Hinson

King Pontiac Car Show

Oct 042010
 

Sunday started out as usual with a visit to the Shady Grove cruise-in at Shady Grove road and Crabbs Branch Pkwy, in Gaithersburg. About two dozen cars showed up which was a good considering the clouds were closing in and some of the regulars were down the road at the King Pontiac show.
One of the cars was this beauty which is put together from about five different cars of various years. Turned out quite nice if you ask me. Another that stood out was this restored Caddy convertible. Everyone ooooed and ahhhhed as
it pulled in and were amazed at the size of the trunk space. You can see more of these cars and others from the cruise-in here.


After leaving their I decided to check out the show at King and was glad I did. The place was packed but the first car I saw when I pulled in was a Yellow Pontiac Catalina 2+2. I had seen the car previously that morning as I rode down interstate 270 and it was beautiful, just cruising down the highway. Clean, low and sleek, beautifully restored and the owner says he owned one just like it in his younger days. That being said though, the ‘Best of show’ title (in my humble opinion) was this 1965 Buick Riviera. which stood out from all the rest. Photos cannot do it justice but I tried. You can see the results in the Art Gallery. While you are there, check out my version of this nicely restored GTO convertible. All in all, Sunday turned out really nice for the car crowd. If you’ve not visited the Shady Grove cruise-in or have not been to the annual King Pontiac show, you’ve missed out on seeing some really nice cars.
You can see even more images on Chucks site at http://www.cruisein.us or Harry’s site at www.flymall.org
Well, so much for now. See you at the show ……

Motorcycle Sidecars

Oct 012010
 


Some interesting images came across my desk today and I thought I would share them. I never realized folks were into customizing sidecars like this. Above you see what appears to be a Vespa scooter teamed with a side car that looks like a classic VW bus. . Must be British since the sidecar is on the driver’s left. Check out this album to see more strange and exotic sidecars.

Karb Kings Car Club

Sep 292010
 

Last weekend I attended the Karb Kings car show in Dundalk, Md. From what I understand, this was their second ‘annual’ show and definitely one I will put on my ‘must see’ list. I arrived around 10:30 or so and the place was already jumping. The show takes place at the Moose Lodge and every parking space around the building was already filled. Fortunately, they have made arrangements to use the baseball field behind the building so they were lining them up on the field.By the time I left around two hours later, their were aprox. 400 cars registered and a dozen or so motorcyles. The first car that caught my eyes was a fully restored 1956 Chevrolet with matching numbers. I thought this would be my personal ‘best of show.’ (Ok, I”ll admit I’m biased toward ’56 Chevy two door hardtop convertibles). That thought continued until I saw one of the most beautifully customized 1951 Chevrolets I’ve ever seen. You can see my portrait of it here (last image) and more photos of the show in our photo section. There are three albums in all. Be sure to browse them.

Wow! What a Wonderful Weekend

Sep 212010
 

Well folks, I made it back from the North Carolina without one single ticket. (last time I went through that state I got a ticket coming and going) The weather could not have been greater for a sunrise wedding ceremony. The photo above will give you some idea of the sunrise Saturday morning but you would have had to have been there to really appreciate it. Everything went off as planned and it was a great ceremony.

And to make it even better, I found a gear head paradise in Moyock, North Carolina. This place is a car restorer’s dream town. While riding down, I could not believe my eyes when I noticed a field full of antiques and classic project cars at a place called Moyock Muscle Trucks and Cars Classic Restorations. I made sure to stop and get some photos on the way back. There were rows and rows of cars just waiting for the craftsman’s touch to restore them to their original beauty.

Just down the road from Moyock Muscle was a monster truck shop with a number of trucks outside. I never realized just how big those things were until I stood next to one of them. Check out the photos and be sure to check their site for restored versions of many of the cars.

The world’s rarest automobile

Aug 252010
 
The world’s rarest automobile. A 1954 concept old’s Rocket F88 – the only one in existence. (read the story below) John S. Hendricks, (Discovery Communications

founder) paid in excess of 3 million to acquire.
I hope you enjoy!

1954 Oldsmobile F-88 Convertible Concept Car

After spending decades as a collection of parts stuffed into wooden crates – the F-88 was reassembled.
In 1954 – the F-88 was a Motorama “Dream Car” and was one of only two – or an unconfirmed possible three ever created. The F-88 seen here is literally the only car left of its kind – and was sold to John and Maureen Hendricks at the

prestigious Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona for an

unbelievable $3,240,000. This acquisition made automotive history and is the

“cornerstone” of the Gateway Colorado Automobile Museum in its own special room

in a rotating display worthy of the F-88!

















Living Room or Garage

Aug 242010
 


Where would you expect to find the above piece of art. A museum, living room, den, or any of the above? Well, in either case, you would be wrong. This past weekend, I went with a friend to the Jimmy Cone Cruise-in that takes place in Mt Airy, Maryland. While walking around admiring the many cars, I ran across Chris Dunlop. Chris (who goes by Pinstripe Chris)is a young man with the fantastic ability to take ‘Sharpie’ markers and create artwork like you see above. Now match Chris, Sharpies and a 1985 Pontiac Fiero (one year older than Chris) and you get some interesting art.

