The morning started early rolling out of my home town before 7am.
I didn’t have time to snap any photos of the crew that I rolled into the show with, but there were some beauties in our row of hot rods & kustoms as we headed towards the show.
Original Image
HDR version with lens correction
It’s for sale…
That’s it for the first post, more to come tomorrow,
On the way home I stopped by Fast A.L.’s Upholstery in Dewey, OK and hung out for a bit. Krobe brought his “ol Blue” over.” alt=”On the way home I stopped by Fast A.L.’s Upholstery in Dewey, OK and hung out for a bit. Krobe brought his “ol Blue” over.
Aaron’s Ford is just about back on the road again.
Aaron’s ride waiting her turn, lots of new mods have been done to the car, just needs a little time to button them all up and smooth some stuff out.
A 37 Ford in Fast A.L.’s Upholstery for a full kustom interior.
Already collecting bugs, only 2 hours into the trip.
Clear weather as I rolled east for Springfield, MO.
Saturday morning I got to the show early so I could have plenty of time to see all of the cars roll in. This sedan was cleaaaaan.
Doug was kind enough to make some room for the Royboy shirts, posters and hats in his booth. Thanks Doug!
Right next door was the RJay’s Speed Shop booth.
I took a break from the show to head into the VFW where the show was held. This ham & cheese omelet came with hash browns & biscuits & gravy for $5. I was full.
So then it was back out to the show.
Bret’s 40 Ford.
More to come of it later
Anyone know what engine this is off of the top of their heads? I can’t put a name to that “face”
Here are some from the Vendors area
That’s it for this first post, more tomorrow or click on any of these photos to see the entire gallery.
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All Royboy photos on this site are available as prints up to poster sizes. Buying them not only makes your walls cooler it puts gas in the tank to get me to another car show or feature shoot. Please consider buying a print, if you can’t do that, I understand. Or just hit the Store page and buy something or make a donation!
Flame Jobs From 2006-2009
These are some the flames I’ve captured at car shows, this first post is 2006-2009, starting with the very first show of the Royboy Galleries all the way to the end of 2009.
Pinstripe flames
Body colored flames faded into off-color tips
full yellow flames
Another variation on the pinstriped flames
The color of these kinda set them in the 90’s to me, what do you think?
Crazy airbrush flames
Red House painted surf board
Long long flames (always gave me the idea that the vehicle was in motion)
There is a great story behind these flames, but Don tells it best so if you see him at a show, ask him.
Fadeaway yellow to red with body color flames on top.
Basic flames on a shoebox, I like the style where the tips cros each other.
White fade into yellow flamed Cadillac
Flames as an accent
Multi-color seaweed flames
Airbrushed “real-fire” style flames
I’ve dug this flamejob since I first saw it.
Another white fadeaway flame job
After an accident on the streets this one time “rat” was redone to this finished state.
Got wood?
All over flames
Embossed flames on the bottom side of the bed cover match the painted flames on the body
More RedHouse Custom Paint work
Fade-in flames
Classic white into yellow into orange with 2nd layer of body color flames
“Real-Fire” style airbrushed flames coming out of the engine compartment
Long narrow licks on this surfboard
Iconic, long narrow flames with white-yellow-orange fade.
The Yellow to Orange fade flames with the white outlines look great on this Ford pickup
More of the airbrush “real-fire” style
Looks racey doesn’t it?
Historic flames.
Short seaweed style
Body color flames with highlights and outline
Long narrow flames with a seaweed style repetition.
Hot Rod Dan’s flamed Ford
Jetter Flames
Outline Flames
Comment below and tell me your favorite style.
That’s it for part 1, next time we’ll do 2010-2011!
See you at a show,
Royboy
Don’t forget the Royboy Merch!!!! I have keychains, coozies, stickers & hats for sale. Every piece you buy gets me further down the road to bring more show coverage and podcasts to you. See you at a show, Royboy
PS: All Royboy photos on this site are available as prints up to poster sizes. Buying them not only makes your walls cooler it puts gas in the tank to get me to another car show or feature shoot. Please consider buying a print, if you can’t do that, I understand. 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! Or just hit the Store page and buy something or make a donation!
