All right then, I'm a wagon freak. You could even say I'm a Ford Falcon wagon freak. I've written before about the problems I have (Extra W Chromosome) and the 63 Falcon wagon project I'm re-doing. I've learned to live with those issues and I'm doing my best in the hot rod society. But then I saw this totally clean 1965 Falcon wagon owned by Norm Huie of San Clemente, CA at the Cruisin for a Cure Show. More precisely, it's a '65 Ford Falcon 2 door wagon in the original Prairie Bronze paint. It'd get boring if I kept saying original since Norm's taken great pains to restore his wagon back to 99% stock himself. Norm's always been into Falcons but chose this odd-ball 65 because it was the last year of this model.  I say odd because it's a 2 door, no-doubt more desirable than the mor-door cousin I own. Then, it's got the factory V8 another plus, but from there, this car is plain-jane! It's a non-Deluxe, non-anything car but it does have power steering and power brakes and a rare cargo light inside near the...

I'm a huge air-cooled vdub nut at heart.  My first car was a 1972 Standard Beetle that I bought for $500.  With my dad's help we turned it into a nice Cal-Looker with new bright Corvette yellow paint, black 8 spoke Empi's, freshened heads and new interior kit.  I was even a member of the Wasatch Vintage Volkswagen Club for about a year until I sold that Bug to get wedding/honeymoon money. On to this past Saturday, where I took my wife and 3 young sons to the No Show in Kaysville, Utah.  This was the 4th annual show and is put on my the Northern Utah VW Club.  I've been to the 2nd and 3rd annual shows as well.  This year's show was at a new venue and it seemed bigger and better, with more cars and people.  This No Show is a laid back affair, just the style of VW owners.  They have a Hot Wheels track set up for the "kids" to race and the trophies are miniature vdub scenes using rusty hot wheels.  As we were driving up to the Show, we pulled off the freeway...

I've been havin' a hard time getting any grease on my hands lately as there's just too many cool things to do during summer! I got wind of the 8th Annual Main Street El Segundo Car Show just the day before while at Loyola Auto Interiors (thanks Luis for helping me out with fixing my side panels!) Lucky for me I heard about it because I sure enjoyed strolling along Main Street on a beautiful Saturday afternoon with about 125 cars to gaze at of all different shapes, sizes, and styles. The atmosphere was just how a So-Cal beach town should be - laid back with a variety of cool people.. While I enjoyed the whole event, below you'll find my choice picks...enjoy! Let me know if ya happened to be there and which picks you like too! 1. Most Artistic Hot Rod. This 1930 Ford was customized in Ngoya, Japan and now calls Carson its home. It was a treat to see it on the street! 2. Best Summer Cruiser. Gee it'd be nice to cruise down the coast in this beauty wagon/tear-drop trailer combo wouldn't it? Surf,...

As much as we love our home-built cars that we’ve poured blood, sweat, and sometimes tears into – most of us recognize we don’t have the skill or talent to produce cars along the caliber that greats such as Boyd Coddington, Ed Roth, Harry Bradley, and the Alexander Brothers do. Which is why its such good news that coming this September we all have a chance to own one of these “Icons of Speed and Style”. Yep, that’s right. Nearly 80 cars, all from a single-owner collection, will be up for grabs in a no-reserve auction billed “Icons of Speed and Style” held September 26, 2009 at The Peterson Museum in Los Angeles, California by RM Auctions. Whether its speed, style, or history you’re into, this well-rounded collection offers it all. Legendary cars such as the famous Dodge “Little Red Wagon” wheel-standing drag truck, the dominating Ray Allen LS6 Chevelle Convertible, legendary “Big John” Mazmanian’s Corvette gasser, the original “Road Agent” show car by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth as well as famous customs from the Ayala Brothers, Sonny Mazza, the Alexander Brothers, George Barris, Daryl Starbird and Boyd Coddington...

So, I was "stumbling" around on StumbleUpon, a cool search tool/website where you can tell it what you're interested in and just hit the stumble button. I stumbled upon "Rare American Made Autos" page. Here's a quick quote from the website that explains what the Red Scarf Club is. Of all places to find cool pictures of rare American cars, an artilleryman's website!? Car Nuts are everywhere! "The RED SCARF name comes from the color of the artilleryman's parade neck scarves. (ie; The infantry color is blue, the engineers - green, the artillery - red, and so on. Each section of the army, has its own designated color.) Our present day club was loosley formed by a small group of 553rd FA Bn veterans, their wives, friends and familys, to get together once or twice a year in Branson, Missouri for a "Dinner and a Show", and share old "War Stories" - as we call them - and each others company, for a couple of days." Here's some teaser pics...if you can name any one of these cars, well...you're just sick! ha ha Try out StumbleUpon and tells us...

Now this is what NASCAR should be! Imagine going 179 mph in these cars! (that's what the movie "track announcer" said) Those brakes and all that weight running that fast! This clip is from the 1965 film called "Redline 7000" There's a pretty well done crash stunt for the time. FIRE FIRE!! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR1SmKihPtQ[/youtube] Yes, that is Mr. Sulu! Here's part #2 (not sure how related it is to the first part...) [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsbJ2-PdCk4[/youtube] Then for something totally unusual, but still somehow related to this post... I give you, "Speed Lovers"...

