Farm Grown Hot Rods at Motorama 2010

The Best of PA Car shows at the Motorama 2010

Mike Smyth’s highly detailed 1930 Ford Streetrod Truck at Motorama 2010

We knew this wasn’t going to be your normal indoor car show when a cloud of exhaust greeted us as we strolled down the main hall at last weekend’s Motorama event. Actually, Motorama isn’t just a car show. It is more like a celebration of all things on wheels.

While the wife and I were at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for the cars, there was plenty of indoor racing and other activities to keep the large crowds entertained. Racing was everywhere; there was go-kart, quarter midget, and arenacross racing with quads and dirt bikes. While the R/C racers and the Robot Conflict participants may have been driving smaller vehicles, they were just as competitive. Bands and DJs were scheduled throughout the day on various stages to entertain your ears and of course the Miss Motorama contestants made their rounds to entertain your eyes. (Sorry, out of respect for my assistant and wife I refrained from snapping any photos of the ladies. Besides, they were way too young for me!)

A nice collection of vendors were ready to help separate you from your money and to feed you a standard county fair style meal if you were hungry. The Farm Show Complex is so large that you actually need a map to find your way around and Motorama packed every corner with something.

Located over in the large North Hall was the combined Rod and Custom and TunerWars Showcase where we spent most of our time.

Al Nosse’s 1933 Willys with a blown Hemi has won may national awards for good reason.

Probably one of the wildest customs at the show was Richard Sexton’s 1955 Nash Metropolitan. It even had wheelie bars!

When does it become more about the stuff around your car rather than the car itself? Too much? What do you think?

Delynn Rowe’s 1995 Ford Probe sparkled in pink catching the eye of many of the girls in the TunerWars area.

Over on the opposite side of the Farm Show Complex was the Speed Show. The Speed Show had several hundred more vehicles including a large collection of off-road vehicles and race cars.

The classic pose for a Rockcrawler is flexed on a ramp or parked on another vehicles tire.

We had a great time at Motorama and we have already penciled in the date (Feb 19-20, 2011) for next year’s show. What makes it even better is that  my wife, Peg, now is helping me with gear and passing out MyRideisMe cards. Does your significant other like cars as much as you do? We’ve been married for over 21 years and we still enjoy going to shows together. Check out more photos in the Picture Gallery and if you are ever at a show and you see a very large man (6’5” and 340) crawling around on the ground with a camera, say “Hi,” it’s probably me.

Sweet Rides Can Always be Found at Hershey

The Antique Automobile Club of America or AACA museum is a perfect place to spend a couple of hours while avoiding the chill of an East Coast winter.

So, on a recent trip to Hershey, PA the wife and I thought we would try and do just that. The museum is an awesome facility with a great variety of vehicles. For just $10 you can relive the great history of transportation in the 20^th century. A very knowledgeable staff is always available to answer your questions as well as entertain you. You can even hold a wedding here with the museum offering many different choices of locations for your reception. How cool would that be!?

The Antique Automobile Club of America’s Museum opened its doors to the public back on June 26, 2003. Since then, it has been the home to many rare and historic cars. The museum is constantly rotating its inventory to keep things interesting so you never know what you might see.

Currently on exhibit, through the beginning of April, are the Camaros and Firebirds presented by Freysinger Pontiac GMC Buick. Over 20 vehicles are on display in this exhibit including a 1967 big block convertible Camaro, an all original unrestored 1969 ZL1 Camaro, a 1969 COPO Camaro, and a 1978 Firebird Trans-Am that was originally driven by Burt Reynolds.

The Museum also shares space with the Museum of Bus Transportation and the Antique Motorcycle Club of America. Both of their collections can be found on the lower level.

Parked outside the AACA Museum and waiting to greet us was the Hershey’s Kissmobile. The Hershey’s Kissmobile Cruiser is a 12-foot tall, 26-foot long custom-made vehicle resembling three Hershey’s Kisses. Created in 1997, it has traveled more than 250,000 miles while raising donations for the Children’s Miracle Network.

