Carps' 2015 USA Hot Rod Vacation

[Carps]

Because you asked so nicely, I'll even start at the beginning.

The Carps 2015 Hot Rod and other stuff, tour started with my arrival at Los Angeles on the last Friday arvo in July and the fun started immediately as I headed out to supper at 'Ruby's Diner' with my good buddy Ron Cole (Hi Ron) in his totally cool '40 Deelux Coop.





Ron told his buddies I'd had a few health issues before departing Oz, so they came equipped to help if it was needed.



So here we are, all lined up neatly outside Ruby's Diner for the weekly Friday evening get together.  



I just love a car with lotsa door and this is one of the nicest fat rendered oferings I know.



This Morris 8 had many unknowing locals scratching their head, the owner was more puzzled that I knew exactly what it was,  I figure he didn't notice my 'southern' accent.



Mid fifties Dodge Kustom Royal looks like a tired old stocker.



However, you should never judge a book by it's cover as this old Dodgem is packing some serious heat beneath that crusty old hood..



Another MOPAR, this time a Chrysler New Yorker!



Ruby's cruise night is a pretty laid back affair.....



..... and quite pleasant.  As the sun goes away the air cools off quickly, making for a great drive home after the lights go out.  We usually take the long route.



How do you pick the difference between a 1956 Buick Riviera and the same year Buick Roadmaster?



The Roadmiester is on the right of this shot.  Notice the different roofline and boot lid?



It's far easier to see the differences between a 1958 Edsel and a 1960 model.



The '58 model looks less like a same year Ford than the later unit.



And here's a great visual of the differences between '40 Ford deluxe and standard models.



Did I ever tell you that I think glass is overrated?  That line always cracks me up. ;-)



This one is tin, not tupperware.



Years ago there was a tech story in Australian Custom Rodder Magazine  on making an early XL style Falcon Hardtop using bits cut from a sedan and grafted onto an Aussie XP coupe.  We didn't know at the time that they could have just bought one of these.  



The owner of this Chubby truck decided to polish the purple paint so hard that it got hot and caught fire,  look hard and you may see the flames.



I wouldn't mess with this Dodgy panel truck at the lights, it has a badass built 440 big block sitting in the foot-space beneath the dash panel.



Plain Jane and bare bones full sized Chevy two door sedan didn't look that special but had these neat front fender badges which suggest otherwise.



With a Muncie four-speed, dual quads on the 409 and pos-a-traction rear end, what looks like a plain old fleet car, is indeed  real fine..



These old Chevy trucks appear far more common that same vintage Fords.  I'm told it's something to do with a big torquey six pulling better that a flathead V8.  This one seems to have every accessory available when it was new and a few more that appear to have come later.



This one was a little less conspicuous.



Model A had been updated with modified banger and a few late model bits.



Jeep wagons are becoming popular even in SoCal.





On the other hand, Cadlee-accs have never been out of fashion, especially when they have big fins.



A year really does make a difference, albeit sometimes a very subtle one.



This next pair are a good example of that, starting with Chevrolet's finest for '59......



.....which was totally outclassed by the new model one year later......



....then not too many years later GM kinda lost the plot.  However, with lowered suspension and the right wheels this uncommon model doesn't seem as ugly now as it did when new.



Pontiac for '59 was much better looking than the Chevrolet offerings, but that's only my ever so humble opinion.



However, the '58 model's great looking dash was toned down somewhat for the new wide-track Poncho, but it still looks OK.



This is what's known as a size ten engine in a size five car.



This Chevelle was packing a nasty sounding big block and four speed.  It belongs to the young lady standing next to me who brought her mom and [strike]a cougar[/strike] aunty along to make sure she didn't get into any trouble.



As darkness fell and the air cooled off, cars and trucks continued to roll into the parking lot.



The lighting at that time of night also makes for some arty-farty type photograph opportunities.



Of course I'm always on the look-out for a different angle or lighting opportunity.



Other times long arms come in handy for shooting' photers, but a ladder would work better.



They don't always work out so well, but here's a few more arty-farty, ish attempts.





















This is a better shot of the '55 Chevy gasser, which is upholstered like a luxury car and has an independent front suspension.  Not to mention a blown and very scary sounding big block Chevy power plant.



I reckon these late forties-era Chev's are grossly underrated as hot rod fodder.  Done well they make comfortable and classy rides.  



