Today is the 4th and final post of the 2017 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular show coverage from Salina, KS You can find out more info on the KKOA on their website here.
48 Cars In 48 States : The Great American Road Trip – A 48 state road trip with a stop in each state to photograph a traditionally styled hot rod, kustom or drag vehicle. Daily updates will be posted here on royboyproductions.com so you can see where I’ve gone, who I’ve met, some of what I’ve seen. At the end of the trip I’ll produce a 200 page full color book of the entire adventure. Business Sponsorship Packages here available as well as you can pre-order the book here!
Friday was a great day at the show, I spent the day hanging out with friends and shooting some cars as you can see here. In the evening I skipped the drags so that I could go to the Hall of Fame ceremony at the host hotel. KKOA President Jerry Titus asked up a few members of the Hall Of Fame and had them give their picks awards. At the end of the evening Kelly Pucket and Alex Gambino were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Congrats!
48 Cars In 48 States : The Great American Road Trip – A 48 state road trip with a stop in each state to photograph a traditionally styled hot rod, kustom or drag vehicle. Daily updates will be posted here on royboyproductions.com so you can see where I’ve gone, who I’ve met, some of what I’ve seen. At the end of the trip I’ll produce a 200 page full color book of the entire adventure. Business Sponsorship Packages here available as well as you can pre-order the book here!
Friday started off early, arriving at Salina’s Oakdale Park about an hour before the show officially opened and finding it to be filling up fast. The crowd shows up early, usually to beat the heat but this year the temps were downright livable in the upper 80’s instead of the 113 that it was a couple of years ago. The cars kept rolling in to the park all day, every time I tried to leave the booth to take photos more were coming in.
48 Cars In 48 States : The Great American Road Trip – A 48 state road trip with a stop in each state to photograph a traditionally styled hot rod, kustom or drag vehicle. Daily updates will be posted here on royboyproductions.com so you can see where I’ve gone, who I’ve met, some of what I’ve seen. At the end of the trip I’ll produce a 200 page full color book of the entire adventure. Business Sponsorship Packages here available as well as you can pre-order the book here!
The 37th Annual KKOA Leadsled Spectacular weekend started off for me on Tuesday with a trip to Lawrence, KS with my buddy Chris Ryan of Ryan’s Rod & Kustom so that we could see Social Distortion perform. It was a great start to the week! On Wednesday it was set up time for my booth so I took the camper in to town & set up a for the weekend. Thursday the show started filling in with cars and folks from around the country.
The official opening of the show is the Thursday night cruise on Santa Fe Ave in Salina. I went to my favorite watering hole, The Paramount Bar with my buddy Ryno (of Ryno Built in SW MO) and friends Dan & Brooke from Colorado. We had some dinner and then went out to check out the parade, I had my cell phone with me so I snapped some quick photos.
More to come tomorrow
48 Cars In 48 States : The Great American Road Trip – A 48 state road trip with a stop in each state to photograph a traditionally styled hot rod, kustom or drag vehicle. Daily updates will be posted here on royboyproductions.com so you can see where I’ve gone, who I’ve met, some of what I’ve seen. At the end of the trip I’ll produce a 200 page full color book of the entire adventure. Business Sponsorship Packages here available as well as you can pre-order the book here!
This week Royboy talks with Rick Love of Vintage Air. The talks covered the evolution of aftermarket auto air conditioning all the way through Vintage Air producing the HVAC for the Ford GT.
When I learned that my buddy Travis was not going to be able to attend the 8th annual Meltdown Drags I was more than happy to step up and share some of my photos and thoughts with those of you who regularly check his stuff out. Hope it’s up to snuff!
Once again, the Meltdown Drags exceeded expectations and delivered and incredible experience for all in attendance. Paul Zielsdorf, Eric Koopmeiners and friends managed to draw the best in vintage drag racing to Byron, Illinois to spend a few days racing like they did in the old days. Race cars from 40+ states came to race for the fun of it and spectators from across the country and across the pond came to soak it all in. Eliminate the modern tow vehicles and gadgetry and one would be hard pressed to tell what year it was. As if the racing wasn’t enough, there is also a show area and a nice sized swap to browse.
Make plans now to attend the ’18 Meltdown Drags and enjoy some racing as it was during its golden age.
Click here to order the 48 Cars In 48 States Shirt 1
48 Cars In 48 States : The Great American Road Trip – A 48 state road trip with a stop in each state to photograph a traditionally styled hot rod, kustom or drag vehicle. Daily updates will be posted here on royboyproductions.com so you can see where I’ve gone, who I’ve met, some of what I’ve seen. At the end of the trip I’ll produce a 200 page full color book of the entire adventure. Business Sponsorship Packages here available as well as you can pre-order the book here!
