ye olde fordes

so my friend from the old show at chubby's told me about this new show in huntington beach at the olde world village. think solvang. think octoberfest. ja, probably more german than scandinavian, it's a small market "village", with a meandering "cobblestone" walk that runs around the "village."

so one day a week, they let these crazy car people come and park their cars throughout the pathways and in the parking lot for the duration of the show. interesting concept, but as there is only a little over a car's width of space, once you're parked, you're there until the 8pm close.

supposedly the first night there were 150+ cars, but i think this was the third night, and i dunno where that many would go, so i'm saying maybe 75 in the village and parking lot. i did like seeing the same cars i see everywhere in a different location. and i did like that inside the market, the buildings provided enough shade to keep cool until the sun went down.

i've seen this ford in whittier, at the ruby's show a few times. just realizing i posted the hood ornament a few days ago. i like the setting for it here much better than the parking lot at ruby's, probably because it just looks better, but also because it's not crowded next to another car. and i got my shot right before more people came around that curve.

coulda had a v8

so it rained last night, but was mostly sunny today. i hadn't taken my camera with me to work, since it had rained, so i decided to go straight home. seems that if i don't stop at a car show on the way, once i get into the house, i just don't want to go back out.

by the time i got home, it was vacillating between sunny/warm and overcast/cold/windy. finally decided to skip bob's broiler yet again. almost feel like it's been forever since i went. already know i can't make it there next week either. eventually, eventually.

i figure there's ruby's on friday, and according to my mother-in-law, there's a 'vintage auto show' in uptown whittier on saturday. works for my weekend schedule anyway.

so tonight, i got off my ass and went for a 2 mile walk at least. i sit too much at work and my legs are killing me, so it felt good to get out. my better half has been working too many late nights, and he's already in bed...

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so i saw this grape at ruby's a couple of weeks ago. i'm not quite sure what this is, aside from a v8. guessing its a ford. i've seen it on other people's flickr pages, but they don't have it identified either.

i must admit, it did stand out in the crowd.

lucky bastard

stopped by the three car shows in the area yesterday. keep finding the most variety of cars over at the pep boys show. hearing that there was some disagreement with the guys that run the garden grove show, so there was a split, and now a good majority of the cars can be found here on friday nights.

i was told in passing, by a guy i frequently see at shows, that this car almost ended up in a chop shop. it had been stolen from the owner's driveway and found a few days later, covered, in the yard of a "mechanic's" shop. i remember reading about it, but the article i read had no pictures at the time, so i didn't recognize this as being the one. yep, the guy is one lucky bastard...what are the typical chances of ever seeing your stolen custom car in one piece again?

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i read a small sign hanging in the window of a shop in uptown whittier, that there is a charity car & bike show on the 12th at whittier high school, benefitting their baseball team. not much advertising...wondering if anyone has heard about it and is planning on going? says the show is from 10–4, drive-in starts at 7a.m.

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going to seattle/tacoma this summer...anyone know of any car shows?

heartburn

this isn't the shot of this old ford i meant to take. and it is the shot of this old ford i meant to take. lemme ’splain lucy.

i'd been at fuddrucker's for about half an hour shooting away, by the time i got around to this car. the unseasonably warm (upper 70s) january weather brought out a lot cars for the show. the allotted space was swarming with old cars, muscle cars, a stupid prius, and a couple of other odds and ends.

the sun was just getting ready to set, and the way the light was hitting this car made the flames seem to glow. i set up my tripod, framed the shot, adjusted the white balance, and pressed the shutter release button. instead of click click click, i heard clunk clunk clunk. oh crap. the preview showed black with a smidge of light across the top and bottom of the frame. tried again, only it made a more hideous sound, and now the previews were just black frames.

i turned the camera on and off a couple of times, as this one is a bit flaky anyway — it likes to change f-stops all by itself mid-shot sometimes — hoping to reset it. even tried turning the dial to auto and also program mode, just for jollies. pushed the button again, but this time got a white screen of death, with "camera error" emblazoned across the screen. not good.

