The Miller Meet 2013

Last weekend at The Milwaukee Mile Speedway was the Miller Meet for vintage Indy Cars and open wheel circle track cars. I really enjoy this show. Race cars where a very different animal back in the day. Race cars where dangerous, looked and sounded cool. (hand painted lettering and chrome as compared to vinyl wrap and throwaway body panels. no mufflers no restrictor plates and innovation is what was the key to being succesful in racing not a hot body to show off on go daddy.com commercials and a marketing agent from Hollywood. When you walk around and look at the cars you realize these cars have soul. The orange car with Crager on the side is a typical sprint car from the late 20's. The owner told me that this car has the distinction of killing three of it's drivers. cursed? probably not that was the accepted way of life for a racer at that time. Many of these cars have a similar story. They are all here after 50-80 years after they turned their last lap. You can't repeat this era of American racing and maybe you don't want too. but it is refreshing to see that people still care about the cars and the racing and not so much about selling seats, t-shirts and 8 dollar hot dogs to a family of six.hope you enjoy looking at how racing once was.

The 4th Annual Edgewood Ave. Festival of Independence Car Show

On the 3rd of July we had our show. The weather was very questionable with thunderstorms looming just a few miles east of us. We stayed dry and had our best turnout ever! Thanks to everyone who showed up and can't wait to do it again next year.  We'll have more pictures later.

Father's Day Car Show 2013

In the past few years I have aquired an interest in what many call "classic cars" this being Duesenberg, Cord , Cadillac, Oldsmobile , Pontiac. Buick, and Ford all from the Depression era until just before WW-2. Most of these cars today are considered "high end" and to see them restored is really special. At least to me. One of my favorite shows of the year is The Father's Day Car Show at the Oak Brook Shopping Center. This show offers the cars I mentioned before plus vintage sports cars, rare muscle cars and a splash of exotics thrown in. You normally don't get to see duesenbergs, and cords and some of the others out in the public because of their value. As you look at these cars anyone with a brain can see that quality was a huge factor in how a car was built. Something that is sorley missing in today's auto industry. Fit and

finish and the extras that these cars feature is really incredible. Take a look at the pictures. These cars aren't everyones cup of tea but you gotta like the styles and just the sheer cool factor these cars have.

The Season is Here!!

The weather has finnally broke and another season of racing and all sorts of car events are coming up fast! We have alot on our plate this year. First we are supposed to be testing the racecar at RT 66 raceway on Friday May 31 But that will only happen if we are finished with preparing the car for the upcoming season.We will be racing at Great Lakes Dragaway, RT 66 Raceway, Byron And Cordova Dragway this coming year as well as making stops at several cruise nights and car shows along the way. This fall we are planning a RT66 trip from Chicago to Joplin Missouri. It should be an exciting year. Don't forget The Edgewood Ave. Festival Of independence Scheduled for July 3rd. We are preparing for this years Event as I write this Stay tuned for more action later.

The Sign of the Times

It's time for the World of Wheels Again. March 1-3, 2013. We are once again involved with The Brushmasters Automotive Artists For Charity Event.This takes place along with World of Wheels. My subject this year was a reproduction of the sign that was at the racers gate at Oswego Drag Raceway in Oswego IL. This place is very special to alot of people in the Chicago area. Although I had never been there. It holds legendary status among racers and rodders from that era.  A friend of mine told me where the original sign was. (it still exists and is in a private collection) I contacted the owner and he sent me photo's of the original. I created a pattern and away we went. This is painted with a brush using sign painters enamel just like it would have been. Then it recieved my patented instant aging process. I think it turned out well. Check out the pictures, the original is the photo on the bottom. I hope it brings big money at the auction this weekend.

Mucsle Car Nationals 2012

I had the privilage of being able to participate in the 2012 edition of the Mucsle Car Nationals at The Rosemont Convention Center back in November. This show is one of the best of the year. It has only existed for a few years but it has really gained some respect and has attracted cars you will never see outside of museums and private collections. This show also seems to attract old race cars mostly drag race cars but some circle track and road race stuff too. This year The Wanderers Car Club was invited to participate in the show. The Wanderers was a car club that existed in the Lombard and Villa Park area back in the 70's and 80's and has kind of been reborn in the past few years with some of the original members and some others like me who was a little too young to be a member back in the day. We will have a profile on the club here on the blog a little later on in the winter. Take a look at some of the photo's from the show. All the race cars are the real deal and some are restored back to original as raced from there most famous time and some are surviviors. One of the most popular displays at the show was the "barn find" area. Many of these cars are local race cars that where put away by their owners after they quit racing and forgotton about for all these years. Some are VERY rare mucsle cars that where stashed for whatever reason and now that they have been pulled out into the light it was found that some of these cars are highly optioned or performance optioned in such a way that put their production numbers in the single digits. You never know what you might find! I had a great weekend at the show hanging out with old friends from the neigborhood and seeing how people enjoy your car. 

More Auction Highlights

Here is some more From The Auction at Pheashant Run. One of the the most talked about cars after the auction was the saturn yellow Buick GSX. This car was a 100 percent untouched original car. I myself enjoy looking at a "survivior" whether it be a race car, mucsle car, a classic, it doesn't matter. These days the typical mucsle car(1962-1972) are getting old and scarce. Time has not been nice to some of these cars and people seem to really make a mess out some of them. So seeing a car that is that unique such as a GSX in original form is really a treat. There is more photos of the front motor dragster. What you may not realize is that this car was driven by Ron Colson who is another somewhat local racer who made it to the big time. Ron was a hot comodity back in the late 60's and early 70's. A very respected and feared "shoe" in the nitro funny car and dragster ranks across the country. I met Ron and spent some time with him back in the mid 90's when he was a race director at Great Lakes Dragaway. A super nice guy and very humble even though he could do the job better than most. I didn't really figure out how much a part of racing history he was until later on. I see him from time to time at Cordova Dragway. I think he helps out there on big weekends. He still finds the time to come up and say hello and shake hands. Some of the other photos are of cars many may not find interesting or cool but I did. The 87 442 was the last of the "real Oldsmobiles" as far as i'am concerned and still have a cool look to them. These cars are starting to find there place and the prices are rising. This one was exceptionally nice. The 65 442 was cool as it was restored back to the way it was from the dealer. Take a look small hubcaps, small badging no frills 400 cu in with a 4 speed. This car could make a lot of money on the street back in the day.The other one is a the 47 Ford Wood Bodied Station Wagon. I love these because of the Craftsmenship in these cars. Remember these where daily driven station wagons for your family. The SUV of the 40's. If these where still around maybe the minivan would have never been created!.