On the Road to Pomona (via San Antonio)

 The Story Behind the Story:
Chick Koszis had a dilemma. He had planned to drive his ’32 roadster, “Bare Bones” from San Diego to attend the LA Roadster Show in Pomona, California by way of San Antonio, Texas. The Street Rodder Magazine Vintage Air Road Tour was the reason behind the circuitous route. After all, this routing results in a 3,000 mile trip as opposed to the more direct, 90 mile drive to Pomona. The Road Tours are always a blast, and Chick had done this a couple of times in the past, so 2011 was to be a repeat performance. Fate intervened however, and threw a wrench into his plans. His roadster was stolen while attending the Grand National Roadster Show the previous January. Obviously driving the Road Tour in June was going to be a problem. Chick and Randy Clark were discussing this sad state of affairs a few months ago and Randy came up with a brilliant solution. He said, “Heck, let’s take one of my vehicles out of the stable, dust it off, and we’ll go together!”  What a great idea, huh?

 

Chick's Missing Roadster



Randy has a “barn find” 1946 Sedan Delivery that he acquired a few years ago and had been scooting around town chasing parts and hauling feed for the dogs and horses at his hacienda. This is a solid old local driver that has gobs of bitchin’ “patina” but, “It has air conditioning already,” was the driving factor behind the choice of vehicles to take. Great – now a “PLAN” was in place! “We’ll check the car out, but it’s roadworthy already,” stated Randy.

Randy's '46 Ford Sedan Delivery (don't let the shine fool you - it was just washed!)

Well, let’s see, the old Chevy 305 engine’s a tad tired, so a new 350, 330 horse crate motor was ordered to replace it. “As long as we’re doing that, let’s put an overdrive automatic in it and we’ll go a long way between gas stops now,” was the no-nonsense next step in the PLAN. “A long way between gas stops…” Now, let’s see – I think we better put something larger than the original gas tank in it to achieve that part of the PLAN. OK, we’ve got a good ’39 Mercury tank here that’ll fit in the stock sedan location. Let’s add that so we have two tanks. What’s a Road Warrior without two fuel tanks, right? Oh yeah, we need a way to get gas into this thing.  Simple. We get a 46-48 coupe/sedan gas filler door and splice it into the sedan delivery left rear fender, and we can look stock, too. Now we have two independent fuel storage and delivery (individual electric fuel pumps) systems. Wish fulfilled.

If two fuel systems are good, let’s duplicate the battery while we’re at it. There’s plenty of room under the floor behind the passenger seat. This is too easy. Nothing can stop us now!

With the introduction of the 700R4 transmission came a challenge – the trans won’t fit very well between the stock crossmembers and the front wishbones will have to be split to allow this to happen.  Wishbone splitting parts are installed and we’ve overcome this challenge. Oh wait; let’s put modern tube shocks on in place of the original lever action versions. After all, our keesters ain’t as resilient as they used to be and this is going to be a pretty long trip. Done! This is a doggone good PLAN!

That new motor will probably blow the tanks off of the old 1946 radiator, so in goes a new one. Whew, we’re really moving on the PLAN now. Oh, oh, the motor went in and routing spent exhaust gases presented a challenge. The existing Chevelle steering gear takes up some vital real estate. Hey! Fenderwell headers ala fat-fendered gasser will route the tubing away from that pesky steering gear. Besides, Randy favors ‘60’s style gassers a lot. “Make it happen!” says Randy to Poor Richard the Parts guy. Now Chick is wondering if we’re going to run open headers to Texas and back, or are mufflers in the PLAN? He fondly remembers back to 1968 and a solo road trip from Chicago to Boston in a hopped up (301 small block, Duntov solid lifter, Muncie 4-speed) ’57 Chevy with straight pipes. We haven’t crossed that bridge yet. Stay tuned, this PLAN is evolving!

The front suspension is apart so let’s freshen up the existing disc brakes. New pads and a repack of the bearings is all we need here. Oops, those 1946 vintage steel brake lines also have 1946 vintage crud and rust in them. Let’s redo those while we’re this far. GREAT PLAN thinks Chick!!

We'll leave Escondido on the 7th or 8th of June and take a few days to get to San Antonio to join up with the Vintage Air crew, Jerry Dixey from Street Rodder Magazine, and the rest of the Street Rodder Magazine Road Tour bunch heading to Pomona.



More to come later. Keep checking back.

Day One - Escondido to Tucson, Arizona: 
The Sedan Delivery was fully prepped at Hot Rods & Custom Stuff. Signage was applied to the rear door and side panels that captured the essence of two old guys on the road with a long distance between comfort stops. The "Depends Delivery" was officially on the road this morning. 

We couldn't have asked for nicer weather from San Diego all the way to Tucson. The scenery is breathtaking in many areas, including the billions of rocks on the mountain range dropping down into Imperial Valley.