While wondering around the lower level I found an early 70’s Eagle Model 05 Bus. It brought on one of those “I remember when” moments as I reminisced about riding a bus very similar to this one to visit my great-grandfather when I was a munchkin. I had to stop and tell my wife the entire story of getting a windup toy of the bus during a trip and my great-grandfather’s cool shop; he was a gunsmith. I still have some of his tools in my shop.

Seeing as I am the owner of a 1963 Cadillac Hearse, I am drawn to all forms of funeral coaches. This 1924 REO Funeral Hearse had me circling it for what must have seemed like forever to my wife.

If you like motorcycle race bikes, head to the lower level for the AMCA exhibit. Here you will find 50 great race bikes including this 1911 Indian Isle of Man replica racer.

Check out these and a few more photos over in the MyRideisMe Picture Gallery.

So, do you have a favorite memory of riding in an old family car or maybe even on a bus? Do you have a strange fascination with an unusual vehicle such as my love affair with hearses? Have you ever been to the AACA museum? Share your stories here.

Cool Steel in Steel City World of Wheels Car Show

Getting your Hot Rod Fix at the Pittsburgh World of Wheels

Another World of Wheels has come and gone in Pittsburgh, PA, AKA The Steel City, and it did not disappoint. Once again the wife and I hit the road to take in a car show, shoot some photos, and just enjoy being out of the house. After scraping off the ice from the previous day’s storm we were on our way for the 4 hour trip to the David Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown Pittsburgh. I actually find driving fairly relaxing so the trek went pretty quick.

There was something for everyone. If you like high end customs there were over-the-top rods like John Mai’s beautiful 1933 Willys Coupe.

Into race cars? Drag City USA was on hand displaying several vintage dragsters like the 1967 Bounty Hunter that was driven by Connie Kalitta.

Want to learn something? A number of airbrush artists were on hand demonstrating their craft.

Feeling charitable? You could have bid on some of the art that the pinstripers were creating all weekend.

Were there rat rods? Yup. There were many rats and kustoms including this 1930 Essex kustom by Jeff Shuman.

And what would the World of Wheels be without stuff that just makes you scratch your head like Joe Bellisario’s 1970 Chevrolet Corvette Wagon?

Were you there? How far have you ever driven just to attend a car show? Let us know and be sure to check out the rest of the photos in the pictures gallery.

A Pocket Full of POSIES (open house)

Hot Rods on a Cold Day – Guests’ Rides at POSIES Open House

So what would make this car guy get up at 5am on a Saturday morning and drive 2 hours in temperatures struggling to make it into the 20s? FREE DOUGHNUTS!

Well, that and a chance to hang out with other car enthusiasts at the POSIES annual open house. Posies Rods and Customs, best known for their Super Slide Springs, swung open their shop doors to the general public on the morning of Jan 9 from 8am until noon. Ken “POSIES” Fenical was there to greet everyone and treated us like old friends. This small shop, just a few miles outside of Hershey in Hummelstown, PA, likes to say they build “statements” rather than cars. “Anybody can restore an antique. . . it takes a real man to cut one up,” as one of their t-shirt says.

A couple of their statements were out in the snow covered parking lot on display: the ’32 Ford based “Euroliner” and the ’72 Jaguar XKE “FlatCat”. All of POSIES’ statements are built to be driven. In fact, the Euroliner was driven cross-country to SEMA on the 2008 POSIES Driven Dirty Tour.

A large crowd turnout (some brave souls even brought their rides) made for a great morning. There were even several vendors on hand to answer technical questions if you felt so inclined to ask. And, plenty of good ol’ bench racing.

So, how do you handle the cold? Are you hardcore and drive your ride in the snow? Or, do you hideout in the garage tinkering until Spring? Let us know. . .

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