peekaboo

1964 chevy impala

i think there has only been one time i've ever seen this car not under a pop up tent. it's a historical car, so sure, they want to protect it and the paint job. the one time it wasn't, was probably five years ago, at the broiler. late in the day, i think it was surrounded by people. i'd have to sift through my hard drives to find it.

typically it's also surrounded by admirers and photographers. found it very early at the imperial's hawaiian gardens show last month. still was under the tent, so i only bothered shooting the front end. i'm guessing when it got pinstriped and painted, the chrome was off, otherwise, why does that squiggle go beneath it?

---

better half definitely is sick. drove home early from work to take him to some doctor out in arcadia, only to find out they had no more time for patients for the day. we'll try again in the morning.

i'm still not as sick as he is, but i suspect it will hit me full force before the end of the week, just in time for labor day.

very clean

as i've said before, i don't much care one way or another for the newer cars, the bouncers, the low riders. they've mostly lost the classic curves of the bombs and such that i love. but i can appreciate them. 

this one was pretty clean. interesting pinstripes and metallic applique. the trunk was closed when i got down to shoot the picture, but the owner said wait, and popped it up. i guess it adds to the shot, showing the scroll work back there.

now if i'd only shot it from the back...in the trunk was all the chromed out apparatus to make it go up and down. i'm guessing he doesn't take this to the supermarket.

winter

winter is a time of desolation and cold. a time of sleep and anticipation. less sunlight. 

pfft. it was in the 80s yesterday. tomorrow maybe 65°, followed by rain tuesday and wednesday. california is just a confusing place. seasons are all screwy here. but i don't think i could ever go back east to live anymore, though it might be fun for one year.

but then, i wouldn't have so many choices of car shows to visit anywhere else either. i would truly have to hoard up cars for the winter if i lived anywhere else.

well, i'm no squirrel, though i may be nuts, and i already have so many cars to choose from in my digital garage, i sometimes wonder why i keep looking for more.

i saw this one pulling in last weekend in lakewood as i was packing up to leave. the primer covered ghost. i hadn't gotten a shot of it then. i figure that many of the cars i see at the smaller shows i frequent, eventually will be back. or i will find it at another show. or i will be haunted by them, as i drive down city streets, and often see stuff driving the other way. here it is a week later, at the hooters show in anaheim. glad to have given this show another try. there were plenty of cars to look at, a plethora if you'd prefer.

i imagine in the spring and summer, this location is a bitch to get to and/or park at, being in the backyard of anaheim stadium and down the street from the pond/honda center. 

not sure if it is any one particular model of car, or chopped up pieces of things. i kinda think its something of a '48 chevy or so. i guess i could have asked the owner, who was hovering around nearby (not literally, or he would be the ghost). he never said a word, and eventually went somewhere else. this was my favorite of the shots i took. no people walking through, no posts sticking out randomly. the bare, stripped down trees, behind the bare, stripped down car. makes me look forward to the spring, and seeing this car again, as they continue to work it up, to a spring of its own. i suspect it may take a bit longer than it will for the trees.

on the down low

i guess its cool to customize a car and install hydraulics or airbags or windbags or whatever you call it. you can make them hop, bounce, dance, sit on three wheels, and slam to the ground. i seriously doubt this one would ever bounce; it would mess up the beautiful lines too much. leave that to the low rider guys.

then there's my dad. drives my sister's mid-90s nissan quest. no hydraulics at all, yet he's had it up on two wheels. only way to explain the broken motor mounts. no idea what he was doing or where the hell he managed to do it. sometimes a man's heart is a deep well of secrets. or maybe he just forgets stuff.

skull obsession

quick stop at lakewood fuddruckers today. was quite hot, and i arrived later then i have in the past. lots of cars, but a lot of open hoods. so i focused on the few cars i really liked.

this was probably the most spectacular chevy i've seen in a while. there were little skulls on almost every little appendage hanging up off the car and everywhere on the dashboard.

anyway, i believe the owner of the car was standing off to the side, out of the shot, watching closely. but then, he also followed me over to watch me shoot an old '46 olds, where he did get in the shot. i suppose he was just someone curious as to what the hell i was doing, but too shy to ask the usual question about magazines. no, sir, i don't.

full monte

another car that i usually pass by, but i liked the reflection on the hood too much. frankly, i don't get the tiny wheels they put on these cars. i suppose it has something to do with the hydraulics and bounceability. otherwise, this one was rather plain compared to others i've seen all tatted up, relatively.

you could even say it glows...

no idea what kind of car this is. they stripped off all the things i'd look for first to figure that out. another one of the awesome cars at the broiler from the magazine shoot.

really amazing paint jobs on these. can't remember if that nomad is being lit up by the lights for the shoot, or if someone's got their headlights on, but it really brightens things up, almost too much.

make up your mind

saw this impala back in november on my way back up the street from the dia de los muertos show in whittier. perfectly nice low rider, but couldn't they have just put the damn top up or down? it just looks half ass like this, but maybe they like it that way? am i to admire the plush interior? and why the mirrors? what's up under the wheel well that i need to see? the hydraulics? perhaps i just don't understand low riders, and i should just stick to the oldies.