This shirt is available in white, black or any number of other colors, for men, women, children, even babies. Features a kool 47 Ford kustom on the back and a small royboy logo on the front. Order yours today!
So last Friday I wrote up a little blog post about the upcoming Marysville, KS AutoFest on June 1. Yesterday I got a call from a friend of mine who is one of the people responsible for putting the show on and he had a ton of info for me about the show. Since it was new to me and I’d been to the show a couple of times I figured I better pass the info along to you.
2013 marks the 23rd year of the AutoFest, last year the show had 297 entrants and they’ve seen a 20 car growth each of the last few years so this year they are expecting to break that 300 car mark. The show is held on the brick street of the business district of Marysville and is held in conjunction with a KCBS sanctioned BBQ contest, that some friends and I will be competing in. AutoFest is open to all makes and models, including bikes, trucks and even tractors, just bring something cool to share with everyone else.
The promoters idea is a K.I.S.S. principle in running a show, they keep it as simple as possible. There are no official classes and your ride is not in any real competition with anyone elses. Each car is judged on it’s own merit and they award bronze, silver & gold awards, almost every car leaves with some sort of an award. They have a ton of specialty awards so that they can spread them around.
There are tons of vendors, including parts, food and even bouncy castles for the kids. Speaking of the kids, the show offers pool passes for the kids if they want to head over to the Marysville pool. The downtown area of Marysville offers lots of shopping opportunities if the ladies want to get away from the cars for a bit.
The show is set up to be as laid back and relaxing as it can be. Just my type of show where it’s as much about the social aspect of kool cars as it is the cars themselves.
Feast your eyes. If you want one as a print or a download, just click on it and you will be taken to the gallery they are housed in and you can order it!
Two years ago a bunch of my hooligan hot rod and kustom family got together for a great run through the Flint Hills of south eastern Kansas. I recently went through some of the photos and updated them with a new edit this week. Here’s the blog about that day.
And here are the photos:
Original
New Edit
It was more fun than I can accurately convey, I highly recommend that you get together with your friends and go out and enjoy your ride!
It was by complete random chance that I ran into the AutoFest show in Marysville, KS a couple of years ago. I had made a 4 hour trip each way to check out a shop I’d heard about outside of Omaha, NE and on the way home while I sat waiting for a pilot car for some road construction I was told of a car show just down the road.
I figured what the hell, and went to have a look. Here are the photos from that first visit.
So last year I went back. This time I ran into some old friends. Here are the photos from that visit.
And this year I will return. As part of the same event there is a BBQ competition and I happened to mention that to my BBQ buddies. Well, they decided that we were going to compete at this one, so we’re loading up the smoker, a camper and we’ll make a weekend out of it. Should be a heck of a trip.
The show goes down over the first weekend in June in Marysville, KS. Here’s the only link I could find for info on the show. Come join us!
I love when I see an awesome car at a show and pass it on the way home, driving and not on a trailer. I understand that not all cars would be good drivers but would make kool show vehicles, for most, you should drive them if at all possible!!!
I know I share a lot of photos of The Toad, but its a fantastic car. Aaaaand Doug drives the Toad all the time.
I’ve seen the Weavers all over the region in this ride, never once saw it on a trailer.
Mickey’s Merc loves the open road.
The stuff legends are made of. Hammann’s 58 has been unchanged since ’76 and has been driven everywhere.
I think Jeb said he’s at about 230,000 miles on Nadine.
Alex Gambino drives the craaaap out of this car, just like all of the Beatniks that I’ve met.
Johnny Torres is a member of the Beatniks as wekk,
Driven from CA to Austin for the LSRU
Nick is no stranger to the backside of the windshield in this ride.
Ryno has put a ton of miles on the Unibody.
Driven from Amarillo, TX to Bartlesville, OK in the rain no less
Kevin’s 64 rolls wherever he wants to go.
The point of this is to say, look some of these are DAMN nice rides that most would think lead a pampered life, but their owners built them to drive. Get out there and drive your cars, get on the open road, enjoy the 2 lane blacktops the way that they were meant to be enjoyed. Inspire someone else to build something kool and come join ya!
