Chandler Car Show Shines Downtown
Overcast skies and the threat of actually having to wear a jacket didn’t deter a great crowd from downtown Chandler, Arizona on February 27, 2010. For all the pictures I took click here.
I figured I’d lead with this Willys gasser. I waited for a few minutes to snap this shot with just a few legs in still walking by. It was pretty big crowd! Even stacked with great cars, I picked this one as my favorite just for it’s sheer gasser badness. Those who disagree are simply wrong!
While you’re looking at this picture, notice the air scoops on the front of the hood. These scoops fed the cross rammed big block Chevy. Cool setup.
Besides the Willys that stopped me in my tracks, I found this car. A 1954 Darrin confirmed by trusty Google! I shot one of these up at Barrett Jackson 2 years ago. A perfectly restored piece that went for big bucks and was worth it. The sliding pocket doors on these are so different, you’ll know these when you see’m. Now I’ve seen 2 of the 435 ever built.
An unusual car, no doubt, but look under the hood. At first I thought he’d put in a run-of-the-mill fuel injected small block. Maybe that’s all he SHOULD put in there given the body’s fiberglass and dig that stylish but tiny opening for cooling air. I wanted to ask the owner if it runs hot, but he was busy answering, “What’s that?” Then I saw what’s really stuffed in there:
Squint and you can see “Ram Jet” and 502. Get some.
Adding a little pedigree to the show, this is “Double Trouble” fresh from purchase at the Barrett Jackson auction. Also included on this definition of a hot rod‘s pedigree is a trip to the Grand National Roadster show as an “America’s Most Beautiful Roadster contender. I dubbed this one America’s Most Bitch’n Roadster. It is.
It was designed and sketched by my friend Jimmy Smith from right here in Arizona. Here’s the sketch.
Making a, uhh… subtle transition from Double Trouble, dig this hot rod. I always hesitate to call it a rat rod, but maybe alot of people would. Hey guys, it may just be unfinished! With the detailed rear suspension still visible and the trick side draft carbed straight six Chevy it ran, I’m just gonna say bad, crowd pleasing hot rod let you decide what you want to call it.
Finally, this is my man Branden’s ride. (He’s a member at MyRideisMe.com so look at his garage here.)
I don’t think Branden minds if we call it a “rat rod”. With the spikes on the headlights, the rusty water pump and general lack of shine, I think it fits. But if you look really closely, there’s alot of well thought out planning shown. The pickup bed features a couple artillery cases for storage and this thing’s Branden’s daily driver so it’s solid.
Branden’s wife’s been fighting cancer since I’ve known him but he told me today she’s now cancer free. Right on!! When you see him shake his hand or give him a hug for goodness sakes! His family’s been through alot and survived it. I’m sure they’re all stronger now.
From the positive reaction other cancer patients have had to his car, Branden suggested a run out the the hospital to try and cheer up the patients. Who’s up for a ride to help out some folks who could use a smile? More info to come soon on a cruise to the Cancer Treatment Center of America in Goodyear.
Ending on a positive note then, check out all my pictures from downtown Chandler. We’ll see you around town!
-pikesan
Mustangs and Muscle Cars in Mesa, Arizona
February 11, 2010 by pikesan · 5 Comments
Lance and his website HotRodPlanet.com is becoming quite a car show promoter in Arizona. This is his latest effort and I’m sorry to get this up late for THIS WEEKEND 2/13/10. Here’s the info you’ll need. (Click on the flier to see it full size) The show is SOLD OUT, but you can still take in the 200+ cars and the Air Museum.
Mustangs & Muscle Cars – Car Show at the
Commemorative Air Force Arizona Wing Aviation Museum February 13, 2010
The public is invited to attend the Commemorative Air Force’s (CAF) Arizona Wing Aviation Museum’s Mustangs & Muscle Charity Car Show, sponsored by Berg Ford on Saturday, February 13, 2010. This shows theme features WWII P-51 Mustang fighters, along with both classic and new cars. The car show is open to all makes, models and years of muscle cars, street rods, 4X4’s, Exotics, Imports and motorcycles. Come see the cars cause this show is SOLD OUT.
Mustangs & Muscle Charity Car Show will be held at the CAF Arizona Wing Aviation Museum located at Falcon Field Airport, Mesa, AZ. The Museum is located at 2017 N. Greenfield Road. Doors will be open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Warbirds on display for the car show include the B-17 Sentimental Journey, B-25 Mitchell Bomber, North American SNJ/T-6 and Stearman trainers, and many more. Exhibits displays Include a tribute to the B-17 Chow Hound, honoring fallen Airmen and the 91st Bomb Group, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Flying Tigers, the China Burma India Theater and Women in Aviation, including the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASPS) of WWII plus others.
