My second thought/concern tho was whether there’d be enough diversity in the cars to make an interesting episode especially since they all share such similar lines. I decided to give it a go anyway and was pleasantly surprised that there was plenty to pick from.

The Datsun 240Z came to the US in 1970, and it was the beginning of putting Japanese performance on the map. They were slick, sleek, affordable, and lots of fun to drive. For most folks, this was the first Japanese sports car they’d ever seen. If you lived on the west coast, you may have been familiar with their predecessors the Datsun 1600 and 2000 roadsters, but not many of these made it very far east. The 240Z however was marketed coast-to-coast.

The Nissan headquarters made a great backdrop for the show and since Franklin is just outside Nashville, the club had also engaged one of the many great local bands to provide the music for the day rather than going the typical DJ route. The band was The Dirty Curties, an all-female group which struck me as appropriate since the Z-cars and the roadsters before them went by the model name, Fairlady, in Japan. The band was great and Datsun was wise to rename the cars for the US market.

Although it was a Z-car gathering with several hundred of them in attendance, there was actually one 2000 roadster there which really stood out. This car was gorgeous tho and would have even stood out in a sea of other Datsun roadsters.

At first glance, this ’67 2000 was stock appearing except for the paint which was an eye-popping orange metallic. But upon closer examination, it was slightly lowered and under the hood it sported a really unique all-aluminum SR20 DTE engine out of an ’01 Nissan Sylvia; a model we don’t even have in the US. 16-valve with variable valve timing and turbo charged from the factory, this baby develops about 250 hp. I suspect it’s a rocketship to drive.

These roadsters are often dinged for being a bit of a knockoff of the MGB from a styling standpoint, but Datsun owners are quick to point out that the ’63 1600 actually came out three or four months before the launch of the MGB. So have that with your tea and crumpets!

But after all, it was a Z-car gathering so let’s get to some Z’s. The most extreme would have to be a Bob Sharp Racing wide body 280ZX powered by a twin-turbo 700 hp V8 Nissan engine. Paul Newman had raced this car back in the day and although it wasn’t all that competitive, it sounded downright angry when it fired up.

There were also a couple other interesting variations on a theme. One was a ’72 Scarab. These were V8-conversion cars created by a company called Scarab Engineering in Campbell, California which sold a few factory converted cars and a far greater number of conversion kits thru the 70’s and 80’s. In addition to the small block Chevy V8, this particular Scarab had flared fenders and a whale tale giving it a particularly aggressive look.

Another Z-mod car also started life as a ’72 240 but was transformed in the mid 80’s for the showcar circuit and sported a number of BSR body mods including a wide body kit and G nose, and then was finished in a very cool paint scheme. It had been restored to its showcar state by its current owner, who also happens to be a Nissan master tech.

Just so you know, there was also tons of bone stock Z’s at the show too, ranging from the earliest 240’s all the way up to the latest greatest 370’s. One that caught my eye was a really clean 1980 10th Anniversary 280Z. Altho these cars had packed on a few pounds since their 240 youth and now had clunkier US-regulation bumpers, they were still decidedly Z’s and still very cool. Only a couple thousand were made in the gold & black anniversary paint scheme and another 500 in an even-more-rare red & black combo. The t-top and gold leather interior combined with everything else to make this a very sharp car.

Our next stop will be West Yellowstone, MT for the Yellowstone Rod Run, and I’m counting on some cooler weather after these last couple shoots in the heat and humidity of the Midwest. And to all my Nissan friends at this year’s Z-Con; Arigato!

Happy Motoring,

Last weekend the state was also the setting for the Northwest Motorfest; Idaho’s largest car show. It’s held on the grounds of the Idaho Expo in Boise, and you don’t have to be there long before you learn that it’s pronounced, Boic-e, not Boyz-e; thank you very much!

In addition to the typical car show stuff, this event also had numerous side attractions; things like holeshot and burnout contests.

I’m not sure, but I think the meteorological term for the cloud that is rising from behind this Chev is cumulorubberus.

It also had things more specific to the Northwest, like V8 chainsaw demonstrations. Now, that’s just crazy!

Throw in the Wall of Death and rock crawling demos, and this was a veritable three-ring circus.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Idaho since I lived at the other end of the state up in Moscow for nearly 5 years and went to grad school at the University of Idaho. Go Vandals! And I’m always looking for an excuse to get back out there.

