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.
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.
Often when you find a great looking ride on the streets or at a car show, you find that the owner is typically a bit older and has had decades worth of rides to practice on before getting to this great one. It’s rare to find a young owner with a great car, and to find one that’s 22 and built it himself almost never happens. So when I first saw Austin Grabowski roll into the Starliner car show at Wichita’s Kansas Aviation Museum, I admit it, I assumed it was a car that had been passed down to him. That first impression was dead wrong.
A couple of years ago I came up with the idea to do car features in video form. For some of you that have been following for awhile, you’ve seen these before. For the new folks take a few minutes and hopefully enjoy!
The concept is simple, get the car owner on camera telling the story of the ride. Unfortunately it is a time consuming process and time is what I don’t have much of. So…. there are 2 to date. I am planning on releasing a 3rd one next week (a year after I meant to release it). And hopefully more will follow. Feature videos are the perfect way to capture your memories of your favorite ride to remember for the rest of your life and pass on to future generations.
The month of September has been a busy one. With an event every weekend and most of those weekends with multiple option of events to attend, it’s definitely been a good time. October is shaping up much the same way. I thought I’d give you a list of the events that I’m going to attend and some that I can’t, hopefully I will have friends turning in coverage from the ones that I cannot make so that you and I can enjoy the photos. Without further ado, here is the schedule.
One of my many talented friends doing upholstery for a living. Johnny is having an open house at his shop in Hutchinson, KS on Friday night before the big Saturday show in downtown Hutch.
Salina, KS – NOT A CAR SHOW – This one is not a car show, has nothing to do with cars, but is a mainstay on my schedule. I have worked as a stage hand and later as an assistant engineer for the BluesMasters at the Crossroads at Blue Heaven Studios since 2000. If you are a fan of blues music this is the place to be Friday and Saturday nights.
Oct. 26th
Sand Springs, OK – Hot Rod Garage is a well known high end hot rod and custom shop in the Tulsa area. The 26th is their open house and I’ve heard that there will be 12 front engine dragsters on display among a bunch of customer cars and more. Definitely looking forward to heading down to this event for the first time.
November
November will continue the busy schedule with an event every weekend, I may even do one on Thanksgiving weekend if I can make enough money to cover the gas to Denver and back after going to Oklahoma once and Texas twice!
The family that hangs out at the cars show together…is kool.
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Mickey’s Merc
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15 shot HDR Panoramic of the show
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One of the stars of the show. Micheal’s newly finished 34 5 Window Ford, done in an East Coast style. The 59 Olds steering wheel is the only part on the car newer than 53.
Larry Wolfe recently brought this late 60’s Dave Stuckey creation back home to Wichita. Plans are to return it to it’s 1967 state. Back in the day Stuckey used this wild sectioned 1965 Pontiac Catalina to tow his Top Fuel Drag car. I reallly wish I could have been around to see that rolling down the road.
For Part 4 we’re still at the show, and we start with Aaron of Fast A.L.’s Upholstery’s Ford and Mickey’s (StrayKatKustoms’) 60 Chevrolet flattop with 60 Merc Grille and Pontiac taillights.
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Joe brought this beauty out for us all to drool over.
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I caught Jack unloading some chairs out of the trunk of his new 51 Ford. Body, Paint and a bunch more stuff by Chaotic Customs.
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One of my favorite new rides of 2013 is Butch’s 40 Sedan.
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It still rocks a straight 6 but Steve’s 58 Ford moves on down the road and looks good doing it.
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All the way from Omaha, NE to Wichita to hang with us. Thanks for coming down!
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The Merc grille looks good with the 51 Ford turn signal housings.
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If you don’t know Gears and Gals Magazine, you need to go to their site and order an issue. You should then buy a subscription.
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Good to see you again my friend, 2 weeks in a row even!
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Mickey’s Merc always looks good at the Starliner.
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Joe’s Caddy is a ton of fun, maybe 2 tons looking at her…
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Don’s Buick is probably one of the finest anywhere.
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Some of my favorite Kansas City area folks.
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Jeff and Verna brought this killer Plymouth hot rod up from Texas. I am planning on shooting this car this fall. If no magazines bite on the article, I’ll post it here for all of you to see.
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One of the koolest places ever to hold a car show, even though this year it was quite hot.
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Another shot of Steve’s chopped 40 Ford. Again, 300,000 miles on it and he’s owned it since 1969.
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Friends and family.
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I’ve seen this truck in Austin and a bunch of other places, I dig it every time.
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Normally not my style but the nose art on the truck matches in with the location.
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The McGregors, an American Car Family.
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Hub and Gloria’s “Cinnamon” is my favorite kustom ever. It’s been together since the late 80’s. It’s been in magazines before but would you like to see a full feature on it here?
