Old Cars Are Talking - Are We Listening?

It's been a very busy month here at Full Throttle and Vintage V8 Photography. The summer is drawing to a close, and there's the deluge of car shows and events that seem to be crammed into every weekend now through Labor Day and even a little bit beyond. It's gotten to the point that it's becoming difficult to write a post every weekend - as was the case last weekend. As I'm writing this, it's just after 5am and I'm on my second large cup of java. So - enough bitching; what have we been up to?

Part of it was some much needed vacation days. However, even while on vacation, my wife still knows that A). I'm a vintage car guy and B). That I'm a photographer. I've come to the conclusion that you don't need a car show to actually engage in a car show.  Case in point - while on one said vacation day last weekend, my wife and I took a day trip to the central part of Maine to visit a beautiful lake and beach we hadn't been to in about three years. It takes a while to get there, as you have to take rural state routes and back roads to complete the journey. That right there, is half the fun. It can also lead to cool cars, regardless of condition, and photo opportunities. We stumbled across a small town repair shop not far from the lake that had six old rusty vehicles ranging from the mid 30's up to the mid 60's. All these vehicles were in really hard shape. Some were so rusty, I was ready to give my camera a tetanus shot.

After getting home and looking at the photos, I can just imagine the stories these heaps could tell. But then I realized - they were already talking... was I listening? Some car enthusiasts would've seen these vehicles and driven right on by without a second look, merely due to the fact that they weren't in good condition or better. One guy actually stopped and was curious as to what I was doing. After chatting him for a few minutes, (and him realizing that I had already taken 50+ pictures), he thought I was nuts. He asked me why I was wasting my time on this junk and told me about his brothers mint early 70's Chevelle he had fixed up and I should take pictures of his vehicle instead. He even showed me pictures of the Chevelle that were on his phone. I tried to explain to him that these rusty forgotten vehicles as well as his brothers Chevelle were all equally important. Needless to say, the other guys deer-in-headlights look got even worse. I took his name, his brothers name and cell number and told him I would try to give him a call.

I was reading something similar in the latest issue of Car Craft about a 1970 Chevelle SS found in a storage lot as well as an unrestored as-driven Boss 429 Mustang. While both these cars are far from mint (the Chevelle needs way more work than the Mustang which is still in remarkable shape considering what it's been through for almost 50 years). The bottom line regarding both these cars as stated by their owners; "... these cars are part of our heritage and culture. They need to be preserved and not written off as too far gone or as parts cars." The Mustang in question, will need much less work to

bring it back to very nice condition, but even then, steps are being taken to preserve as much of its originality as possible. For example, the company handling the restoration, will clean, re-dye, and reuse the original carpet. Could they spend about $150 bucks and just install a new one? Sure. But there are subtle differences between the original and the reproduction. Ditto with the spark plug wire set. While not the originals, they are period correct. Chances are, the originals were changed for these later date-coded Ford wires that were installed during a dealership tune-up service in the early 70's. Both these cars are offering clues into their past - are we listening?

The next time you go to a car show, or a nostalgic drag meet, just don't look at the cars, engage in them and their owners. Chances are, you'll come away with some interesting stories, facts, and folk-lore. While not all of it may be true, it is interesting to hear about bench-racing and local legends. I was photographing an original 1951 Chevy recently. It was pretty much a bread and butter vehicle from that era, but the old man who owned it was full of history and fun facts about his car. He told of how he had owned it for years and modified it (or hot-rodded it as he put it). This classic ride had all the cues from a history book - from the vintage speed parts, to the old tacky dice hanging from the rear view mirror that were purchased from the J.C. Whitney catalog about 60 years ago for $1.95. The owner of that car was talking, as what the car - was I listening?

Until next time, peace out.
Dave

The Old Guy

I'm turning 53 next week and I've come to the conclusion that at this stage of my life, it's just a number. That may sound cynical to some, but over my lifetime, I've had more than enough birthday parties, cake, ice cream, and balloons of various colors and sayings. At the garage where I work, I've had three co-workers, all of whom are under the age of 25, ask me if I'm going to take the day off. My response has been, "Why? - It's just my birthday." - and they seem more than a bit surprised. I guess I was raised in a generation where that didn't happen, where as it's common place today. As of this juncture, I still don't know why it's commonplace. 

Maybe I'm feeling a bit more nostalgic lately, not because I'm another 365 days older, but because of numerous changes in the automotive industry. I was reading an article last week how the author stated we were losing yet another vehicle design staple that has been around for more than 100 years; the sedan. Yes, the 4-door. This was one vehicle type I thought would never die. But think about it for a minute - Chrysler (ie; Fiat) is killing off it's Dart / 200 platform and Buick is axing it's midsize Regal, and there are no replacements in sight. I didn't even realize the Ford Taurus is now only available in China. Police vehicles? In our neck of the woods, they are all going to the Ford Explorer. That also begs the question, what will happen to the Dodge Charger R/T, the Chrysler 300C, and the Chevy SS after 2017? The manufacturers are just following a true-to-form platform they've always adhered to; they're building cars the public wants (or at least that's what they think). Trucks and SUV's have made a very strong comeback this year, and CUV's (crossover utility vehicles) are now the number one seller and platform with consumers.

