“Internet Barn Find” #4: Rare American Made Cars

So, I was “stumbling” around on StumbleUpon, a cool search tool/website where you can tell it what you’re interested in and just hit the stumble button. I stumbled upon “Rare American Made Autos” page. Here’s a quick quote from the website that explains what the Red Scarf Club is. Of all places to find cool pictures of rare American cars, an artilleryman’s website!? Car Nuts are everywhere!

“The RED SCARF name comes from the color of the artilleryman’s parade neck scarves. (ie; The infantry color is blue, the engineers – green, the artillery – red, and so on. Each section of the army, has its own designated color.)

Our present day club was loosley formed by a small group of 553rd FA Bn veterans, their wives, friends and familys, to get together once or twice a year in Branson, Missouri for a “Dinner and a Show”, and share old “War Stories” – as we call them – and each others company, for a couple of days.”

Here’s some teaser pics…if you can name any one of these cars, well…you’re just sick! ha ha Try out StumbleUpon and tells us about a cool car related website you dig and maybe we’ll make it an “Internet Barn Find”. You can also give a “thumbs up” to your favorite MyRideisMe.com stories. Until then, enjoy these crazy cool rare American rides.

Hechtspeed

Breakfast with Mr. Ferrari, Lamborghini & Rob Myers

It’s no wonder RM Auction is celebrating their 10th year in Arizona with “Automobiles of Arizona” at the Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona. Accepting my invitation to their Media breakfast I arrived slightly more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed then the next writer and photographer because this was my first time to look behind the scenes. Tucked in a small ballroom with other friends from the Phoenix Automotive Press Association (PAPA) I got to meet the kind folks running RM and hear what Rob Myers founder and former president ( Ian Kelleher was recently promoted to President) had to say about the state of the Collector Car Market.

Mr. RM took the podium with a smooth stride and turned to show a friendly smile. Here’s a man that enjoys what he does. Reflecting back to 1976, Myers remembered his first trip to Barret Jackson. Back then, he says, “It was a hobby.” He remembered buying a Mustang for about $1000 and driving it back to the RM home base back in Canada.

Now, Meyers estimated that nearly a quarter billion dollars will exchange hands in Arizona this week. Sound crazy? He’s not speculating that RM, Barret Jackson and the other auctions he spoke well of would clear that kind of money, (although the auctions are a healthy $150M chunk of it) he was referring to all the peripheral money and side deals being made all over the valley.

Take a cruise down to the Scottsdale Pavilions on Saturday night during Auction Week and you’ll see a huge turnout of cars with bunches of them for sale. Then, how about the revenue from the hotels and bars? And don’t forget the local classifieds that are jam packed with classic cars for sale because everyone knows, the right people are in town: Buyers. If you can’t sell your car this week, you won’t.

Telling us of a $1M car deal done in the hotel bar, Meyers asks us, mostly rhetorically, “How’s the Collector Car Market? It’s great! Good cars always bring good prices. It’s a good investment too… at least if it’s in my garage, I can’t get Ponzi’d out of it!”

As I listened and took notes between laughs enjoying how well Rob Myers knows his business, he offered more proof of a strong collector car market by casually mentioning the 3 years of work booked for RM’s elite car restoration business in Canada.

RM’s got it all for their clients: Hospitality, a full range of services and of course, they get the cars. In this strong collector car market, I can’t wait to see what the Corvette Grand Sport goes for.

2008 Route 66 Car show, Flagstaff, Arizona

Written by AZAmber (Amber’s Nash Metropolitan “MetroSxl“)

There’s nothing better than saying goodbye to the Phoenix heat and heading up to the pines to look at some cool rides. The 2008 Route 66 Car show was held Sept 5-7 in downtown Flagstaff, and I have to say, this historic town was a great backdrop to showcase some 375+ cars. Amongst the crowd were many of the cars you would expect to see, like the old Bel-Aires and T-Birds, but a few unusual rides made quite an impression as they lined the streets in front of antique shops and mom and pop delis. There was also a smattering of “tricked out” newer PT Cruisers and the members from a Corvette Club on hand to look at. In a grassy patch in the center of the town square, a few food and souvenirs vendor stands were set up and a DJ from a local radio station played oldies while some fresh squeezed lemonade topped off the day. According to the program, the weekend was full of activities for car enthusiasts. All in all, it was a great way to beat the heat and a nice way to enjoy some exceptional automobiles.

Here’s the pics Amber took from the show.

Iraqi Veteran Thank You- A Covert Op

Every so often, mixed in with the news that makes you wonder where the human spirit is, you find news that’s uplifting and genuine. That’s the story of United States Marine Jared Foster and his 68 Camaro. This is the spirit we’re trying to capture at My Ride is Me.

During the Iraqi war, 24 year old Corporal Foster took a round in his back, effectively blowing him apart. After months in a coma and many surgeries, Corporal Foster returned to Arizona as a permanently disabled war veteran. Jared had a 68 Camaro he had left behind and a dream of restoring it even though his condition made it hard to get much work done. to keep things moving, he enlisted the help of John Bauler. John’s company, Hugger Connection, specializes in first generation Camaro restoration, so he was in good hands. It didn’t take long for John to realize that the Camaro was a BIG project. In learning about the car, John learned about a brave young man he affectionately calls, “The Kid” who had been wounded serving his country.

Not long after, John told the First Generation Camaros of Arizona car club about the project and that he wanted to help. He was quickly joined by the Cactus GTO club and before long, in total secrecy, Project Iraqi Veteran (PIV) was organized to harness the enthusiastic support and the generous donation of go-fast parts, labor and cash that was pouring in to help, Corporal Foster. In total, 28 companies and more than 100 individuals are listed as supporters of the PIV effort.

Some how, with all that help, they all managed to keep things secret. That made the March 2nd charity car show at the Commemorative Air Force Museum and Hanger at Falcon Field in Mesa, AZ even more special. The plan was to reveal the Camaro, Overhaul’n style. He was picked up by the MP’s and led to believe there was a colonel waiting to meet him. Sitting in a Hummer and led by police escort, Jared arrived in boots and fatigues to a packed hanger of folks like me, waiting to see our American Hero.

Not long after, to a warm mix of cheers and tears, the cover was lifted. There sat what was once a near basket case Camaro that to Jared’s knowledge was somewhere in painters hands to fix some mysterious primer mishap. He was more than surprised! To one-up the Overhaul’n crew, during the restoration, Jared had even worked on this own car! With a few other first gen Camaro projects going on at Hugger Connection, Jared had no idea he was cleaning and painting parts for his own car. Well done Mr. Bauler!

The secret reveal, the car show and the Air Museum were all great. Jared’s story and the generosity that surrounded this effort brought the attention of all kinds of car lovers and media. I spotted channel 5, 10 and Fox Sport’s Net’s Motorsports Mania show. I’ll be watching to see if they caught me, my wife and 2 kids piled into our roadster and to hear the details I missed of this story.

I grabbed just a few pics from the show, but there were plenty of nice cars. Here’s just a few.

Today made me proud to be an American and I was happy to explain to my older son what it meant to sacrifice for something you believe in. Thank you to Jared and all the soldiers fighting for our country. And thank you to the show organizers and supporters who made this story happen. Finally, thanks to Bill Gilmore of Automotive Research Services who told me about this show and helped with this blog.

My spirit is in a fine state of repair.

Want to have a look around this website? Start here in the Killer Garages. Thanks for looking! If you like what you see, please JOIN!

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