Hot Rods and Kustom Cars
Each year before I go out to California for the 2020 Grand National Roadster Show I wonder to myself, is it really worth the expense and the time off of work to travel all the way out to CA again? Each year on the way home from the trip I remember that it certainly was worth it.
This post of the Retro Rewind is brought to you by Speedway Motors. Thank you Speedway for making this coverage possible. Visit the the Speedway Motors site here, on Facebook here or on Twitter here.
My 2nd trip to Dubuque, IA for the Retro Rewind went down over the weekend of Jan. 9, 2016. The 3rd annual Retro Rewind was a lot of fun, even if I decided last minute to not bring my ride. The bitter cold may have kept my car (I wimped out after being sick all week) and some spectators away but there were still a ton of great cars, trucks, bikes, vendors, bands and awesome car people at the show.
Continue reading “2016 Retro Rewind Coverage Pt. 1 Sponsored by Speedway Motors”
This week Royboy talks with Jeff Koopmeiners about this weekend’s Meltdown Drags!
Continue reading “Chrome Pipes And Pinstripes Ep. 67: Meltdown Drags”
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Shortly after noon a bunch of us got directions from the Old Geezer Show promoter Bill Baker for a good place to go eat. Turns out his suggestion was a bit odd to outside appearances. The place is named Tractor’s and it’s in a Shell gas station. Well, I’ve eaten at weirder joints.
Although the overall turnout may not have been big, some seriously nice rides were in the mix. Thanks to an unruly tractor owner who wouldn’t move his John Deere we couldn’t get quite the shot we wanted of the Mercs all together, although I did get some later in the day after we moved a few around. The day was full of good friends, stories and good times at the Old Geezer Show.
For the second year in a row I trekked down to Lamar, MO for the Old Geezer Show. A small town with a small show that’s big on quality and awesome people. A horrible forecast kept the attendance down a bit but what was there was pretty great.
With the numbers down due to the weather, it didn’t take long for me to cover the show. I hated to, but with a 10.5 hour drive ahead of us we decided to get on the road early and make it home in 1 drive stint and save the hotel fees. Thanks to John Wells and everyone involved for putting on a great event and having a couple of Kansas boys up for a great time.
As the day went on the sun even peeked out a few times, although not for long. The cars just kept rolling in.
The rain turned to snow which turned back to rain, really more of a mist than really rain. Just enough to be annoying but not enough to keep me from having the camera out shooting photos. The cars kept rolling in throughout the day, into the main show area, the preferred parking and even into the indoor show spaces. The weather wasn’t kind to the pinup contestants but they were TROOPERS and went on anyways. I was not envious.
The cool weather and precipitation might have kept some folks away but those of us that traveled to the show were going no matter what at that point. I made sure to publicly shame anyone on Facebook into showing up :). If a little inclement weather keeps you from hanging out with the rod/kustom family, well then you just don’t have your priorities right, especially when the show is to benefit a great cause like Helping Hannah’s Heart.
In 2012 a new show arrived on the scene. A weekend had been vacated by the Hunnert Car Pileup ending it’s run. The new show was put on by a friend so of course I had no problem driving 701 miles each way to check out a 1 day show. The weather was less than pleasant, but the turnout was fantastic. 2013 I didn’t make the show due to attending another event, so when the date for the show changed in 2014, I booked a room and made plans to attend the 2014 Iron Invasion.
The show fliers all call out for traditional hot rods and kustoms only. The crowd did a pretty good job this year of sticking to that with minimum whining. I hope in the years to come we can see this show turn into another fantastic time capsule type show featuring the timeless styles of of the old days while encouraging folks to build their own rides in a way that will never go out of style.
Dan’s Model A
When the announcement was made that the Rumble would be moved to Commerce Street I was excited. I’d heard of the shows that I missed at the Go Away Garage years ago. I thought maybe, just maybe some of that mojo was left and this show could pick up on it. A few of the same folks are still involved, so why not?
