Bill loaned me a couple videos... of the 1st Daytona 500, and the 1961 Indy 500, here are some things I found interesting

 here's the coverage that showed how hard ot was for fans to watch the Daytona race when it was on sand

 not very fun

 the #59 was a T Bird, and that is why I enjoy old Nascar, the cars were identifiable as something you could buy at a dealership or used car lot, and take racing yourself

 Helicopters over the corners

 Smokey Yunicks team was in the pits crewing on Firebalkl Roberts' Pontiac

 And these windscreen / airfoils are something I've not seen or noticed before

and in this old film, he wasn't called Richard Petty, he was call Dick Petty. More interesting than that is the nickname painted on the door, "Squirrel Jr". Richard was 22 years old

 He was in the pit row watching other cars race because he'd damaged the engine trying to keep up with the  sedans... they had a 10 mph advantage over his convertible

In the Darlington / Southern 500 he drove this Plymouth

 Dual shocks, and 9 plus leave springs

 above is a kids pedal car from the pre race parade, and it's telling t-birds to get out of it's way

and fueling was very dangerous, on the left of the screen are TWO guys with 50 pound CO2 extinguishers while the guys on the right are holding the fuel nozzle on the gas tank

 and at Indy, helmets were not boring, they had flying eyeballs, or sponsor stickers, or Dean Jeffries pinstriping

Read more...

Sarah's mom was a car nut! Here she is tinkering with her 57 T-bird, but wait til you read about the Duesenburg!

ok, not a posed photo, and I bet someone got slugged for taking a picture of her butt in the air... but a cool photo.

Get the rest of the story though, Sarah's mom bought her a Model A and started restoring it for her, around 1967, tore it apart and was getting progress made, joined the Model A club and had a great time, and then her husband died.

Sarah says the hobby probably helped her cope, and in her own words "Oh yeah she bought a Duesenberg with leather straps over the engine for $200 that was in somebody's shed, but sold it for $700. I would go with Mamma to the junkyards and was her 'spotter' for old cars, I was taller than she was...She kept saying she must have been crazy to buy it, but she had always wanted a Duesenberg like Dolores del Rio.

Yup she was pretty awesome "


wow. That has to be the only Duesy bought and sold by a mom who was into old cars. Who ever heard of another? 

Read more...

A couple famous faces and the cars they drove found on SwissStache tumblr

Frank SDinatra driving a car with dealership plates... I wonder why

 Jimi Hendrix looks like he's posing in a dealership showroom

http://swissstash.tumblr.com/

Read more...

Autobooks - Aerobooks in Burbank... the magazine and bookstore for hot rodders

 There are donuts behind the crowd in this top photo... lots of bench racing going on

 Lots of the old issues of Rodders Journal! Only 15 bucks a piece, I don't know where you can possibly find them for less (if anyone knows, let me know! jbohjkl@yahoo.com)

 Lots of the new books that you ought to get a look at to see what needs to come home with you

 They have old issues of lots of magazines too (bottom section)

 Street Rod Premiere is there! I bought the new issue because I can't find it anywhere... they even carry Hagerty Magazine!

 The issues of Church are all there, plus nearly every other magazine you've liked, heard of, and wanted

For a cool gallery of this Shelby GT 500 and the bookstore: http://justacargal.blogspot.com/2011/12/mullin-museum.html

http://autobooks-aerobooks.com/ is their website to see whats new, address and hours

Read more...