I-8 Eastbound descending into Imperial Valley

We also  saw the valley where high tension power line towers were being partially erected and then heli-lifted into place. These towers will form a new powerline stretching into and feeding San Diego county.

High Tension Tower Construction

We had breakfast in Yuma, Arizona and pressed on to Tucson, Arizona where we were hosted by Mike and Diane Edwards. Randy is building a 1939 Ford Deluxe Coupe for Mike and Diane and they graciously hosted us for dinner at their home. Mike and Diane built their home themselves and it's full of unique details that give it a wonderful southwestern atmosphere. 

We ate on the patio and were joined by a bunch of Javelinas, or wild pigs. I don't know what the proper name for a bunch of wild pigs is, so it'll have to be "a bunch". The fact that we were having BBQ pork ribs didn't faze them a bit.

Tomorrow will get us at least to El Paso, Texas.

Day Two - Tucson, Arizona to Van Horn, Texas:
We headed east again on I-10 out of Tucson and headed to New Mexico and Texas.  

Near the Arizona / New Mexico state line and west of Willcox, Arizona we saw smoke blanketing the valley ahead.  The smoke was from the Horseshoe Two fire raging in the Chiricahua Mountains. Here's what the Willcox newspaper had to say today: "The Horseshoe Two Fire in the Chiricahua Mountains was the number one priority fire in the nation last week (and two weeks prior), and, as of Tuesday, is the fifth largest fire -- currently 104,285 acres -- ever reported in Arizona, said Gerry Perry, public information officer with the Southwest Area Type 1 Incident Management Team."

Smoke from the Horseshoe Two fire blankets the valley near Willcox, Arizona.

  

The fire didn't affect traffic flow on the Interstate and we moved through with no problem. One car ahead of us did have a problem however when we got to a US Customs and Border Protection vehicle checkpoint. A drug/explosives detection dog alerted on the car when the dog and its' handler quickly inspected the exterior of the car.  The car was escorted to the side of the road for further inspection. We saw the same type of inspection later in the day and the same results near Sierra Blanca, Texas.  

We arrived in El Paso, Texas and made a stop at Barnett's Harley-Davidson to see the bike inventory at the world's largest H-D dealer. They had a TON of bikes!! Lunch at Rudy's BBQ quickly brought us back to earth. The old H-D riders' adage, "Ride to Eat, Eat to Ride" came to mind.

Welcome to the Republic of Texas!!

 We left El Paso behind and decided that Van Horn, Texas would be the lucky recipient of our tourist dollars for food and lodging tonite. Let me tell you that Van Horn has seen better days.  We knew though from the billboards that we started to see in El Paso that Chuy's Mexican restaurant in Van Horn had a special appeal They did not disappoint!  With garish facade and a Model A Ford sedan parked in front, we knew we couldn't go wrong. AND, to have the John Madden "Haul of Fame" on the premises made it all the more fulfilling. We even both had the #21 Chicken Picado, "John Madden Special" to memorialize the visit. Oh yeah, and a tacky Chuy's t-shirt met our souvenir requirements. The Chuy caricature is great. Barnett H-D even borrowed it and puts it on some of their t-shirts.  Following are some shots of Chuy's and "beautiful downtown Van Horn."

 We'll head to Austin tomorrow and local rodding buddy Norman Jones has promised us a garage crawl and a visit to the Continental Club on South Congress Street in Austin. Check back tomorrow.

Day Three - Van Horn to Austin, Texas:
We rolled out of Van Horn, into the sun, and southeast towards Austin. West Texas is BIG country. We saw plenty of signs that energy production is a big part of the economy here, besides ranching. We saw wind, natural gas and oil production equipment aplenty.  

Our route would take us through the cattle ranges of west Texas and into the Hill Country and finally to the state capitol, Austin. Through west Texas we were taken by the mystique of the formation of the countless mesa's (table tops). They came in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. We wondered how they were formed during the periods of flooding and recession of the waters.  It's also easy to see the layers of sediment that built up to form these monoliths. The sides of the road that were blasted and excavated during the road's construction showed vast numbers of layers of sediment that became rock over the millenia. 

Strong gusty crosswinds ensured that we were amused when one would hit unexpectedly. A yank on the steering wheel would be necessary to keep us on the road, let alone in our lane.  We sure weren't going to fall asleep on this stretch of road.  We continued on and got off the Interstate for the first time on our journey when we veered east on US Highway 290 to take us into the hill country and finally to Austin.

Our first stop was in Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg and the surrounding area has a strong German heritage and is loaded with shops, lodging and restaurants.

In Fredericksburg we stopped for gas and had the opportunity to have the oil changed on the '46's fresh engine. We were assisted by Rusty who did a great job of looking after our needs. "Thanks, Rusty!!"