Southern Idaho is more arid than the northern part of the state and when you look at the smoothly rolling hills that make up much of the terrain around Boise, you can tell that it was once the floor of a massive lake 15,000 or so years ago.

And did I mention it was hot? We shot the show on Saturday, and it was 98 degrees with a bright blue sky. Yeah, I know it’s a “dry heat”, but that’s still really hot! Fortunately there were more than enough cool cars around to keep the whole thing manageable.

This was the 8th year for the Northwest Motorfest, and it’s a really great event. As I mentioned, there’s a lot going on over the course of the weekend, but at the core of it all is a car show that drew nearly 900 cars.

There was everything at this show from the most refined, like this ’54 Buick Skylark, to the most extreme, like this blown ’29 Nash rat rod.

Honestly, I had always felt the ’54 Skylark was a bit clunkier looking than the ’53 Skylark. They had added stuff in ’54 that “heavied” the car up, and it never worked for me. But then I ran across this killer ’54 convertible in Lido green with the white inner fender wells that just blew me away. This rare stock color combo softened everything and really worked on this car.

The rat rod looked like something out of an Ed Roth nightmare; and I’ll bet Ed’s “normal” dreams were already pretty weird. It started out as a ’29 Nash (I think?). There was some pretty interesting frame and drivetrain engineering, and the absurdly-blown big block Ford truck engine was a nice touch. I think it was the “Super Single” rear tires that got me tho. I had never heard of these, but they are apparently the equivalent of semi truck duals in a single tire; and that’s big.

There was a great ’61 Plymouth Fury mild custom that the owner had found stuffed away in a garage two doors down from his house and bought for a couple grand. All it needed was some minor body work and a repaint. He went with a lime green metal flake with a silver large metal flake top. This really set off the wild lines on this car. Still sporting the original interior and 318 engine, this baby is driven everywhere.

A car that I hadn’t seen for a long time was this ’66 Merc Monterey. I had forgotten how long and straight these cars were. This thing is the size of a Suburban. Really cool integration of the taillights and signal lights in the styling, and a stately yet aggressive stance. Ah, Merc; I miss you already! Altho it had been de-badged, the door handles shaved, and a functional Boss 429 hood scoop added, I would say this car was more “personalized” than “customized”. It still had a lot of its already-cool-from-the-factory original design DNA. I really liked this car.

It was hard to miss this ‘37 street-legal drag Topolino. Think about it tho; none of those words seem like they should go together. The Fiat Topolino is a tiny little car, and its name means “little mouse” in Italian, but this baby was more like Mighty Mouse. A custom frame and a crate 350 with zoomie exhaust made it look like it would be a blast to drive. But you better like your passenger, because you are going to be really close to them!

It takes every minute we have at a show to get enough footage to make an episode, but we still have to eat. I usually live on beef jerky during a shoot because it’s quick, packed with protein, and can withstand the elements. Ben, the producer/shooter, on the other hand needs real food to survive. Wuss. Something about lugging around a 20 pound camera all day in near 100 degree heat. Yada yada.

One of the challenges on the road in general, and particularly at a car show, tho is finding something at least marginally healthy to eat. And as we strolled Food Row in the early afternoon in search of sustenance, it wasn’t looking nutritionally pretty, but then suddenly, right at the intersection of Corndog and Funnel Cake, there he was; Chris “Saladman” Olson.

Saladman has been a fixture at events in the area for ten years, and he whipped us up a couple huge crab Louis’ that were to die for. Trust me, the beef jerky will keep till the next shoot; in fact, probably till the next season.

The day was capped off with the Capitol City Cruise. The city had dedicated several blocks of downtown Boise to cruisers only, and several hundred cars took the opportunity to roll past the state capitol building for a couple hours in the early evening under beautiful skies. Life is good.

The show went on again Sunday, but Ben & I blew out of town at 6:30 in the morning bound for E’ville. This week we’ve been in the office finishing the remaining new episodes for the 2010 season and also working on a new project. Next week I’m off to Pasadena for my final SEMA Board of Directors meeting. I’m finally terming out after 7 years on the SEMA Board. I’ll also be attending the SEMA Cares car show while I’m out there on Saturday, July 25. This is a fundraiser for SEMA’s two charities; Childhelp and Victory Junction Gang.

