Car Shows and other fun stuff of 2009

January 1, 2009: Well, the year has already started off great! Fireball was chosen as the Cover Car and August feature for Online-Car-Show.com's 2009 Calendar!

April 16th: Fuddrucker's "Fudd Thursdays" are back. The weather was cooperative and the cars all spit-shined and nice... that's my good neighbor Mike's awesome '37 Ford with a blown flathead.

     

Then there's Dennis Clymer's killer Cobra...

       

... and the Scooby Doo bunch and the Duke boys showed up, too.

       

After this and a couple other neighborhood cruises in April it's time to really get things going...

May 3rd: Fair Oaks Spring Fling takes place under some of the wettest skies ever. In fact, Fireball hadn't seen this much rain since the day I brought it home. (See page 4)

     

There were more cars than this at the event. I was just starting to take some pics when the battery on my camera gave out.

 

May 9th: Gold Rush Car Show in Oroville.  Nice weather, nice people and about 800 nice cars. Didn't come up with an award, but I did make some friends and scored a couple parts for my stepson's truck project. The way they parked us was kind of neat, with the 800 or so cars lining the streets of old town that had been closed off to regular traffic for the day.

The '56 Ford was downright gorgeous, but the Rat Rod was a show stealer, just because... If you look more clesely at it you'll also see that it's right-hand drive, too!

     

It looks like Spiderman has a street rod, and I'm not sure what to make of the light bar on the "Cop Rod"...

        

The '53 Ford convertible became an autograph collector as the owner invited people to pick up one of the available Sharpie pens and leave their mark. People were surprisingly tasteful with their writings. Blue Oval guys will like the sign over the Chevy engine that was hiding under the hood of, of all things, a '41 Ford.

         

May 10, 2009: I learn that Fireball graces the pages of the National Street Rod Association's (NSRA) 2009 yearbook!

Yeah, it's on the split of pages 12 and 13, BUT IT'S THERE!!

May 16th: Golden Hills Mustang Club's 25th-Anniversary "Biggest Little Car Show" at Suisun City's beautiful Waterfront Park. In two weeks it went from monsoon rains to unwavering heat. It was the hottest day of the year so far, and there were a lot of hot cars to go along with the temps. ( I decided I had to play it quiet since they put me next to the Highway Patrol cruiser.)

      

 Even with the CHP close by, I was in good company along the water's edge. On the right, my friend Steve Bautista is all smiles as he buffs up his sweet Mustang.

      

Although there were only about 200 entries (limited by the small size of the park) and another 50 or so members' cars, there was still a great variety of Mustangs and Fords to be had, especially late model 'Stangs.

      

The guy on the left missed his opportunity to get involved in CarDomain's defunct Mobilize Your Ride Page contest. The littlest Mustang of the day belonged to a 4 year old girl named Paige. She walked away with an award... I didn't this time...

      

May 21st: The second Fuddrucker's "Fudd Thursday" show of the season. Not as many cars as the year's inaugural event, but a nice collection all the same. This time, my stepson Daniel is working the show as part of his new job at Fudd's.

       

Always nice cars at this monthly neighborhood show. I mean, where else do you find a blown International ton-and-a-half truck?

        

An old Henry J looks great no matter what its condition. Best of Show went to the gorgeous '33 roadster on the right. Deserved, but I have a slight issue with it.

          

See, the owner of the '33 roadsteris trying to sell the car and documents that he has $84,000 invested in it, and $15,000 of that was in chrome alone. Last time I checked, most of your shade-tree builders work with a lot less, building cars through hard effort and not just the thickness of one's wallet. My point? It's like racing a Model T against an Indy Car. Take this stunning car and let it compete against other EQUAL rods in bigger venues instead of grabbing trophies in some little neighborhood shindig. To me, the little rusted Henry J says more about the character of the owner who built it and drives it

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now.

May 23rd: Thunder at Depot Park #8. The Thunderbolts Car Club put on their annual event at Rio Linda's (yes, the same Rio Linda that you've likely heard Rush Limbaugh speak of) Depot Park. Lots of awesome rides. Fireball sits next to Sam Graham's award-winning '32 which sits next to my dad's '32 sedan.

         

The Camaro Pace Car was one of two at the show. The 'old 37 Ford racer was really neat to see.

         

The '46 Ford pickup is gorgeous, while the blown Studebaker is flat-out outrageous!!

         

And to really make the day great, a new Challenger and some old celebrities; the Foster Imposters chickens making time in a '65 GTO!

         

June 13: Over the Hill Gang's 9th annual Pre-Father's Day car show. This time we're out at McFarland Ranch in Galt, CA. A day of weird weather but some hot cars. It's a new venue, but one that doesn't seem as spectator-friendly to me. The setting was nice, but it felt crowded compared to the prior year at Elk Grove Park. We were parked beneath Walnut trees while the area to the north of us was a lovely setting of old Magnolia trees.