Rusty doesn't need any supervision, but he gets it anyway.

After the oil change we got a great sandwich at Opa's Meats. It's a meat packing plant in Fredericksburg that has a deli on the premises. 

Opa's Meats

We continued on through Johnson City, the home of Lyndon Baines Johnson. 

Austin, Texas in the distance.

Finally we reached Austin and were joined by friends Norman and Beverly Jones. I've been on several road trips with Norm and he'll join us on this one as well. The Jones' took us to a great Tex-Mex restaurant that they like. Maudie's didn't disappoint. Next on the agenda was a stop at the Continental Club on South Congress Street. The Continental Club is owned by Steve Wertheimer, who is a friend of Norm's and is the force behind the annual Lone Star Roundup hot rod and custom car event. The Continental Club features three blues  bands per evening and plays to a packed house most every night. This place is loaded with hot rod, motorcycle and blues tradition. The whole of South Congress Street is alive with the different music clubs here. When they say that Austin is the "Music City" this is the source of that reputation.

Beverly and Norman Jones

We then were chauffeured around the city and shown some of the other hot entertainment areas such as Sixth Street. Sixth was jumping tonite with the sound of Harleys. Thousands of bikes will be in town this weekend for the Republic of Texas Motorcycle Rally.  They expect more than 100,000 biker attendees here this weekend.

People lined this bridge at sunset to watch the bats (thousands of them) take flight for the night.

Texas state Capitol at the head of Congress Street.

Tomorrow, Norm will pick us up and take us to a couple of shops here in town, then we'll head out to San Antonio.

Day Four - Austin Garage Crawl and Blast Down to San Antonio

Norm Jones came to our hotel to escort us to some friends' shops to see what's going on in the Austin hot rod and custom car building arena. He drove his bitchin' 331 hemi powered '32 5-window coupe. Norman and a friend built this car themselves in 70 days. He built it a couple of years ago and already has over 31,000 miles on it.  This guy knows the road, folks. (And he's a great friend and traveling companion to boot.)

"Mornin' Norman, good to see you again!!"

Norman Jones and his '32 5-Window Coupe

Norman Jones

Our first stop was the Austin Speed Shop where they're knee deep in traditional hot rod and custom projects. It's a very busy shop and they're building some cool stuff.

Our own Pete "Hot Dog" Finlan's outstanding paint work. (Pete is a San Diego/Escondido area resident and has done the pinstriping on Chick's roadster and a number of Randy's cars.)

Next on to Mercury Charlie's shop. Mercury Charlie, as the name implies made his mark by creating some extremely cool custom Mercurys. But don't try to pigeon-hole him and his shop's output into a strictly Mercury based shop, because it's not. While we were there we saw Charlie's personal Model T coupe, a '57 TBird, a '59 Chevy El Camino, and of course, a Merc (Buick nailhead powered). Charlie is a stickler for details and his cars are loaded with little tricks and nuances that are hard to pick up on, but you know that an extra tweak has taken place here and there. Charlie had loaded up Nadine, his masterpiece Merc to take it to the Classy Chassis Concours de Elegance show in Houston (see http://www.classychassis.org) which was featuring "vintage hot rods of distinction" and was headed out but was gracious enough to give us a thorough look at his stuff. Thanks a million Charlie!!

The door couldn't be opened when Nadine is on the trailer, so Charlie has to reach way inside thru Nadine's severely chopped window to get to the hood release.  This could be a real problem for guys like Chick and Randy.

No comment.

Our last stop of the morning tour was to Jason Kidd's Flyrite Hot Rods (and bikes). Jason's shop was undergoing liquidation and packing for an upcoming move to Southern California. "Welcome Jason, you do cool stuff!!" 

We bid Norman "adios" but will see him again on Sunday when he joins us for the Street Rodder Vintage Air Road Tour to Pomona.




We beat feet out of Austin and headed southwest towards San Antonio. We took I35 because it's the most direct, so didn't see any great scenery on this short, one hour jaunt. The northbound lanes headed into Austin were loaded with motorcycles heading into town for the Republic of Texas Rally. There's gonna be a bunch of whoopin' 'n hollerin in Austin this weekend, boys and girls!  The town seems to welcome the mass influx of bikers. As an example, the Denny's restaurant next door to our hotel had a big banner outside proclaiming, "Welcome bikers, hope your leather clothes are adjustable" and the waitresses had on black t-shirts emblazoned with "Bacon's Angels" logos. I hope no HA's take offense and start tearing the t-shirts off these young ladies.


We met up with Rick and Linda Love for dinner this evening. Rick is one of the forces behind Vintage Air and will be our "wagonmaster"on the Road Tour back to Pomona. Rick has pulled this duty a number of times and is a master at this thankless task. Using the term "herding cats" is oft-times appropriate to describe his situation. Jerry Dixey, who also does an incredible job in conducting the Street Rodder Magazine Road Tours deserves a huge "thank you!" in making these events so successful.  

