Gasoline Girls Take On VLV 2011
May 8, 2011 by GreaseGirl · 2 Comments
This might have been the 14th Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender, but it was the momentous 1st VLV car show for the Gasoline Girls Car Club!
It seems like Viva has always been an important landmark for me in my car journeys. Its hard to believe that it was just three years ago that my 1955 Studebaker’s engine swap got finished a mere 12 hours before I drove it across the desert alone to attend VLV 2008. The following year, at VLV 2009, was the fateful meeting between Becky Sue and I where an instant friendship was made. Soon after, we began plotting our plans to create a working-on-cars focused all-girls car club. Two years later, the Gasoline Girls are celebrating their first anniversary!
So at Viva Las Vegas 2011 the milestones continued as the Gasoline Girls made their longest journey yet as a club – traveling across the Mojave desert to attend the largest rockabilly weekender party and car show ever! Follow along with us and enjoy the ride!
We scooted out of So Cal early Thursday morning – beating the traffic and meeting up with the Throttle Kings Car Club and a couple others. Once everyone was assembled – fueled up with gasoline and coffee – we hit the road.
Our journey began long before Thursday morning though. Each member of the Gasoline Girls had projects to be complete on her ride before making the long journey. Just the weekend before, we were busy helping Becky Sue make a front suspension and steering switch on her 1961 Comet. Lori’s had completed the final touch on her 1948 Ford F1 – a vintage hardwood truck bed. And my 1955 Studebaker Champion has been undergoing constant improvements both big and small – from a brake upgrade and metal flaked roof to an oil change and fancier fuel filter. Our fourth member, Rosa, wasn’t able to bring her 1965 Ford Falcon due to some ongoing wiring issues (we think). (Hear more about GreaseGirl’s wrenching adventures soon!)
As we hit the road, the Gasoline Girls soon discovered how the Throttle Kings got their name. They weren’t going to lose any time getting over to Las Vegas! My Studie is perfectly comfortable breaking posted speed limits on the highways – but Lori’s Ford Flathead and Becky Sue’s high-powered 302 aren’t built for high speed highway cruising.
Regardless of speed differences, we’d reconvene at gas pit-stops. Becky Sue notified me of a hanging exhaust pipe on the back of Studie – so that was fixed with some wire during our first stop.
As the ride continued, Becky Sue’s temperature guage wasn’t looking very safe. In Baker we attempted to adjust the timing slightly thinking that could help the issue.
Soon after, we pulled to the side of the freeway as her temperature gauge spiked. Something seemed awry – as her Comet wasn’t really showing signs of overheating under the hood. With some consultation , we decided the culprit could be an ungrounded wire leading to the temperature gauge’s sending unit. After insulating the wire in electrical tape we were back on the road without further problems.
Soon enough we had reached the Nevada stateline –where parking lot party is always in order. Cracking open a cold one and listening to some tunes as onlookers come by creating our own impromptu traveling car show!
After state line, the next stop is Vegas! Arriving at VLV on Thursday afternoon, things are pretty quiet – but there’s still a short line to get through registration and in the gate of the car show. Securing our car show spots – we make a round and see what we can see.
Staying at The Orleans has it’s advantages…but so does an off-site house. Since we didn’t book ahead and only had car show passes (which this was the 1st year they offered ‘em), we decided to save some $ and stay at my families place. Which provided a nice rest on Thursday afternoon…and of course a little bit of work. We had some last minute spray painting to do – creating our very own Gasoline Girls shop rags…homemade of course!
Friday morning was time to get ready! The Viva Las Vegas car show is notorious for characters galore! And although the Gasoline Girls love getting dirty in the garage – we also like getting dolled up!
Good thing we primped a little bit. Because we got plenty of attention – and so did our cars! We posed for a few pictures, met with some friends we’d made on Facebook, and of course talked about our cars!
Even though Rosa wasn’t able to bring her Falcon – she did get to check out a finished example of her next project – a Hudson!
