Who Had the Pink Slip Daddy?

California may have been the home of the hot rod movement, but when the Beach Boys needed a ’32 Ford for the cover of their “Little Deuce Coupe” album, they turned to a son of the Motor City.
Seems the Ford that graced the cover was built by a suburban Detroit teenager who towed the car to California to attend community college (his parents wanted him away from the car scene). The New York Times has the full story of how the car was built, and how the original owner bought it back many years later. After his death, the car went to his kids. It’s still in the Detroit area.
This particular ’32 fits the song in make and model, but the similarities end there. It may have a “competition clutch,” but it’s got a three-speed transmission, not the 4-speed from the song. And the engine is Oldsmobile, not a flathead Ford. Still, we're pretty sure it blows 'em out of the water like you've never seen. Read More

Flames Make Everything Better

This heavy Chevy parked on North Calvert has temporary Pennsylvania tags and a sweet set of flames. The flames over primer are the nicest paint scheme we've seen in a while. Read More

New Twist: Wife Forces Sale

When a guy brings up his wife in a sales ad, most often he's complaining about how she wants the car gone so she has a spot in the garage. The owner of this 1982 VW near Manassas has a new twist to the old story. He needs the car gone because his wife split and now he doesn't have anyone to pick him up when his Beetle craps out and leaves him stranded.
Not sure about the wife, but the VW seems like a piece of work. If it's unreliable enough to ruin a marriage, we'd suggest the asking price of $3,500 is a bit high. Seller says it's loud, it burns oil and reverse is going out. And judging from the long list of new bits the seller has installed, it's a fabulous money pit. So if you're looking to drive the final nail into your marriage, this car could be for you. It's got a track record. Read More

Original Cash for Clunkers

"Larry" -- Darrow Montgomery

My friend and former Washington City Paper colleague Darrow Montgomery has been digging through his portfolio and posting historic shots on the site in his "Postcards from Home" series. Darrow has been at the paper since back when newspapers made money and photographers used darkrooms. He's got stacks of amazing work on his desk. We'd buy the book.
Montgomery's favorite mode of transport is his super fine vintage Schwinn fixie, but his postcard characters more often cruise, and smash, on four wheels. Read More

Eco Special Fiat

With our recent focus on American muscle, foreign car fans might think we've forsaken them. Not so. Check out this 1971 Fiat 850 Sedan listed in D.C. The Fiat isn't going to get you anywhere fast, but we think it's better looking than any gas sipper coming off the line today. At least, you'll have an easy time picking your car out at the mall parking lot.
With a standard transmission and new brakes and master cylinder, we think this Fiat would make a great city car, as long as you don't spend much time on the highway.We love the simple black buckets and the simpler yet arrangement of the dash. More than that, we love the two-spoke wheel. Someone added an aftermarket tachometer, which makes me wonder if there has been any effort to punch up the performance. Of course, it would take some serious tweaking to get the tiny rear-mounted four to push this car over 85 (not that we would be caught dead over 70 in this thing.)At the curious price of $4,299, the Fiat isn't quite a cheap thrill, though if it sits for long on Craigslist it could easily pass into that territory. The car looks great, considering it's a year older than I am. Someone took good care of it. At the risk of offending the Fiat club guys, we're willing to say this car's hot rod potential is zero. But we'd still like to own it. A 38-year-old Fiat looking this good surely has some stories.
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Space Birds and Flying Squirrels

We spent more time watching the vintage drags at Old Dominion than checking out the car show. Still we managed to fit in a quick tour. Check out this collection of hood ornaments, both stock and aftermarket, from the show. The flying squirrel (or is that a rat?) on the radiator of this 1929 Ford Model A might be my favorite. More after the jump.

1955 Mercury

Ford T-bucket

1958 Dodge

Willys (unknown year)

1956 Chevy

1930 Chevy

1960 Rambler

1929 Ford Model A

1933 Chevy

1954 Ford

1923 Ford Pickup
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B-More Historic: Stepside Chevy

A critical look at Baltimore's historic plated vehicles. We find the cars. You make the call. Is it historic or a creative use of Maryland's historic plate rule?

Today's entry is a stepside Chevy work truck. We spotted this historic driver cruising in the rain near the Inner Harbor. The bed was full of shovels, rakes and other landscaping implements.
Here at Rumblenote, we applaud owners who aren't afraid of getting their classic cars dirty. It would be a shame to keep a piece of history like this locked away in a heated garage.
What say you: historic or clunker?
Sorry for the bad image quality. If you think it's hard to drive and text message, try shooting a photo at the wheel, even if you're stopped at a light. Read More

Slingshot Dragster Burnouts

My ears finally stopped ringing after getting a little too close for this video at Old Dominion.
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Nostalgia Drags at Dominion

If you're the kind of car guy who thinks petrol heaven is a MG and a funny wool hat, this might be a rough week for you at Rumblenote. We've just returned from the nostalgia drag races at Old Dominion in Manassas, Virginia. The drag strip opened in the early '50s. Many of these cars and characters have been racing at Dominion since the beginning, when the strip was dirt. Check out the photos.






















