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 September while attending the 2019 Hot Rod Hill Climb, I was told by Troy Hastings to keep the weekend of November 16th open for an event in Denver. That’s because Hastings is the President of the Denver Timing Association which was founded in 1949, making this the 70th Anniversary of the DTA, and this weekend was when the DTA had scheduled the Burnin’ Rubber Through History event. A retrospective of hot rodding featuring cars as old as 1918 and various cars from Colorado’s hot rodding history.
Continue reading “Burnin’ Rubber Through History – Denver Timing Association’s 70th Birthday Party”
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.
The 2016 Retro Rewind in Dubuque, IA is physically a small event in a fairly small venue, but it’s HUGE on heart. That’s what the Retro Rewind, Vintage Torque Fest and Iron Invasion events are all about in a word, heart. John Wells and company put these events on to raise money for the 501(c)(3) Helping Hannah’s Heart Foundation. PLEASE go check out this foundation, it’s so very important that us in the hot rod and kustom world help out foundations like this that help out good hard working folks going through some of the toughest times in their lives.
Continue reading “2016 Retro Rewind Coverage Pt. 2 Sponsored by Speedway Motors”
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”
“No, that’s not for sale.” We’ve all heard it before, the car sitting in the field every time you drive by and when you talk to the owner they tell you it’s not for sale. That was the story when a buddy called Scott Mills and told him of a Model A sedan and a pickup in a yard a couple of cities away.
Continue reading “Scott Mills’ 1928 Model A Sedan : The Right Recipe”
It’s rather fitting that I’m posting this article today. If you’re reading this on the day it comes out I’m on the way to the 2015 Hot Rod Hill Climb right now, these photos were shot after the 2014 Hot Rod Hill Climb just down the road about a mile.
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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This week Royboy talks with Nick Hoesing about driving all over the country in a bunch of old cars. Go get yours out and put some miles on it this weekend.
Continue reading “Chrome Pipes And Pinstripes Ep. 66: Nick or Malcolm or Whatever…”
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This week Royboy serves up a double dose of interviews. First Ken McClure of the Torques C.C. comes on the show to talk about the Texas Thaw vintage drag races & car show. Then Bret Chrismer comes on to talk about the Southwest Missouri Hot Rod Hundred.
Continue reading “Chrome Pipes And Pinstripes Ep. 52: “Hot Rod Hundred””
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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.
On my way up to the Hot Rod Hill Climb (coverage here) I stopped in Ellis, KS at Big Creek Restoration for a shop visit.
Final post of the 2014 Hot Rod Hill Climb
After everyone went up the hill, well they had to come back down…
The T-33 replica making it’s first pass up Leavenworth Mountain in the 2014 Hot Rod Hill Climb.
I was absolutely floored by the almost mythically rare speed parts that were not only there, but on cars that were being flung up the mountain. Like the best museum ever except the parts are sitting there to be dusted, they were on the cars and being used. I just can’t get over all that I saw at the Hot Rod Hill Climb. Here are the photos from my perch on the side of the mountain.
Saturday morning of the Hot Rod Hill Climb I skipped breakfast at the hotel to get back downtown as soon as possible and start shooting photos. The sun was up but behind the mountains so the photos were fairly low light at first. The pancake feed had a huge line of people, it didn’t take long for the show part of the event to be overflowing with cars, and the crowd was overwhelming.
For exactly 1 year I’ve been regretting missing the 2013 Hot Rod Hill Climb. I made the choice to not make the 15 hour round trip and from the moment that photos started being posted online, I was full of regret. 2014 was my chance to make good and get myself there. I had no idea what I was in for.
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.
One of the great things of this event is how many cars come just to park in the “cool kids” parking lot. This post finishes off my trip through the preferred lot and heads back over to the drag racing action!
