howdy neighbor

a few weeks ago, while whining about all the rain, i mentioned an old chevy that i see in my neighborhood. usually see it parked out on a curb, or a block ahead, driving away. i'd never gotten up the nerve to get out of the car and just take a shot of it in the street. apart from possibly getting run over, i was not sure if the owner might be a bit persnickety about some stranger taking pics of his car, à la "richard".

well, to my wandering eye appears, at the first show i hit for the year at fuddrucker's, that self same chevy, i've come to know so well. i finished shooting the car i was busy with, and headed straight over. the owner got out, with his small son. i, against my usual nature, said, "i love your car, i see it all the time," which i guess pretty quickly makes a guy all warm and fuzzy with pride. chatted him up for a little while, shook hands with his son. apparently, it was the first time he'd stopped by the show. told him my story about always driving past his car, etc. he says i'm welcome to take a picture of it anytime. so maybe i will shoot it in it's natural habitat sometime.

anyway, i took a picture of it where he parked it. not the best spot, but the car is still very nice. guess i should ask if he plans to finish painting the back end, or if he's going to leave it that way. the show wasn't as full as it usually gets when it's a bit warmer, so i hope he'll stop by again.

before they left, his son ran over and handed me his dad's business card...so anthony, i hope you like this, and say hi to your son.

chubby’s

wow. i haven't posted since monday? well, i've been busy. and i finally got out to a few shows that actually had cars at them, in spite of the cold. so i've been away from my computer and having fun.

i've taken a bunch of photos all week, so i have new stuff to play with. i chatted with several people too, but still think it's difficult to break out of my shell and strike up a conversation. i did meet a couple of dads out with their sons at two different shows. they were very nice, and i guess that's how it gets passed to the next generation. shot pics of their cars...give me a few days.

anyway, getting to the image above... stopped at the show in garden grove on friday. never have seen it that empty, and on an elvis night. i guess an impersonator comes out to entertain the crowd, but i've never hung out late enough to see him. the street was half empty, where usually they have to turn cars away. good for me to take pics, but not many to choose from that i either haven't already shot, or wanted to shoot.

briefly stopped to show the owner a picture i took of his truck, since he claimed he didn't have a computer. he told me a quick story about it being in a magazine, and his posse all said it was a very nice picture.

anyway, since i was nearby, i thought i'd go to disneyland and grab some dinner. then i remembered a show i'd stopped at once during the summer near the entrance to dland. hadn't been too impressed with it at the time, mainly because i got there late, and most cars had probably left. it still shows up on the calendar, so i drove over to check it out.

i was pleasantly surprised to find that it was very busy, no doubt due to the location. and also solved the mystery of where all the bad boys and their chevy's from the back lots at garden grove had gone. i won't say all, but many of the clubs started showing up in groups, and of course parking out back. but man, oh man, they do have beautiful cars.

not sure if this one belonged to one of the bad boys, but it was parked right at the entrance, in this primo spot. this one was very nice, but i think there were several in the back that might have been even better than this.

definitely will have to stop here again. and i never did get to eat at dland; i stayed so long taking pictures it got late, and decided it was too crowded to just go to dland for dinner. friday night traffic there is a bitch, with all the people hitting downtown disney. pfft.

khaki, not tacky

i'm still waiting for the opportunity to hit a show and take my first pics of 2011. i think the rain is gone for a few days, but its hella cold for cali, at least in the evenings. i'll drive by fuddrucker's tomorrow and see if anyone shows this time...haven't even gotten out of the car the last couple of weeks...hardly anything to see. maybe i'll drive out to the broiler on wednesday, but i don't expect any but the diehards there. too bink bink.

anyway, dug this one up from 2009 at ruby's. i think the second time i'd headed out there with a camera. not sure that i've seen this particular car since, but i liked the angle, and the sky was pretty cool. don't remember if it was getting ready to rain, or just a typical september evening.

pop

i think this belongs to the latin gents car club. if i look through my collection, i think they mostly have chevys. always very cherry.

i've seen this one several times. love the hood ornament.

green with envy

i'm starting to miss taking pictures. of anything, actually. perfect day outside today, and of course, no car shows in the winter on a monday. rain will be coming back tomorrow evening...i wonder if that will scare off the cars at fuddruckers. well, guess i'll find out soon enough.

maybe i should go out to the peterson museum, but i don't think they'd let me bring the tripod in. eh, maybe i should go to a greenhouse and shoot some flowers or bugs or something.

anyway, here's an old chevy that visited the broiler once upon a time on a sunny evening, back in may. i'm sure it was the metallic sparkle paint that caught my eye at the time. it also had a touch of pinstriping, but i don't remember it being overdone.

street art?

not my typical car, but going on my typical rant.

why do they do this? why take a perfectly fine car and slap silly stickers all over it and plop a whale tail on it? why whore out a car? or would you call it pimped? maintenance? advertising? i could go into stereotypes, but i'm going to behave.

just looks damn silly to me. i came thisclose to getting a corvette back in the 80s, when they switched over from the sexy, sweet classic corvette lines to this new shape and electronic innards. obviously, didn't buy the corvette i'd always thought i'd get, because it wasn't classic, but i still hate to see these rolling billboards of any type.

ok, given this one was probably purposely brought here by one of these sponsors to what, sell their product? use my stuff and your car can look like this? this type of advertising must work or they wouldn't keep doing it. frickin eyesore. this should be caged in on one of the racetracks, where this type of graffiti is expected.

can you tell i'm still in my post holiday mood? i think i'll stick with your classic cars, thanks.

money bag

this pretty thing was at the broiler back in june. it was practically perfect in every way...just like mary poppins. just wondering why guys with these cars put all the knick knacks all over the plate frame and grille. i understand the classic symbolism of the mobil pegasus, felix the cat...but wtf with the gold bag?

i think i'm in a mood. it's the holidays. can't whoop up any cheer, so i'll have to fake it tomorrow. but to everyone else who reads this, happiness to you all, and merry xmas.

such stuff as dreams are made on

i think this chevy won one of the trophies at enderle plaza this day. even in the foggy overcast, this one is a beacon that you dare not ignore. oooohhh so shiny, it reflects the palm trees in spite of the gloom.

bittersweet

supposedly my mother-in-law drove a car just like this one, when my better half was a kid. that's what he tells me. i don't think she has any pictures of it. what a bummer they didn't keep it.

anyway, here was one at the broiler a couple of weeks ago. beautiful car, straight up chevy.

green lantern

i always see this beauty at the fuddrucker's show. it's usually jammed in close to other cars, or there are too many people around it.

lucky for me, i had an earlier dentist appointment, which left me feeling like i'd been hit by a 2x4, i didn't have to go back to the office. i'd rested for a couple of hours, then realized there was still an hour of sun left in the day, and got off my butt and out the door. and i was starving, having skipped lunch for the two hours of fun at the dentist.

thus i arrived early for the show. lots of empty spaces still, waiting for guys to escape from work. the sun was just beginning to set when i got to this one. i took several angles of it, but i liked this one best.