This week Royboy sits down with his father Lawrence and Uncle Tom 100 episodes after their last appearance for more tales of what it was like to grow up gear heads in the 50’s & 60’s in central Kansas.
This week Royboy gives a rundown of the Full 48 Cars In 48 States trip schedule and gives YOU a chance to help fill in the spots that are not yet filled.
If you’re looking for something to do next year on Independence Day weekend, you’d better be looking at heading to Des Moines for the Goodguys Heartland Nationals. Enjoy the final day of photos from this year’s coverage!
48 Cars In 48 States : The Great American Road Trip – A 48 state road trip with a stop in each state to photograph a traditionally styled hot rod, kustom or drag vehicle. Daily updates will be posted here on royboyproductions.com so you can see where I’ve gone, who I’ve met, some of what I’ve seen. At the end of the trip I’ll produce a 200 page full color book of the entire adventure. Business Sponsorship Packages here available as well as you can pre-order the book here!
Buy a print (click on the image for the shopping cart) if you like a photo!
See you at a show,
Royboy
Support Royboy Productions!!!
The easiest way (which costs you nothing) is to share this post! IF you like this post, share it with your car friends using the social media sharing buttons below or just by sending them the link to this page. Every set of eyeballs on the site helps!
The great thing about having a show that’s so big is that if you look enough, you’ll find the exact stuff that you dig. I did a lot of looking and found a lot of traditionally inspired kustoms and hot rods. Some survivors, some new builds, and a whole bunch of nice stuff.
The show has a busy schedule all weekend long as well. Between a poker run on Friday, AutoCross all three days, Fireworks, live bands and oh… the cookies in the vendor building there was plenty to keep you busy. Oh, and I’m out of cookies, please send more.
48 Cars In 48 States : The Great American Road Trip – A 48 state road trip with a stop in each state to photograph a traditionally styled hot rod, kustom or drag vehicle. Daily updates will be posted here on royboyproductions.com so you can see where I’ve gone, who I’ve met, some of what I’ve seen. At the end of the trip I’ll produce a 200 page full color book of the entire adventure. Business Sponsorship Packages here available as well as you can pre-order the book here!
Buy a print (click on the image for the shopping cart) if you like a photo!
See you at a show,
Royboy
Support Royboy Productions!!!
The easiest way (which costs you nothing) is to share this post! IF you like this post, share it with your car friends using the social media sharing buttons below or just by sending them the link to this page. Every set of eyeballs on the site helps!
First off, this post goes out on Independence Day, I hope that you and yours have a great day celebrating our nation’s birthday.
As we walked through the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Saturday it was apparent to me that this show was popular, not only with the folks bringing their cars but also with spectators. You couldn’t look in any direction at any time without seeing a sea of people and cars of various types. Just as we got to the gate we ran into my buddy Ryno who’s ‘Golden Goddess’ was in the Lizard Skin booth in the vendor building. It was great to have a spot in the booth to sit and talk throughout the day when the crowds got to be too much to handle.
48 Cars In 48 States : The Great American Road Trip – A 48 state road trip with a stop in each state to photograph a traditionally styled hot rod, kustom or drag vehicle. Daily updates will be posted here on royboyproductions.com so you can see where I’ve gone, who I’ve met, some of what I’ve seen. At the end of the trip I’ll produce a 200 page full color book of the entire adventure. Business Sponsorship Packages here available as well as you can pre-order the book here!
Buy a print (click on the image for the shopping cart) if you like a photo!
See you at a show,
Royboy
Support Royboy Productions!!!
The easiest way (which costs you nothing) is to share this post! IF you like this post, share it with your car friends using the social media sharing buttons below or just by sending them the link to this page. Every set of eyeballs on the site helps!
June 30th through July 2nd the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, IA played host to the GoodGuys Heartland Nationals. This show is MASSIVE, maybe even a touch too big when you’re trying to cover it! Estimates each year are around 4,000 cars, this year I’ve heard 5,000 cars were on site this year. Here’s part 1 of my coverage from my day at the event on Saturday.
48 Cars In 48 States : The Great American Road Trip – A 48 state road trip with a stop in each state to photograph a traditionally styled hot rod, kustom or drag vehicle. Daily updates will be posted here on royboyproductions.com so you can see where I’ve gone, who I’ve met, some of what I’ve seen. At the end of the trip I’ll produce a 200 page full color book of the entire adventure. Business Sponsorship Packages here available as well as you can pre-order the book here!
This week Royboy sits down at the kitchen table of George Mallory, the owner of the Snooky Janich 1941 Ford built by Barris in 1951. Mallory purchased the car in 1976 and had to put it on hold until a few years ago when it was finally time to restore this piece of history. Hear the whole story in this week’s episode.