The following weekend tho I’ll be back in the production saddle when we shoot the Z-Car Convention at the Nissan Headquarters in Franklin, TN. I’ve been brushing up on handy Japanese phrases and believe it or not, “dou itashimashite” (which is pronounced an awful lot like “Don’t touch the mustache”) means, “You’re welcome”. I think that phrase is going to come in handy for me in both Japanese and English.

Happy Motoring,

It was commissioned in 1949 by the city’s Merchant’s Association to kick off the Christmas shopping season and shortly thereafter Roanoke was nicknamed “The Star City of the South”. It’s a really nice town and the view of it from Mill Mountain is pretty cool.

This was the 9th year for the event, and it is held right downtown on Jefferson Street which is one of the main streets. It was originally created as a fundraiser to build a permanent automotive exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, and to date they have raised over a quarter of a million dollars. Currently the stars of this museum are a pair of massive steam locomotives, the Norfolk and Western Class A-1218 and the streamlined Class J-611; the most modern steam locomotives ever built.

Both of these babies were actually designed and built right in Roanoke in N & W’s own shops, so it’s appropriate to have them back where they came from.

Motor Madness kicked off with a cruise Friday night on Williamson Road which was basically Roanoke’s Woodward Avenue back in the day. Ironically, the city outlawed cruising on Williamson Road in the late 70’s as a way to try to control car-crazed young hoodlums. Now that we’re all car-crazed old hoodlums tho, the city has had a change of heart and once again embraces the tradition.

Probably close to a thousand cars hit the streets that night to the delight of the tens of thousands of spectators that lined both sides of the three-mile cruise strip. A good time was had by all.

The weather was perfect for the day of the show, albeit a bit toasty. The event had its best turnout ever with about 500 cars in attendance. The downtown setting was great, and there were some really interesting vehicles.

One of my favs was an extremely radical Salt Flats Bug.

This baby had an 8 inch chop, Indy car inspired front suspension, and a 2.8 liter V6 and drivetrain out of a Cavalier. The Cavalier is a front wheel drive car, but the whole set up was installed in back to drive the rear wheels of this bad-to-the-bone bug.

A ’52 Nash with its funky roll-back top and a killer ’63 M37 B1 military version of the Dodge Powerwagon also caught my eye.

I came across a rat rod that was made from (among other things) a ’59 Pontiac. Probably the coolest thing was that this car was built by an 18 year old, and mostly from found parts. I think this kid’s got a future in this hobby!

Rounding out the list was a car that belonged to Robert Bennett, one of the co-founders of the show. Robert collects movie cars, and he had brought the ’59 Caddy Ambulance that was from the first Ghostbusters, complete with all the ECE (Ectoplasma Containment Equipment). This thing was hilarious.

Star City Motor Madness is an event worth going to, and I think it’s going to make a great episode. Tomorrow, we’re off to Boise, Idaho for the 8th annual Northwest Motorfest. This is Idaho’s largest car show, and it should be good time. I thought it was pretty hot in Roanoke, but Boise’s forecast for the weekend is calling for highs of 98 degrees. It’s a dry heat out there tho. Right?

Happy Motoring,

It was three airplanes and about 16 hours total travel time before we finally got to the Bear Lodge; our base of operations for the next few days.

I had built an extra day into the schedule for a change to recover from the inevitable jet lag. The car show itself wasn’t till Saturday, and although there was an organized cruise to a salmon bake Friday evening, we basically had Friday to kill. Since this event was being hosted by the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum, I figured walk-thru would be a good way to spend the morning.

Fairbanks really isn’t a very big town, about 40,000 people, and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the museum, but I could not have been more wrong. This place absolutely blew me away. The museum was the vision of owner Tim Cerny and his wife Barb. The collection has several one-of-one and only-one-left cars as well as several Alaska-specific vehicles (which were extremely weird).

It is also probably the best lit and laid-out museum I have ever seen. I wasn’t there long before I started thinking that there might be an episode here too.

The weather on Friday was a bit iffy, but it cleared off by late afternoon in time for the cruise over to a salmon bake across town. It was held in Fairbank’s Pioneer Park and although somewhat touristy, it was extremely tasty. I got to lead the group of about 20 rods and classics in a 1910 Stanley Steamer. All that time I’ve spent with Leno and his steamers paid off, and I was able to get us there without incident.