From the first shows that I attended with my cameras I’ve always been attracted to pinstripes. From the long lines pulled down a scallop paint job to the fantastic scroll work done to accent so many cars across the hot rod and kustom world.
Here are some of my favorites from this year’s shows so far. If you are a pinstriper and I’m featuring some of your work below, let me know so I can give you credit and steer people to you for some lines on their ride.
These stripes over the patina’d paint make a statement.
This 60 Chevy had some great paint and some way kool lines.
Okay so this is metal cut to look like stripes, still super bitchin’. This was one of the awards at the 2013 Lonestar Roundup.
More of the same type for sale in the Acme Speed Shop booth at the LSRU
I’ve always loved the tasteful elegance of the lines on the Toad.
Here are some of the usual hooligans taking advantage of the heat in the back of TwoTall’s shop at the Stray Kat 500.
A Legend in his own mind. Ron Myers. Actually he’s an honest to God legend. The man has striped just about everything that you could imagine and I’m sure a few things that I shouldn’t.
A bunch of the pinstripers decided to decorate TwoTall’s shop door. I will steal this door.
Find a pinstriper at a show, buy some of their art, pay them to create art on your ride, support kustom kulture artists if you enjoy it’s existence!
Guest Blog! My buddy Dan Podobinski is a photographer based out of Indiana, he attends a lot of the same type of shows that I do. Since I can’t be everywhere at once, Dan was nice enough to share some of his images from the 2013 Vintage Torque Fest with all of you through the blog here. Okay class now all together say “Thank You Dan!” You may have seen some of his work recently in Car Kulture Deluxe Magazine, or on the HAMB. You need to go follow his page on Facebook here and buy some prints of his great photographs! And now on with the show! ______________________________________________________________________________
The modern “car show” has, in many ways, become stale. The large, corporate run shows lack any real feel. Power parking, lawn chairs and crybaby dolls have become the norm.
The independent, regional hot rod shows that have sprung up in the last decade or so turn that trend on its ear and Vintage Torque Fest is at the front of the pack. Show creator and master promoter John Wells has managed to take what started as a vehicle to raise money for the charity organization that he and his wife Kim created (www.HelpingHannahsHeart.org) and turn it into a full blown festival of all things hot rod related.
There is more action packed into this two day event than one could ever expect to find at a large, corporate event. Aside from hundreds of traditional hot rods and customs we find a near constant stream of live music from rockabilly, surf and garage bands. There is, of course, the obligatory pinup contest, though this one is much classier than many I have seen. Speed freaks can get their groove on watching vintage jalopies race around the dirt oval and hot rodders even have the opportunity to take their pride and joy out for a few hot laps. Unfortunately, heavy rains kept track action at bay this year save for a few folks who stuck around the day after the show to get some seat time. This didn’t stop some guys however, as impromptu mini bike races sprung up on a far end of the fairgrounds, followed in short order by the big boys racing vintage flat track motorcycles around the makeshift circuit. As I said, nonstop action!
The excitement reaches a fever pitch with the charity art auction. Culture artists from around the world contribute themed pieces each year to be sold off to the highest bidder. The work is stunning and is worthy of display in any gallery. Besides the art in the auction, there are the numerous artists and vendors selling all types of hot rod and lifestyle merchandise.
If this sounds like it is right up your alley then I encourage you to first check out www.HelpingHannahsHeart.org and see what this organization is all about. Then, look up www.VintageTorqueFest.com and see what you are missing and, finally, make plans to be in Dubuque, Iowa this time next year and catch the nonstop action that is Vintage Torque Fest.
A barn find, I sure hope he leaves it exactly like it is.
Jeb and Clint brought these two out to play. I believe that Jeb said his “Nadine” (seen on the left) has about 240,000 miles on her.
StrayKatKustoms (Mickey) and 49Toad (Doug Reed) having a talk while walking down the middle of the street.
Pinup Contest Time! Jennifer James of 232 Studios did a great job getting 12 lovely ladies lined up for the Miss Kitty Title. Click on the images to see them all in my galleries, I’ll only show a couple here due to the 20 image limit per post.