This puppy would be anything but comfortable.



Here's another example of major difference from one model year to the next.



And a couple more size ten engines in size five cars.



Ford Pinto shares it's dimension with an early Cortina, this one has pro stock style 490 c.i. big block and drag race style drive train.



Here's a nice example of Ford's pre-war ugly duckling.



And one for the fans of Chevy Fastback styling.





This '40 Ford three door hatchback is just too shiny and kinda glows in the dark.



On the other hand, it starts to show the fact that Ron's coupe is not so shiny as it sometimes seems.



The descending darkness does make it look even cooler than in daylight.



Ford's land-yacht Lincoln Continental takes up a whole bunch of parking lot real estate..



And still the cars, or what substitutes for a car in some parts of the world, continued to roll in.



Finally it' was time to head home, as we'd need to be up before the crack of dawn to be on time for Donut Derelicts.



But then I remembered I was booked to fly to St Louis the next day, which meant the donut shindig would have to wait until I returned a couple of weeks later.

[Carps]

We've been to the NSRA Nationals and returned to St Louis late Saturday night and now we can spend Sunday relaxing.  Ed and I are discussing a few options when Barb says there's a flyer for a car show in the email.  It looked like it might be fun so we gave the '57 Chevy a quick wipe over and headed off.



Turned out it wasn't a huge show, just a local parking lot shindig, but kinda cool all the same, with a good variety of vehicle styles including a few rice burners.........



.....which can get a little weird, especially when they get the severe version of what's known as the Japanese VIP treatment.



Yes kids, the tyre is meant to look like it's not seated properly on the wheel rim.  In fact these wheels are 'specially made to give that appearance and the car also has airbag springs so it can sit the body work in the gap between rubber band tyre and outer wheel-rim.  



This little Mazda RX7 coupe is more to my taste in Japanese cars and as you may or may not be aware, I do have a soft spot for the M brand having been a big chunk of my life before the T brand called out to me.



The car is tastefuly modified and the tyres seem to carry some kind of cryptic message.   However, the brake rotors are in fact behind the wheels where they belong and look just fine to me, so what could it possibly mean?  :?:



What I think it means is this:  "Mess with me and I'll kick your * donkey, AKA butt"  

Yep that is a very well worked over Corvette LS6 small block, boasting more than 600 neddies and stuffed ever so neatly into the space that once held a tiny rotor motor  It's backed by a Tremec six speed mexican, with multi plate clutch and a slick Hurst cog swapper.  The boot floor is modified to allow fitment of a pair of huge mufflers, making the exhaust not barley audible and allowing the little monster to sneak up on it's prey before kicking their * in the traffic light derby.



If that's not overkill enough for you, how about this neat little pick-up truck to haul the family and all their stuff?



The people standing at the rear kinda put it in a little better perspective.



And yes folks, that is a current model Aussie Holden Commodore AKA Chevrolet Impala (or as they are known is Australia, the GM Fleet special and/or Taxi Cab), which the St Louis locals consider some kind of exotic device and couldn't understand why the average Aussie would not pee on it if it were on fire.



The weirdness didn't stop there, how about this thing, which had more than just me and Ed scratching our heads trying to figure it out.



Seems to be half exotic sporty car and half muddersickle, with too many wheels to be one and not enough to be the other.



It did have proper seats and a steering wheel, plus a sticker on the console saying it wasn't crash tested so you'll need to wear a helmet.



It was not alone!  This one looked like it could be the budget model, as it didn't have quite the same features as the red one,
Has a kind of sinister appearance we figured maybe it's Darth Vader's daily driver.



And there was more off the wall stuff, like this pick-up truck that drove in off the freeway.  Check out the rear tyres and exhaust system.



Almost back to some semblance of normality is the 'Elvis Caddy'.



This looks a bit more like our kinda cars.



It's scary to think someone in St Louis actually drives a pink truck.



Ex cop cars are popular with many of the locals who according to the media, have a severe dislike of everything to do with cops.



Fortunately Donks and the big wheel chingo are not so popular in this neighbourhood as others, but they are here.  This is the first time i've seen a 'Donk' with big n little bigies.  Or is that big and biggers?



This is what the locals mean when they say they've detailed their wheels, and as you can see they do like 'em well and truly detailed.



St Louis at one time being home to a Chrysler plant famous for building Road Runners and other popular MOPAR Muscle machines, there's plenty of that stuff around the area.  Like this little gem.



