2016 Hot Rod Hill Climb – Click the photo to buy a copy!
Finally we’ve come to the Saturday part of the coverage! Early Saturday morning with a couple of plates of the host hotel’s breakfast buffet in our bellies the crew headed out to the event parking and the starting line! When it was time for the event to start a crane hoisted a huge USA flag and a flathead over the track while we were treated to a live singing of the National Anthem. Then it was time for the cars that were running to make a parade lap.
2016 Hot Rod Hill Climb – Click the photo to buy a copy!
The 2016 Hot Rod Hill Climb Reliability Run was fantastic. I cannot stress that enough. After waiting for the next group to make it to the Echo Lake check point I headed down to Idaho Springs to grab a bite. Even though I was in the daily driver I decided to take the “Oh My God Pass” version of the final leg of the Reliability Run. The choices were to take a short jaunt down I-70 and then take the brand new Central City Parkway over to Central City or to take the gravel pass. It was steep, washboarded, narrow and ROUGH, oh and there was no guard rails for 99% of it. It was awesome, even in a boring daily driver. Here’s the rest of the Friday pictures, the Saturday shots start tomorrow!
2016 Hot Rod Hill Climb – Click the photo to buy a copy!
By the time I got to the first stop on the Reliability Run I was ahead of the pack. I got a chance to see some great cars and hang out with some great people. After awhile I took off to get a spot on the side of the Squaw Road Pass and shoot some rolling shots. Then it was off to the 2nd stop on the run. After letting the group roll out I waited for the next group to show up.
2016 Hot Rod Hill Climb – Click the photo to buy a copy!
2016 marks the 3rd year that I’ve attended the Hot Rod Hill Climb. Mike Nicholas and crew put on an amazing event! This year was the first time I made the Friday Reliability Run and it was a blast! After putting in a day at the office on Thursday I hopped in the daily driver and pointed it west on I-70. 7 hours later I was at my hotel, time for some shut eye!
Around 9 am we gathered in the Wooly Mammoth parking lot just on the west side of Denver off of I-70. The first part of these images come from that parking lot. I jumped out and got on the interstate so that I could bypass the group and get ahead of them by the first stop.
In this episode Royboy talks with Roy Drapal about the hot rod that he started in 1946 and finished in 1955 and still has to this day. Look for a feature on the car in the Fall 2016 Hop Up Magazine.
A couple of years ago I counted 9 shows on the same Saturday as the Starliner show. That’s a lot of competition, but honestly with the planes of the Kansas Aviation Museum as the backdrop, they are no competition.
At around 8am I was starting to wonder if anyone was going to show up. The rain did keep some cars away, some just couldn’t get out of their neighborhoods. The weather at the show was perfect though. For those that have never been to the Starliner, it’s not a big show, but it’s a fantastic one. The people are the best on the planet, they have some fun cars too.
After about 10″ of rain on Thursday night into Friday mid day we got another round of 2 more inches Friday evening. So we had to move the party inside. We filled the breakfast area of the hotel and told stories and enjoyed each other’s company for a few hours while the storm raged.
Early Saturday I rolled over to the Kanas Aviation Museum to get some spots under the wing of the B-25-D on the ramp. Enjoy the photos, there will be more all week!
The Stray Kat Kustoms Starliner show is one that I plan on never missing. While it’s not the biggest show that I attend, it’s one of the best. This year I rolled down to Wichita on Thursday evening to start the weekend off with a dinner with a mixture of the Stray Kat Kustoms members and some of the Lonely Knights members. That’s about what time the monsoon started. From 6:30 Thursday evening until about noon on Friday the Wichita area saw upwards of 10″ of rain.
Friday is when we do the Garage Krawl, visiting shops in the area to see what they are up to and just plain driving our cars around having a great time. This time we had to cut the Krawl short due to some flooded streets and such but we still had fun. Here are the photos from Friday’s Garage Krawl
The Greaserama features live music, amazing artists, the Sweet Sixteen indoor display, swap meet, bicycles, hot rods, kustoms, drag cars, vans, just about anything you can dream up. Each year the show has a huge group of people involved in putting it on, this year the Los Punk Rods club had some help from some volunteers to make sure things ran smoothly.
It takes a huge effort to put on a show of this size and there are always a few folks that complain but honestly year after year I have a great time at the show and I keep coming back. Maybe I just realize that those complaints are pretty baseless and petty or maybe I just know a good time when I have one.
This week Royboy talks with Travis Chadwick of Sinners And Saints Tattoo and Jeb McGregor of the Primarys Car Club in Wichita, KS about the upcoming Rumble Run and a whole lot of other random topics.
