Tag: automobiles

19JUL2025 – Footloose and Fancy Free

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Okay, a break from the political stuff today.  Camera Girl and I took a day off (sort of).  There was an antique car show to go to and used that as an excuse to gallivant around and eat some bad food and visit some of our old stomping grounds.

When we got to the car show there were only two cars there; an ancient VW micro-bus and a not-so exciting 1980’s Chrysler of some sort.  We asked someone at a nearby business and they explained that the show builds up over time and if we came back in a couple of hours it would be much more substantial.

Okay.

There’s an old-fashioned food stand that’s only open in the summer.  It serves burgers, foot-long dogs, fries, fried onions and fried fish.  Many years ago, some of our kids worked there in the summers.  Well, suffice it to say, this isn’t exactly health food.  But, so what?  We were out and about and foot-long hot dogs with mustard and relish was exactly what I wanted.  The batter fried onions were questionable from my perspective but I followed Camera Girl’s lead on that front.  Well, no major gastroenterological damage was noted after this meal so we proceeded back to ground zero.

And, voila!  Classic cars from the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond.  And as a background for this automotive time machine was a loudspeaker blasting out the doowop hits of 1960 – 1963.  Of course, I was in kindergarten at that point but I of course recognize and enjoy these golden oldies.  If only I had my leather jacket and enough hair to sport a DA and if Camera Girl had been wearing her pink sweater and poodle skirt we could have danced the afternoon away.  Well, that is if I could dance.  But no, I settled for a few off-key falsetto notes to “Why Do Fool Fall in Love?” and left it at that.

 

Well, I put my 10mm Voigtlander super-duper wide-angle lens on my Sony A7IV and clicked away for an hour or so.  But then I was reminded that this show comes back every week so we left and headed home for a few more photos around the yard.  So far this year there haven’t been many prime butterflies.  Mostly only the medium sized ones, Fritillaries and Painted Ladies and such.

But as I walked around, I ran into a Monarch and I chased it around in circles for a quarter of an hour.  It was incredibly skittish and I was aggravated by its evasiveness.  Finally, I had enough and put my camera away and sure enough as soon as I did, that darned thing calmed down and almost seemed to be following me around, hanging at my elbow.  This ticked me off so I waved my arms and ran after it and chased it away.  Anyone watching would have assumed I was a hopeless idiot.  And come to think of it there may be something in that.

But all in all, a very enjoyable day out with the missus.  July in New England really is a pretty great time of the year.  Too bad it ends so quickly.  But all good things must.

Guest Contributor – War Pig – 25JAN2025 – Wheels

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war pig

When I returned from Vietnam I was without wheels. Six of us pooled our cash and bought a military surplus lot of ten Harley scout bikes still in crates. Took us six months to put them together. 1955 panheads, probably leftover from the Korean War. Rubber was dry rotted as was some of the leather. They were OD green with the white star, etc., markings. Those old beasts had 3 sets of points and suicide shifters with the clutch pedal on the left. Throttle on the right handlebar and spark advance on the left. Took a while to get used to. We had enough spare parts from the excess 4 bikes that we sold them and made our money back plus a little. I wish I’d left it in the original colors, but we had to chop them, put long ape hangers on them and all of the rest. Easy Rider was all the rage. I rode mine from Camp Legune to Norfolk. To say my butt was numb would be an understatement. Those old things sure did shake, rattle and roll. Also, no electric start. Kick it over. And if it backfired at the bottom of the stroke it would catapult you about two feet into the air and your knee hurt. But, put a little gal on the back and ride her around for a bit and the vibrations got good to her. Then you were in like Flynn.

Had to sell it and get a 1968 Malibu when I got married. Harley was good, but it couldn’t cook.

Tom’s World – 25JAN2025 – I Get Around

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Tom | Flickr

TomD

That Valiant had a 170 CI slant 6 rated at 101 HP, that was the only motor available, and the 3 speed pushbutton transmission. But the time I got the car, it probably made around 50 HP. But the drive train was close to unkillable.

The tires at the time were definitely killable though. A new set could be worn down in less that 10K miles and I couldn’t afford anything like new tires. When the cord started showing, I would buy one used tire for around $5.

At the time, I was dating a girl (whom I later married) whose family had bought her a new VW. That helped a bunch.

My Dad had a 72 Impala with a 454 police interceptor package. That was something.

Below: my Kawasaki 500. This was followed by a Suzuki 1000 GS and later by a Suzuki 1100. Before I gave my last bike away in the early 2000’s I had around 200,000+ total miles riding experience.

A year or two ago, I was within a gnats whisker of buying a Honda 750 triple. The only thing that stopped me is that model was out of stock and nobody knew when they would have more. My wife was freaking out. Look at the picture below and you can see the appeal.

The last time I was active with motorcycles, I was in my 50’s, now I’m in my mid-70’s. I wonder what’s happened to my balance and reflexes since. I still have a motorcycle endorsement on my license though.

My old Kawasaki 500. This thing was a beast, it had about 25 HP at 5000 RPM and around 70 at 5500, with the front tire pointing at the moon. Talk about a hand full.

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Guest Contributor – TomD – 12JUL2024 – Photo – Just Stumbled Across This

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Tom | Flickr

TomD

 

An early 2000’s Saleen Mustang. The Saleen modified Mustangs were/are renowned speed demons. This one has a supercharged 350.

Update:

For anyone who cares about this sort of stuff, all of these pictures were taken over a 12 year period with Sony cameras. The most recent, like this one, were taken with an A7IV using a Zeiss 16-35mm f4.0. I’ve got a pretty good lens collection and this Zeiss is one of the best.

Guest Contributor – TomD – 11JUL2024 – Photo – Just Stumbled Across This

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Tom | Flickr

TomD

The perfectly restored Lincoln Continental was a beauty in itself but look at it! No wonder we called them Land Yachts. BIG!  Though they were pretty in their own fashion, the handling, the weight, the drum breaks, the bias ply tires all teamed up to make these things terrifying in a corner or, God forbid, you have to stop rapidly.

Guest Contributor – TomD – 10JUL2024 – Photo – Just Stumbled Across This

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Tom | Flickr

TomD

 

I don’t have a clue what the parentage was for this unbelievably well done and beautiful car. It was one of the cars for a local 4th of July car show. I could have spent a good portion of the day there but the unrelenting Florida sun, mid-90’s and near 100% humidity had me thinking heat stroke after about an hour.