 We had dinner at the Clear Springs Restaurant in New Braunfells, Texas. It's a very popular place and it's equipped with plenty of outdoor waiting area seating and a live band outside to keep the waiting patrons entertained.  We had a great dinner. Catfish and other southern dishes are their specialty and they do a great job of it.  

Rick and Linda Love

Tomorrow is a laid back day. We'll do some local exploring and in the evening we'll go to Vintage Air for their Road Tour kickoff weenie roast.



Day Five - San Antonio, Texas


I forgot to report on an experience that I had yesterday, so I'll do it here: When we got in the vicinity of our hotel, there were a couple of items that I needed at Walmart. There's one across the highway from our hotel. You have probably seen internet postings of pictures of people dressed in outlandish clothes as they shopped in Walmart. No sooner had I walked past the Greeter when I spotted a real live one as would be seen on the website. A dark complected black guy, about 5' 8" tall, about 20 or 30 pounds overweight, wearing a black sweatshirt (it's 95 degrees outside), and black leotards. "Holy smokes", I thought, "this is the Walmart that they take all the pictures in." I was frozen and couldn't grab my camera (in the truck), or my iphone (no presence of mind.) I can now confirm hat the "People of Walmart" are, in fact, real and not Photoshopped.


OK, on to today. We went to a little restaurant near the Vintage Air shop called "Grumpy's Mexican Cafe". I had eaten there once before and was very satisfied with the food, the service, and the ambiance.  It's a small place out in the country and they do a killer breakfast. They did today as well. Randy had egg enchiladas and he reported that they were great. His plate was clean when we left. I had pork chops and eggs. Two grilled, thick cut chops was more than I could eat. 
We spotted an appropriate sign on the wall of restaurant that read, "National Sarcasm Society - like we need your support."  I think that Randy and I are charter members.

This is the kind of response that we've been witnessing to the Incontinence Hotline signage on the back of the truck. Kinda, "Is that for real??!!!"

Outside was a small family owned and operated produce stand and it looked like they were making a killing.

Randy buying canned peaches for his wife, Peaches.

We drove aimlessly around the outskirts of northeast San Antonio for a bit just to kill some time.

Randolph Air Force Base

In the evening we went to Vintage Air for the Road Tour introductory weenie roast. Most of the people who will be our companions on the Road Tour were there to register, get their itineraries for the week and meet each other. I think there will be an interesting mix of people on this Tour.

The 2011 Street Rodder Magazine Road Tour 1955 Chevy (409 powered).

Rick Love's 1939 Ford Coupe

Jerry Dixey, Street Rodder Magazine Road Tour leader.

Chick with buddy Johnny Stanford.

Rick conducting the Drivers' meeting.

Rick Love's 50th birthday was a couple of weeks ago and coincidentally, Tom Fritz, a hot rod artist that I greatly admire, notified me that he had a new piece available.  Randy and I thought that it would be appropriate to get a print for Rick. We presented it to him at the drivers' meeting and I think that he was really surprised. Happy Birthday Rick and thanks for being such a good friend to both of us.

Rick with his Tom Fritz print, "Doing it by Ear."

Randy offering our "Best Wishes" to a birthday gal at the hotel.

In the morning we begin the Street Rodder Magazine Vintage Air Road Tour with a visit to the Alamo, and then on to our overnite destination of Alpine, Texas. We'll pass thru Langtree, and make the obligatory stop at Judge Roy Bean's bar and hall of justice (he WAS law west of the Pecos). 

Randy asked that I mention that we will be in Tucson in a few days and he's looking forward to visiting his brother, Ridge, there. 




Day Six - San Antonio to Alpine, Texas
This was the first official day of the Street Rodder Magazine Vintage Air Road Tour. We left the Vintage Air facilities in north San Antonio and made a short trip to the Alamo. Rick had arranged for two guided tours for us and it gave the event and the setting more meaningful. The first was in the Alamo History Building. Inside is a large diorama that was created by a gent with Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder. The guys wife left him and he didn't have anything better to do than create this huge (approximately 12 feet x 30 feet long) scale model of the Alamo complex grounds. All of the buildings and armament and other items are modeled in exquisite detail. I can imagine why she left him.  What's even more bizarre is that the English rock singer/musician is also obsessed by everything "Alamo" and bought the diorama, created the History Building and curatorial organization to house and maintain it. Of course, the tour that we received is a result of these strange circumstances.
Then on to the Alamo itself. We had a docent guide who would become quite animated when describing the battle. You would be guaranteed not to doze off during his lecture or tour. It really was quite informative and interesting. Well done.
While on the Alamo grounds, a Change of Command ceremony was being conducted for a Texas National Guard Unit. I spoke with some of the soldiers who were members of the unit and they told me that the outgoing commander was a direct descendant of Col. William Travis, the commander of the brigade that defended and died at the Alamo. I also thanked them for their service to our country, and they thanked me in return. Cool.