It's an unrestored original and all numbers match the original paperwork.



Another MOPAR, this time seemingly made up from bits of anything built between around '29 and '34,..........



.........it even appears to have model A Ford rear fenders.

[Carps]

Quite a few less common later models turned out, like this Poncho.



Same year Oldsmobile....



Buick Grand National is the car that plays the baddie in the movie 'Cars'.  Kinda ordinary looking, with it's turbo V6 power train, the GNX was a high performance weapon.



Nash Metro's appear everywhere there's cars on show in the US.



Ponco GTO was sporting a late 'Vette drivetrain and billet wheels.



This one was a stocker with factory fit 421 and four speed powertrain.

.

Camaro street machine was nicely detailed.



And of course as always in the US of A there's gotta be pick-up trucks, lots of pick up trucks.

'56 Chevy.



'27 Ford.



Early sixties Ford with in line sicks under the hood.



Of course there was also a Packard among the crowd, surprisingly only one.



The solitary '55 Chevy, an unusually low turnout for this model.



And another bad boy street racer.



I dig the flames on this late Chevy pick-up, if you'd told me about them, I'da laughed, but they're unique and kinda work OK.



And then there were the low mileage original cars, like this late 40s Mercury.



Or a 70,000 mile unmolested Ford Convertible.







The owner claimed this to be an original unrestored car.



I'm not so sure as it appears to have newer wheels fitted.



This one has looked just as it does today since the mid 1970s.



It appears to have held up very well and the engine sounds pretty tough too.



There was something for all the photographers no matter what their preference.



This Studebaker is a street car rebuilt to a race car theme.



And done well it was.



A few nice street rods turned out on the day.







Yeah, the gal is purdy, but the best bit of this photograph are the opposing expressions on the husband and wife's faces in the background.  Priceless!      



This was my favourite car on the day and the most disappointing, because we later saw it on a trailer.



Here's the original build and option sheets, everything is still there and beyond perfect.



We got talking to the owner who told us when I said I'd be afraid to get it dirty, that he drives it everywhere.



I thought it was pretty clean for a driver and Ed said he'd never seen it before, but the owner was very insistent that it was driven almost every weekend.  



But not if it is raining?



The detail is incredible and perfectly duplicates what the factory issued.







Looks like it's never been run.





Ed and I congratulated the guy on a great restoration and headed off for a late lunch, before going old car shopping.

[58 Yeoman]

Thanks for the pix, Carps.  I like that you captioned most of the pix, also.

[Carps]

The captions help me tell the story to my butddies at home.

Especially when I'm recounting that before departing St Louis, I had to check out a few cars for sale.

The following images are those cars and more.  However, this is only a small sample of what we checked out.  Most of the prices were reasonable, some a tad high and some of the cars just so desirable that it was difficult to walk away from them.

Ed likes offbeat wagons with barn doors.......



So, I wouldn't be surprised to find this little Volvo in his garage next time I'm in town.



'58 Chevy two door is not the most desirable version of the model year, so the price on this one was good.



Rarity of '59 Pontiac Bonneville convert was reflected in the price, but the condition was OK.



Desoto wagon was hard to walk away from, condition = perfect, price = low, 392 Hemi under the hood and tourqueflite auto just make it more desirable.  





Home made wooden bodied T truck was unique.



This thing was also different.



Caddy Eldorado Bairritz is an ultra rare and desirable model, which was also reflected in the price for this very nicely restored unit.



The sales guy did reassure me that all the prices are negotiable plus they can arrange finance and delivery to Australia.



T bucket was priced in the low $20ks which seemed reasonable.



Bathtub Nash wagon was a radically modified unit with a big price ticket.







Lincoln Continental MKII was in good shape but not perfect.
One of half a dozen similar cars we'd look at on the day.



Dodge Polara convert was in a colour and trim combination never offered when the car was new, but that would only bother a rivet counter.



Very well restored and so keenly priced, it was extremely hard to walk away from..





at $84k, hot rodded '34 Fordor was nice but carried what I thought was a too big price ticket.



In fact the same money would take home this 1935 Pierce Arrow.



To my mind I would have much rather driven the Pierce home, it's a very nice old limo, somewhat rare and in great shape.



Here you can see it's very much original and in almost perfect order.



It's also much bigger and more comfortable the the Ford.