Jeff Myers of Premier Body & Paint brought out the 59 El Camino, Johnny Torres brought out his 41 Plymouth, and you can’t see it here, but Jim Allen brought out his “Corn Cobb Coupe”
The 2nd stop on the Garage Krawl for our group was my friend Roger’s house. Due to it being a private property I will not mention his last name or where it is. Roger has a fantastic collection of Fords mostly 40’s of various types and a couple of Falcons and more, but his automobilia collection is equally as impressive.
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Great old signs
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Extra parts
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Some grilles in the background behind this great plane
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Dashes, grilles, and beauty rings
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So the power company puts in an ugly power station behind your house and keeps building it bigger… well you’d better find a cool way to hide it from your view. This works
What to do with your extra plates? Why not make an American Flag? 🙂
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Then it was off to Chaotic Customs in Mulvane, KS for a shop visit and some lunch. Giant hot dogs, soda, chips and some homemade cookies really hit the spot. Here’s Mike Young’s 40 Ford pickup which is being built for SEMA this year.
Then it was off to my buddy Jack’s place for a visit. Here’s a lineup of Jack’s rides. He has a 30 year head start on me but I hope to catch up one day.
Then it was off to Big Joe’s for an air conditioned shop visit (it was a hot one that day!) Here’s a “gas station” that Joe built to hold his compressor and welders and such when not in use.
The 100 or so people in the parking lot stayed out and socialized until around midnight. So many good friends that are all really more like family than friends. This is a big reason why this show is one of my favorites of the year.
As I did last year, I got to the Host Hotel on Thursday evening about 7pm so that I could wake up ready to go on the Garage Krawl on Friday morning. After dinner with some friends I shot some night shots in the parking lot.
Last year I made my first ever trip to Denison, TX for the KKOA Hotrodding Hullabaloo. Like the KKOA Leadsled Spectacular in Salina, KS the event has some Run What Ya Brung Drags on Friday. The show this year looks to be a great time too, I wish I could make it but the new Sept. 27-29 dates for the show conflicts with another event that I will be attending.
Just down the street and around the corner from the show are my buddies at Atlas Speed & Custom, get ahold of them if you get down to the show, they have a lot of kool going on.
It was unusually chilly in North Texas on the Friday of last year’s show, here are some pics from the Drags held at a local airstrip west of Denison.
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Later that evening I went over to a local watering hole to see my buddies in the band Pushrod rock the house. Waaaaay too early the next morning I was up and at em again and headed over to the park for the show. I was greeted with a bunch of familiar faces from my adventures up here in KS and OK, and a bunch of new to me folks too. The show was small, laid back and really perfect for spending time with friends telling tall tails and talking kustoms.
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Then it was out to dinner with some friends and when I got back to the hotel I couldn’t resist some night shots.
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Sunday I went back over to the show to see who was around, quite a few had split town, but there were still some kool rides to be seen.
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All in all, I had a damn good time, well worth the 12 hours it took to drive there and back! If not for the previously mentioned scheduling conflict I would be going back this year for sure. If you can make it to the show, get there, enjoy some kool kustoms and hot rods and of course hanging out with each other!
Still one of my favorite shows that I’ve ever attended. The cars, the venue, the bands, everything just came together to make it a fantastic weekend. The Hot Rod Revolution in 2010 was the first year for the show in Austin, TX, it’s only about a 9 hour drive so it sounded like a great excuse to drive down and check it out. Leaving home at 6:15 pm I checked in to my hotel room at around 3:30am and went to sleep, 6 hours later I was headed to the show. The City of Austin Seaholm Power Plant made for a perfect backdrop of about 100 hot rods. 1948 and older only, traditional hot rod styling only, this show couldn’t help but be awesome. Here’s a slide show of that gallery, click here to go to the gallery directly.
Since then the show has moved to a new location in Austin at Camp Maybre. I attended the 2011 show there and shot photos that can be seen here. The show’s date has moved around and has conflicted with other shows that I needed to attend since and I’ve not been able to go again. Hopefully one of these years I can get back to it because it’s a great show of my favorite type of hot rods.
So one day not too long ago I get invited on Facebook to an Open House at a shop I didn’t know in Wichita, KS. The open house was the same day as another event that I was attending a few blocks away so it’s a no brainer that I’m going to stop in if at all possible. Clutch Rod And Custom at 406 S. Market in Wichita, KS was the shop. I’m glad I stopped in. As I’m told, the shop is an old Mercury dealership, I’d love to see the spacious facility filled with bathtub Mercs! The front display room had a couple of cars in it and every available surface was covered in art by different kulture artists. The cars on display in the shop were top notch, I didn’t get much chance to talk to the folks at the shop as they were busy running the Open House, but I did get to spend some time with my good buddy Ben Dragdaddy (facebook) and his lovely wife and my fellow photographer and buddy Grant Cox. I expect you to go to their pages on FB and follow their feeds, you won’t be disappointed.
Here are some photos from the evening.
Thanks to Clutch Rod And Custom for the food, the music and some good times of hot rod/kustom fellowship with some old friends.