When things got too hot under the sun at the car show, there were refrigerators full of Pabst beer (the official beer of all things Rockabilly) inside The Orleans.
As the car show closes its doors at night, people head indoors for the music and festivities of VLV. Since the Gasoline Girls didn’t have full access VLV passes, we headed out for other nightlife adventures.
After a busy day at the car show we’d worked up an appetite – so decided to head out for some good German food at Haufbrau Hause. Food wasn’t the only thing they offered there… Becky Sue and Kristin volunteered for a contest, not sure what they’d be getting into. They soon discovered that rather than drink the large, one liter, glass of beer they’d be holding it – it was a stein-holding contest. Both gave their best and outlasted a healthy number of the other 8 contestants…in fact of the seven ladies and three men entered – Kristin stayed in until second-to-last! All that wrenching on cars is good for the muscles!
After dinner frivolities, we all headed over to The Orleans to be part of the VLV fun. Lori and Kristin spent their $1 budget in the slot machines…
While Becky Sue was in search of the bowling-pin-drink. Each year The Orleans offers a special Viva Las Vegas drinking cup at one of their many bars. The bars had two choices this year – a large beer bottle or a tiki cup – but not bowling pin. Regardless…we’d seen some rockabilly cats walking around with one and Becky Sue was insistent upon finding one. Where do bowling pins live…the bowling alley of course!
Not only did Becky Sue find her bowling pin drink at the bowling alley – but we all discovered a crazy game called Dance Dance Revolution! Since we didn’t have access to all the dance floors filled with rockabilly bands – we decided we’d get our groove on in the arcade!
Saturday was another full day of car show activities. There were tons of great cars which all of us ladies enjoyed looking at. But most of all, we enjoyed meeting and spending time with friends, and of course each other!
As the sun set on Saturday night, things only seemed to heat up over at the car show. There was dancing, revving of engines, and some in-car parties going on! The Gasoline Girls took it all in until we just couldn’t walk around any more!
After a good nights sleep and a relaxing Easter morning – it was time to hit the road before the onslaught of back-to-California traffic. Stopping at a couple of auto parts stores and the gas station before the traffic jam getting onto the freeway made it seem like we’d never get out of town!
Eventually we were on the road, just the three of us. Taking it nice and slow to accommodate the Comet’s and F1’s engines we made it slow and steady across the desert. With about half of the 260 miles behind us, things got much slower. The traffic had caught up with us and we were hardly getting anywhere. When you’re caught in traffic on a road trip, sometimes extreme measures must be taken. A side-of-the-road pit stop was necessary (if you know what I mean.)
Glad for a rest, Becky Sue’s mom had invited us to stop for Easter dinner at their house. Everyone was glad for yummy food and rest from traffic and driving. Just when we’d thought the traffic was over, the sun was down and cars were stopped again. This time fog was the culprit. Over the El Cajon pass, visibility was almost zilch and cars were at a creep as they followed each other’s taillights edging closer to LA.
Nine hours after departing Las Vegas we were all finally home!
As always, the journey was much improved by the presence of friends! What adventures will our cars get us into next? Keep tabs on us at GasolineGirls.com.
Cute, Cool and Hot at 2011 Viva Las Vegas Car Show
May 8, 2011 by GreaseGirl · Leave a Comment
Hot Rods and Cool Classics at 2011 VLV Car Show
Who knew Viva Las Vegas began as a music festival? Heck…we’re only interested in the cars!
What I love about rockabilly car shows – is you get a little bit of everything. VLV14 in 2011 is no exception. From barely running to nearly show quality and everything in between… it’ll be at Viva! This slammed three-window was a-glow in glitter. Heavy green metal flake covering nearly everything… what wasn’t covered in green flake was covered in silver flake. So mean… but so cute!
This larger sedan looks clean laying on the pavement! From sunrise to sundown, the VLV car show at The Orleans was hoppin’!