We also checked out a number of model A Fords in various body styles, usually priced around the $20k mark.  This Pick up seemed to be good value for that kind of money.



International pick up was cheap as chips.



This early '30s Caddy was also in the same price range as the Pierce and Ford.



Unfortunately, this slick Chebby was sold and headed to it's new home.



Didn't get a price on this jail bar, but Ed suggested it'd be cheap because of the low local desirability factor.



American La France Fire tender is way cool, the price?  
"Make me an offer", so I did, and fortunately I was a tad low but I reckon the size would make it too expensive to drag home anyhow.



Another desirable car that I though was priced OK at around $30k is this clean Studebaker Golden Hawk.





Late '40s Chevy truck had just arrived and was yet to be prepared for sale.



Less than $10K could have you driving home in this Packard.



Falcon Convert was priced higher than most similar vintage Mustangs we saw.



It was in pretty good shape.



Nice '41 Ford Convert was priced low, again according to Ed because of the poor desirability factor.



Prices for Tri-Five Chevy's ranged from high $20ks to low $90ks dependent on model, rarity and condition.

[Carps]

But wait!  In the words of that great salesman, there's more.



Fastlane Classics occupies four buildings all filled with cars and Automobilia and other stuff, some of which is incredible.  Of course some of the prices are a bit out of this world too but for the most part, the stuff they have is good value and affordable.





The workshop is filled with cars being prepared for sale.





The showrooms are also packed to bursting with cool and desirable old cars and other stuff, all of it for sale.





Here's the shop where cars are restored to pristine condition rather than just freshened up.
The '55 Fairlane Vicky was a nice mildly modified unit.



However, this '59 Olds Convertible was my favourite at this place, it's simply huge and gorgeous, if not a tad pricey than to it's rarity.



The a$k also reflects the fact it's a low mileage original with all the factory options.



It features an aircraft carrier sized boot lid (which may explain the term deck-lid) big enough to land an aeroplane on.



One of the coolest items here wasn't for sale.  Probably just as well as it wouldn't have fitted in my luggage.



Need a Cobra, we got plenty!  Mostly replicas, but the one that's roped off is a genuine '66 model with it's original side oiler 427 under that lightweight aluminum hood.



Corvette?  They are all here, so just pick a year, colour and trim combo.





Something a little off beat?  No problem!



Rare and hard to find?  Easy!



You name it, these guys have it covered, or know where to find one.



Hot Wheels replica anyone?



Pick up trucks?





Cool cruisers?



This De Soto was another I'd consider bringing home if I had space and enough cash.



You want a hot rod?  No trouble.







Muscle cars? take your pick.

This Duster is one of many available so you could pick your choice of colour and trim.



Likewise this '68 Roadrunner, they had all years covered but no Hemis, although if that's what you want and you have the loot to cover it, they will find one for you.



Easy to tell this is a MOPAR town.



Classic muscle?  Got them covered.



Something sporty from Ford, no wuckers.



Having exhausted my salvia glands and made the bank manager very nervous, it was time to pack my bags and head west................ like the young man I am.

[Carps]

With a couple of weeks to fill before heading north to Pleasanton, we figured an automobile museum visit was in order.  This time, instead of going to the usual places we headed out to the Nethercutt, which houses a fine collection of concours quality big ticket classics and a few ordinary old cars.



The Pierce Arrow in the pic above is the same model as the one I'd seen for sale a few days earlier in St Louis.  And this was but only one of the Pierce A's in this collection, which appears to have at least one from every model year that the company was in business.







A Pierce Arrow is a somewhat larger than even most of it's contemporaries in the luxury vehicle world, with styling that clearly makes an appropriate statement.



They just ooze class!



And they had a really neat mascot from about 1928 until the last car was built in 1936.



Even the cars from that final model year were large and luxurious.



Notice this Pebble Beach class winner has a tow bar and it's attached to.....



....a matching Pierce Arrow 'Travelodge' Camper Trailer.



Which as camper trailers go, is no less luxurious than the car hauling it.









Most of the collection's Deusenbergs, including the famous Deusey 20 grand (a one off, so named because that's what it cost in 1932) and a few other insanely valuable 'one of' cars including the 1935 Pierce Silver Arrow are housed in a special building across the street, which requires pre booking well in advance for a private visit.



Even if I had booked, that was something we couldn't do this time around because a number of the cars were out on loan to the New York Art Museum or en-route to Pebble Beach for the big concours d'elegance event that weekend.