In addition, there will be Hot Wheel racing for the kids, sponsored by KMJ Diecast, as well as music provided by a local DJ playing hits from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.
Admission Price – Ages 13-Adult $10.00, Seniors 62 and older $9.00, Ages 5-12 $3.00, Ages under 5 free. Rides are also available on WWII B-17, C-45 and SNJ/T-6 trainer. Gift certificates may be purchased for flights on Sentimental Journey or other warbirds. The museums gift shop has many aviation gifts available for that unique gift. Food and drinks will be available.
The CAF Arizona Wing is a 501(c)(3) non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to celebrating our heritage of freedom through flight, education, exhibition and remembrance. For more information on The Commemorative Air Force Aviation Museum please call 480-924-1940 or visit our web site at www.azcaf.org.
Rockabilly Reunion in Lake Havasu, AZ
Get set for the Second Annual Rockabilly Reunion this weekend February 12-14, 2010. How often can you get Rockabilly music, a pinup model contest and Rockabilly music all for FREE for you and your ride?
Voodoo Swing is set to perform at the event held on the shores of the Colorado River at Windsor State Beach in Lake Havasu, Arizona. “We’re thrilled to be playing three days of music along with other great acts for some of the biggest rockabilly music fans in the country who truly appreciate what we do”, said Voodoo Swing’s front man Paul “Shorty” Kreutz.
The Rockabilly Reunion is free to spectators of all ages and there is no charge to enter a car for display. Voodoo Swing plays throughout the weekend along with multiple rockabilly acts. The band is scheduled to play a welcome party at Nautical Inn Resort on the island at the beach in Lake Havasu City at 9pm on Friday evening following the poker run held at Windsor State Beach in Lake Havasu City on both Saturday and Sunday.
Carnival rides for all ages will be in place throughout the weekend. Additional features include the annual pinup contest, beer and food garden, vendor corral, used parts swap meet, used car corral and pin striping contest. A Brian Setzer Series Hotrod Gretsch guitar will be auctioned off during the weekend. The guitar has been provided by event sponsor Gretsch and can be viewed at the Gretsch booth near the stage.
A portion of proceeds from the high bid will be donated to America Home Dream, a non-profit organization that assists families of children with cancer.
For the Pinup model contest sponsored by Gretsch guitar, there’s $3000 in prizes available so get in touch with brendaleepinup@yahoo.com to enter.
Fresh LeMons with ahhh… Strict Rules – For FUN!
January 10, 2010 by pikesan · 6 Comments
Call them “lemons” or piles of crap or simply junk. Still, can you argue these guys are having fun racing them!?
I first heard about the Concours d’LeMons and took note because it was part of the super prestigious and maybe super “snobby” Monterey Concours Week including the world famous Concours d’Elegance. Dating back to 1950, we can’t hate on the big-daddy of Concours Week in Pebble Beach because they now include class “U” Hot Rods: Lakesters and Bonneville Racers. Gotta hit that show one of these days!
The 24 Hours of LeMons, an obvious play on the 24 Hours of LeMans, the worlds oldest endurance sports car race, the “Lemons” used in this race are cars worth not more than $500. More than anything I’m wondering, what kind of cars get entered and when can I see this first hand? Turns out, I’ll show you the cars here and see’m first hand in Phoenix at the kickoff event for the LeMons series at Firebird Raceway.
Dubbed the Auction-Weekend Gavel-Tap GP in honor of the slew of high dollar auction that are part of Arizona’s Auction Week, the race is held on the 1.1 mile west course at Firebird. 
The gates open early Friday, January 22nd for tech inspection, then race session 1 starts Saturday at 10AM continuing with session II at 9AM on Sunday.
If you’re thinking, “So what, junk cars racing, I see that on my drive to Maricopa every day.” then you should have a look at some of the rules and how they’re written. If the racing environment is even near as fun as the rules, this is a must see.
