behind the curtain

i had stopped by the impressions show at bruce's prime rib, after driving five hours back from vegas, and before i even stopped at home. ya, i could if i want. someone had given me a flyer a week or two prior.

better half was working anyway, so he wasn't just sitting and waiting for my arrival. it was way hot outside. there were far fewer cars there than i had expected, and while it was hosted by the impressions, i don't think i really saw a car with their plaque in the window. doesn't mean there wasn't one, i just didn't see one. which is odd, as usually the host club is there in force, representing. there was a tent with their banner, so ok.

i took some shots of the few cars that were there. mostly old chevys, but there was a small cluster of low rider, monte carlo-type bouncers there. none of them were too remarkable paint- or unique-wise, so i didn't bother with any of them.

and then there was this guy. the guy that i am not stalking, from the cigar bar, from the tribe club. lol. i've been going to random shows lately, and he just always seems to be there. none of the other tribe guys, just this one by itself.

so we move in the same circles, but i had never really talked to the owner, more than maybe a hello. he was getting ready to leave, and came over and explained the what in the what the hell with the back wheel cover. the car is usually so immaculate, especially with the new paint job on the roof and random pinstriping, to see it in such a state of disarray, was just too much to pass by.

his story was that he'd driven home from the ventura nationals, and the next day was going to another show, when a block from home, he got a flat tire. and then he didn't have another whitewall tire; but he just couldn't help himself, and came to this show anyway. almost as bad as me, at a show not having been home yet after a week away.

so here it is, with the spare, and the bare nasty parts you usually don't get to see.

naughty and nice

it was mainly the pinstripe work on this chopped chevy that got my attention. the owner told me he'd asked for something naughty, but nice from the artist. i guess he got that.

these girls were on the hood, the trunk and the roof. when he opened the back door, there was a girl there too, but more of an airbrushing instead of pinstriping, but i didn't have my camera ready for a shot of her.

it was parked near the road sinners club, but i'm not sure it was actually with them, so i apologize for not taking notes. 

here are a couple of closeups of the front and the back art.

eagle has landed

all right, i'll show you this one. not because i am starting to love cars with their hoods open, but because it's just a spectacular car, and the owner is so very nice.

the finish on it is smooth as silk. the guy told my better half at a regular monthly viejitos show a few months earlier, that it was a family project and that all had taken turns sanding the surface so fine, using flour to show the high spots, before they got it all painted up. i've posted it before. i like my better half's versions:here and here

this was in what should have been a pretty good spot for a typical car, on an end spot, under a tree. but with the hood(s) up, with background foot traffic, it was just difficult to frame up a decent shot. from the other side, the doors were open, and there was a car next to it, and next to that, a pop up tent, that really kinda ruined it. took a couple of angles from this side, and i guess i like this one better.

and by this shot, he'd moved the car polish bottles and rags out of the frame. :)

aztechie

still a chevy, but one i don't normally post. i'll do something else next time. sheesh.

a ladder would have been good about now. your basic aztec and nekked girls scene.

found it

i was back on the far side of the lighthouse in san pedro, taking pictures of a big cadillac and big truck, when a guy walks by and asks if i can take a picture of his car. expecting it somewhere nearby, i ask which one is it. 

he proceeds to tell me it's up by the entrance, with whatever car club, brown primer, black top. hmm. ya, i'll go look for it, i told him.

i vaguely remembered seeing his club's banner earlier when i'd walked through that section. so i headed over there, before i forgot about it. so easy to get distracted in the sea of cars by the sea.

i'm pretty sure this is the one. a work in progress. still nice in it's own way. booyah!

nubby

you should really see this one in person. its pretty phenomenal, especially the paint job. the body paint is reminiscent of those marblized bowling balls at the newer alleys.

this is from the viejitos oc annual show, but i did see it previously, down at chicano park, under a bright, hot sun.

viejitos shows get a good turn out, lots of variety in cars, and are meant to be family friendly. even their rap performers use no profanity at all. contrast that to the show in san fernando...save that for another day.

and there's a pretty interesting airbrush job on the trunk. car club members as skeletons.

spudnut racing

quick pic. already running late on somewhere i'm supposed to be. 

found this rat rod way out at the end of the street, on the other side of the railroad tracks, at the rialto run whatcha brung show. i think the owner next to him said they'd arrived late, so parked out there in the shade. they did also get out and drive the circuit once in a while. the other owner also said i'd made this guy's day because i bothered to take a picture of it. such small things can make people happy. don't think i gave him a card, so i suppose he'll never see it, but its here, hiding on the internet in plain sight. you never know.

ttfn

a fresh look

this guy is the one that torments me uptown, parking in front of the cigar bar fairly often. always tempted to run home for the camera, and then just don't do it.

wonder where the rest of the tribe was, but glad to have found this one at the show. looked really spectacular among the trees. i don't remember the roof being all airbrushed and glittery. same for the airbrushing on the back of it on the spare wheel cover—is it recent? gotta be why i haven't seen it around for a couple of weeks.

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my son is currently en route to cambridge. i'm already worn out with his dog, but i think i got the best of him today, taking him to the park three times. i don't know. he may have out done me...my foot is starting to hurt. probably overdoing it with all the activity.

dog is over at my ex's house tonight, as i was hoping to stop by the old memories show early early in the morning, before the heat sets in. i think now, it all depends on how my foot feels in the morning. i really hope i can go.

who's your daddy?

 

so we drove out to brea this morning, to check out some annual show over by brea mall. if i had wanted to see a bunch of newer muscle cars with their hoods open, i could have just gone to the dealership down the street.

was about ninety percent peenie parade o'cars belonging to middle aged chubby guys who apparently think buying a car qualifies for entry in a car show. how the hell do the judges seriously go about judging these things? they're new, off the lot, or maybe a couple of years old, no effort to customize them has really gone on; i guess you could say they contain all original parts. probably paid the guy swinging the towels around to polish them up too. shit.

you really wanna know what i think about these guys? BFD. ok, don't ask me. my better half says i don't have a filter when asked my opinion on things.

really, we tried to salvage the trip, and wanted to get our cameras out of the bag, but it seemed almost a requirement to have the hood up. and the few and far between cars that we would have taken pictures of, just weren't doing it. too many people, crap location, and how crammed cars were into the spaces marked out. meh.

i did see a couple of guys i know. and i didn't even shoot their cars. even with the hood down. i guess i really didn't feel like shooting today, so skipped the hooters show this evening.

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so the news i mentioned the other day: i have four pictures accepted in the fair again this year. only three of them are cars. you'll have to go look for the other one over in pictures of flowers. of the pictures i entered, i can't really figure the reasoning for what was chosen and what wasn't, but fun just the same. so off to the framer's, and my mother-in-law is already imagining which wall this set will go on.

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oh, and this car is again from chicano park. and really, what dad wouldn't want a mostly nekked chick airbrushed across his hood? i think this is a viejitos car, but from new mexico.

anyway, happy father's day, dad. i know you read this blog, or at least look at the pretty pictures once in a while...

very clean

as i've said before, i don't much care one way or another for the newer cars, the bouncers, the low riders. they've mostly lost the classic curves of the bombs and such that i love. but i can appreciate them. 

this one was pretty clean. interesting pinstripes and metallic applique. the trunk was closed when i got down to shoot the picture, but the owner said wait, and popped it up. i guess it adds to the shot, showing the scroll work back there.

now if i'd only shot it from the back...in the trunk was all the chromed out apparatus to make it go up and down. i'm guessing he doesn't take this to the supermarket.