Later that afternoon after reading this article, I chilled out on my patio and observed Sunday traffic, especially since a good number of tourists were leaving our area now that a well-known local festival was over. I was amazed at just how many people were driving CUV's. I never noticed before and now that I did, it was to the point of scary. I also did a photo shoot a few days later at a classic car show / cruise in, and for the first time in a while, I really took in the curves, lines, and design cues of a blue and white

4-door '56 Chevy BelAir, complete with Baby Moon wheel covers and wide white-wall tires, as well as an extremely rare but cool '66 Dodge Coronet sedan with a factory 426 Hemi engine. Both were suddenly so damn cool again. Ditto with an old Ford wagon that was there. And I thought, am I going to feel the same 25 years from now about a 2015 Charger R/T? Over the years, roadsters, sedan deliveries, and vehicles like the El Camino have come and gone. I guess I'll just to wait and see as we plow grille first into autonomous / CUV utopia...


I had another chance last week while working at
the shop to prove I'm sort of a dinosaur. I have a Johnny Lightning Zinger on my desk that happens to be a 1965 Nova SS altered wheelbase drag racer on steroids. I think it's cool. I had a young lad, just south of nine, ask me about it - as in what is it. I also showed him my computer desktop wallpaper that is a bright orange 1964 Ford Falcon A/FX car with Hilborn injection stacks atop a 427 Cammer motor. He got as far as the vehicles are dragged raced and that's about it. When I showed him the "collector card" that comes with each Zinger, with it's wildly depicted art of wheelies, burnouts, and fire coming out of the open headers, then he really got into it. I had a duplicate card of the same model, so I gave him the one I showed him. The boy thought we won the lottery - his Mom... well, I'm not so sure. While the young squeaker didn't even come close to understanding what I was talking about, maybe a seed was planted for the future in regards to old-school drag racing, A/FX cars and Gassers, the sports history, and maybe hot rods in general. Without the enthusiasm of the youth, we'll be dead in the water.

Until next time, peace out and pay it forward,
Dave

A Matter Of Rust

I never knew a 1959 Chevy Impala could set a guy off on a 10-minute diatribe. Obviously, the Impala can't, but it was an interesting scenario to watch when I was doing a photo shoot at a local car show recently. His beef was how this rusty old car could be considered so cool; "Jeez - I'm sick of this "barn find" craze! First rat rods... now this! What ever happened to all those immaculate restorations we use to see?"

The answer is simple - the hot rodding world is ever changing; and that's a good thing. Can you imagine a muscle car show where every single vehicle was restored to 100% factory original? Or how about pro street rigs that still adhered to the bright colors and chrome out the wazoo because the trends from the 1980's were never challenged? Or, I tell you what; toss those particular trends out the window - heck, toss every trend out - and think about what if all muscle cars and street rods were all in excellent condition? No projects in progress, no rat rods, no original survivors. No diversity, no new ideas, no new horizons to challenge. Our car hobby would be butt-ass boring.

Have you seen the GTO that's on the cover of the latest issue of Muscle Car Review? The goat in question is a 1969 Carousel Red GTO Judge... the hood and engine is missing and there's a small tree growing up where those components used to reside. Also in that issue is an unrestored 1970 Plymouth Superbird, complete with ripped vinyl roof and interior, as well as a documented 1969 SCCA Trans-Am Z-28 Camaro that's an absolute basket case. And these are three out of the five feature cars. This particular issue isn't like a one-off publication. I've been seeing the barn find theme in MCR about three times a year. Welcome to embracing another aspect of our hobby.

I know I've touched on this before - I tend to gravitate towards unrestored vehicles and if they've been graced with a good dose of patina, that's just icing on the cake. Call them what you will - rat rods, barn finds, beaters, drivers; go for it. Then I'll mention that those are all different sub-categories in the same genre of cars. I am comfortable in saying that I prefer these rides compared to a totally restored vehicle. I don't even play the "only original once" card anymore. To me, a less-than-prestine vehicle shows a life that has been lived like it was meant to be experienced. The other side of the coin is, that it's your ride - do with it as you will. But as for me, if I purchased that 1959 Impala - I wouldn't change a thing.

The funny thing is, the terms of "unrestored", "original" and "barn find" have been around for about a decade in regards to vintage drag race cars compared to the 3-4 years in the street car arena. The other piece of irony was you never heard anything negative about it and it was embraced with open arms. I could never figure that out. Is it because drag racing machines from the late 50's through the early 70's were more crude to begin with and they always stayed that way? Is it because no one has sunk over $200,000 in a quarter mile machine from that era? Is it because Rad Rides By Troy or the Ring Brothers have never built something crude and full of patina? Were we spoiled or tainted by decades of over-the-top street rod builds and muscle car restorations that, after all these years, we just expect vehicles at car shows or in parades to be mint or flawless? I'm not looking for answers - just throwing things out into cosmic gearhead void. (Photo courtesy Bob Boudreau, 8/70)

You may have noticed there was no weekly post for Saturday 7/31/16. Between car shows, cruise-ins, parades, and this funny thing called a full time job, we just didn't have the time to put something up here. We should be posting here again next week despite the fact that the summer season is still going full tilt. After Labor Day, things should start to wind down a little. Note that key word there... should.

Until next time, peace out.
Dave