Jeb in his Chevy \”Nadine\” at the KKOA Leadsled Spectacular
After an uneventful drive, the best kind, I was got home from Texas late Saturday evening. A few hours of sleep later it was time to fire up the Galaxie and head east to Tracy, MO to the Greaserama. I heard reports that the show was huge on Saturday, that’s awesome! I wish more people showed up on Sunday but there were still a bunch of cars on the fairgrounds. I was barely in the gate when I saw Dennis Saum and family and his wickedly cool 32 Ford.
Because when you’re at a show in Dallas, TX at 4pm on a Saturday why wouldn’t you show up at one in Kansas City at 11am on Sunday? Especially if that Sunday is the Greaserama! I’ve been attending the Greaserama for about a decade now and I’ve made a ton of friends at the show. Each year the show is a chance to catch up with these friends and make new ones, so I couldn’t miss it!
There was only one problem with the Invasion, I had to split too soon. Later in the evening the Reverend Horton Heat played and anyone that had a car in the show had a ticket. What a great idea for a show! I was kind of hoping that I wouldn’t have a good time at the show so that I could just continue going to the Greaserama each year and not feel that I was missing anything. However… the Invasion was freaking awesome! So I guess I’ll just have to keep hitting BOTH shows during the Labor Day Weekend. Be at the Invasion next year if you’re anywhere near Dallas, TX.
The Invasion was packed early, covering a couple of blocks of Deep Ellum in Texas including some side parking lots. Lots of rods and kustoms and lowriders on hand to check out. They just kept coming in most of the morning. Talking with Rusty Davis about what it takes to put on a show like this in this location, it sounds like a whole lotta work! 10 months of working with the city, the store owners, the property owners plus vendors, bands, etc. I’d like you folks to all give Them! a big thank you for putting on a great show. Plans are already underway for next year’s 10th anniversary of the Invasion.
When last we left our conquering hero… okay that’s laying it on a bit thick. So Saturday morning, after the earthquake that was felt as far south as Dallas and as far north at Omaha but I slept right through it, after that, I headed the few blocks away to the show. I’d been warned that the Invasion was a HOT show, temps routinely in the triple digits and since the buildings are all brick it’s like standing in a pizza oven. Okay, I’m prepared, I’m wearing shorts and a black t shirt. That’s as prepared as I get.
As with other shows this summer, the temperatures were comfortable and that made the day so much better. I rolled in around 9am and the place was filling up already. The show is held in the Deep Ellum area of Dallas, from the looks of it a great place to have drinks and see bands and such at night and I did notice a ton of pizza joints that I did not get to try.
The folks from Them! have been putting the Invasion on for 9 years now and have been inviting me for the last 4 or 5 years, 2016 was the year to make it happen! The decision was made to hit the Invasion in the Galaxie on Saturday and the Greaserama on Sunday.
It’s 1:00 am on Sunday as I type this post from my home in central KS. Friday at 6pm I got off of work from the day job, loaded up the Galaxie and pointed it south. A little after 1 am Saturday I arrived at my hotel in downtown Dallas. This year’s car show schedule has eaten up most of my vacation so far so I’m having to get a little more creative with my driving schedule. Keep coming back the next few days for the rest of the story!
This week Royboy talks with Dick Warsocki, a legendary tattoo artist, and member of the South Omaha Turds car club. Dick has been working 10 months getting his 34 Chevy ready for the Greaserama after a fire claimed his 54 Chevy on the way home from the event in 2015. He’s a great guy and has some great stories in this episode.
On Sunday after the King Pin Carmageddon the Lonely Knights gathered up for a picnic to celebrate the club’s 20th birthday! A whole bunch of folks gathered up for food and fun and it was a great way to spend part of the day before heading back to KS.
It was a long but good day, from just before 7am until around 7pm I was able to hang out with my Lonely Knight and Stray Kat Kustom families, see some amazing cars, eat some great food and just generally have a great day.
Last year the King Pin Carmageddon filled up a couple of parking lots and a side street, this year the Lonely Knights got the city permits and closed the street in front of Southside Johnny’s where the show is held. This allowed for more cars to fit in the show and for more room to get around the cars in the show.
After driving the 440 miles to Colorado Springs I met up with the pre-party at The Muffler Shop/The Body & Fender Shop. We had some food, told some stories and then it was time to move the party to the host hotel parking lot. A few folks wanted to go cruising, I was lucky enough to hop in with Joel Davis in his 40 Ford (as you saw in the first post). We found a pizza joint up the street from the hotel and chowed down. 5:30 am came awful early, soooooo I was late. Lonely Knights were parked at 7am and the gates opened at 8, closing at 10. I liked the idea of having all of the cars in the show early so there’s less driving around during the event. More to come tomorrow.
2015 was the first time I went to the King Pin Carmageddon and I vowed that I would come back. So this weekend I hopped in the Galaxie and drove 440 miles up to Colorado Springs to hang out with my brothers and sisters in the Lonely Knights for the show.