Here's one of the oldest Dak-Daks in the US of A.



The collection also features a mile or so it seems, of wall mounted display cases, filled with rare and unique stuff, like this Packard Radio Antenna Hood Mascot.



And of course there's a bunch of Packard cars to go with it, including the very last one built before the company was merged with Studebaker.





They also have a good number of rare classic Packard Twelves.





There's even a WW2 PT boat power plant.



And a bunch of other cool brass and classic era automobiles.



Neat license plates on these Franklins.





And it's clear that Peter Mullin doesn't own all the Bugatti Atlantics,



.....or Delahayes.





Supercharged 300K Mercedes Cabriolet is a one-of, can you say 'priceless'?



The Nethercutt family collection also includes a solitary Tucker, this one an unrestored totally original low mileage gem.



'36 Roadster is a pristine example of Ford's finest work.



Model A tub is a rare one.  Did you notice it's only got two doors?



'36 Lincoln even rarer thanks to a one of coach built body.



'34 Roadster is a nice old hot rod.



The red McGee/Scritchfield Deuce roadster is on loan from the Petersen whilst that museum is being refurbished.  The green roadster built by well known rodder * 'Magoo' Megugorac, back in the mid '80s is part of this collection.



There's also a large fleet of V16 Cadillacs and a few V12s.



..... most of them very rare versions of GMs flagship with unique coach built bodies.







And all of them totally drool worthy.





Even their baby brother, from Chevrolet is beautifully restored.



Then there's the Rolls Royce Phantoms, one from each model series, 1, 11, 111, 1V and on all the way to the current version.





There's also a couple of very well restored English sporty cars.



This one being my favourite.



How about a multi million dollar collection of hand made Lalique Crystal radiator mascots?





And a bunch of really cool old carburettors.





There's also a library which is both vast and filled to the gills with incredible books and all manner of original automotive literature, plus factory blueprints and drawings to help with the restoration process.



Outside, there's even a cool old steam train with a very luxurious Pullman car attached.
The car was owned by a filthy rich old lady who lived in it travelling the country on the steel rails.

Here's the sitting/dining room.



Bedroom.



Bathroom.



Servant's quarters.



Kitchen.



Train driver and bell ringer.



And the slick Locomotive.



In case of fire, no need to break the glass, just crank up the pumps.



Has to be a bugger to keep all the shiny bits gleaming.



Neat old American Underslung must have been pretty cool in it's day, being so much lower than its contemporaries.



Even the choo-choo companies tried their hand at building automobiles way back when the industry was a baby.



Hell, it seems * near everybody gave it a shot.

[UGLY OLDS]

Again Carps .... Thank You for taking the time to post all of these photos ...

 I think that I just took a vacation to L'Ville , St. Louis & Californie ...

A LOT of work .. VERY nicely done .....

Bob...

[GPster]

When we were in LA this summer  my wife and her friend took me to the Nethercutt Museum (I guess they thought I'd get bored) and it was amazing. The choice of carss was great and the history of each manufacturer was informing.. I could have spent days there but unfortunately the other building was not open (wrong day of the week and no special tours planned for the day) so they got tired and hungry.  They did make it up to me by taking me to the "Big Boy" Friday night cruise-in and the Gasser Show at another museum by LAX.  With only one eye working I don't try to take pictures so I'm glad someone else does. Thanks! GPster

[Carnut]

Yep, looks like a great virtual vacation.

Saved me quite a bit on travel expense.

Again thanks a bunch for the pic posting.

[Carps]

We aint there yet!      

Still got a road-trip to Pleasanton and the Woody shindig at Santa Barbara.

And you guys don't get to see the planes coz this is a hot rod website.    

[58 Yeoman]

I was visiting a Dr. friend of mine today that has a lot of old cars, and they (he and a friend, who happens to be my old HS teacher) are getting ready to start on a '36 Pierce Arrow Coupe.  *...that thing is huge. It looks similar to that 35 4 door in your pix.

[Carps]

Saturday morning, it's oh-dark -thirty and we have a big day ahead of us, starting with the Donut Derelicts at Huntington Beach.  You all know about this one, starts before sunrise and is done and dusted by 09:00 when the shops open for regular business.



Dunno if it's a good thing or bad, but the cars roll in, owners get coffeed up, shoot the breeze for half an hour and then they leave, making space for the next car.



