Cruise Nights Are Back!

Yipee!  It is car cruisin' season again--a nice way to take a break from the troubles of the day.  Here are some pictures from the Branch cruise in Overland Park.  This is an all makes cruise that is every Friday night starting at 6 p.m.  Come on out--bring your classic ride if you have one--if you don't just come on out to enjoy the classic metal.

 One of the most iconic rear ends in the automotive world.

 Mustang!

 Offerings from each of the big three from the 1950s.

 Car peeps doing what car peeps do.

 What is it?

 Taste not required in the 1970s.

 The curiosity of  the day:  NOT a motorcycle!

Friday, April 6 was the first cruise night for this cruise--a good turnout and excellent weather!

Car Spotting

Here is another round of interesting cars I've seen in my travels in the Kansas City metro. Believe it or not, I left some for next time!

In addition to being at least 40 years old, this extended cab Dodge has an interesting kludge.

This mid/late 1970s Dodge has a modification that may offend many purists...

This car almost needs its own post.

An AMC model--one way I can tell AMCs is the door handles--they are unique for the era.

And finally, a postal Jeep. How do I know that this CJ was used at one time by the U.S. Post Office?

Belton August Cruise Pics

I always take in the great Belton cruise at least once during the cruise season...and take plenty of photos. Today, we celebrate fins!
Oh, Christine. Christine?

Here is a nice looking Ford...

...with some bad interior decorating. I would have to cover this up on a long drive!

Everyone have a great weekend. And don't feel guilty if you remember where you were on September 11, 2001 and post it on your Facebook page, Everyone remembers differently, if you know what I mean. Cynics need not apply today.

Antique and Classic Cars Abound on KC Roads

Kansas City is wonderful for seeing old and/or unique automobiles. You can, if you keep your eyes open, see unique vehicles around town just about every day. I am not above taking a picture of your unique or antique car if I see it on the street or in the mall parking lot. I think that KC with its heritage of manufacturing and engineering, and its extensive highway network has an appreciation for rolling automotive history. Also our lack of sea air, relatively mild and short winters and long drives help cars live longer.

So we are at the Bass Pro in Olathe for the MOPAR show. However, not just Chrysler products are on parade. Saw this beautiful Caddy convertible drive by...

...and this little red sports car. Anyone recognize its make and model?

On the way to church one Sunday I spotted this full size H1 or "Hummer". This is the second time I have seen an H1 on 135th Street near State Line and the other one was different. I wonder if an H1 collector lives nearby? This is the civilian version of the "Humvee" or High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV which is where Humvee comes from--thanks Wikipedia) .

You could probably put this little Citroen truck in the H1 and have room left over! I spotted this interesting vehicle in the parking lot at Ward Parkway Mall.

Love those cute little headlights! See the PT Cruiser behind it? The PT is actually a little bit bigger--the camera angle makes it hard to tell.

And finally this unrestored beauty pulled up near me at the Best Buy at 115th and Metcalf in Overland Park. 1973 Oldsmobile convertible with under 100,000 miles on it.

So you don't have to be going to a car show to see interesting cars. Just keep your eyes open, and if you have a camera in your phone, keep it close at hand. Here in the Kansas City metro, you will not be disappointed.

Dodging Trouble...

In order to fill the coffers with plenty of material for the nostalgia blog, I am always looking at older printed material. Well, I was looking at a Motor Trend magazine from 1988, and came across this story from the editor. It's a fun story, and car people and racing fans will get it right away. Call it a brush against fame, if you will.

