This morning I left the house at 7am to pick up my dad and head down to Calhoun, Georgia. With intentions of heading straight down to the Fall Paradise Show and Go, we couldn’t help but stop at the flea market in Bakewell. A quick walk through didn’t provide much excitement, but my dad bought a ’60s Sears girls 26-inch bike while we were there. Pretty cool bike. After seeing the most tricked out Mustang we’ve ever seen….EVER….we continued down the road toward Calhoun. I can’t even come up with any words to describe the Mustang…special seems to be the only one coming to mind.
This is what it's all about...packed staging lanes, packed swap meet and perfect weather!
This 28/29 Model A sedan had SOLD written on it the next time I walked by.
In my opinion, this is the baddest '32 Ford ever. The stance is perfect and those magnesium Americans are perfect for this car!
Moving on, as soon as we arrived at the Show and Go, we walked quickly to the swap meet, where we’d spend the next two hours or so. It was a packed house in the swap meet, so we made a fast lap around to see if we saw anything that really stood out to us. Apparently, skinny Chevy Rallye wheels stick out to us, because I bought a pair of them right off the bat. More vendors rolled in, so we made another lap, and found some more Rallyes, this time 15×7’s, so we bought those together…I’d take a pair to go with my recently purchased front runners and dad would take a pair to mount up on a pair of slicks we have lying around the shop. That’s all we bought, but by the time we’d thoroughly combed through the swap meet, it was time to go racing.
I love to see people lining the fence during racing...so cool.
This Nova looks so good but it never made a complete pass. It broke something just a few seconds after I clicked this shot.
Shannon Medley leaving the line with the left front in the air. Hard to believe how quick this car runs.
I love Paradise Drag Strip, and I love it when a bunch of cars fill up the staging lanes…makes it feel like the old days, even though I wasn’t there to experience it way back when. The track seemed to be working pretty well, as driveline breakage seemed to be an issue for a few folks. I watched a very nice ’57 Chevy twist a drive shaft and spit it out onto the track, and I also saw broken wheel studs on another vehicle. But by far, the most peculiar pass I witnessed came from a wicked Mercury Comet gasser. Oh, and you should probably know this gasser is powered by a 427ci SOHC Ford engine with two 4’s…pretty rare engine. Anyway, the guy obviously doesn’t mind hammering on his old car, and dumped the clutch at about 6,000rpm. I gotta say, it scared me a little. The moment the tires rotated, the car grabbed and literally jumped into the air. Not the front wheels….the back wheels! It was something I’d never seen before and I’m just glad I was able to capture the moment. While the rear wheels were in the air, the cammer screamed as it free-revved, and the car came slamming back down to the pavement with the tires spinning. He took it easy the rest of the way down the track.
At this point, I'm afraid that something really bad is happening. Fortunately, it didn't appear to hurt it too bad, but he didn't make any more passes.
After it returned to the earth, Firestone cheater slicks ablaze. Just judging by this photo, the car may have broken an axle, but I could be wrong.
Vega gasser? YEP! Definitely the first time I've ever seen a Vega with a straight axle front end.
Aside from being a wild ride, the Comet got my attention because of its details, inside and out. Another car that really turned my head was a bare metal ’32 Ford five-window coupe, which has the absolute best stance and wheel and tire combinations I’ve ever seen. This guy gets it. The chop is perfect, the blown small block is perfect…I just love this car.
This thing is fun to watch!
So, to sum things up, I enjoyed yet another Paradise Show and Go, got some cool pictures, and got a set of wheels for my Vega whenever I swap to five lug. If you want to see ALL of my other pictures from the Fall 2011 Paradise Show and Go, CLICK HERE. Another exciting day in the life of a car guy…
byrdphoto 
Great write up! It was a great day. I ordered some of your pictures and thank you for the kind words about my 5W coupe. That is my buddy Terry’s Nova who also Teams with The Hellzapopin from the Hog Mountain Garage. Terry’s pinion broke some how. It was a brand new third member so it was the last thing they expected.
Josh, I stared at your car all day, drooling over those magnesium Americans. The car sounded awesome and it looked like you made a couple of really good passes. Thank you very much for your order…I really appreciate it!
That triple deuce is gorgeous! Too bad to hear about the Nova; one of my favorite Muscle cars hands down. Also, that Vega …um… nasty? In a good way, sorta. 🙂
Haha…that Vega was definitely nasty. Thanks for checking out the blog!
Sounds like that Comet possibly had severe axle twisting, expecialy with a leaf spring set up.