A "No Fear" Subaru Impreza from SCX.

Hi folks -- I took a nice 55 minute drive to Oxford, Ohio this morning and participated for several hours in the Porsches to Oxford event. This is the 7th gathering, and I wonder how many other events bring in more Porsches to a single place for a day? I doubt Hershey in April. Can you think of any event that gets more than 400 Porsches for a single day get-together?
I always wonder what motivates many of the folks who come however, since most of the entrants drive newer models. Is it look at the money I can spend? How about the looks of my trophy wife? (There are plenty of frumpy wives here as well!) The older cars and technical discussions are quite different than the conversations involving the crowd who bring in their newer cars, however.
For me the highlight is the great early morning ride with the top down on Ohio 725. It is a simply exhilarating drive, and I should take many more of these before the air turns cold and the pavement wet or snow covered.

I have been going with classes to John Dixon's Taj Ma Garag since 1998. This weekend is Porsches to Oxford which is tomorrow -- today's open house was a prelude to the event. The $10 entrance fee is for a worthy cause : fighting cancer. The cars are always worth looking at, although I find the memorabilia, located in cases both downstairs and upstairs to be quite interesting -- including post-WWII German radios, and printed literature.
A hot day and a good visit.

John

You know what job I wouldn't want to have?

The account executive at the agency that had to come up with all the Captain America tie-ins for Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins.

I would shoot myself rather than show up to work and give revisions back from the client to that fucking creative team.

"More/bigger swirl/blue/stars/red, white, and blue sprinkes? I'm a serious artist and don't have time for this shit. I need to make screen prints for the record store I'm entering in an awards show. Tell them no. Now leave. I was shopping on craigslist for fixie conversions and Yelping salons because my wife hates my Dave Navarro haircut."

Now THIS is great creative!

Sorry Lauren and a bit of Pablo -- you are behind the tree leaves! We had a great visit today from Ken Koontz and his 1948 Chevrolet. Thanks also to Jim for arranging this visit. And thanks to Rob for photos better than mine! 1948 Chevys are very special for me, and this on is a real beauty. The first car I remember is a car more or less like this one -- also black and with a similar interior. The dash on this car is perfect, and perhaps that is what I recall best in looking back. Certainly it was not a glamorous car during the first half of the 1950s, as far more modern designs were on the highway and in neighbors' driveways. But for me, it was special. I remember smallest of details, like the windshield wiper switch, the manual choke, the vent window crank, and the cord behind the front seat.

Those first cars of ours were very special for my generation, as we all became "car spotters," able to tell at 50 yards what year and model a particular car was. Since the cars of the 1950s had very distinctive body styles and grills, it was an important part of what became a love affair with automobiles that was/is characteristic of a number of young men, now growing old.

John

The ALMS Grand Prix of Mosport is on NOW! Live via ESPN3.com at this link.

New figures from LeMans Minatures of the Peugeot 908 HDI team.

Quite a show -- top up or top down?


I hope your wife doesn't have too much luggage!


A dash I remember from childhood.


1958 Models are by far the most rare of this bunch!

1957 Retractables outsold 1957 Chevy Convertibles!


Hi folks -- blazing hot today in Dayton, Ohio. The Retractable Ford group is having its annual meeting and cruise this week, and so I decided to stop by the Marriott where they had their cars on exhibit and a swap meet today. Some nice folks and very nice cars in the Marriott lot, but not many folks around in this heat to browse and learn about a very interesting automobile design. Great paint jobs -- and many trailer queens. Dedicated wives out sunning or under tents that provided some shade.
What was so striking is how old these folks were. Who will carry the torch once this generation is gone. Who will possess the technical knowledge to repair these cars? Younger people need to get more involved -- but rarely do they. One way is to teach a course like I have done at the University of San Diego and the University of Dayton. Car collecting is so expensive that young people just starting out, particularly in this economy, are restricted from entrance, unless they inherit cars from a family member. More needs to be done to ensure that a next generation of enthusiasts who truly appreciate the design and engineering of these vehicles and others emerge on the scene.

A new Aston Martin DBR9 from SCX. A decoration from Lime Rock Park's ALMS race in 2008.

Images cropped for better viewing.







The full inside pages.

Can't wait to see this new body revealed.

An interesting contribution from Dr. Ed Garten!!

After some research I’ve located the name of what would have been the first Ford dealership in Hinton, West Virginia and the forerunner to Garten Motors Ford. This from the History of West Virginia, Old and New, published 1929, The American Historical Society, Inc. Chicago, and New York, Volume III, p. 597.

“W. Shad Peck, has been for the past ten years the progressive and successful local agent for the Ford automobiles at Hinton, the judicial center of Summers County, West Virginia, and here, in 1918, he erected his modern garage, with an attractive sales and display room and well equipped repair department, this building occupying the site of the home in which Mr. Peck was born, the date of his nativity havng been June 1, 1892.”

A photo of the side yard of the dealership is attached and, among with a few new Ford cars and trucks, is shown the dealership’s tow truck.

I have learned that the dealership existed from 1918 until the beginning of World War II when it ceased operation. My grandfather Garten then revived the Ford franchise in Hinton in 1946.

Here are the "Tuff-Stuff" straps glued and riveted to the targa frame. Usually on the web it is said that if the straps are gone, then you are in big trouble. We'll see! Mine were almost all worn to the point where they served no real function anymore. In particular, there were full breaks at the most important points, namely those slats that are between the edge plates and the center plate. So the only option I had was to get new material, set up a geometric jig of sorts, and then put the material on myself.




I used contact cement to glue the straps on. This takes some careful planning concerning alignment, as the line on the strap indicates. Contact cement is the way to go according to a local convertible top restorer. It will stick.



I don't know if my wood jig parts were accurate enough or not, but I just used carefully measured and cut pieces of wood to attain proper alignment.

Length: 6 m (19′7")
Dimensions: 294 x 113 cm (9′6" x 3′7")

Contents:
1 Pit box control unit
1 Pit box start terminal track 360 mm
3 Electronic hand throttles
1 Standard straight with 3,4,5,6 position
4 Pit box barriers
1 Right side access track 360 mm
1 Left side access track 360 mm
2 Single lane pit box straights 360 mm
2 Single lane straights 360 mm
5 Standard straights 360 mm
3 Changeover tracks 360 mm
8 Standard curves
1 Electronic transformer
8 Tapering borders with barriers
8 Standard curve borders with barriers
3 Cars