la chona

so i'm in a rough and dirty mood. been too long since i threw a beater up here. a nice rat rod made of bits and pieces of various years. i'm tired and don't feel like spit-shining pixels tonight.

this assembly seems to be based on a ford body of some sort. i like the unfinished surfaces, with the engine compartment a matte black with pinstriping. interesting to the spend the time and money for a touch like that, or even for the dice on the tire valve stem, when the rest of it seems destined to remain “aged.”

at least it doesn't have a huge, obnoxious engine, which in a chop top would inhibit the view from the driver's seat. i don't believe i've seen it back again since then, so maybe its been transformed into something more interesting by now...

nice tail

well, it's halloween time. it had also been the day to dress up for prizes and what not at work. used to be one of my favorite holidays, but the last few years haven't really had the time or money to think about a costume. being that i've been at home sick, i've had plenty of time to consider things, but no energy to put something new together. so i dug into my box of old costumes.

one thing about being sick is that you have no appetite, so i've lost a few pounds, though not enough to get back to what i used to be. anyway, i got back into an old leopard costume i'd worn in high school, though i filled it out a bit more than i used to, it was still doable. 

went to work, where at first i didn't see anyone else dressed up. for some reason, they like to keep their costumes a secret until the competition begins, so i was the only one for a while. people were having a difficult time talking serious business with me, while looking at my cat face paint job. that was pretty funny.

no, i didn't win anything, mostly because i'm too shy to walk across the stage and strut about fabulously, so i didn't enter anyway. but lots of people liked that i had the nerve to dress up.

i drove straight to the ruby's show after work. it was the last show for the year, so i expected it would be very busy. i was not disappointed. lots of cars. at first i didn't see too many people dressed up, though it had been announced at previous shows that there would be prizes for costumes and decorations. took a bit of nerve for me to get out of my car, but i said screw it, and went about my business.

yes i did get stared at, and i really had to ignore that or i'd just turn around and leave. funny how juvenile some of the guys are – one guy pretended he couldn't read something on the hood of a car, wanting me to bend over for a closer look. nah, didn't give him the satisfaction, but he did have the balls to try asking me again, even after i told him from where i was what the thing said. nice try, little boy.

whatever, get your jollies my friends. at least other people started showing up, and i wasn't the only one in costume.

i delivered a couple of prints at the show, so i really did have a reason to be there anyway. the owner of this black chevy saw one of the prints his friend bought, and i guess he liked what he saw. he asked me to take a picture of his car. here it is...what do you think?

there were guys with cameras there, of course, so i suppose a picture of me will pop up somewhere eventually, or maybe i'll post one here after i'm over the trauma. you can always squint real hard at the front bumper and see me behind the tripod, as always.

reflection

here's another car from the duke's show. i forget which car club (my bad). one of the many jammed in the back lot, this one up against the wall. this was a more typical model chevy there in abundance, but no two were exactly alike.

i liked the two-tone paint on this one, but especially liked the reflection of the sky in the fender. don't forget the hood ornament — don't know why i love those things. didn't notice the broiler sign in the shot until i got home and downloaded the pictures from the camera, so bonus. too bad downey still uses overhead lines...stupid telephone pole right in the way. oh well.

gypsy rose

i attended the duke's show & shine over at bob's in downey this past weekend. incredible congregation of car clubs, lots of representation from each. really for me, it was chevy overload...it was a plethora, yes a plethora of chevys of many years, mainly 1939s–1950s, with some odd years and some impalas thrown in, and this one opened its petals to me.

so many to choose from, so many similar cars all jammed into the entire parking lot. i even had to park a few blocks away, since there was no parking nearby. i didn't know where to start, or what to shoot, much less, i'd been away from shooting for a couple of weeks and was a little out of sorts, so i did my usual. i started by walking around the entire show, seeing what's there. then sat down and took out my cameras. then went back through and just picked random cars—they were all so delicious, but so crowded together, as well as being overrun with people, i could only really do a few.

by the time i got there, they were already doing raffles and giving out trophies. really big, tall trophies. i saw many cars stuffed full of plaques and trophies from prior shows. these guys really know how to do a show right.

anyway, i am rambling. this car has a remarkable paint job. lots of detail. real crowd stopper. parked right up by the trophy table. perhaps you know it? according to my flickr friend, kid deuce, it's known as the gypsy rose. he was there the same day, but i don't know if at the same time. i've never met him, so if i walked past without saying hello, i'm really sorry i didn't recognize you without your western attire. :) he's posted lots of shots from that afternoon, so check them out.

