The Kliche Koupe - Part 1

Back in '08 we were at an impasse. We had two cars and nothing was getting done on either. I hated hers and she hated mine and they both just sat in the driveway, languishing, neglected. We resolved to just sell 'em both and buy something agreeable to both. something to have some fun in. So we unloaded the two and took a seat in front of the computer to brows the classifieds. I KNEW i had to let her have more than just a little input in the buying process, but i was more than astonished when, while browsing, she stopped me, pointed at the screen and said. "That's it. Call him and tell him you'll take it."

What had caught her attention was a 1952 Chevrolet coupe. It had all the cliche trappings of the era: rat rod black paint, red wheels, radial whites, mexican blankets covering bare seat springs and on and on. I contacted the owner and he provided me a link to a photo gallery which chronicled the work that had been done on the car. I could see a rebuild front end, small block Chevy, Turbo 350, 10 bolt rear end and all that jazz. I could see a lot of new parts and the car was overall straight. It was just what i was looking for; a driver that i could improve over time.

We brought the car back from Taft to the South Bay and after giving it the once over i was pretty stoked on the buy. We drove it and worked out a few of the kinks, but the spartan interior treatment left much to be desired. So off it went to Santy's Upholstery in Hawthorne, CA for a nice pleat job. he built the interior from scratch including the carpets and door panels. Big thanks to Bob at Owen's Salvage in Texas for supplying the rear seat frames and headliner bows. We knew that the car would stay black so we decided to keep the red and black theme.

The bare wheels were a little too much so i located a set of spider caps and a set of inner and outer trim rings to give it a more finished look. At this point we had a pretty solid and presentable driver, and drive it we did.... while we plotted our next phase of attack.

The Robert House Fleetline

As far as this body style is concerned, this car is pretty much IT. Being that i have one sitting in my driveway awaiting something similar, i was pretty stoked to find the owner, Robert House, chilling by his car in the early hours of the GNRS 2012. I asked him a few questions which he was more than enthusiastic to answer. He's a down to earth guy with an uncanny taste in cars. almost more important, was that this was the first time i was able to get up close and personal with the car and take some quality detail shots. This car is so perfect in so many ways, its kind of hard to put your finger on it. It blurs the line between kustom and low rider but leaves no doubt as to the owners intent. It really is a fine piece.

Grand National Roadster Show 2012

Well, its that time of year again, time for my annual pilgrimage to Pomona for the Grand-daddy of all car shows, the Grand National Roadster Show. This was my first attendance without a car parked on the grounds so I attended as a blogger; get in, get pics, get a sandwich, get out.

As usual the show looked just like it has every other year; plenty of well finished cars, plenty of related and unrelated vendors, plenty to look at and plenty to spend on.

I must admit, I'm pretty much jaded on car shows as a whole, but even still, this one keeps me coming back year after year. Maybe its the sheer volume of automobilia in one location, maybe its the wide-eyed dreamer in me, maybe its the familiar faces and familiar fenders, but no matter what it is, for me at least , the GNRS is worth it every year.

I got there at a little before 10 on Saturday morning with a freebie ticket that I got from my O'reilly rep, walked to the gate and right on through. My approach to car shows in general is much the same way i approach a trip to the mall; stay on task, execute the objective, then take in the scenery. The opening hour is always surprisingly lacking in congestion. So armed with my cell phone camera I moved as fast as i could through every square inch of the property to try and snag as many photos as i could without having to battle the ubiquitous, oblivious lookie-loo. I spent good portion of the morning resetting all my adjustments after a master reboot of the phone the day before. What follows is what turned me on.

Truth is, there is so much about ANY show that I don't care about, this one included. but there is ALWAYS enough to get my attention. Enjoy.

Click Here For GNRS 2012 Photos