In our younger days, we were known to occasionally test a vehicle on the public highway. Not during the rush hour, mind you, but late at night as not to disturb anyone's sleep, especially not to attract the undue attention of the El Segundo Police Department. El Segundo, you see, had an excellent test facility. They preferred to call it Imperial Highway; we call it "the road," and it runs parallel to runway 24L at LAX, not 100 yards from the screaming jets we assumed were there to mask the sound of open exhaust, spinning tires, and the throaty growl of two giant 4-bbl Holley carburetors held wide open by a 17-year-old foot.
It was a midnight blue, lightweight '63 Dodge with a 426 Wedge; it wasn't a Hemi, but it was plenty quick--a much faster car than any of us kids were capable of driving effectively. The front tires were skinny, mounted on 4-in.-wide chrome rims; we jacked up the front end by tweaking the front torsion bars. The angle of the wheels looked funny, but we didn't know what camber was, much less understand its relationship to handling. All we knew was we wanted the front end jacked up and the rear wheels fitted with Inglewood slicks--the tires with the little checkered flags embossed into the rubber where the tread should have been. They probably didn't provide much more real traction than stock tires of the day, but the look was right. One thing about driving on the street on slicks: Don't try a steep driveway on a foggy day or before the dew has been burned away by the sun.
Early one morning while running a test of this vehicle, we noticed a small, blue sports car pull along side. It had open exhaust and sounded quite healthy. Our assessment was that it was an Austin-Healey fitted with a Chevy V-8, a popular conversion in 1963. They were reasonably fast, but our Dodge was capable of 112 mph in a quarter mile--this home-built Healey with two guys in it didn't have a chance.
In the interest of science, we performed an acceleration test that night. We lined up facing west into the wind and prepared for our little experiment. we noticed the little blue sports car revved quickly (a light flywheel, perhaps?) and it really didn't have that distinctive small-block Chevy sound. "You know, that thing doesn't look like an Austin-Healey," said Neil. "The fenders are real wide, and those tires look like slick road-racing tires."
That little blue car smoked us off the line and kept the lead as we punched the shifter buttons through the gears. The 4:56:1 final-drive ration and pushrod V-8 limitations stopped us at 112 mph, but the little blue sports car just kept accelerating away from us. "What was that little car?" We rationalized that it must have been a prototype or something and let the defeat slip from our minds.
Nearly two decades later, a former Shelby employee told me a story about the late Ken Miles. "One night, we were working late on the new Cobra, and Ken asked me if I wanted to take a spin in the prototype. I jumped in, and we headed down Imperial, when we came upon some kids in a blue Dodge and decided to have some fun with'em."
I never said a thing.

Article by Mike Anson, in the Oct 1988 edition of Motor Trend, from which this illustration is also taken.

HPAC Auto Show Highlights

I mean over 300 pictures! And once the batteries in the camera died, I started in on the cell phone. So any one group of photos from last week's fabulous HPAC auto show is going to be woefully incomplete. Just to give myself a frame work, I've picked a car or two from each decade from the 1930s to the 2010s.

1960s era Plymouth features big engine and plenty of speed.

1970s, part one: Winged car, one of at least five at the show.

1970s, part two: Dodge station wagon featured the classic rear seat.

Not a first generation Viper, but the sense of adventure personified by the 10 banger was definitely part of Chrysler in the 1990s.

1940s era Plymouth with plenty of bright work and looong hood.

Interior of the 1955 Chrysler 300. Do the seatbelts belong?

The Dodge Charger is a good representative of the 2000s--this is a fire chief's car.

Pair of 1930s era Plymouths.

1983 Jeep CJ--pre merger days, but the Jeep brand and vehicles would prove vital to Chrysler in the 1980s and early 1990s after the 1987 merger/takeover with AMC.

Hot pink metallic Dodge Challenger provides some of the muscle in the Chrysler lineup of today.

No doubt there will be more photos posted in other places--stay tuned.

Checking In

No, the Observer hasn't gone on hiatus, or forgotten how to post, or been eaten by Blogger. The Observer has just been a bit informationally overloaded. For example, I took over 300 photos on Saturday at the car show. I haven't published a one and I am not even sure I have edited them all. BTW, we had an excellent show, with over 160 cars registered on Saturday, and since the weather held up, I bet we had more on Sunday. I hope you had a chance to come out. Don't worry the pictures will show up in drips here and there on the net. Maybe on FB or on my photo blog or a combo of places...