Then it was off to the warmth of the VFW so we could honor Ron Myers with the Inspiration Award. Thanks Ron for your decades (and I mean a crapload of them) of time and effort into striping everything that you can get lines on.
Mickey and Mr. C saying some words about our favorite curmudgeon.
He’s trying to look like he doesn’t want out of the spotlight.
A whole bunch of kool kats shipped this panel back and forth across the country to get a chance to pull some lines in honor of Ron. This piece is kool!
Enough mushy stuff back to the steel!
I just shot this for an article in a magazine, Jerry’s 36 is too kool.
Later on Friday we went to TwoTall Okie’s shop and Rod’s shop in Dewey for the feed. Thanks to all involved for a chance to hang out and for the free food!
Ron Myers hanging with Mike and Jerry at TwoTalls
Doc’s T, Jerry’s 36 and Krobe’s Coupe hanging out in front of the shop.
Dick’s Chevy looked great!
Mike’s Chevy Truck
Kevin’s 64 Galaxie
Here’s an example of some of the editing that I sometimes do. Let me know if you’d like one of these photographs with something extra done to it. Here’s the original
And here’s the edited version
Bill’s 63 Galaxie Convertible
Krobe’s Coupe and Aaron of Fast A.L.’s Upholstery’s Ford.
While the weather wasn’t wonderful, it takes more than that to ruin the Stray Kat 500. The trip started off for my dad and I on Thursday afternoon. My Galaxie was still at Chaotic Customs after getting a long standing vibration issue fixed so the first leg of the trip was riding shotgun in my Dad’s 57 Chevy Wagon on the way to CC in Mulvane, KS.
After the stop at Chaotic we rolled down to Premier Body & Paint in Arkansas City, KS to see what Jeff Myers was up to, then it was off to Dewey, OK the home of the Stray Kat 500! After paralleling the rain for a couple of hours we were headed right into it. Sorry about the blurry shot.
The next morning at the hotel I noticed my Galaxie had a familiar friend hanging out next to her. Doc Parson’s incredible T.
Friday morning we went to the host hotel of the SK500, no I wasn’t staying there due to them messing up my reservations but that’s a whole different story. Here’s my Galaxie with Bill Moore’s convertible and much lower 63… I have some work to do on mine now I guess 🙂
This kustom Lincoln was one of my favorites from the show. Driven from Amarillo to Dewey a trip of over 400 miles with a good portion in the rain, this car was one of many that hit the 500 for the firs time.
I can’t hit a show without running into a member of the Spiwak family, and that’s a good thing.
The Stears are also at nearly every event that I attend, and most of them in this road warrior Ford.
I love this 40.
And my family friend Robert’s brand new to his family 40.
The flames and louvered hood just work on this Ford.
Mickey (straykatkustoms) Merc is always a sight for sore eyes. Love this car.
From the engine to the stance and the insert with matching tonneau, this truck was puuuuuurfect (as Stray Kat Kustoms would say).
The Mundy family brought a couple of killer rides to the show, this one a freshly finished 58 Pontiac wagon.
Can’t have a Stray Kat event without Mongo.
There were lots of kool pickups at the event.
Some old friends showed up while I was out back scoping the parking lot.
Kool oozes from the parking lots of all of the Bartlesville area hotels on Stray Kat 500 weekend.
Dustin had his decklid off to add more louvers (he’s a louver addict), so Mongo thought it would turn Dustin’s Merc into a handy couch. Perfect!
Remember what I said about the parking lots? I rest my case.
That’s it for this first post, next up a couple of shot from the Friday evening hang out/free feed at TwoTall Okie’s shop. Click on any of these photos to see the entire gallery. If you’d like one as a print, just use the “Buy” button there and I will go through the photo and touch it up to look it’s best before it’s printed and shipped to you.
A couple of years ago I made my first trip to the Pete And Jake’s complex in Peculiar, MO. What an interesting place! Add to that a kool car show and a ton of pinstripers doing their thing and all of the proceeds going to charity… It’s a must attend event! Here are some photos.
For more info on this year’s event go here. I hope to be able to make it but the day job may have to take priority.
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