Submitted by Jason Wenig from The Creative Workshop, a restoration and full service coach builder out in Florida. An interesting turn of events transpired this past weekend. As you are probably aware, last week was the "big auction week" out in Scottsdale, AZ (culminating on Saturday night), where all of the major car auction companies display and sell a dizzying array of vehicles. On top of the grandeur of these events, in many ways, it can be said that this past week sets the tone for values and trends for the coming year. As a car builder, I walk a thin line. I personally am not a big fan of the auctions - I don't sell cars - I build them, but it is hard not to at least be interested, and in many instances, it is important for me to understand where people's money is going - what types of cars, what eras, etc are being sold… if not just for business, then certainly for my own love of cars! Which brings me to my story: My Client, (Arizona's own, car collector) Barry Smith, decided to get the...

It's no wonder RM Auction is celebrating their 10th year in Arizona with "Automobiles of Arizona" at the Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona. Accepting my invitation to their Media breakfast I arrived slightly more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed then the next writer and photographer because this was my first time to look behind the scenes. Tucked in a small ballroom with other friends from the Phoenix Automotive Press Association (PAPA) I got to meet the kind folks running RM and hear what Rob Myers founder and former president ( Ian Kelleher was recently promoted to President) had to say about the state of the Collector Car Market. "At least if it's in my garage, I can't get Ponzi'd out of it!." Mr. RM took the podium with a smooth stride and turned to show a friendly smile. Here's a man that enjoys what he does. Reflecting back to 1976, Myers remembered his first trip to Barret Jackson. Back then, he says, "It was a hobby." He remembered buying a Mustang for about $1000 and driving it back to the RM home base back in Canada. Now, Meyers estimated that nearly a...

Brandon over at AmericanTorque.com sent over some info about a fun game that tests your knowledge of American V8 Engines. Here's how the idea got started: One night when I was a kid my Dad and I were at a dirt track watching the Sprint Cars racing, and he pointed out which cars had Chevy engines and which had Fords. How could he tell from the bleachers? He explained that you could tell by the spacing of the header tubes. The Fords were evenly spaced and the Chevys were not (the middle two exhaust ports are right next to each other on the Chevy small-block). Years later, I'm thinking of ideas for an automotive trivia game, and it hits me - make a game where you identify an engine from a photo. Soon after my first engine ID game was born. After hearing feedback from players of that game I made another engine ID game, and more games are on the way. You can check them out at: http://www.americantorque.com/game/ This one pictured's too easy. AmericanTorque.com's get tougher... much tougher! If you can't figure this one out, don't bother! Please...

Run to the Pines - 2008 By our friend Devin Squire (Devin's all Ford Garage) The weekend of Sept. 26th, 27th, & 28th, was the 25th anniversary of the "Run to the Pines" car show in Pinetop, AZ. My wife & I have been going to this show for at least 15 of those years. It's a great weekend getaway in the cool pines of Pinetop – Lakeside, AZ. The show is limited to 550 cars, of pre 1973 vintage, and it always gets sold out. If you don't get your registrations in early, you might not get in, and there is always a waiting list in case of any cancellations. This year, the show sold out in only four weeks! Hotels, Motels, & Cabins in the area are the same story...get your reservations in early. Before we caught on, we had to get rooms in Showlow, which is about 15 to 20 miles away. This show is part of the Pinetop-Lakeside's "Fall Festival", which brings in a lot of people, as well. Some folks love all the “arts & crafts”stuff, and it gives the ladies something else to...

Written by AZAmber (Amber's Nash Metropolitan "MetroSxl") There’s nothing better than saying goodbye to the Phoenix heat and heading up to the pines to look at some cool rides. The 2008 Route 66 Car show was held Sept 5-7 in downtown Flagstaff, and I have to say, this historic town was a great backdrop to showcase some 375+ cars. Amongst the crowd were many of the cars you would expect to see, like the old Bel-Aires and T-Birds, but a few unusual rides made quite an impression as they lined the streets in front of antique shops and mom and pop delis.   There was also a smattering of “tricked out” newer PT Cruisers and the members from a Corvette Club on hand to look at. In a grassy patch in the center of the town square, a few food and souvenirs vendor stands were set up and a DJ from a local radio station played oldies while some fresh squeezed lemonade topped off the day. According to the program, the weekend was full of activities for car enthusiasts. All in all, it was a great way to beat...

On the weekend of April 25-27 my family and I headed out to Orange, CA for the 2008 Motorsport Datsun/Nissan Z Show. We met up with a few members of the Desert Z association and made a caravan to Cali. Ryan and I led the way in his 1981 silver and black 280 turbo ZX, followed closely by my dad and mom in his rally orange 1976 280 Z (great year by the way!) . After checking in at the hotel we headed to the “meet and greet” in front of the Motorsport shop. While we were there Christa aka “Z Chick”, told us about a local car show held on the grounds of Ford Headquarters in LA, called “Cars and Coffee” and encouraged us to check it out. She boasted that there would be cars in attendance that we may never have even seen or heard of before and may never again in our lifetimes. She rattled off a list of celebrities and auto industry idols who had made past appearances with their vehicles, and insisted that in spite of the early hour (it starts at 6am!) it...