quickly whipped out the other camera i use to shoot details and hood ornaments with, and swapped out lenses. then had to adjust all the settings and buttons and whatnot to work with the wide angle lens, watching the light change as i did so. just as i was screwing on the mounting plate for the tripod, i see that the light has gone; the sun has gone down below the buildings behind me. so i lost the shot i wanted, and also got the shot i wanted, sans glowing flames.

don't know why the camera chose that moment to crash. i've only taken more than 30,000 pictures with it since we bought it. it's been to london, d.c., seattle, san fran, san diego, vegas...all the car shows...can't imagine why it would give out (j/k). so i'll have to send it in and hope they can repair it. i hate having to switch out lenses on location, because that only invites dust and crap to fly into the camera and ruin pictures. fortunately, i do have the other one, which while not used as much, has quite a bit of mileage being bounced around in the backpack i roll around with me. i hope it lasts a while, or my little hobby is done for. arrrrgggghhh.

and check out that old 1920 ford thing next to it. wtf?

feeling blue

on an ordinary wednesday, i'd be heading over to the broiler. but nooooo, it's still raining here. not this instant, but soon enough i know it ain't worth the drive over there.

oh well, i'll just play with my cars now.

i think this is a ‘34 ford, but i'm not betting on it. i've seen it several times before, but never really liked the shots i was getting. while it's still wedged between other cars, i got most of it before the sun sunk too low and cast a shadow across it.

if an engine has to be displayed, this is better than having the hood open and messing up the lines. and i'll squint my eyes and imagine that the blue flames are real and pretend that it's going real fast. :)

would smell as sweet?

this old ford gets around. i've seen it at a few shows in various places. the aged finish and pitted hood ornament and grill make it more interesting when i process it.

the name on the door proclaims it to be of penrose machine shop out of compton, ca, but i can't find it on google. and i can't believe there isn't another picture of it out there either.

is this penrose an "impossible object" popularized in the '50s by the mathematician roger penrose, who describes such objects as "impossibility in its purest form?" [no, i'm not a geek...found it on wikipedia] how can it be explained otherwise?

addendum: (thanks denny) There was indeed a 'Pensose Machine' in Compton, CA. He was a dealer for small industrial engines and parts, such as Wisconsin, Continental, Kohler etc. I sold him product in the 60s thru mid-70s. Another 'Penrose' was" Dick", who was at one time working for Continental Motors, before I was, and he was 'Sherm" (I presume Sherman) Penrose's son. Sherm had a small engine and lawn equipment distributorship in Long Beach in the 60s. I believe 'Penrose Machine went 'unde'r in the early 80s with different ownership. The Ford in your picture was most likely sponsored by Penrose-Compton.

i coulda had a v8

just got home from the x games. saw the guy get smashed by his motorcycle. looked real bad, but they say he'll be ok.

quick post then off to bedski.

this 1934 ford was at the show off alondra and the 605. nice old car. looks a little odd straight on, so i've cropped it here. i left the ghosts in the background...maybe they came with the car?

mine's bigger

there's just gotta be something about a guy with a big engine. don't think i've ever seen one so errr...tall. i can't believe he drove this to the show...how could he see where he's turning? kinda freudian. probably plays guitar too. i joke when i say that black drive belt is for the squirrel to run on, but that's the way my mind wanders, probably needs at least two of 'em. anyway, i ramble...

i had a busy weekend; one day in riverside, next day in ventura. found this 1934 ford hot rod thing at the corona elks lodge annual show (i can't recall the exact name). not overly huge, but one of the 'elks' did stop by to tell me that their first show only had about 8 cars. this one had filled their lot...about 20–30 maybe, i didn't really count. had never been there before. i'm not sure what people thought of me, no one really bothered to ask. not even the usual question: you with a magazine? that's fine, i get more pictures in a shorter time that way, and that's better on a hot day, like this one.

they had an interesting barbeque made out of or made to look like the front end of a 56/57 chevy. i didn't partake, as i'd already eaten. only stayed for about fifteen minutes, then a short stop in whittier.

and i've just realized that i've now posted over 100 cars here. yippee.