I then walked to the nearby historic Menger Hotel. Teddy Roosevelt had recruited men to join him for his campaign in Cuba and would be known as "Rough Riders." 

Teddy Roosevelt and Rough Riders display at the Menger Hotel.

After our visit to the Alamo it was on the road for our first pretty long stretch to Alpine. We traveled on US Highway 90 west through some varied terrain. There's a lot of cattle ranching done in west Texas and we saw several varieties. At Del Rio we had the Rio Grande River and the US/Mexico border off of our left side. In some areas you could literally throw a rock across the border. Not long after crossing the Pecos River we stopped in Langtry and visited the Judge Roy Bean State Memorial. Inside were Judge Bean's Saloon and Court House where he held sway and was "Law West of the Pecos." There's plenty of Roy Bean and Texas history artifacts to be seen here.

Desperado seen in the vicinity of Langtry, Vinegaroon County, Texas.

From here, on to our lodging in Alpine. One of our companions was riding as a passenger in his friend's 1936 Ford Touring Car (a four door, four passenger convertible withno windows for you uninitiated.) Frank was the victim of an auto racing accident in the distant past that burned him over a large part of his body, so his sweat (body cooling) system didn't work properly. The outside temperature was over 100 degrees, so Frank was in distress already and we still had 150 miles to go to Alpine. I asked Frank to trade seats with me in the air conditioned '46. He was grateful for the respite and I was happy to get to know Garry, the owner of the '36. Frank was rejuvenated by the time we got to Alpine.



Day Seven - Alpine, Texas to Deming, New Mexico

We have a nice variety of people and cars travelling on the Road Tour: a couple from Ontario, Canada; a couple of guys from Australia; a couple from Massachusetts; a bunch of Texans; and a smattering of us Californians (friends Jules Engoren and Bill Story from Orange County, California joined us yesterday in Uvalde, Texas.) They had banzai'd cross country to meet us and drive back. (So Randy and I aren't the only crazy ones.)
The cars are equally as varied and there's some really nice machinery represented. Jerry Dixey in the magazine's Road Tour '55 Chevy dropped out in Del Rio, Texas yesterday with car problems and was seeking assistance from headquarters.

Sounds yummy.

Texas wild porkupine truck.

Our first destination today was El Paso, Texas. We had several visits scheduled today as part of the official Road Tour, and I concocted an additional shop visit for Randy and me with a friend.  We stopped first at MSD Products. MSD is a well known designer and manufacturer of automotive high performance ignition systems. They have been experiencing significant growth since my last visit there five years ago. They've incresed their manufacturing floorspace and capacity greatly in a very large new building across the street from their original building. They fed us a very nice BBQ lunch and gave us shop tours. They even provided us assistance in the form of a mechanic, tools, and room indoors out of the sun to adjust the blower drive belt tension of one of our guys' trucks. Thanks to the crew at MSD!

Next, on to my friend Jorge Zaragosa's estate and collection. Jorge's collection of contemporary hot rods, historical hot rods, muscle cars, high performance (Ford GT40, Porsche, Corvettes, etc.) is truly world class. I'm not posting any pictures of Jorge's collection at his request. They'd water your eyes, but that's what he wanted and I respect that.


The rest of the group head out to Deming, New Mexico for our night's lodging. Randy and I were invited to visit my friend Myron Griffin's shop to see his current project. Myron is building a 1940 Ford Deluxe Coupe that he acquired from a friend.  The car had been "rescued" from New York state where it had been since new. Surprisingly there wasn't a spot of rust on the car - really. It was truly amazing. The car is exquisite and Myron's doing all of the work himself. It's going to be an outstanding car - both a beautifully crafted pice and a great driver.  Great job Myron.


We then traveled to Deming where we were joined for dinner by my dear friends, Steve and Evelyn Rieffer.  Steve and Evelyn were responsible for me and my wife Sue Ann meeting for the first time, and I'm eternally grateful. Steve is a retired federal law enforcement officer, and Evelyn is a retired nurse. It was great to see them again.

Randy trying to enter the hotel incognito when we see a lot of car repair work going on after our return from dinner.

Ronny Marshall crying the blues because his car is having vapor lock problems and he may have to consider turning back to home.

Downtown El Paso and what appears to be graffiti on the hills across the border in Mexico.

Good friends, and Deming, NM residents,  Steve and Evelyn Rieffer.

Sunset in Deming made more beautiful by the smoke from the wildfires nearby.

More Deming sunset.