The cruise-in the following day was held on the grounds of the Wedgewood Resort and the day was perfect. I should also mention that there was a lot of it. This time of year the sun really doesn’t set up there. The closest thing you get to night is a sort of twilight period that lasts for about an hour between 2:00 and 3:00 am and otherwise, it’s just day. I was pretty disoriented (even more so than usual) the whole time I was up there.

All totaled, about 180 cars made it to the cruise-in on Saturday. Most were from Fairbanks and the surrounding area, but several had come up from Anchorage. There was also a couple that happened by the show who had driven their Argentine-built 1965 Kaiser Estanceria (basically a Willys Jeep) all the way from Argentina over a period of three years and were just beginning their trip back home. And here I thought I was going to get the “long haul” award.

The cruise-in officially wrapped about 3:00 pm at which time about 40 cars queued up to head out on a 35 mile cruise around the area with stops to view the pipeline and at the University of Alaska. I was out front on most of this one too driving a ’27 boat-tail Stutz Blackhawk from the museum. Man, what a car!

The evening culminated with a dinner at the museum for the show participants. There was a surprise visit from the governor of Alaska, Sean Parnell (not the one that quit), who warmly welcomed me to the state. I presented the show’s awards, but the real entertainment for the evening was provided by Alaska legend, Mr. Whitekeys. This guy is absolutely hilarious and he put on a manic, hour-long one-man show. Now that James Brown is gone, I think Mr. Whitekeys has gotta be the hardest workin’ man in show business.

The next day was Sunday and it poured rain most of the day so we figured we may as well shoot the museum. As it turns out, we shot all day and came back for a good part of the following day to get it all done. It had stopped raining so we also got a chance to take a few more of the museum cars out and get some driving footage on Monday. What a blast!

Monday was also the summer solstice and at 11:00 pm we went up in the 1953 Cessna 180 float plane pictured above to get some aerial shots of the area and to fly over the Midnight Sun baseball game. This was the 105th annual game and it is touted as being the only baseball game played at midnight without lights. It was a strange feeling when I realized that it was 1:00 am and I was still wearing shades!

We weren’t scheduled to fly out till 5:15 pm on Tuesday so Ben & I took off on a road trip headed in the direction of Denali. We only got about halfway there before we ran short on time and had to turn back toward Fairbanks, but the scenery alone was worth the price of admission. We also had time to stop in for a regional brew at an Alaskan institution, Skinny Dick’s Half Way Inn. I mean really, with a name like that, how could you pass it up?

Another three planes and about 17 hours this time and we were back in E’ville. For all of 36 hours, that is. We leave on Friday morning for Roanoke, VA to shoot the Star City Motor Madness. I look forward to it being dark at night.

Happy Motoring,

Farley’s a bit of an outpost tho, and there really wasn’t a good place to fly into so we decided to make it a road trip. It was going to be about 500 miles from E’ville to Farley, and there were supposed to be some pre-event festivities starting at 5:00 pm Friday so Ben & I got on the road mid morning in hopes of getting to the church on time.

It was pretty smooth (and flat) sailing most of the way thru central Illinois until we got up to Rockford and turned west at which point we were faced with a wall of black clouds which was frequently illuminated by bolts of lightning raining down all around us.

And speaking of rain, it wasn’t long before it started to do that in earnest, and continued till we were about 20 miles outside of Farley (which had received somewhere between two and three inches). We were running a bit behind schedule, but it didn’t matter because the planned cruise to the farm where Field of Dreams had been filmed was wisely cancelled. Fortunately tho, the weather forecast for the next day was nearly perfect, and I was just keeping my fingers crossed that the cars that did show up for this event wouldn’t sink out of sight in the showfield.

We headed out to the speedway first thing in the morning hoping for the best but anticipating the worst. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see 40 or 50 cars already there and a steady stream of them rolling in.

Everybody was looking for high ground and that was in pretty short supply, but this is not a particularly finicky crowd. Actually, that’s one of the things I like about the traditional hot rod scene. These folks don’t get all unjazzed if their cars get a little muddy. In fact, the rattier ones wear it like a badge of honor.

The vast majority of these cars were also driven to this event; many from three or four hours away and some thru the apocalyptic storms of the previous day. I respect that!