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Elon Musk: Yes He's a Dick

If you can't tell from the cut of his collar and the silly vest, last week's New Yorker profile of Tesla Motors' egomaniac CEO Elon Musk confirms that that the man truly is an ass. Musk seems to think he's a genius wandering around planet retard. Since this has been told in a variety of Elon profiles, we're wondering why the New Yorker took him on. My guess is so writer Tad Friend had a place to use this awesome sentence:

"It troubles Musk that while few people know that the world's oil supply could plateau by 2020 and run out as early at 2050, nearly everyone knows that electric cars suck."

We'd love to see electric cars succeed, especially if they turn out like the hi-po Tesla roadster. But we'd also like to see Musk go the way of John DeLorean.
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Rick the Gearhead

Speaking of my buddy Rick, here's a story I wrote about him a few years ago in Roanoke:

Early on a Saturday morning, Rick Butterworth stood in a junkyard on Bent Mountain and stared at rows of scrapped cars rusting slowly into the mud. Butterworth, who restores vintage cars at his shop, A.A.R. Restorations on Shenandoah Avenue in Roanoke, was searching for parts for a customer's 1972 Dodge Challenger that has its front end bashed in. Read more and watch the video. Read More

Races/Show This Weekend in Manassas

The second annual "Cars and Stars" drag race and car show is going on Sunday at the Old Dominion Dragstrip in Manassas. If it's anything like last year, it'll be the best classic car show in the D.C. area. That and some sweet vintage racers buring up the strip in the nostalgia drags. Plus a bunch of guys from the Drag Racing Hall of Fame. We'll be there with a camera. Read More

El Camino: A Car Worth the Cash

I've been complaining all week about overpriced Chevys, so it's time to focus on the positive. Sweet cars are still available priced at less than half a new Toyota. This 1965 El Camino for sale in Northern Virginia is case and point. At $6,900, it's a bit beyond cheap thrill territory, but by the looks of it, this clean machine is worth every penny -- probably more. Appliance white with a red interior can't be beat in an old Chevy. The body on this one looks perfect -- at least camera perfect. We love the plain Jane dog dish hubcap look, especially since the El Camino has a hopped up 327 under the hood, not a six.
From what we can see, the interior looks as clean as the exterior. Under the hood, the Camino looks "well sorted" as they say in the English magazines. Yet no one, not even Brits, talks this way about El Caminos, which is why the price is as low as it is (if you could find a Chevelle this nice, it would probably cost you double, which is a lot of cash for a back seat).

El Caminos may be less desirable than Chevelles, but they are just as fun (more fun if you need to take a run to the lumber yard). My friend Rick Butterworth, a restoration specialist turned drag racing historian in Roanoke, Virginia, let me borrow his '69 several years back when the tail lights failed on my Volvo. It had been many years since I sat in a vintage Chevy maneuvering a Hurst 4-speed. The quick drive to the parts store did much to spark my memory about how much I love American muscle. For under $7,000, this one is going to make a local gearhead very happy. I predict it will be gone in a week.
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Chevy Pickup: $20,000, Shirts Extra

If you live in Michigan, you don't need to attend the Woodward Dream Cruise to ogle fine old rides. During the summer months, you trip over them, even at garage sales in the sticks. But perhaps even more than elsewhere, Michigan folks love their cars and tend to think they are worth serious cash, even if they are just a 1950 Chevy Pickup.
Not that this Chevy, which was seen in my hometown doubling as a clothing rack, isn't beautiful. We'd love to own it. It's just that we don't think it's worth the $20,000 they were asking, even if you threw in the house it was sitting in front of.
The truck has a rebuilt 350. The body seems solid, although the paint has the telltale runs of a DIY home garage job. We wouldn't feel good if we took this one home for $10,000. But value, after all is in the eye of the man with wallet. The truck is worth a buyer will pay. All I know is what when I left town on Sunday, the truck was still sitting in the driveway.
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Memorials: Rolling With the Dead

It hasn't reached the popularity of the memorial t-shirt, but the rear window remembrance of the dead seems to be picking up speed. We've noticed it recently on cars ranging from this DC ghetto rod to a North Carolina white guy SUV. Not sure what we think of it.
If the dead guy is the p.o. of the particular hot rod, or if the ride is your dead uncle's dream car, it seems like a fantastic idea. But for the majority of the motoring public, which views cars as on level with washing machines, it seems like not much tribute at all.
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