The best bit is the variety of machinery that rolls thru the parking lot and it seems there's few of the same cars turn up from one weekend to the next.  But I guess that's a California thing, where there's plenty of cool cars to keep it all interesting, like this '68 Plymouth GTX.



Some like this red flaked Deuce are regulars.



Hard to say if it's the same car each time, but there's always a few shiny black '40 deelux coops on hand.



'52 Studebaker Champion Hardtop is quite the rare bird.



And it has a Stude factory manufactured V8 power plant under the hood.



Another rarity among hot rods at least, is this '36 Cord Beverly Sedan.



The variety among rides is always good.



Some are traditionally simple, yet always cool.



Is this a vintage motorcycle or a modern pushie with an internal combustion engine attached?



It was among friends no matter what it is.



'37 Chevy gasser looks like it may be the genuine article.



Definitely an old hot rod that's seen plenty of use, since it'd be impossible to fake the ageing & patina on this paint job.



I reckon this one by comparison is not going to be showing signs of age for many years to come.



Big Boowick convert is a fine highway hauler.



I reckon the mid to late '40s Chevy convertible is underrated as a desirable car, just like it's coupe siblings.



MOPAR coupes always look good.



And what else can be said about the most valuable and prized of the '55 Chevrolets?



A '41 front bumper subtly changes the appearance of this '40 Ford convert.



It was almost impossible to count how many Corvettes turned out on the day.  This one looks to be a '59 model.



Dodge vans it seems, are also becoming more popular.



Looks like these things have migrated and now appear in every corner of the nation.
This one appears to be a hardtop coupe version.



And yet another Chevy with the gasser look.



This banger power A Vicky pops up almost everywhere I go in the So Cal area.



I'm thinking this is yet another early Studebaker.



Looks like somebody raised the roof on this Mercury, or maybe it just escaped the chopper's hacksaw and gas axe.



Ford based 'step van' is kinda funky.



And yet another big Chevy packing a dual carb four speed and pos-a-traction.



These short door late '40s business coupes are almost as cool as a '40 coupe.



Of course the same make and vintage with a folding top is also a pretty alluring thing.



This '40 pick-up seems to have lost some metal along the way.



Betcha can't pick which of these tri-five Chubbys has been seriously lowered.



This li'l truck aint just lowered, it's been sliced and diced to get the height down.



Dunno if this is a genuine old hot rod or a new one made to appear old, but I like it either way.



The gasser look must be a prerequisite for old Chevrolets.



Painted grille shell don't seem out of place on this neat model A.



Joe Eddy has been driving this Deuce since it was built in the early '70s.



Seemed like it may have been good value, but I didn't buy it.



The sun has been up for a while so it's time for us to hit the highway north, for Santa Barbara and the termite's BBQ, also known as 'Woodies on The Beach'.

[Carps]

We departed the donut shop at 09:00 sharp in order to make our next destination before 11:00 hours.  As always when cruising the freeways of California I'm never surprised to see something weird and once again we were not disappointed.



Yup, it's the modern day Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile!  



First order of business on arrival at the beachside park, was to photograph all the metal cars.



There's some primo equipment usually turns out on the day to support or compliment the termite farms.



This pair were all class.



Especially the pick-up truck.



Tri-Five Chevies are abundant in California and a Nomad is almost as good as a woody wagon.

All years were covered, starting with a 1955 model.



1956





and 1957.



Plus the now obligatory arty-farty photo attempt.



This one is not a Nomad, in fact not even anything conceived by GM, but one heluva tough wagon all the same.



Since a Sedan Delivery is almost a station wagon, they too are most welcome here.





The '36 Ford Sedan Delivery is considerably more difficult to find than a '40 Deluxe, however, the similarities are sometimes uncanny.





I guess the Dodgey Brother's delivery van is sort of almost a wagon.



And a pick-up truck is a good thing for hauling lumber.



'56 Cusso (Fairlane) Club Sedan is just a nice old car.



If a '56 Ford is OK, so too is a same year Chevrolet Two door sedan.



In fact any nice old cars are welcomed by the wooden car fraternity, like this Chubby.....



.....and this Plymouth.



Next job it seems is to sort through the millions of images shot on the day and show you some of the timber cars that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.    But right now here's a picture of a Jeepster just because it was there and I photographed it.