Before it was all said and done, more than 400 cars (and an extremely colorful crowd) showed up to Torquefest, which I think is pretty impressive for a first year event.

I get a kick out of the how creative and innovative the builders of these cars are. There was plenty to shoot, and we were scrambling to take it all in.

There was some really crazy stuff there too. I think the wildest thing was a ’47 Willys truck powered by an air-cooled, turbo charged Deutz diesel engine out of an excavator; and this guy had driven it about 200 miles from Chicago!

It had been really windy all day which posed some audio challenges for shooting, but it helped dry things off enough that by 4:00 they started letting cars do some laps on the dirt track (which is fortunate since that had been billed as the feature event of this show). And it was definitely a crowd pleaser! The stands were packed as everything from rat rods to fire-breathing Caddys took to the track and drifted thru the turns, kicking up huge rooster tails of dust.

What a wild time!

On a side note, I actually grew up not too far from Farley in northern Illinois and an added treat for me was that a couple high school buddies of mine, Roger Townsend and Harvey Kramer, came over to see me. Roger is a photographer and he shot some killer pics at Torquefest. You can check them out as well as some of his other work at www.tigerwhip.net.

I’m really glad we did this show and even tho it looked pretty grim early on, it all worked out in the end. Honestly tho, with as bad as things were Friday, I wouldn’t have bet that anybody would’ve showed. Guess it just proves that at least with this crowd, if you build it, they will come.

Happy Motoring,

After three planes, five hours of cumulative layovers, and a two and a half hour drive, Ben (the producer, and now shooter too!) and I arrived in Moab about 1:00 am last Friday. We weren’t shooting till Saturday, but I knew this was going to be a brutal trip so I built in a day to recover.

I had never been to this part of Utah, and we had come in under the cover of darkness so I really didn’t have a feel for what the area looked like. When I got up Friday morning tho, I was blown away by the strange and striking landscape. With all the red rock and bizarre topography, it could have been Mars (except for all the healthy looking people on mountain bikes, that is).

We had Friday to kill so we headed to Canyonlands National Park about 30 miles southwest of Moab. This is Utah’s largest national park and it probably covers close to 300 square miles. There is no way to see it in one day (or even one week) so we decided to just hit one of the more accessible areas known as Island in the Sky.

It was pretty chilly, windy, and overcast but the views were spectacular. We drove the 20 miles of paved road in this area, stopping frequently to hike to particularly scenic vistas and shoot some photos.

If I look cold in this picture that’s because I was!

Fortunately, the weather straightened out, and we had a perfect day for the car show on Saturday. The show is called April Action, and it was in its 18th year. It’s held in the city park right in the center of town, and they managed to pack over 600 cars into a fairly cozy grassy area surrounded by red cliffs.

There was some really interesting iron there, and the spectator turnout was pretty impressive too. At times, it was so packed that it made shooting a challenge.

This was also the maiden voyage for our new Sony XDCAM which added a whole other level of complexity to this shoot, but everything went well and this event is going to make a great episode.

Sunday we had to travel to Grand Junction, CO to shoot a feature on Monday, but not before about a five hour side trip thru Arches National Park which is literally just outside Moab.

This park is possibly even more spectacular than Canyonlands. The drill was pretty much the same here; drive, stop, hike, photograph, repeat. This is really a remarkable part of the country and southeastern Utah should be on everyone’s bucket list.

We finally got on the road to Grand Junction and rolled in late afternoon Sunday. We met up with our interviewee, Tammy Allen, to check out her collection and scout locations for Monday’s shoot. I don’t think I was fully prepared for either her or her collection.

Tammy owns a limousine company in Grand Junction and she just flat out loves cars. I didn’t see all of her cars because they are stored in various locations, but let’s just say she has a lot of them. And while many collectors will focus on a particular marque or a particular era, Tammy goes after cars that just happen to strike her fancy for whatever reason. (I can relate to that!) To call her collection eclectic would be an understatement. She’s also quite attractive and a genuinely nice person. I could tell I was going to enjoy this shoot.

We settled on a pair of ’66 Mustangs that were built for Sonny & Cher by George Barris which were completely over the top in a 60’s sort of way, and a pair of really sweet Caddys; a ’38 V16 limo and a ’47 custom woody wagon. The limo was completely period correct. The woody wagon actually started life as a hearse. It had been shortened 29 inches, the roofline lowered 3 inches, and sported a 429 engine and drivetrain from a ’67 Caddy.

