 window coupe but the coolest street rod wasn’t a car at all….it was a ’34 Dodge school bus! Buddy & Cathy are from New Market, VA and we saw the school bus last year at their 3 day event in New Market. They hadn’t finished the interior at that time but now it’s complete and deserved the best of show it won Sat. They were on their way back from Myrtle Beach, SC where they attended the Run to the Sun event there last weekend. The bus is cool in every way; you have to check it out when it’s at a show with you. Another cool vehicle was Allen’s ’64 Corvair Greenbrier camper, I have never seen one before and his is in magnificent shape! And there were a couple tribute bikes for our fallen Heroes that were done nicely and much appreciated.

The awards were given out around 3:30 and I think the judging was done well. There was a good balance between new & old cars. Sometimes when there are so many “new” cars the old ones get overlooked but when you have the level of professionalism these judges displayed no one gets overlooked….it’s the way to do car shows if you are going to have judged classes. After the awards were given out the winners were asked to cruise to the award table to have their picture taken and some did burn outs after that…. Too bad I didn’t get an award….the RedRat likes to do burn outs…. Hehehehehe The best burn out was done by the dually pick up hauling the “Somegaveall.com” car on a trailer….it went from one end of the parking lot to the other with the smoke so dense you couldn’t see the car on the trailer! I took some video of some of the cars leaving and uploaded it to youtube..enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/user/502SizeMatters#p/u/2/BbogtpuOxjc

After the show we cruised to Bruster’s for their first cruise in of the season. A bunch of us had and early dinner at Sam’s Restaurant but when we came back to the cars it was really cold….so we decided to call it a day! Ron & Gary had a lot of cars at their cruise but it was just too cold for us. Maybe next weekend will be better…. Be sure to check out the 'Auto Essentials' blog to the left and the 'Chucks Photos' link. -2=96

Local Hero

I don’t apologize for posting this blog entry that isn’t about cars….sometimes you must go outside the lines.

Monday, March 22, 2010 we attended a fundraiser for a wounded warrior by the name of Steven Kierman. Sgt. Kierman is now retired from the USMC and located in the Fredericksburg, VA area. The fundraiser was at a local restaurant, County Fare, located near the Stafford Courthouse on the corner of Hope Rd. & Rt. 1. The restaurant is owned by a retired Marine which gives the place a neat atmosphere and the food is simple but very tasty and the service is always prompt and attentive….the Princess and I eat there often. http://www.countyfarestafford.com/ The restaurant is usually busy but not crowded, except on Sunday morning, and then sometimes you have to wait a few minutes to be seated. Monday evening we got there about 4:45 and the place was beginning to fill up! After we were seated Jim & Linda came in and shared our table so they wouldn’t have to wait in line. We left around 5:45 and the line was almost around the side of the building! During that brief 3 hours they collected $13,000 for the Homes for our Troops organization that is assisting Steven with housing. The waitresses even donated their tips to the effort!

Regardless of your opinion of the wars we are engaged in you must support the men & women that are doing the bidding of our Country by putting themselves in harms way. Yes, they chose to be in the Military….but they did not choose to return to us injured. We must always hold all our Heroes in our prayers….in our hearts….and in our arms. And for the ones that come back to us with needs that they cannot attain themselves we need to support them whenever the opportunity presents itself, like this fundraiser for Steven. Separate yourself from some of that money you have been saving for a rainy day….these Heroes are having a really rainy day right now and need your help.

The link below is for the ‘Homes for our Troops’ site and it lists the needs to help build Steven a home….help if you can….it’s the right thing to do!

http://www.homesforourtroops.org/site/PageServer?pagename=StevenKiernan

The Madness Begins....

March 20, 2010….the weather is exceptionally nice, sunny in the 70’s….perfect! I planned to have our hot rods ready enough to go to the first cruise next Friday but the urge to get out of the garage was too great to ignore, so off we went to BK in Manassas, VA. This cruise is year around but I think the “official” new season kicks off today.

I think the most unusual car was the white 1919 Ford center door, I tried to catch up with the owner but could not find him/her; I need to find out more about that car. Mike brought his red Anglia in then another red one showed up. There was a Chevy 789 which is kind of weird, in a nice way. Larry & Shirley’s new silver ’32 roadster was very nice. A lot of old & new muscle cars rounded out the crowd. We left a little early but there were about 160 cars….as with most cruises some came and stayed and some came in, walked around a little then left. It was a great beginning to this season. One down….99 to go!

I will be sending out our show/cruise itinerary again this year every week, if you want to be on my “list” of email recipients of this mailing please let me know. Wherewereyouin62@comcast.net