First off, it costs $500 to enter and $100 per racer. Not too bad if you’re in the race for a 3 days for a little over a grand. But what’s that get you? The usual things, plus, “sweatshop-made commemorative crap, and anything else we come up with by then.” That sounds worth it…
Continuing down the rules, I was curious how they figure out the $500. What’s that include and not include? In straight forward Enlgish rule 4.1.1 explains:
Lame-Ass Rationalizations: Cars that “should be” worth $500 don’t count; cars that “were worth $500″ before you spent another $2000 to fix them don’t count; cars you’ve owned for 20 years and spent more than $500 on during that time don’t count; “it would have been worth $500 if it didn’t already have a cage” doesn’t count. Five hundred dollars means five hundred frickin’ dollars.
To keep things safe, quite a few safety items are exempt from the $500. That includes Wheels, tires, wheel bearings, and brake components, so that helps, but from the pictures, it doesn’t look like folks are spending alot on high performance wheels.
Just in case any questions come up or a team is just over the limit, the rules include a “BS Factor”. At the end of the day, teams are trying to win by finishing the most laps, same as most endurance races. So the BS Factor penalizes 1 lap for every $10 over the $500 race car limit. The BS Factor panel of judges run a tight ship and as for appeals, “Get real. There’s no appealing this decision. You’re boned.” You gotta go read the rules where you’ll also these fun rules:
- 2.4: Whiner Eligibility.
- “Whiners are not eligible to compete. If you believe that you might be a whiner, please check with a domestic partner, guardian, or health-care professional before getting the rest of your team kicked the hell out of the race.”
- 6.1: Individual Lousy-Driving Rule
- 6.2: Team Lousy-Driving Rule
- 6.3: Why Am I Upside-Down?
- 6.4: Touching a Temporary Barrier
- “An automatic Lousy Driving Offense With Extreme Prejudice. (You don’t even want to know what that means.)”
See!!??
The final couple rules keeping things honest is the “Claiming Rule” (self explanatory) and rule 1.6: Your Car May Be Destroyed at Any Time. Through a blind ballot of all teams, one car is selected to be immediately and completely destroyed, right there at the track!
Who knows why you’ll get picked but as the rules clearly state: “It could be your car. It probably WILL BE your car. You’ll have 30 minutes to yank out any safety items you want to rescue, and then it’s toast. Them’s the breaks. Don’t bring it if you ain’t OK with losing it.”
For the $20/day or $30/weekend general-access paddock passes, this sounds like fun on wheels like we haven’t seen since your church’s demolition derby. Can you make it? See ya there!
Top 10 Ways to Fail at an Arizona Car Show
January 7, 2010 by pikesan · 4 Comments
This is how you do a car show! Complain as you might for a big annual show like Goodguys: the cost, the crowds, the waiting to get out when it’s all over, but that’s still a bigtime show and one I look forward to every year.
Compare that to this past weekend’s show at Beaudry RV put on by Roddin’ and Racin’s Jerry Hutchcroft. I did not attend the show, but I got a first hand account of what went on, and bottom line is: That’s a great example of how NOT to put on a car show.
Top 10 Ways to Fail at an Arizona Car Show:
#10: Don’t supply the advertised “Cruise Lane”
#9: Don’t put on the much anticipated and always fun Burn-out or engine “Rev-Up” contest
#8: Have a goodie bag filled with a small box of Tic-Tacs and a pen that doesn’t work
#7: Have poor facilities planning: Not enough garbage cans, a weak PA system and no as advertised preferred parking area
#6: Don’t have any car show class voting and trophies as advertised
#5: See “NEVER less than 20-30 cars backed up line” that at times were, “backed up all the way to the freeway” and don’t make a change to get people in quicker
#4: Show up late to your own car show when you advertised the gates would open at 6:30AM
#3: Dont’ supply a dash plaque, t-shirt or anything at all for the early registration, “Bonus Package”
#2: Advertise and collect pre-entries for a 2 day show, then change it to a 1 day show.
#1: Make a lame apology on your website claiming, “I didn’t know” the event would be so successful as the reason why it failed.
Giving some credit, this was a show for charity, although I haven’t heard how much they donated. In addition, there were a reported 200 men that took advantage of the free and the very important PSA screening for prostate cancer. (Get checked! I did at the Orange County “Crusin for a Cure” show)
But come on Jerry. The people who attended your show read your magazine and watch your TV show and have done so for years. The show you delivered for the $25 or $35 registration fee sounds like it was worse than the totally free, weekly Scottsdale Pavilions show.
Car show promoters and organizers, please listen: It’s the cars and the people driving them that make a show. Take care of them or they won’t be back.
How’d it go so wrong Jerry? I welcome your comments as well as any rants and any possible raves from people who attended the show. Anything I said not completely true? Let me know…