This chopped Ford Pickup had just the right style. Great tire choice. A clean chop job. And time-worn Ford Blue was a terrific color choice!
My car club, the Gasoline Girls, were there for our 1st time as a club too! Lori’s 1948 Ford F1 “Bondorella” got tons of attention! Onlookers went crazy for Bondorella’s bare metal with hidden ice-pearl flake cleared over it. (See more Gasoline Girl’s Adventures!)
This five-window coupe got it all just right too. Great stance. Neat engine. Clean satin finish with touches of glossy gold in just the right places.
It wouldn’t be a rockabilly car show if there wasn’t plenty of pinstriping to go around. This is a perfect example of pinstriping done right! If you didn’t show up with your car striped…there were plenty of artists on hand to do the job for you. Check out more VLV pinstripping here!
A rockabilly car show has also gotta have a sufficient amount of flames to be complete! This Chevy two-door bought some sparkly silver flames nicely laid out on it’s flat gray paint.
And if you happened to show up hoping to get hitched… well, you could do that too. I think this was the first time I ever saw a wedding booth at a car show! I also think it was the first time I’ve seen a bride with such colorful hair!
Of course not all the ladies were hitched… these lovely dolls are having fun and riding in style! If you’ve heard anything about the Viva Las Vegas car show – other then the awesome cars that is – it’s probably that there are a TON of beautiful women… rockabilly chicks, pinups, and more.
This full-fendered pickup was rolling strong. Unique and clean!
Moondiscs on a Ford Pickup? Awesome! You guys know I’m a sucker for moonies and its not too often you seen them on a truck like this… well picked!
To my surprise I caught not only one pickup with moon discs on their wheels – but two! This Chevy was wearing them proudly also.
Another car with a great set of wheels is this five-window. I’ve seen this car at Viva before… but ya never get tired of lookin’ at something so pretty.
What you couldn’t see in the last picture you can see in this one. Beautiful job on the louvers arcing around this neat teardrop shaped blister.
Checking out more great details is Becky Sue of the Gasoline Girls. After seeing her hammer away at her front suspension the weekend before… I’d never call her dainty. These tiny turn signals though? Yep… dainty!
The details on this home-made roadster are way too many to show. I’m a sucker for these industrial-looking windshields. But check out the cute turn signals and electronically-raised roof. Not to mention the very cool Jack Daniels distillery on the passenger side A faucet on a roadster with whiskey coming out – nothing screams rockabilly louder than that!
While we’re on windshields… check this one out! Have you ever seen such a tiny windshield!?!
And if you got tired of looking at cars…there were plenty of other distractions! Jerry Lee Lewis was on stage – and Elvira was signing autographs!
Ny 1955 Studebaker Coupe might have given out autographs too… if only she could! Me… well, I’m not quite that famous! But I did enjoy meeting some new friends (including some from Facebook) Steve, shooting the pictures, will be doing a feature on myself and the other Gasoline Girls in an upcoming feature in Munster Style magazine.
I was very surprised to run into a car I’d met this past August in Bonneville during Speedweek 2010! My Studie and this Hudson Wasp from Colorado had a smokin’ hot photo shoot one morning on the salt!
People don’t really go to Viva to win prizes – they go to have fun. But that didn’t keep Sunny Vasquez and his 1949 Buick from taking home Best of Show. This picture doesn’t really do this beautifully unique dash justice…but check out the Best of Show and Best Hot Rod here.
Yep, having fun with friends is what Viva’s all about. It doesn’t hurt that there’s some of the coolest cars around that show up! But then again… isn’t that a big part of the fun in building a car?!
When it’s time to pack up and go home of course there will be a couple of problems…but hey, that’s what friends are for!
These were a few of ours – What was your favorite at Viva Las Vegas 2011?
