Archive for the ‘Entertainment/ Leisure’ Category

Last weekend was the Orphan Car Show at Riverside Park. I was so busy I was unable to get free and go check it out, but this upcoming weekend is once again packed with goodies. Back at Riverside Park the Michigan Vintage Volkswagen Club is putting on a show and in Ionia, Mi the 2nd Annual Classic car show takes place. Corvettes on Main in Rochester Hills and the Carnival of Cars at the Packard proving grounds rounds out the weekend. With Graduations and a busy weekend already planned, I am not sure if I can make it out to a show. If you attend a show and would like to post your own pictures and or review feel free to contact me and we can make it happen.
To see all of June’s Car show listings click here

I am not one for getting up early or going to bed early. So if your up late watching Adult Swim you may have seen a little show called Squidbillies. The name says it all, but one episode showed Early (the patriarch) driving his monster truck with Truck Nuts. Now, Granny is in a walker and she has Truck Nuts on it that are chrome and Early is jealous and now I am jealous. I am thinking to my self that A. I need a truck and B. I need Chrome Truck Nuts, and guess what…. I found them and they do exist. I guess now all I need is a truck so I can pimp it out with some nuts.

Technorati Tags: Adult Swim, Squidbillies, monster truck, Truck Nuts, Chrome Truck Nuts

A friend of mine wanted me to assist him in finding a car to purchase. While looking for an affordable daily driver is not my cup of tea, I agreed because I’m a swell kind of guy. Somehow or another the topic of the worst car I have ever worked on came up, and a whole laundry list of junk came to mind. My first thoughts were the cars that did not deserve to be fixed, let alone worth driving. There was that 80’s era Escort that I spent months on porting the heads and polishing rods just to put back in a blown out car. The suspension was shot, full of Michigan rust and the sagging headliner did nothing for all the engine work I did. The car screamed for a week before the clutch gave out and sent pieces through the bell housing. As crappy as that car was it was not the worst. Some complicated procedures on some tough cars came to mind, but there is only one car that I ever really hated: The Delorean. For such a cool looking car with worlds of potential, one wonders how it could considered the worst. It could have been the electrical demons that doomed it to be being a colossal disappointment or it could have been the disastrous engineering that left me scratching my head at every turn. It could have even been the fear that at any moment the doors could fail to work and I would be trapped inside while not being able to fit out the tiny windows. Or maybe it was the fact that every time I got in and out I banged some appendage on something.
As I think more about it, I realize it was most likely the fact that I could not get the fuel system straightened out and working correctly, so I gave up. I found some sucker that was reputable to work on it and after a year and way too much money spent, the car finally worked. The failure on my part was not so discouraging after I discovered it took more than three mechanics, several rebuilds of the fuel system and over a year to finally fix it. Don’t get me wrong, my ego was still bruised. After the car was finally running good, however, the speedometer and passenger window failed. At this point not much else could fail or cause me grief because it had all failed at least once before. Then someone from somewhere had some Miami Vice dreams of living the good life and purchased the car, and I felt a little sad that the DeLoreon and I had such a rocky relationship. But not really. I had been abused by that car the same way the kid is in the “very important” after school special. I was ecstatic to have it out of my life for good, and I didn’t feel bad for the Don Johnson wannabe who bought it either. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it probably wouldn’t get him any chicks and it couldn’t travel in time. I might have felt better about the car, or felt some remorse over selling it had I found some secret cache of money while I was working on it or if it had a flux capacitor, Nah. Because even if it had contained any of those, I would have removed them from such a crappy car. Nothing could save the car with the winged doors and cool name from being the worst car I’ve ever had the displeasure of working on.

Technorati Tags: worst car, Michigan rust, disastrous engineering, Miami Vice dreams, flux capacitor

Classic cars were once a major thread in the fabric of American society, when daily drivers doubled as midnight asphalt burners and cruisingwas a nightly coming of age ritual. Some may say it was the simple life or even the “good ole days”, but it may just be that we are all trying to recapture that youthful feeling and freedom of days gone by. Classic car rebuilding has not fallen by the wayside, and is still a time honored tradition today.

Since Henry Ford made affordable cars for the masses, our fascination with speed and customizing has touched each generation in a different way. Boys left for war, returned as men desperate to recapture the innocence they lost. Rock n’ Roll, fast cars and a carefree attitude seemed to be the answer. Yesterday’s children remember trips to the beach in dad’s old Chevy and going to the store in grandma’s Desoto. Car rebuilding was something that was passed down from generation to generation. Dad repaired the family car on the weekend and if you were one of the lucky ones, you had something nice and fast in the garage, too.

Time and technology past and we found our hectic lives did not allow for time or finances to be spent on something that could no longer be fixed with just a pair of pliers, a screwdriver and a coffee can. The technology had surpassed the simplicity of the vehicles of yore. Computers now controlled what was once mechanical and most were not up to dealing with a whole new world of complications that the new cars offered.

As each generation matured, a new-found passion was reborn for the classics. New market demands and design reflect the taste and admiration of those great rides of the past, and can be seen in today’s newer automobiles. The present trend in new vintage styling has also triggered fascination and interest in the classics. Families still invest in the classics, but now you can have something that gives you the same feeling of a classic with the reliability and convenience of a modern car.

Through the passage of time, the classics have always been right under our noses. Weekend warriors are still doing their thing and staying active in the lifestyle; some by driving around in a vintage Cherry Red Corvette, others by working on a ratted out rod in the garage, with the goal of taking it for a cruise on the first sunny day of spring. You can still find them at car shows and cruises everywhere, polishing their ride, socializing or just kicking back when the weather is just right.

Even now, the younger generations carry on the tradition. Just because the cars are different and the styling more outrageous, the basic love for the automobile is clearly present. Their embrace for the technology of computer driven engines, turbo chargers and killer sound systems rivals the enthusiasm and spirit of the old school cruisers. Regardless of age or generation, the love for and understanding of the value of a V8, 4 speed with posi-traction is there.

Whether your car is mint or tricked, stock or blown, or chopped and shaved; no matter what you do to a classic it will always guarantee to turn heads and leave smiles, especially when you peel out leaving a cloud of white tire smoke behind you. For this reason alone, the classics will never fade away, and for anyone who thinks the classics are dead, take the family to a car show and see the wide variety of young and old who literally pour blood and sweat into their passion.

Technorati Tags: Classic cars, asphalt burners, cruising, customizing, Rock n’ Roll, Weekend warriors, car shows, old school cruisers, V8