Coming up September 28th in Wichita, KS is the 6th annual Rumble (formerly the Rumble in Delano)! The show has a new venue this year, moving to the street where some of the first kustom kulture art shows in the area were held at the Go Away Garage.
This show has been a lot of fun to attend over the last few years, the date’s changed and now the venue but I have a feeling the show will continue to get better and better.
The show runs from 1pm to 8pm and will be at 508 S Commerce St. in Downtown Wichita, KS. There will be hot rods, kustoms, bikes and more on display. The Pin-up Pagent is open to ladies 18 and up and there will be prizes for 1st, 2nd & 3rd, go here for more info. 4 bands will take the stage at various points in the event including Sucker, Callahan Band, TheTerminals & The Trip Daddy’s. To register your ride for the show go to this page on their site.
Shots from 2012
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Here are shots from the 2009 Rumble
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Some of my Mulvane Marauder friends were in attendance
Of course the Lil Honker, always a favorite.
My buddy John’s barn find gasser
The man, the myth, the traveling legend Bob K!
Butch M’s 56 Chevy Gasser got some new touches
Perfection.
Simple, cool, I want one.
Some of the best curves in the automotive world.
Bill Moore’s “High School Dropout” Merc
This is one of the slickest flatties I’ve ever seen.
Don’s 53 is always looking good.
Another view of Rick’s new shoebox.
Krobe’s fastback fleetline Chevy
There are a couple of shoebox utes in the area, this one has a ton of work in it.
Mike’s bad blue Chevy Truck
Kerry’s rail, I hear tell that about the time I headed for the hotel he pulled a 165 mph run, congrats man!
John and Butch warming up the hides.
That’s it for this HAMB Drags post, 1 more tomorrow and then maybe some special edits on Friday.
Thanks for following along on all of my adventures, remember if there are any photos you’d like to own a copy of for your wall, click on the photo here, and the site will take you to the appropriate page to buy prints. Every print you buy helps put gas in the tank to get me and my cameras to another show to bring you more show coverage.
As usual for this event I decided to leave my ride at home and catch a ride with my folks down to Joplin. With all of the travel that I do, it’s good to spend a couple of those weekends a year with them on the road. As I loaded my bags into the back of the truck the rain was pouring down in our little town. We headed south as quick as we could to try to outrun the storm. The route between Gypsum, KS and Joplin, MO has a few turns so every time we out ran the storm we made a turn and drove right back into it for the first 2 hours or so of the trip. 15 or 20 miles in a massive hail storm and torrential downpours were lowlights of Thursday evening’s drive.
Friday morning we assembled some of our friends and headed for Springfield, MO for the swap meet. The Ozarks Antique Auto Club Swap Meet is massive. There is no other way to describe it really. The car corral is usually loaded with good buys and some that are a bit over priced. There are top notch vendors from across the country and a truly staggering amount of individual sellers covering the fairgrounds. I didn’t find anything that I couldn’t live without, actually I had my heart set on an Offenhauser 4bbl intake for my flathead and some matching heads, but some new Royboy computer upgrades had that cash spoken for. Ahhhh, maybe next year.
Then it was back to the host hotel area for the Friday Night pre-party! Tons of folks drove their rides from all over the country to attend the drags and the pre-party. Music was provided by my friends Pushrod and they rocked the party like non-other.
Well folks, that’s about it. I will be looking through the photos and doing some more edits from time to time. If you would like any of the photos on the entire site as a print or poster that is easy to do, email me if you have any questions.
Jeff Myers’ Stude Pickup and Voodoo Jim’s Corncob Coupe
Dick Warsocki’s Chevy
Some of Shane Z’s pinstriped wares for sale
Nice rear ends
Kolman’s Buick in motion
The lovely Brenna behind the wheel of my buddy Mike’s FED
Gimlet in the cage of the FED
After being inducted to the KKOA Hall of Fame, Keith Dean is back at work Sunday morning in the rain working on the chop.” alt=”After being inducted to the KKOA Hall of Fame, Keith Dean is back at work Sunday morning in the rain working on the chop.
I need to get the full story on this car, as I remember it, it’s been under construction for years, originally was chopped in CA in the 50’s or 60’s? I’ll find out and report back.
PJ’s clean long roof
Love it.
and this one
Joe McGregor’s Caddy
Edsel Ranchero, complete with Edsel dash
Denny’s Sedan
Chad’s Buick (2012 777 Award winner)
Mickey (StrayKatKustoms) Merc
Krobe’s Chevy
Pinstriping Legend Ron Myers pulling lines
Chad Ward doing the same.
Another shot of the Wench
Larry Wolfe’s 1965 Pontiac Catalina, orginally customized by Dave Stuckey in the 60’s and recently returned to Wichita. I hear it will go under a rebuild to put it back in the form that it last left Stuckey’s shop in.
One of Dave Stuckey’s builds from the late 60’s. It’s been on the east coast for decades until Larry Wolfe brought it home recently. I hope to be shooting a feature on this ride soon.