It all started for $33. That’s how much Gary Jennings paid at an auction for an abandoned 1957 Ford Ranch Wagon in 1970. That was the start of a 47 year long story.
This week Royboy talks with Mikey Brown of Mikey’s Kustom Upholstery in Indiana. Mikey brought his killer 53 Ford Pickup to the Custom Car Revival this year and it was awesome!
At some point during the 2017 Custom Car Revival I climbed up on the roof of Edwards Drive In for a different view. It was fun to see everything from an angle you don’t normally get to see from. Once back on the ground I noticed that there were a lot of different car club plaques so I started documenting as many as I could.
The trip home from Indy was one for the record books, not for good reasons though. I had a heck of a time making the 700 mile return trek, in fact as of this writing the Galaxie is still in KC where I had it towed on Monday afternoon after spending 24 hours broke down in St. Louis then getting back on the road. This week’s podcast should have a full run down of the whole story.
If you want to see the best collection of custom cars at any car show in the country, you need to be at the next Custom Car Revival.
Precision Designs‘ Tom Stark was kind enough to sponsor my coverage of the 2017 Custom Car Revival, Thanks Tom!
The parking lot of Edwards Drive in fills up quickly when you have nearly 200 cars to fit into it! It was amazing to see so many folks from all over the country come to hang out and talk custom cars and show them off.
Precision Designs‘ Tom Stark was kind enough to sponsor my coverage of the 2017 Custom Car Revival, Thanks Tom!
When I first heard of the Custom Car Revival, I was sold. I missed the first one and immediately regretted it, if you follow this site you have read a similar sentence about a few different events over the years, you’d think I’d learn.
Kevin Anderson and Bob Davis started the CCR and sadly Mr. Davis has passed away and now Kevin keeps the show going with the help of some family and friends. Those of us that travel from states away really appreciate the effort!
Precision Designs‘ Tom Stark was kind enough to sponsor my coverage of the 2017 Custom Car Revival, Thanks Tom!
Well, I’m home. It’s 1:30 am Tuesday as I write this, I’m home, the camper is home, the Galaxie is not. More on that on this week’s podcast though.
I missed last year’s Custom Car Revival, but was able to attend the 2015 and 2014 events. The Custom Car Revival is one of the absolute best events of the year. Roughly 200 customs from all over the country gathered up for a weekend of fun in Indianapolis. I’ll tell you more tomorrow, as of right now, I’m beat and I’m just going to let the photos do today’s talking.
Precision Designs‘ Tom Stark was kind enough to sponsor my coverage of the 2017 Custom Car Revival, Thanks Tom!
The 2017 Custom Car Revival coverage will be slightly delayed until I can return home from the trip. My starter went out in the Galaxie and I’m staying with some friends in St. Louis Sunday night. Hopefully we can find a starter locally tomorrow!
Sorry for the delay, your regularly scheduled coverage will resume as soon as I can! Until then, enjoy these photos from the host hotel parking lot on Thursday and Friday nights…
Precision Designs‘ Tom Stark was kind enough to sponsor my coverage of the 2017 Custom Car Revival, Thanks Tom!
This week for something new I’m up atop the 30 ft tower at the Hot Rod Dirt Drags in Monte Vista, CO. I have various guests including the Elmers, Mike Nicholas and Tom Stark from Precision Designs. It’s windy, the cars are loud, and you’re right in the middle of the action with us there!
For the 4th and Final day of the 2017 Hot Rod Dirt Drags coverage we continue on through the day Saturday.
Racing was from 10am until 4pm and yes Amy jumped high in the air waving the flag for every set of cars until almost the very end. That’s when newlyweds Amy & Mike jumped into the T33 car and Cal Kennedy, the builder/racer of the original T33 took over the flag duties. Cal even managed to get a little air as he flagged the last couple of sets of cars.
Later in the evening the event participants were invited over to the drive in for an awards ceremony & the wedding reception before watching American Graffiti and Cars on the big screen.
After the surprise wedding it was time to clear the track and stack the staging lanes. One lane for bangers, one for flatheads and one for OHV engines, the cars would race the car behind them. This seemed to work pretty smoothly all day long. This year another change was that instead of running a pair of cars down then having them come back, 5 sets were run down the track and brought back together. It meant bursts of racing followed by a sort of parade of the cars returning. Always something to see!
While the racing was going on the Car Show On The Green was just a few feet away. Racers and show cars alike parked on the lawn behind the Best Western Movie Manor, plus vendors, and a band to keep everyone entertained.
More on the story in tomorrow’s post, if you’re reading this on the website you can subscribe and get all of the car show coverage updates delivered right to your email inbox.