One more Walmart story:  I had to replace my suitcase because of a blown out zipper so off to Walmart we go. Randy dropped me off at the front door and waited outside (more on that later). I go in the door and ask the Greeter where I can find "luggage." He's got this deer in the headlights look on his face. I might as well have been speaking Martian to him. I couls see that this was going to be bad, so I tried "you know, SUITCASES." That didn't help either. He's in his early twenties and I guess that neither he nor anyone that he ever met in his life has ever ventured beyond Deming, New Mexico so he never had the first-hand experience to know what luggage, or a suitcase, was. The even sadder part was, he turned to another Greeter, who was also the same age, asked for help with "luggage" and got the same result. Another deer caught in the headlights. Deming must hold onto its youth with an iron hand. 
OK, while I'm inside trying to find the luggage section, Randy is witnessing a local, Deming phenomena - the kids "cruise" the Walmart in their cars and pickup trucks . Not the drive-in like we used to, but Walmart. Whodathunkit??? There really is a generation gap, and we're in it.



Day Eight - Deming, New Mexico to Tucson, Arizona:


We headed out of Deming bound for Tombstone, Arizona. Just after crossing the NM/AZ state line, Rick Love pulled into a rest area with alternator problems. Randy was carrying a spare alternator so we got him up and running in a short time.  Also, Ron Marshal's car wouldn't restart after stopping and we replaced the ignition coil (Bill Story's spare) and got him going as well. 

Rick Love sayin', "Hey!"

Jules Engoren's '34 Ford Touring Car. And tour he does! Jules really racks up the miles in his tub. (And a great guy, too.)

How many guys can you get under a '39 Ford hood?

On to Tombstone and lunch, tour the town, and catch the re-enactment of the gunfight at the OK Corral. Tombstone's buildings look just like they did in the 1880's, and all of the townspeople seem to be re-enactors. Most of the shop keepers appeared to be in period attire. 

Smoke from the wild fire about 20 miles west of Tombstone.

After Tombstone we went on to Tucson and there went to a diner named "Little Anthony's". They were having a cruise night and between the local cars and ours, there was quite a good showing.

Ron Marshall missed the eats at Little Anthony's.

The intrepid Road Tourer Extraordinaire, Jerry Dixey.

Jules' tub.

Day Nine - Tucson to Phoenix, Arizona:


Even though it's less than one hundred miles from our starting point in Tucson to our evening destination in Phoenix, it was a full day. We started out by going to the Pima Air Museum and taking a guided bus tour of the nearby AMARG. AMARG is a fancy military name for aircraft storage and rejuvenation facility. It's a huge expanse of dry, Sonoran desert where aircraft are taken when they've reached the end of their service life and they're either treated with preservation processes and put into outside storage, or their parts are removed and re-inducted into the military supply system (cannibalized) to fix other aircraft, or they are cut up and sold as scrap metal. There are aircraft from every US service and from several foreign countries. It's a very interesting visit, even for non-aviation aficionados.  A major part of the tour is a slow crawl along a row of aircraft that represents a varied cross section or sampling of military aircraft from the Korean conflict era up until the present.  It was like seeing almost the whole of modern day US military aircraft on parade (except it was us in the bus who were moving.)

Yee, hah!!!

The plaque reads, "Turning Plowshares into Swords."

Next we were invited for lunch at Wild West Street Rods in Tucson. It was an interesting little shop with a couple of neat projects going on.

Next, north to Chandler, a Phoenix suburb and a visit to Squeeg's Customs. Squeeg's has been building bitchin' cars for quite some time and they've got a shop full of very nice customer projects. Include was the '34 Ford roadster that they built and won the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award with last January.  One of Squeeg's key employees is Joel Nelson who used to work at Randy's Hot Rods & Custom Stuff and made the move east based on family considerations. Joel's forte is pinstriping, project renderings, and illustrations. His work can be seen at his website:  www.1320designs.com Take a look!

Next we went to SoCal Speed Shop, Phoenix. This facility is independently owned and operated as a member of the SOCal Speed Shop franchise. They've got a great retail store with a sizable inventory of parts.

Birdstrike isn't confined to only aircraft. This one met its fate in a '59 Chevy grille.

Street Rodder Magazine Editor, Brian Brennan's Model A roadster.

 


Day Ten - Phoenix, Arizona to Los Angeles (Pomona), California:


Today was a quick blast from Phoenix (Goodyear) to Pomona. It was Interstate Highway all the way with no sightseeing trips. A few of us left at 6 am, ahead of the rest of the group, to beat the heat. 

Windmill farm in San Gorgonio Pass, north of Palm Springs, California.

Brian Brennan, Editor of Street Rodder Magazine, in his '29 Ford roadster.

Bill Story of Mission Viejo, California in his '32 Ford roadster.

Jules Engoren, of La Mirada, California in his '34 Ford Phaeton.

Trying to beat the wind into submission.