Until May of 2010, the car, was black with Real Fire on the front end.
Chris had equipped it with VW wheels painted black and it looked real nice. By then, Chris had built a reputation for his artwork and pin-striping and back in March one customer had even flown him to the West coast to do his car. Chris had been inspired by the art of Jona Cerwinske (his mother a globally recognized art historian and grandfather creator of Betty Boop) so it ended up being a ‘Sharpie’ Cadillac. Chris liked the end result so much that he decided that it was time to update his own car to promote this style of art. (Sharpie art is a ‘you gotta see it to understand’ kinda thing) so telling folks about it just didn’t work. Chris had the following to say about the change:

“I considered alot of colors before going with Flat White. I did all the prep and paint myself. It took me almost 2 months to get started on the artwork after it was painted. I don’t have any formal art training exactly… but this isn’t a terribly complicated process to go through. I don’t have any sort of plan, i just make it up as i go. There are things i like to throw in (like car parts) to keep it interesting. You do have to get every line on the 1st try since there is no erasing or going backwards- your committed to every single line. So plan; no. Imagination; yes. I did incorporate the Lamborghini logo on the hood just so people would ask why i threw that in there; so i could explain that i am not the originator of the sharpie-on-car idea.
That Lamborghini was my inspiration to do this and as far as Im concerned, is the 1st and best one out there.”

Chris also does airbrushing, traditional free hand pin-striping, gold leafing, lettering and refinishing in addition to the sharpie art. Do remember this young artist should you need artwork on your car. You can see more of his work on his site. http://www.pinstripechris.com

Laytonsville Cruise in, Aug 6, 2010

Aug 072010
 

WoW!!! What a night! Friday night was our biggest night ever with over 70 cars attending. It seemed like a never ending stream of beautiful custom, vintage, classic and antique cars. The parking lot was packed and some folks were driving around a few times and leaving due to lack of space. I would certainly plan on getting there by 7:00pm or earlier. We had a number of new cars this week and met some really great gear heads. The Laytonsville Cruise-in is rapidly becoming the go-to spot for Friday night car-watching. Once again this week, the guys and gals from the Laytonsville Fire Dept. joined us with their cooker,

smoking up some great burgers and dogs. Be sure to stop by their table and drop a buck or to in the post for the “Minnie” restoration project. “Minnie” is the department’s vintage firetruck. It looks great now but with your help it will be fully restored to its original beauty. Well, so much for now. Be sure to check out this weeks image album.

The Master of Blaster

Aug 022010
 

Lyn Hudson of Gaithersburg, has got to have the most unusual ’41 Willys around. The car is built on a square ‘bar stool’ frame enclosing a 49cc Honda engine. I first saw

the car at the Burtonsville Cruise-in and knew that I just had to do something special with it. I then promptly forgot about it until last Friday when I saw Harry and

Pat Kramer (Flymall.org) scooting around the lot at the Laytonsville

Cruise-in. The car, purchased in China, came to Lynn in less than

perfect shape. Lyn went to work soda blasting away and transformed a gimmicky toy into an eye-grabbing advertising tool that he uses to advertise his soda-blasting business. (TheMasterBlaster.com).
The body is a copy of a 1941 Willys which we are all familiar with. The 2010 Corvette yellow paint w
as done by Dale of Auto Body Dimensions and the red flame work was handled by Neal Owens of Rocky Ridge Md. All in all, it is a great idea and really gets the attention of everyone around. You can see more images in our photo gallery.


Urbana Fire Dept Car Show

Jul 202010
 

Last Sunday, I attended the second annual car show, put on by the Urbana Fire Dept, in conjunction with the ‘Golden Gears Car Club of Frederick County Maryland.’ The sun was out, the weather was hot but that didn’t stop the gear heads and automobile aficionados, who came to look at and show off some of the most beautiful cars the area has to offer.







If you like cars, then you definitely need to put this show on your calendar. See more

Catching Up

Jul 202010
 



Wow! What a busy couple of weeks it has been. Lot’s of shows, hundreds
of photos, way too much rain and more. I promised myself and some others

that I would try to get everything caught up this week. First I want to

start with a show that I attended in Brookville Maryland a couple of

weeks ago.


Held at the Longwood Community Center the annual show draws cars from as far away as Pennsylvania. It is a mixture of antique, classic, rods and customs (the latter being my favorite). You can see some of the cars in their album on our site.


Later that day, I drove over to Gaithersburg, Maryland for the annual
Sheehy Ford of Gaithersburg show. Even better than last year, the show featured a great mix of Ford vehicles, old and new, from Rods to classics, Muscle cars to family sedans. There was plenty of food and drink and the show made for a great family outing. Their album will give you an example of just some of the beautiful cars that were there.



Last weekend, the cruise-in at Laytonsville was jumping even more than usual with the addition of the Laytonsville Fire Dept and their cooker, dishing out some great burgers and franks.


We had a great attendance and according to the ‘official statistician,’ there were 22 new vehicles in attendance in addition to the regulars. Definitely a go to spot for Friday evenings. The cars start rolling in around 6:00pm and start pulling out around 8:00pm. One of my favorites last weekend was this 1957 Chevrolet ‘Shorty’ wagon which appears to have had about 2 foot of car cut right out of the middle. I didn’t get a chance to talk to the owner but would love to find out just how they pulled this off.


Another winner was this

beautiful 1960 Chevrolet 2dr hardtop convertible. Needless to say, the bright red paint makes this car a definite stand-out at any show. Beautifully and meticulously restored, it was a pleasure to see. Check out the album to see more but for the best view, show up any Friday night between 6-8pm.

 Older Entries