also, thanks to jae bueno for posting the notice about the show, or i would have missed it. he takes really good shots of cars as well, and again, if he was there, i did not recognize him, or i would have thanked him in person. waiting to see what pictures he got of the show.

ketchup and mustard

i'm practically psychic...i know i won't be posting tomorrow...so i figured i would just post another one. hoping it won't rain tomorrow; i want to go to the last foothill show for the year.

these two were over in the corner at enderle plaza last month. the red one is owned by a guy that looks like santa, if i remember correctly, only skinny, but with a white beard. at least the plate names it santa56. the owner of the yellow one moved it in next to the red one, and the owners walked off together, so i suppose they're buddies.

i think the yellow chevy might be this same car from the garden grove friday show. nice neutral flames on the yellow, not overpowering and in your face, so much the better. sometimes you gotta let the classic car be the show stopper, not the paint choice. both very clean.

<deleted some snarky stuff here...wouldn't you like to know...?> gotta edit myself sometimes. my mother-in-law reads this once in a while. lol.

found nemo

so i'm getting over my cold. they've let me back in the house, but i'm staying away from my mother-in-law — not because of the stereotypical reasons; she's wonderful, but doesn't want to catch anything respiratory at her age. missed the ruby's show; was supposed to take a picture of someone's car, and didn't have any way of letting them know i wasn't going to make it besides not showing up. now there's only one left for this year. tried to get my better half to go take shots for me, but he ended up working late. hoping to hit up a car show tomorrow or the one in foothill ranch on monday, if it doesn't rain as promised.

——————

another member of lifestyle car club, this 1949 chevy truck was found at the whittier uptown car show back in august.

i think these guys do their own painting and pinstriping; one of the guys (the owner?) was touching up the pinstripes on this when i went by it later in the afternoon. devil in the details? nope, just little roses, down by the wheels.

sweet, swirly and fun, the curves of the car and the color theme just make me think of clown fish, but in a bad ass kind a way.

to the mattresses

here i sit, all downhearted...ah, ah, don't finish that thought. well, third day of rain in a row. everyone is so skittish when there are clouds in the sky; a whisper by someone that looks like rain can clear out a decent car show. i waited all summer for the awesome clouds out there now, but the cars mostly don't come out, even when its clear for the evening.

after work in orange county, the sun had actually come out, and the clouds were all billowy and towering into the sky. so i headed for the show at spires, off the 605. not far into los angeles county, it started to drizzle, maybe even just sprinkle. shit. bailed off the freeway and headed home.

sitting at my computer, looking out the window toward the hills, there is just a big gray smear of cloud cover. not raining at all, sunset trying real hard to make a decent show through the gaps. walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner, then back here at my puter, tweaking my pictures. trying different things, deciding which car to post.

look what they done to my boy...i'm watching the godfather movies again for the zillionth time, on my phone at lunch. lots of nice cars in the film, if you ever noticed.

i can imagine this one in the parking lot at connie's wedding, or maybe one of the cars following the don home from the emergency room, but without all the extra do-dads on it.

flaming youth

ahhh, this is more like it. i've posted two flamers in a row, similar paint scheme, but which is better? does it matter really? they're both bitchin' cars. i wanna say this car kicks butt, but the flames on the el camino are probably better done.

my whole day blew big chunks at work, so getting a shot like this salvaged what was left of it. just sorry i missed a spectacular sunset with big toy story clouds in it...shots would have been so much more awesome.

california freeway traffic on a friday is just what i needed to get a really massive headache going – thanks knott's scary farm people! you all drive like dillweeds. and surface streets weren't doing much better; the scattered lightning strikes and sprinkles of rain had put out traffic lights here and there, which just slowed me down even more. now all i need is my computer to lock up, as it tends to do, my day will just be complete.

here's to a better tomorrow. yay for the weekend!

hot damn

i know its not my normal oldie but goodie, but sometimes i just gotta take the shot. the light was hitting the flamey goodness of the paint just right as i passed this car.

i'd already walked by it several times, and finally just had to stop and give in to temptation. if you gotta have a 70's car, might as well make it worth noticing.

gumby!

just kidding. the color of this is a bit more turquoise than gumby, but i think of him anyway when i see this truck. so friendly and curvy and fun. and what the heck are those dingleberries hanging on the rearview mirror...they look like mexican pastries. why? why?

the owner of this truck is one of my favorite hecklers at this show at ruby's and also at spires. his truck also snuck into the picture here, with his ratty chair too. really he's nice enough. sometimes likes to pretend he's my middleman making a sale, running the price of a print up. come on man, you're gonna scare the straights.

gotta go...someone waiting for me >:)