This shoot went off without a hitch also, and we were on a plane back to E’ville at 6:00 am Tuesday morning.

We leave tomorrow morning for Vintage Torquefest in Farley, IA. This is a traditional hot rod show held at a dirt track speedway, and it’s modeled after the Japlopy Showdown in PA. In addition to the typical car show festivities, participants will have the opportunity to do a few laps on the dirt with their rods. Should be pretty cool. I’ll let you know when I get back. And then it’ll be three down, twenty three to go!

Happy Motoring,

Guy only lives three hours from me but we rarely see each other. It seems our schedules never coincide and we both have a lot going on. Life tends to be that way. However, this was something I’ve wanted to do for a long time so we decided to just pick a weekend, commit to it, and do this thing; rain or shine. That was the only way it was ever going to happen.

I’ve got two big, fairly modern touring bikes in my collection; the ’98 Trophy and a ’93 BMW R1100RS, and it looked like we were going to get lucky with the weather because the forecast was for a cool (highs in the 60’s) but clear weekend. So Guy drove down to E’ville Saturday morning and we suited up and were on the road about noon.

The plan was to ride over to Sainte Genevieve, MO, a really cool little town situated on the Mississippi River that dates back to 1735. The trip over was to be primarily via Interstate (about 200 miles) so as to give Guy a chance to get used to a bike he’d never ridden before. This would also prepare him for the return trip on Sunday which was more like 300 miles on two-lane back roads (with lots of twisties) thru southern Illinois.

Saturday’s ride was fast and fun. I love vintage machines, but there’s a lot to be said for full fairings and lots of horsepower. We got to Ste. Gen in late afternoon, parked the bikes, and strolled the streets in search of a beer and a place to eat dinner later. We found both in the Anvil Restaurant and Saloon.

Sunday was a crisp, cool morning and we began our journey home by taking the Sainte Genevieve ferry across the Mississippi River. This saved about 40 miles travel to the nearest bridge, plus I just think ferries are cool.

We rolled for about 200 miles, stopping only once for gas, on beautiful roads with almost no traffic. We were getting a bit hungry tho and dining options along this route didn’t abound. As luck would have it, we cruised into Elizabethtown, IL (population 348) right about noon and came upon Ma & Pa Reed’s Family Restaurant. There were a number of cars parked out front which is usually a good sign, so we put down the stands on the bikes and went inside. What we found there was one of the best buffets I have ever experienced.

There was everything imaginable (all home cooked of course), but the highlight was fresh catfish pulled right from the Ohio River which was within sight of the restaurant. The warm blackberry cobbler was pretty tasty too. Needless to say, we stayed way too long and ate way too much.

We finally left and rode on a little ways to Garden of the Gods; a 3,300 acre wilderness area consisting of old growth forest and some of the strangest rock formations you’ll see anywhere. It sure doesn’t look like Illinois. We took a brief hike around Observation Trail to shoot some pics and walk off some of that cobbler.

Soon tho, it was back on the bikes and we rode to Cave In Rock were we took another ferry, this time across the Ohio River, over to Kentucky. We still had a lot of ground to cover so we were on the throttle all the way back to Evansville since Guy still had to drive back up to Indy that evening.

It really couldn’t have been a better weekend and probably the last one that I won’t be working for several months. I got to spend time with my brother, ride motorcycles, see cool things, and eat great food. And none of this would have happened if we both hadn’t put other things aside and just made it a priority. If there’s a moral to this story it’s, don’t let life get in the way of the things that are really important. Ride on!

Happy Motoring,

In January tho, I bought out my business partner, so I am now the sole owner of Bradley David Productions and My Classic Car, LLC. This wasn’t a particularly easy decision to make, but it was the right one for all concerned. It does however quash any thoughts that I might have been entertaining of retirement in the foreseeable future. I guess the good news is that it looks like there’ll definitely be a few more seasons of the show (SPEED willing, that is). And I’m certain that Delta Airlines is also happy about that.

As long as we are changing things, we also invested in a new High Def video camera this week. It’s the new Sony PMW-350K and it’s a pretty cool unit that records to solid state medium rather than tape. We also outfitted it with a killer Fujinon lens.