The wind through San Gorgonio Pass was as strong as I've ever experienced it. The wind really pushed the sedan delivery around a lot. It was a head wind but some strong gusts came at us at an angle and literally blew the car into the next lane sometines. It was white knuckles in Whitewater!! (Whitewater is the name of the small community here in the Pass). 
The windmills were really cranking. These machines are huge. The generator unit at the top of the pole is the size of a small schoolbus.  The blades are about 90 feet long. It's hard to get a good perspective of their size without something of a familiar size right next to them to establish a visual reference.




Day Eleven - Pomona, California and Environs:


The majority of the Road Tour group took a guided bus tour tot the Peterson Automotive Museum in West Los Angeles and theJustice Brothers Race Car Museum in Duarte. Randy and I didn't, and chose to visit some local shops instead.  
The first was the Early Ford Store in San Dimas, just a couple of miles from our hotel on old Route 66 in Claremont.  The Early Ford Store has been in operation in the same location for decades and is situated in the beautifully quaint village of San Dimas. They are a treasure trove of original Ford parts.

Next we tried to visit Jim Gordon at Antique Ford Parts in Rosemead but he was closed. He was probably setting up at the swap meet at the LA Roadster Show. We did, however, get to stop at "The Hat" for one of the best hot pastrami sandwiches anywhere. The Hat is a southern California icon in the cheap (but good) food arena. They have 10 locations in the LA area. Don't miss it if you're in LA.

Where else but in LA can you find a stretch Hummer with a Jacuzzi in the back?

Next, we went back to Pomona and visited Bobby Walden's Speed Shop. Bobby is an extraordinary metalcrafter and puts out some fantastic work. Below are some samples.

Randy and Fred Warren who's won the AMBR award in the past and is having a '32 3-window coupe built at Walden Speed Shop.

Finally, we went to the LA Roadster Show Swap Meet. The layout of the Roadster Show has changed due to construction projects at the Fairplex, but we were still able to negotiate our way through pretty good. At the end of the day, Chick found the steering wheel that he wanted for his Redux Roadster. He intended to use a wood-rimmed, engine-turned stainless steel spoked custom wheel from Speed and Chrome. Randy spotted a barely used one on a swapper's table and he wanted less than half of the retail cost. Sold!  There seems to be a pattern developing here. The steering wheel in Chick's original roadster was also an engine turned, spoked wheel of swap meet origin. Coincidence?

Steering wheel for the new roadster.

We had dinner at Mama Petrillo's with Fresno friends Ron Tanner, Richard Peters, John Langford, and Sonny Kasarian along with Whittier buddies Steve and Colette Sbelgio.



Tomorrow will be a full day at the LA Roadster Show.





Day Twelve - The Los Angeles Roadster Show, Pomona, California

The LA Roadster Show is quite a phenomenon. It's several events rolled into one. First, is the featuring of cars configured as roadsters. That means cars produced prior to 1937 with fold-down cloth tops with no integral (roll up) side windows. Next, is an area for what the LA Roadsters call Specialty cars. That means any car model (prior to 1973 -I think) that isn't a roadster. That includes coupes, sedans, convertibles (have integral roll-up side windows.
Next is a Swap Meet. It's one of the largest and most varied automotive swap meets in the world. 
Finally is a Vendors' show of their merchandise. Some folks only bring their stuff to this Swap meet over all others.


Today was spent roaming the grounds of the Fairplex viewing the roadsters on display, as well as the vendors exhibits both inside one of the large exhibit buildings and outdoors. Vendors from across the country exhibit here and it's a huge undertaking to see them all. 

The Street Rodder Magazine Road Tour tent was located in the Specialty (non-roadster) parking area and it made for a handy place to park our cars and call a home base for the next two days.

Leaving the hotel for a fun day at the LA Roadster Show.

The Street Rodder Magazine 2011 Road Tour '55 Chevy.

The Street Rodder Magazine Road Tour tent at the LA Roadster Show.

Road Tour participants' cars parked at the Street Rodder Road Tour tent.

Chick met up with friend Dave Schaub. Last year Dave drove through 49 states in 9 days in his '32 Ford roadster. He actually beat his goal and made it in 8 days. His reason for taking on this incredible challenge was to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford University Medical Center.  Last year Chick "bought" a couple of louvers on the hood of Dave's car and signed them, so Chick went in spirit on Dave's journey. In September Dave will embark on another round trip of the country in his roadster but he has "raised the bar" and will attempt to beat his time and traverse 49 states in 7 days. This year Chick repeated his contribution but put the names of his grandkids, Brendan and Briley Benner on the hood of Dave's car. Brendan and Briley were both born at Stanford University Medical Center, so there's a family connection there. 

Chick's grandkids, Brendan and Briley will lead the way for Dave this September when he attempts 49 in 7!!