Johnny Hammann’s 47 Chevy
I’ve been attending the Rumble since 2009 when it was the Rumble in Delano and held accordingly in the Delano District of Wichita. The venue has changed, the date has changed and those are hard things for a show to survive. The Primary’s Car Club that puts the event on has done a great job weathering the changes and they are on track to take this cool show to new levels over the next few years if the 2014 Rumble is any indication. Though the show is still relatively small compared to many others, they have a vision, some good folks to put it together and they have a great location. The job now is to get the word out to the folks out there how cool of an event this is and encourage even more folks to show up next year.
The indoor portion of the 2014 Blacktop Nationals is always my favorite part. Not just because of the AC either… Continue reading “2014 Blacktop Nationals Part 2”
After the trip to Lawrence for the Rev It Up show, I drove on down to Wichita for the 2014 Blacktop Nationals. The show seemed to be a bit smaller this year but some great cars were there. Continue reading “2014 Blacktop Nationals Part 1”
I’ve been attending the Rev It Up! Hot Rod Hullabaloo show in Lawrence, KS off and on for years. The show has changed dates a few times and has seen it’s ups and downs weather wise. So I was a bit worried as I drove up to Lawrence for the 2014 edition of the show. What I found was more cars than I’d ever seen at the event before. Click here to see more photos from the show.
“You’re going to want to replace that flathead.” That’s the first words of many people when we talk about my 51 Ford. They tell me how they would be good for tooling around town or this or that but for the amount that I drive I’m going to want to replace it with something more powerful and modern. My counter argument is Roy Fields’ 1949 Ford. Not only has this car been all over the country including taking Fields to Bonneville to run he and his brother’s LSR car. Tales of that drive include extended high speed runs proving the motor’s longevity.
Continue reading “1949 Ford : Roy Fields’ Custom Shoebox Feature”
The 8th and final post of the 2014 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular coverage! Thanks to everyone that’s come to the site to see the coverage! Make sure to go to the top right hand corner of the site and subscribe to the blog!
That’s the look of a man having a good time at the drags. It’s one of my favorite parts of the KKOA Leadsled Spectacular each year to see Gene Winfield get to flag the races.
The drags as always brings a big crowd. Kudos to all involved to resolving the traffic issues from 2013. We were able to roll directly into the event and back out when it was time this year unlike previous years where you were watching your temp gauge and praying the whole way in and out because it was a complete traffic jam.
Continuing coverage of the 2014 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular from Salina, KS. Continuing my comments from yesterday, I would love this show to return to it’s roots, even though that would mean that my 63 Galaxie wouldn’t be allowed in. Comment below what you think of the show, and what background do you come from? Kustom guys seem to be thinking along the lines that I am, where as just car guys in general like the shows that have all types of cars.
The Drags have brought big crowds to the event but the diehard kustom folks don’t attend, and don’t support them. This is where I’m torn, I enjoy going except for when it’s as hot as it was this week, but I really could do without them. They are entertaining, and they bring a big crowd to the event. The drag photos start later in this post and continue tomorrow.
Click here to see 90 images from the show including Drag Racing Action!
The 2014 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular was in town all weekend just in time for the first major heatwave of the summer here in Salina, KS. The 34th annual event was held in Salina for the 9th time, lots of cars showed up but not a lot of leadsleds or kustoms. Since the show’s registration requirements have opened up the show has grown but it’s lost a bit of clout in the kustom community. Some notable kustom car builders and owners have privately told me that they disagree with the bigger is better show rules and they long for the days when the show had strict rules for entry. I’d like to see the show like that again too. Not that the show is bad like it is now, just different.
Most of Thursday was spent gathering up stuff for our booths, KKOA Leadsled Spectacular Set Up Day. After a quick run to a nearby town to pick up an electric fuel pump to get a buddy back on the road we packed our booths for the day and headed out to Bright Built Hot Rods for their Open House. Here are some photos from that event. Click Here to see all of the photos