And let me just say, it’s amazing how much these frickin’ things cost! For reference, there are several cars that I have always wanted, but considered them to be out of price range, that are a lot cheaper than this set up!

However, this will allow us to shoot this season (our 15th!) ourselves instead of having to hire freelance crews wherever we go. The crews aren’t cheap either, and it can be hard coming up with qualified crews in some of the obscure places we have been known to shoot, like Polson, MT or Owl’s Head, ME.

We will certainly be moving around a smaller entourage. It will be just me and the producer (now producer/shooter), Ben Woehler, which should make us more nimble. Of course we will also be the only ones schlepping all this camera gear too, so that whole “more nimble” thing remains to be seen. If we screw up a shoot, now we have nobody to blame but ourselves. I guess since I’m the boss tho, I only have to explain it to me.

This whole thing is actually a pretty big change, but that’s also what keeps it interesting and exciting, albeit in a somewhat twisted sort of way. Now, the camera will be with us all the time and not just when the freelance crew is too. We’ll be able to shoot things that we have missed in the past. We go to some pretty cool places and this approach will allow us to take you along like we never have been able to before. I think you’ll get to see more of the location itself, and there’ll be more “in the moment” and behind the scenes stuff. I’m sure those are mixed blessings.

We go out on our first shoot of the new season in two weeks. We’re shooting the April Action car show in Moab, UT and then a couple days later, we’re shooting a feature on a couple really interesting Caddys in Grand Junction, CO. I would normally say, “Wish us luck.”, but this time I think I’ll go with, “Light a candle.” Please!

Happy Motoring,

The Abarth was a tiny two-seat sports/race car powered by an 1100 cc Fiat engine. That may not seem like much of a power plant, but considering the car wasn’t much bigger than a go-cart, it did just fine. Probably the most interesting thing about this car is that is was an asymmetric body design which did give it a distinctive and somewhat odd look.

The Siata looked a little like an early AC Cobra, but predated that car by almost a decade. It was very Italian and very beautiful. This baby was powered by a very unique 2-liter, 70 degree Fiat V8. This is a very rare engine and you don’t want to have to find parts for it!

Fred was a great guy, his cars were beautiful, and he let me drive the heck out of both of them. What more could you ask for?

We were only back from Calgary for a couple days before we were off to the Big Island of Hawaii for Cruisin’ Paradise. Bob McClurg, my good friend, automotive journalist, and now resident of Hilo, Hawaii turned me onto this event, and I’m really glad he did! It only takes place every three years, and this was the third one. (You do the math.) It’s a 10-day happening with runs and activities all over the island, culminating in a big car show in Hilo on the 4th of July.

It was unbelievable, and I clearly made a big mistake by not going over for the whole thing. I did my typical swoop-in/swoop-out thing and only came in for the last three days, with one of those largely being a jet lag recovery day. What was I thinking?!?

At any rate, I did manage to spend one day cruisin’ with Herb Leite, the host club prez, in his ’30 Ford coupe as we led a group to the stunning Waipio Valley and the memorial park at Laupahoehoe which was the site of the devastating 1946 tsunami. We also stopped by a really cool 50’s themed café in the middle of nowhere for lunch. Believe me, I didn’t see that one comin’. Bottom line tho, there are few places on earth more beautiful than Hawaii and what a way to see it!

Hilo is on the wet side of the island and it had rained almost every day that week, but the weather for the car show on the 4th was absolutely perfect. There were in the neighborhood of 350 cars at the show with 24 of them having been shipped over from the mainland and about that many more having come over from the other islands. Now that’s a commitment!

Honestly, I was expecting a lot of run-of-the-mill cars, but was really surprised at the uniqueness, diversity, and quality of the cars in attendance. One of my personal favs was Norm Gonzales’ ’54 Chevy custom. This baby was built from a brand new car back in ’54 and has been in numerous hot rod mags over the years dating back to ’58. Norm’s owned the car for 50 years and this was the second time he had shipped it over from SoCal for Cruisin’ Paradise. I think he likes the event.

The whole experience was topped off by a killer 4th of July fireworks show over Hilo bay which I was able to watch from the balcony of my hotel room. Life is good!

This is going to make a fantastic episode, and I’m already making plans to go back in 2012. And next time, I’m going for the whole thing!