Dave Schaub and Chick with Dave's "49 in 9" roadster.

Friend Steve Sbelgio had his booth inside the exhibit building explaining the benefits of the Arrowtrack GPS locating system that he offers through his shop, Eclipse Engineering (and also available at Hot Rods & Custom Stuff). Mick Jenkins helped man the booth as well and did a great job representing Steve and the Arrowtrack product. If you want to help keep you car from being stolen, and increase the chances of its recovery we encourage you to check it out. Contact Chick or Randy at Hot Rods & Custom Stuff or Steve at http://arrowtrackfromeclipse.com/

Steve Sbelgio and Mick Jenkins (black shirt at podium) at the Arrowtrack From Eclipse booth.

Friend Al Clark and a contingent of Canadians came down from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada for the show. Al drove his newly constructed Deuce roadster and reported that it performed flawlessly. Al is the owner of Deuces Northwest in Victoria and builds high quality '32's (and other models as well). His website is :  www.deucesnorthwest.com
Check out his work.  He also leads the charge on putting on one of the finest car shows on the planet, Northwest Deuce day. Every three years, the city of Victoria, British Columbia is the host to over 800 '32 Fords and other model cars. The lawn of the world famous Empress Hotel, the grounds of the provincial capitol building, and the streets lining Victoria's inner harbor hold the most impressive display of hot rods that you'll see anywhere.  The next show will be in 2013 and we're already planning our trip there. Go to Al's website to keep track of announcements on the 2013 Northwest Deuce Day. You don't have to have a '32 Ford to join in the show. Check it out, you won't be sorry.

Al Clark's fresh '32 roadster built at his shop Deuces Northwest in Victoria, British Columbia.

Al Clark driving his fresh roadster.

Chick had the surprise of his life late today. He went to Tom Fritz's booth to say "hi". Tom is a world renowned artist in the hot rod and motorcycle community. His work has been commissioned by Harley-Davidson Motor Company and other significant players. Take a look at his work at:  www.fritzart.com
Tom presented Chick with an original painting that he did from a photo of Chick's stolen roadster. The piece is exquisite, just as all of Tom's works are. Though Tom dismissed it by saying, "I was cleaning my brushes and this happened." Chick has bought prints of Tom's works for a number of years (usually at the LA Roadster Show) and he counts Tom and his wife Molly among his friends. Tom was upset by the loss of Chick's roadster and felt that this gift would help to ease the pain. He couldn't have been more right. Chick will treasure this gift forever, as he will Tom and Molly's friendship.

Tom Fritz's painting of Chick's stolen '32 Ford roadster, "Bare Bones." Typical of Tom's dramatic style.

Day Thirteen - LA Roadster Show, Pomona, California
The last day of this road trip and the end of this Blog:


Some of the Road Tour bunch left this morning to head back home - many to Texas. Others will continue on with Jerry Dixey on the next leg of the Street Rodder Road Tour to Pueblo, Colorado. Randy head home last night to be home for Father's Day with his family. Chick stayed at the Fairplex a good part of the day before heading home and here are some photos of the crowd and the cars at the LA Roadster Show.

On the way to the Fairplex, Chick took a couple of "beauty shots" of his '55 TBird in the village of Clairemont. 

Quaint Clairemont and Chick's TBird.

Chick's '55 TBird after lowering it and adding alloy wheels, ala, the Doanne Spencer car from the 1960's.

Swap meet trasures were still to be found if you looked hard enough.

Buddy Al Engel with his swap meet treasure - a 1930 California motorcycle license plate in extremely good condition.

Some other friends were still around as well.

Joe LaPorte, Escondido.

Paul Bundy, Escondido.

There were a few oddities displayed in the roadsters area as evidenced by this unique piece.

This Model T had a unique engine. No, I don't know what it is.

An interesting display was at the Long Beach Motorama booth. For last year's show, they commissioned about 11 (I think) art pieces honoring some of the iconic early custom car builders. They produced a mold from the builders' actual hand and cast them in clear glass (or lucite, I'm not sure). The hand holds something representative of the builders' claim to fame. Just a few of them are shown here.

Bill Hines and a stick of lead.

Joe Bailon and a "Candy Apple".

George Barris and his camera that made so made many of the cars built in his shop famous.

So ends our story. I can't say enough about our time on the road. The trip was outstanding from several points of view: the people, the cars, the sights, the sounds, the funny things that happened, the shops and attractions that we visited, the camaraderie, the new friendships forged and the old ones renewed. I highly recommend participating in one or more of the Street Rodder Magazine Road Tours. If you can't, create your own and you and a couple of buddies get your cars out on the road for a little adventure. I promise that you won't regret it. 
That's it for this time. Let me know if you enjoyed this report, and let me know what I can do to make the next one better.
See you on the road and God speed.