        

Two of my all-time favorite Fords. I love old panels and this '40 delivery was no exception. And the '60 Starliner was, simply, awesome.

        

The orange and purple colors on this immaculate Chevy pickup are a perfect pair, and the detail on the Willys is over the top, with the flame work even under the hood!

       

Still, you have to appreciate any car show where you can enjoy everything from an ultra-custom '37 Ford to a '73 Gremlin. (Then again, even seeing a Gremlin still on the road should count as something significant)

        

June 18th: Another "Fudd Thursday" show. 100 degrees outside and we got more cars than the inaugural event. Yeah, many of the same show up, but there are always some new ones to appreciate. The Fireball is in good company and the Cream-colored '34 Ford pickup that my dad built showed up with its new owner.

         

Purple seemed to be the color of the day.

         

The two guys on the left rarely travel without the other. And on the right is visual proof that not all flamed and blown street rods come in red, either.

         

June 20th: Two shows in one day. The inaugural "Rehabbin' Rods" and the 9th annual Sactown Kool Summer Dayz take place back-to-back and only 2 miles from each other. A double dose of Fireball!

First was "Rehabbin' Rods" benefitting a program where disabled people would learn a trade while restoring cars. Small turnout for a first-time effort, but I was happy to be there.

        

Entries ran the gamut from custom bikes to a '41 Merc woody looking for a good home.

        

There was also a Creme-sicle '62 Ford longbed pickup and a Volkswagen Thing on steroids.

        

Fireball didn't take home any awards from this event, but I have no problem with that when stunning cars such as my buddy Bruce's super-sweet '68 Cuda and the showroom-perfect '70 Mustang take the trophies.

          

Next was Sactown Kool Summer Dayz. Awards went to just about everyone but me. Hey, I'm the first to admit that my car isn't a dyed-in-the-wool award winner, but it seems to attract award winners. In total, the 6 closest cars parked next to the Fireball picked up awards.

Mike Brock's rare little Jeep took home the award I got last year: "Just 'Cuz It's Neat".

       

On each side of me two beautiful cars picked up awards; Best GM (1969 GTO) and Best Mopar (1970 Charger)

       

The Best Flames award rightfully went to the '32 Ford on the lower left. The '46 Ford on the lower right is just... well, it's just a real nice looking '46!

        

And the Foster Imposters chickens made it back again, piloting Scott's GTO of 65GoatGarage , a new ride here on CarDomain. This time, though, I figured I'd better let you get a better look at the car and not just the freezer-burnt fowl!

        

June 27th: The Burgiemen have their 10th annual Sacramento Riverfront show in West Sacramento's RiverWalk. As luck would have it, my wife's new office in her employer's new building sat 9 stories above us. It's a high-security building, so I gave her my camera...

        

With one of the newest buildings scraping Sacramento's skyline on one side and the Sacramento River and historic Old Sacramento on the other, it was a neat setting for some really neat cars.

       

And the scenery ran the gamut from raw rat rods to ultra-customs like the phantom '37 pickup.

        

And the orphans were well represented, too, with the way-sweet green Willys and the not-so-mellow yellow AMX.

         

 

On the way back from the show, I stopped to take a pic of the Galaxie in Old Sacramento, but some other guy was all over the car getting pics of his own...

July 12th: The Orangevale Denny's has their second cruise-in of the year, and my stepson Daniel gets to debut his truck at his first official car show.

         

Lots to see from a clean little Ranchero to a very rare Bronco pickup.

         

A line up of the usual suspects at the local car shows and some new stuff, too.

         

And yellow made for an interesting note, from a company-owned T-Bucket to a Chevy pickup that has gauges strategically placed so you can monitor engine functions while working under the hood!

         

July 16th: The 4th "Fudd Thursday" show of 2009. Just like June's gathering it's over 100 degrees and not sweating is not an option. This time, though, it keeps the car count down to around 40 cars is all. But first things first; Fireball gets put out on display at the street corner to help attract attention to the show.

  

Speaking of attacting attention, having my attractive and well-assembled friend Danette posing with Fireball did create a ruckus among male drivers passing by while I shot a few more pics.

  

After seeing the sun set over the, uh, mountains... I returned to the main car show area where my stepson had his truck on display again, along with others like our friend Big Al's '65 Cutlass.

  

A sweet pair of classic Chevies took honors this show...

    

... while this classic Lincoln and Cadillac hearse prove that black hasn't gone out of style.

    

 

 

Just in time for my birthday, my Fireball Roberts Tribute car made the front cover of the Ford Galaxie Club of America's bi-monthly Gazette ! Gotta admit, that's pretty cool!

 

Car Show season is going strong. As I take Project Fireball to another round of shows this year, I'll be adding more pics to this page. Stay tuned!