We were only back in E’ville long enough to repack our suitcases before we headed back north of the border, this time to British Columbia, eh? We went up to check out a couple of Chip Foose designed hot rod pickups owned by Don Voth; a ’37 Husdon Terraplane and a ’49 GMC.

We lucked out on the weather again and had a beautiful day for shooting. Chip’s work always just blows me away, and this time was no exception. He’s a “less is more” guy when it comes to design and his creations are nothing short of art. His stuff always runs too, and Don was gracious enough to let me behind the wheel of both of them. A good time was had by all and it’ll make another great episode for 2010.

Most recently, we were up in Hickory Corners, MI for Mopar’s at the Red Barns. This show is in its 21st year, and it’s a bit a Mopar Mecca for the upper Midwest. It’s held on the beautiful and rambling grounds of the Gilmore Car Museum which, as the show’s name might indicate, has a lot of red barns around. (all packed full of amazing cars themselves BTW). But filling up the spaces between those barns on that mixed-weather Saturday were about 350 wild and wooly Mopars of all description.

Probably the wildest thing I saw that day was a ’69 “MopTop” notch-back Barracuda; F3 Green with yellow floral vinyl top and interior. Completely bizarre! The owner brought it specifically because he thought it might catch my eye. He called that one right.

We didn’t shoot this past week because I had a SEMA Board of Directors meeting in Pasadena, and I wrote this on the flight out. I head to Kansas City this weekend and then will be shooting a couple one-off Oldsmobiles in Galena, IL the following week.

Uh, I think that’s it.

Happy Motoring,

This was the 21st year for this show, and while it’s not all that big (about 250 cars) it really brings in some fantastic vehicles. I think my favorite was a ’53 Studebaker Commander coupe that had been made into a convertible.

Now, it’s no secret that I’m a Stude guy, but I don’t think there’s anybody that wouldn’t consider this car drop dead gorgeous.

The day started out bright and sunny, but as clouds started to roll in over the mountains, it was clear that we were going to be playing beat-the-clock to get this show shot before the weather changed. The rain held off till about two o’clock, but then it really came down for about a half hour.

At a lot of shows, this is when everyone scrambles for their cars and heads for home, but to my surprise, I don’t think a single car left Main Street. Most folks had to come a long way to get to this show, and they weren’t about to let a little rain dampen their spirits. After a while the rain let up, the sun came back out, and the festivities went on. This really was a great show, and it’s going to make a killer episode.

As long as I had come all that way tho, I figured I may as well hang around for a few more days so after we wrapped, the producer and I embarked on a three-day backpack trip up into the Wallows. This is a range I spent a lot of time in when I lived out in that area in the late 70’s, and I’m pretty familiar with it. Ben, on the other hand, had never done anything like this, and I may have forgotten to mention that our packs would weigh about 45 pounds apiece.

The weather was a mix of sun and downpours all three days, but it all worked out. The view from the tent was pretty spectacular although we encountered a fair amount of snow at the higher elevations.

The whole trip was about 20 miles round, and we were both feeling fairly beat up when we got back down.

We flew back to E’ville and were only there one day before we headed up to Indy to shoot the Road Rocket Rumble. This is a great traditional hot rod show that was celebrating its 10th year. It draws several hundred cars and really crams a lot into four days. There were no fewer than 10 rock-a-billy bands performing through the weekend along with seminars, a Burlesque show, pin-up contest, flame throwing, and burnouts. It’s incredibly cool and all the more amazing when you realize that the club that puts it on, the Indy Road Rockets, has all of nine members.

There was everything there from rat rods to a car that was reminiscent of Big Daddy Ed Roth’s space age Beatnik Bandit; not to mention an extremely “colorful” crowd. We had an absolute blast!

Another couple days at home, and I’m now on my way to Calgary, Alberta to do a feature on a very large and diverse collection there. The owner has a little bit of everything, but I’m thinking we’re going to focus on a couple of his unique sports/race cars from the 50’s. After that we’ll be home for two days before heading off for Hilo, Hawaii to shoot Cruisin’ Paradise. Hey, somebody’s got to do it!

It’s actually pretty hard for me to keep track of all the dates and places this time of year. All I know right now is; if it’s Tuesday, it must be Calgary.

Happy Motoring,