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?

street art?

not my typical car, but going on my typical rant.

why do they do this? why take a perfectly fine car and slap silly stickers all over it and plop a whale tail on it? why whore out a car? or would you call it pimped? maintenance? advertising? i could go into stereotypes, but i'm going to behave.

just looks damn silly to me. i came thisclose to getting a corvette back in the 80s, when they switched over from the sexy, sweet classic corvette lines to this new shape and electronic innards. obviously, didn't buy the corvette i'd always thought i'd get, because it wasn't classic, but i still hate to see these rolling billboards of any type.

ok, given this one was probably purposely brought here by one of these sponsors to what, sell their product? use my stuff and your car can look like this? this type of advertising must work or they wouldn't keep doing it. frickin eyesore. this should be caged in on one of the racetracks, where this type of graffiti is expected.

can you tell i'm still in my post holiday mood? i think i'll stick with your classic cars, thanks.

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. :)

la chona

so i'm in a rough and dirty mood. been too long since i threw a beater up here. a nice rat rod made of bits and pieces of various years. i'm tired and don't feel like spit-shining pixels tonight.

this assembly seems to be based on a ford body of some sort. i like the unfinished surfaces, with the engine compartment a matte black with pinstriping. interesting to the spend the time and money for a touch like that, or even for the dice on the tire valve stem, when the rest of it seems destined to remain “aged.”

at least it doesn't have a huge, obnoxious engine, which in a chop top would inhibit the view from the driver's seat. i don't believe i've seen it back again since then, so maybe its been transformed into something more interesting by now...

flaming youth

ahhh, this is more like it. i've posted two flamers in a row, similar paint scheme, but which is better? does it matter really? they're both bitchin' cars. i wanna say this car kicks butt, but the flames on the el camino are probably better done.

my whole day blew big chunks at work, so getting a shot like this salvaged what was left of it. just sorry i missed a spectacular sunset with big toy story clouds in it...shots would have been so much more awesome.

california freeway traffic on a friday is just what i needed to get a really massive headache going – thanks knott's scary farm people! you all drive like dillweeds. and surface streets weren't doing much better; the scattered lightning strikes and sprinkles of rain had put out traffic lights here and there, which just slowed me down even more. now all i need is my computer to lock up, as it tends to do, my day will just be complete.

here's to a better tomorrow. yay for the weekend!

hot day, hot rod

i missed the previous show at foothill ranch because i was out of town, and being they only do this one once-a-month thru october (i think), i didn't want to miss it again. turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year so far, and lack of a crowd reflected it. there were maybe about 10–12 cars, instead of the usual 20–30. half had the hoods up, and i walked right by those, which mostly were 56/57 chevys. too bad.

i only bothered shooting about 5 of the cars before sitting down in the shade to wait for it to cool off and see if anyone else was going to bother to show up. one of the organizers told me they were going to pack it up early because of the heat. don't know if they decided to hold the raffle prizes and trophies until the next show or not, because i didn't stay too long after hearing that.

anyway, whilst chillin' in the shade and packing up my gear, the owner of this '31 coupe stopped by to chat. he'd noticed me shooting his car, and was interested in what i was going to do with the pictures. gave him my card. i know he peeked at my blog, because he is one of the brave few who actually bothered to email me — thanks randy! hope you like it.

hot rod lincoln

my best guess is that this a 55–56 lincoln of some kind. just not finding one with exactly the same bumper set up. guess i should've asked the owner — i think he was the guy who asked me "what is it you've been doing all these weeks here?" my answer was, "having fun," but maybe i should have been a smartass and stated the obvious answer, "taking pictures." nah, he was curious enough to ask, so i didn't feel the need. anyway, i handed the guy my card, so i hope he sees his car, if it is indeed his.

nice pinstripe job, and interesting paint. didn't quite overhear the whole story, so i'm not sure if he was saying he painted the car himself in his garage, or he took it somewhere. its kind of a matte finish, which is a little unusual when its not primer, but then this car was a bit unusual, and i don't have another one like it in my files.

i also think i've seen that guy in the doorway...i think he owns this hot rod, and is also currently selling an old cadillac.

hot and pink

posting another picture tonight, because i already know i won't be able to tomorrow.

anyone notice that it's getting to be a little on the hot side this week? i gotta get something to wear besides blue jeans; they just hold the heat in and i'm just gonna have a heat stroke.

stopped by three shows this evening: one in anaheim (too early, hardly anything there yet), peris, and bob's big boy in downey (only stayed fifteen minutes). lots to choose from at the peris show, stayed about an hour.

this ford hot rod stood out from all the other hot rods there. probably because it was hot pink and had pinstriped flames. even had an airbrushed portrait of a hot rod and the tasmanian devil on the back.

anyway, it was neato. i've got a shower waiting for me now...gotta go.

rebel yell

i only know fer sure that it has firestone tires. otherwise, i can't figure out what part came from what car. i also know that i could not leave without a picture of it, but there were always so many guys gathered around it, i almost did give up. i finally just walked over and set up my tripod, and just started shooting one side, then when i moved to this side, which was the side i really wanted, the group got a clue and moved back a bit. not sure if the owner was in that cluster of dudes, but if he was, someone tell him thanks for moving. i like these cars for no reason at all, but they do make for interesting images.

just home from a weekend in monterey. was taunted by the unloading of lots of classic cars for a car auction this week. public not allowed in, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. no real opportunity to get the shots i wanted, though there was one really nice buick skylark i should have taken, but just didn't. the driver was waiting for his signal to bring it into the fenced area. i figured i couldn't set up in time to get my shots, so kept walking. two blocks away, and i saw it still waiting...my husband is not letting me forget the one that got away.