The news? OMG, the news. Yesterday, we blew up two houses in the Kansas City area, one in the southland, in the 7000 block of 105th Street and one in Independence. The one in Independence, sorry to say, took a life, and may have been related to illegal explosives. Levees breached near the Missouri-Iowa border threaten whole towns with inundation--it's so odd to talk about flooding when the rain persists in missing us here in Kansas City. Meantime, the controversy about the law office building on the Plaza continues, with "Save the Plaza" folks gathering signatures for a ballot item and the city council considering ordinances that might make such an effort irrelevant. I am kicking around thoughts about preservation and development and keeping a balance between the two--to grow a city while preserving what is unique, historical and interesting in the environment.

Nationally, there has been discussion about the various "flash mobs" of young people with bad intent. The Chicago media got into it about naming the race of suspects in various mob crimes that had occurred in that city. Very interesting discussion, some of which we have covered locally with regard to the incidents in the Plaza area. Weinergate continues. So does the crappy economic news--the current government is admitting the recovery has stalled/slowed. Perhaps never started?

So that's all the musings fit to muse for now. Thanks for reading along.

You Are Invited...

Please consider yourself invited to the HPAC Car Show this weekend! Chrysler family products new and old on display--completely free for spectators. I've been going to this show since it was at Truman Corners a million years ago--it is always a fun show.

Car Show and Cruising Season Is ON!

I think Kansas City is one of the best places for old cars. Its history of manufacturing and engineering causes an appreciation for the old school around here. Couple that with weather that is reasonably agreeable to preserving automobiles--there are just a few months that driving an antique is ill advised and there is no salt air to corrode metal--and we have a feast of old autos to look at. Here are some pictures from a couple Friday night cruises at the Long Branch, 91st and Metcalf in Overland Park, KS.

For listings of all things automotive, I recommend visiting Craig Hover over at Hover Motor Co. for a run down of all things old car happening in the KC and surrounding areas. Linked here, or permanently over on one of the blog rolls to the left. He has lots of other cool stuff too.

Two dates on my calendar are the Mopar Family Reunion Car Show & Swap June 11 and 12 at the Bass Pro in Olathe, KS and UM Church of the Resurrection Car Show July 9 at the church in Leawood (137th and Roe). Also remember the Long Branch cruise every Friday night and for you MOPAR people, the HPAC cruise every third Saturday at Carver's in Olathe (135th St just west of US 69). See you at the show!

Plenty of Car Shows and Cruises Left to Go

There have been plenty of cruises and car shows this summer--and there still are plenty more to go. Despite the hot, occasionally rainy weather, there have been lots of owners bringing out their pride and joy for everyone to enjoy. I have a huge back log of car photos, so I thought I would break out some today. Even though it is just the first of August, there are signs of summer's winding down. I stopped in a Walmart today to pick up cat grub, and the back to school shoppers were already at it. So, without further ado...

2009 Hurst Dodge Challenger. Slick gold paint, special engine package (of course it's got a Hemi) and Hurst pistol grip shifter.

1962 Mercedes 190 SL. I spent most of my years under 10 rolling around on the back platform of a two seater like this one, as my parents had a 1959. That one was red with a white interior.

1962 Plymouth Fury. Set up for racin'

Another Plymouth, I believe a 1969 or around that time.

Mock up of 1970 Dodge Charger winged NASCAR racer. A really nice job on this car, very close to the original, which was driven by Charlie Glotzbach in that year.

The car in action in 1970, against another winged MOPAR at the 1970 Daytona 500 125 mile twin qualifier. Unfortunately, the driver of #78, Talmadge Prince, lost his life in the race in a bad crash. NASCAR took measures later to reduce the speed of these cars around big tracks like Daytona. Check here for more pictures of winged warriors.

So everyone have a really good Sunday and week and oh, by the way, Happy Birthday Bobby G...