12 thoughts on “American Chrome”

  2. The cars were absolutely splendid, and the paint jobs and chrome on them were a wonder to behold. My late dad would have loved the event, and been drooling over each and every one of them. Everything from a Model-T, to roadsters, a Willys jeep, a fire engine, a number of pick-up trucks, and even a hearse, all done up for Halloween. More pics here – for the vintage motorheads among us.

  3. We quite often get classic car runs around here. I’m not a car nut but I do enjoy these events. In particular some of the old vans, lorries, and buses with restored advertisements promote a warm feeling of nostalgia – often for an era that I never knew.

    I’ve also enjoyed an exhibition of old farm vehicles: seeing 19th century steam-driven tractors puffing past is an eye-opener. But not too open: beware smuts from the coal-burning.

  5. Sigh. I think there is nothing much left of Hellenikon that I remember – not even anything of the base facilities. And nothing of the area around. I’ve looked on Google street view; the apartment building where I lived still looks the same, but nothing around it looks familiar in the least.

  7. Mike – why you don’t see as many or what went away? For awhile they were a favorite to wear on a chain. Had mine stolen 2x.

    Sgt Mom – saw the funniest picture the other day – the same greyhound (different car) with a little knitted sweater on him. Too bad we can’t post pics here.

    Dearieme – you would love this museum we have out in Woodland http://www.californiaagmuseum.org/

    Did you know that Caterpillar Tractor actually started in Stockton CA? There is a Benjamin Holt drive there.

    Sgt Mom – every Summer the California Auto Museum sponsors a drive for car enthusiasts – and you talk about an eclectic group – everything from Ferraris to old Cobras to 23 t roadsters to … anything with 4 wheels.

    The Porsche 356 group is big there – picture seeing 30-50 Porsche 356 cars.

  8. “The Porsche 356 group is big there – picture seeing 30-50 Porsche 356 cars.”

    My wife’s grandson and his uncle run an incredible classic Porsche restoration business in LA.

    If you see a restored 356 they probably did the restoration.

    This is their web site.

    They spent last week moving the shop from one building to another, larger one. I was there last spring and they had about 30 classic Porsches in the shop in various stages of restoration plus a wall full of large body parts hanging and waiting to be used.

    I’d hate to see their insurance premium. One of their cars is worth $ 1 million.

  9. Mike – it wasn’t until I was about 40 to put “practicality” on 2nd burner and get interesting cars. Life’s too short.

    In 1972 about to graduate from UVA I turned down a friend’s faded red 1962 356B for a new…..Ford Pinto. He wanted $1200 for it, and I didn’t like the quarter sized bit of surface rust on the rear fender.

    Today, restored, that car is worth about $200,000.

    I know because God, or somebody – made sure I got to talk with the owner of a nice red 1962 Porsche 356B in a parking lot at the market a few months ago ;-)

    Don’t know if it would have made a difference though – 6 months later I was drafted and in the Army.

    Speaking of which – wish I could post a picture here – but I just got back from Oregon and saw on I5 someone driving a nice ~1960 (single rear grill) Cabrio up to WA. Pretty cool driving your 60 year old car on a big trip!

  10. “The Porsche 356 group is big there – picture seeing 30-50 Porsche 356 cars.”

    When I was in high school, a friend’s brother-in-law sold a 1952 Porsche- with a VW engine.

  11. “When I was in high school, a friend’s brother-in-law sold a 1952 Porsche- with a VW engine.”

    Although the Porsche purists will deny this, that’s pretty much what the very early ones were. With a few slight changes. In fact, when I test drove that 1962 356, I was not very impressed. I was used to my 275hp 327 Camaro for performance.

    But if your friend had the original numbers-matching engine….

    Speaking of which, the hot engine swap for a VW bug in the 60s was to install a later 356 engine. Had a school friend whose Bug sucked a valve on the Grapevine – a small mountain on I5 that rises 4500′ – in the old days you’d see steaming cars off to the side – anyway he found a 356 engine in a wrecking yard and fellow Bug drivers couldn’t understand why he was flying up that grade ;-)

  12. Speaking of which, the hot engine swap for a VW bug in the 60s was to install a later 356 engine. Had a school friend whose Bug sucked a valve on the Grapevine – a small mountain on I5 that rises 4500”² – in the old days you’d see steaming cars off to the side – anyway he found a 356 engine in a wrecking yard and fellow Bug drivers couldn’t understand why he was flying up that grade ;-)

    Love it! So you don’t need a Hot Rod Lincoln to navigate the Grapevine. I’ve been up and down the Grapevine as a passenger a couple of times, though the last time was in ’82.

    The father of a childhood friend drove Porsches for 40+ years. When the time came for my friend to get some driver training, her father took her out in his Porsche. One time. The first time on any gearbox can be a problem for a novice driver. From then on, she learned to drive on her mother’s Buick. He was a kind, tolerant sort, but not when it came to proper treatment of his Porsche.

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