#2 – Best of Viva Las Vegas 2011 – Award Winners
May 8, 2011 by GreaseGirl · Leave a Comment
Viva Las Vegas 2011 Car Show – Best of Show
Sonny Vasquez and his 1949 Buick custom have both been around for awhile. But when a car looks this good and has the amount of hours in it that a custom such as this requires… I’m happy to see it named Best of Show at Viva Las Vegas.
Because there was SO much going on at VLV 14, (see it here) I didn’t make it to the award ceremony. Honestly… I didn’t even know they were officially awarding a “Best of Show” car. At past VLV car shows, I’ve seen various clubs give out awards but don’t remember there being an official “Viva Award.”
So when I walked up to this Buick to check out this stunningly original dash, I was surprised to see the “Best of Show” plaque sitting inside. I was even more surprised that the car’s owner, Sonny, was standing nearby!
Being the modest guy that he is – he said he was just as surprised when they called him up for the award. When he realized the only award left was Best of Show and he’d been called to get an award, he was sure they’d made a mistake!
It must be an amazing feeling to have a car that looks this good after having done all the work on building it yourself (That’s right… Sonny built this Buick with his own two hands!) Fantastic job!
There was one other “Best Of” sitting nearby. This little beauty won Best Hot Rod. Don’t we all wish we could have an all-steel Roadster looking this clean?! Hot Rods like this make ya wanna drive!
What do you think, are these your favorite? What other cars at Viva would you deem trophy-worthy? Leave a comment, let everyone know!
#1 – Best of Viva Las Vegas 14 – The Unusual Customs
May 4, 2011 by pikesan · Leave a Comment
2011 Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Car Show
At any car show, you’ll always have your favorites. Of course this is true with Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender where the car show, “officially” only runs for Saturday, but there’s tons of smooth kustoms and nostalgic hot rods to see starting from Thursday. While you’re there, grab a beer, say hi to just about anyone you see cause chances are they’re there to have a good time and most car people like to talk about their rides. Or bring beer with you and you’ll suddenly have tons of new friends!
So here’s an overview of the cars I like best. If you agree or not, let me know. If you’re the owner and I didn’t get a chance to say hi, please leave a comment and more info about your ride. If you can, say why, “My Ride is Me”.
Let’s start with the unusual! (or you could say the coolest 1961 Plymouth Fury I’ve ever seen!)
Through my near legendary Google’n skillz, I found out this is a 1961 Plymouth Fury hardtop coupe. The bright orange paint looked stunning in a sea of rust and black paint and who knew this body style could look so cool?!
The interior’s got a stylish mix of what could be near stock with a fur lined headliner. A must see!
The roof had the same detail found inside… white with a medium flake then more orange over lace and some thin black pinstriping.
Is this your 1961 Plymouth Fury?? Who owns this?
Before closing the “Unusual Customs” theme, I gotta share one more ride I liked. This isn’t the first custom mail truck or ice cream truck or whatever kind of delivery this old ride might have been, but this one was cool in it’s original looking patina and custom pinstripes.
The interior featured some marijuana branded gunney sacks that fit right in… there’s a shot of the pinstriping too at the Viva Las Vegas Pinstriping Gallery.
So how’d I do? Were these 2 of your favorites from the Viva Las Vegas Car Show too?
To see what you might have missed from previous Viva Las Vegas Car Shows, here’s the Viva Las Vegas Car Show info from the last 3 years.
2011 Viva Las Vegas 14 – Pinstriping Styles
April 25, 2011 by pikesan · Leave a Comment
2011 Viva Las Vegas Car Show Pinstriping Designs
If you’ve never been to Viva Las Vegas Car Show, you’re missing out on some of the best pinstriping designs. The suede paint of the custom cars and the vintage hot rod style both fit perfectly with a few carefully placed pinstriping lines.
To give you some ideas for your ride, here’s a collection of pinstriping from the car show.
See all of the MyRideisMe.com coverage of Viva Las Vegas here: Viva Las Vegas Car Show or you can go straight to more pinstriping here: Pinstriping Features and Pictures
