Saturday, November 5, 2022

Saturday, October 15, 2022

Friday, October 14, 2022

Happy Friday

For the first time since 2019, I’m going to Lakeland, Florida, for the Lake Mirror Classic Concours and Car Show.  A couple of changes this year: I’m taking my 2007 Mustang instead of my 1988 Pontiac for the Open Show, and I’ll be a judge at the Concours.

The Pontiac is staying home for two reasons: First, I don’t want to tempt karma again.  The last two times I took it to Lakeland, I didn’t get there.  In 2018, we were an hour on the road when it developed a leak from the transmission cover due to loose bolts.  A year later, we turned around at almost the same point when it developed a problem with the injectors and timing that required an engine rebuild, which was completed in December 2019.  Second, it’s in need of a good detail job, so it’s not quite ready for the show field.

The Mustang has a new top, the dents and dings have been removed, it has new tires and battery, and it has both air conditioning and cruise control.  It’s ready to be shown, and so, Dog willing, we will be on the field on Saturday.

Judging at the Concours is a first for me, and I get to see some amazing cars: American Performance from 1970 to 1972, including Mustangs, GTO’s, LeMans, Roadrunners, and all in spectacular condition.

If you’re in the area, stop by and say hi.

Saturday, October 1, 2022

Random YouTubery

October marks the beginning of the car show season here in Florida, and what better time to take a look at the history of the auto industry from the land that gives us snowbirds.

Saturday, September 17, 2022

Saturday, March 19, 2022

Saturday, February 26, 2022

Random YouTubery

Since I recently came across a picture of me with Jay Leno at a previous Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance, I thought this video would be fun to share.

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Random YouTubery

This was literally a random pick, but in light of the fact that tomorrow we have our Cars in the Garden show at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, it’s apropos.  I have no idea who Mike ‘n’ Gina are, but they have fun at the new AACA Museum in Hershey, PA.

Saturday, January 15, 2022

Random YouTubery

Today is the first day of the Art Deco Weekend car shows on Miami Beach, and the first one since 2020.  Maybe one of these will show up; they made their appearance often on South Beach sixty years ago.

Saturday, November 13, 2021

Friday, July 9, 2021

Happy Friday

Today is National Collector Car Appreciation Day, according to SEMA, the lobbying group that speaks out for the antique car hobby.  The idea is to:

CELEBRATE OUR HOBBY YOUR WAY!

  • ATTEND an official vehicle-inspired event or web-based celebration.
  • HOST your own safety-minded gathering, club meeting or online gallery.
  • Promote a “HOLIDAY SALE” at your business in-store or online.
  • INVITE partnerships with nearby enthusiast-related groups if possible.
  • DRIVE your special ride—new or old—whatever the destination.

I don’t know of any of those events in my area, but I might drive the Pontiac to school today, depending on the weather forecast.

In other news, the state of Texas seems intent on throwing a lot of money at lawyers to follow TFG into the rabbit hole of whining about the meanies who run Facebook and Twitter. You would think they’d have more pressing matters to attend to in a special session called in the middle of summer, they’re tossing in restricting voting rights for the poor and minorities. What they’re actually doing is lining the pockets of lawyers who will sue the daylights out of them.

But all is not lost. For the first time, you can now have a picnic on the lawn of Buckingham Palace. Thank you, Your Majesty.

Saturday, May 15, 2021

Random Youtubery

Remember filmstrips from school?  Here’s one celebrating the first fifty years of the Packard Motor Car Company – from 1899 to 1949 – with great plans for the next fifty years… which would come to an ignominious end eight years later.  Ah, optimism.

Saturday, May 8, 2021

Random Youtubery

General Motors tried their hand at a gas turbine car in 1956.  It went nowhere, thankfully, and the name of the project — Firebird — was saved for something much better ten years later.

Saturday, April 17, 2021

Saturday, April 10, 2021

Random Youtubery

I got a ride in one when Chrysler brought one of the bronze demo models to Gingrich Brothers Dodge in Perrysburg.  It sounded like an Electrolux vacuum cleaner, but it was beautiful to see.

Saturday, January 23, 2021

Saturday, January 16, 2021

Random Youtubery

Normally on MLK Weekend, I’d be over on Miami Beach at the Art Deco Weekend car show on Ocean Drive.  But this year it’s been cancelled — or postponed until next year — so for the first time since 2002, I get to spend the weekend at home.

But all is not lost.  The Miami Preservation League asked our club to put together a virtual  car show, and our webmaster Bob did a great job of pulling photos from some of our best shows and best cars.  So take a look at what we’ve done before and hope to do in coming years when this plague is behind us.

Here’s a look at one of the cars you might have seen at the show: a 1931 Ford Model A.

Saturday, November 28, 2020

Random Youtubery

What’s in your garage under a tarp?  A friend just finished a years-long project to get his MGB/GT running again, so this is for him and anyone else who has dreams of getting their classic sports car running again.

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Random Youtubery

We won’t see one of these today at the AACA Winter Nationals, but someone who owns one will be there.

Friday, February 28, 2020

Happy Friday

Just in time for the AACA Winter Nationals, a cool front passed through South Florida overnight to bring cool temperatures — for Miami — and 0% chance of rain from now through Sunday.

The worst part of a car show in South Florida can be the heat and humidity, even in winter.  But for our show participants, many who are coming from up north, this is the kind of weather that makes them look for real estate down here.  Only then do we break the news about the traffic.  It took me an hour to get from the host hotel to my house before rush hour, and it’s 19 miles.  On the expressway.  And yes, the irony of the fact that we’re hosting a car show is not lost on me.

In case you’ve forgotten, this is what I’m taking to the show: my 1988 Pontiac 6000 Safari wagon, going for its fifth Repeat Preservation Driver Participation badge.

For those of you who care, Driver Participation class means it is not judged on the 400 points AACA uses to judge cars in other classes, but on the overall originality of the car and its maintenance as a car that has been and often remains a daily driver. It’s not a trailer queen — I drive it to the shows (and sometimes actually get there) — and I haven’t spent $100,000 on restoring it back to factory original.

What is fun about the Pontiac is that it draws crowds who tell me that they had one just like it or that they have fond memories of riding in the one their moms drove to take them to school or soccer practice or on family trips.  And I hear a lot of “they don’t make these anymore.”  No, they don’t.  The SUV and the minivan have relegated the station wagon, once the most popular body style, at least in terms of sales, to the automotive memory banks.  Seeing one like mine — which in itself is a rare find, since the Pontiac version of the GM A-body run in the 1980’s and ’90’s had the lowest production figures — is unusual at a car show, especially a national meet.  There will be plenty of Corvettes, Mustangs, foreign and exotic and rare nameplates like Alvis and Auto-Union, but I’m pretty sure that mine will be one of very few wagons — fake wood grain or not — on the field tomorrow.