[Carps]

The wooden car folk are not fussed by model year like many hot rod people so long as it's detailed or trimmed with lumber, or a plastic facsimile thereof it's OK with them.



The turnout was excellent again this year, more cars and more variety than last year.



However, as a result of a severe lack of precipitation in the past 12 months, the grass was not looking so good as it did at previous events.



A lot more Chevys made the journey this year.



And they came in all styles with one thing in common, wood, lotsa wood!.



More of these rare GM products turned out than Ford Sportsman convertibles.



In fact there was only one Sportsman.....





....plus a couple or three different year Town and Country variants from Walter P and his team.



In fact the MOPAR gang were very well represented.



As too were Pontiac.



And of course FOMOCO.



Here's a few more of Wally P's products.



1948 Plymouth...



From a few years earlier a 1941 model.



If my memory is working right, this one is a 'rare 42 Plymouth.



This one could be a De Soto.



This old thing was the only 'truck' based wagon on the grass, or what's left of the grass.



Here's few more Ponchos.





And a rare '41 Mercury.



Of course Hank's Iron Mountain product was also very well represented.



An old friend, still with the same owner, I kinda think even tho it was discussed, years ago, he really doesn't want to sell it.  And I don't blame him.



The late Ford would make a perfect modern day cross country cruiser.



Some are getting pretty rare.



Green goes well with wood, I guess that's why leaves are that colour.



Rare in the US and common as dirt around my home town downunder, there was a gaggle of Morris Minor Travellers on hand.



This one had mighty big tyres under the rear.....



....which prompted the need to check under the hood, where we discovered it's the performance model.



Metallic magenta isn't a colour I'd choose for my own log ride.



But it seems to work OK here.



1940 Ford, Deeluxe, what more needs to be said?



Nuthin', I reckon.



Even the standard model looks the goods.



This earlier pair were looking pretty cool too.



There were a couple or three Packards on hand.



Model A Henry was a good subject for the unavoidabley arty-farty shot.



Friends don't let friends drive stock, but here in timberland, even stock is sometimes OK.



Marmon Herington upgraded 1942 Ford was packing an extra differential up front below the engine.



The plate on this metallic brown hot rod is indicative of it's performance credentials.



Whilst this one seems to be more for cruising.



And these are just cool old log rides......









Hope I haven't duplicated any images here.



Here's a few more wagons just to finish off the termite toast section.

In the vee-hick-al's for sale area, this big ole Boowick had seen better days, the metal seems OK but the wood needs more than just a coat of fresh varnish.



Ford Model 40 is a good example of what I was talking about, with a late style frame on an early car.
Of course the missing doors don't help make it right for my mind, but it's a cool ride all the same.



Don't see too many late '40s Mercury wagons.



It may not look like a woodie, but it is, the body and top are all made from the organic material, otherwise known as trees.



Did I say you don't see many Mercury wagons?
That's only the case if you don't attend the big woody events.



Late Chrysler Town n Country is a rare old thing.
Wooden frame over metal panels, was the beginning of the end for these classy cars.



And Chevy's metal woody was pretty much the first of the fake woodies that would run through the sixties and into the seventies.



Funny thing when Chevy had metal woodies, is that over at the Buick division, they'd continue to use real trees, long after the cheaper GM brands went to plastic and painted on fakery.

Here's the luxurious Roadmaster.......



And lower priced Riviera.



This one makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.



You don't get natural texture and colours like this from clear coat over bare metal.



While we're doin' arty-farty..........



'37 Hank is another reproduction wagon from the Hercules Motor Company and detailed in a more contemporary style.



Shoebox Fords are cool and both have very original lumber.



This '37 Ford is very unoriginal in every respect.



This image shows the more complex construction and shapes used by Pontiac.



The '40 Ford by comparison is simplicity in motion.



And Chrysler was somewhere in between.



OK that aint the same vintage, but the difference in execution carries through all years.



Marmon Herington 4X4 conversions are rare and especially when applied to a Mercury rather than a Ford wagon.  The original 'LandCruiser' Sahara concept.



And to close, there seems to be a couple of unwritten rules that cover the requisite wooden longboard along with the decoration of both rear side windows which must look like this on any woody wagon, regardless of make or year of production.



Before the day was done, I was asked to choose my favourite of all the termite transporters.

A bloody tough task, but this '37 Chevrolet be the one I'd bring home in a heartbeat (pun intended) if it were available at the right price.



It is a total class act.