I love swap meets. Big or small, swap meets give me a chance to see some cool stuff, and possibly buy it if the price is right. My dad raised me to go after a good deal, so I’ve been going to swap meets with him for as long as I can remember. From the good ol’ days at the Corvette Expo (when it actually had a great swap meet) to our most recent adventures, my dad and I enjoy hunting down a good deal.
I guess this can be considered a “classic” event coverage, or maybe I could say this is “from the vault”. My dad and I attended this event back in 2006 and it still stands as one of the greatest car shows I’ve ever seen. It certainly didn’t have quantity, but the quality and rarity of the cars really made up for the overall size. It was only held in Chattanooga, Tennessee for one year, and I’m glad I had my camera with me.
One of several legendary Hemi cars in attendance. It’s incredible how simple the engines were…Hemi with two big ol’ carburetors.
Lately, I’ve been hitting up a few local shows and cruise ins, but I just haven’t had the time to post pictures and blogs about them. And honestly, I didn’t have much to write about, but I figured I’d jot down a few things and post some pictures of my latest adventures. Here goes…
We drove the Camaro down to the Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia cruise in last night, and had a good time. I handed out a bunch of flyers for the Coker Cruise In, which is happening next month.
Always one of the biggest events of the year, the NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky is a must-go for folks in the hot rod industry. This year is no different, as more than 10,000 street rods poured into the fairgrounds for a weekend of the same stuff they did last year. With that in mind, it’s tough to find fresh, new cars to shoot, so the idea is to walk each and every isle to find the new stuff.
Since the NSRA opened up its limitations on model year, the show has improved in my opinion. It allows cars like this awesome Chevy II gasser into the show…even though it technically isn’t a street rod.
June is undoubtedly my busiest time of the year, especially with the Great Race, which is a 13-day affair this year. Last year, the Great Race knocked me out of going to my favorite event, the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, Kentucky, so I wasn’t exactly pleased by that. However, the dates changed for the 2012 Great Race, so it opened up Father’s Day weekend and allowed my dad and I to head up to Bowling Green for a few days.
Practiced my pan shots from my favorite spot on the spectator side fence. Long burnouts are pretty common so it’s a great place to get cool, rolling burnout photos.
Time sure does fly when you’re on the go 24/7! Seems like it was just a few weeks ago that I went down to Paradise Drag Strip for the Show and Go event, but it’s that time of year again. This year, the Show and Go came the day after the Strawberry Festival Cruise In, so it definitely made for a packed weekend for me.
Gotta love front engine dragsters! This one is super simple and very cool!
I’ve been going to the NSRA Street Rod Nationals South for as long as I can remember. It’s always held on the first weekend of May and it was once a happenin’ event with more than 4,000 cars in attendance. However, the crowd has dwindled as of late, due to a number of factors, including the age of the participants and their willingness to sit out in the sun (or rain) the entire weekend. Regardless of that, I still go because it’s a great place to find vehicles to photograph, whether it’s for my magazine side work or for use in Coker marketing materials.
The Saturday crowd ended up being pretty big…this picture was taken in the morning, but by mid afternoon, the fairgrounds looked packed as always.
All the West Coast guys have The March Meeet, which is a huge nostalgia drag racing event, but if you’re in the South, the March Meet is located in Dalton, Georgia, and it doesn’t involve a drag strip. My dad and I have been attending this swap meet and car show for the past 6 or 8 years, and it’s always been a great event, even though it has rained for the past few years. We arrived early on Saturday, and made a quick trip around the place to scope out the deals.
Loved this Model A and Ford pickup!
It’s always fun to go to two different drag strips in the same weekend. Gives you a chance to see some different cars, and a chance to experience a different atmosphere. Friday night, I went down to Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip after I got off work, for a little test and tune action. My buddy Kyle had just gotten the nitrous setup installed on his turbo S-10, so I went down to see how he did, and to see if I could get some cool pictures. Well, after some difficulties, racing would not get started until dark…not really the prime time for pictures, considering my camera gear. I was able to get a couple of shots of friends’ vehicles, and got a couple of GoPro videos too. Here’s what I got from Brainerd…full gallery of photos can be found HERE:
Kyle's S-10...body dropped, stock 5.3, ebay turbo setup, 100 shot of nitrous...ran a 6.70!
Yep, it’s official. I’m writing another book with CarTech. I had a decent breather between the Sleeper book and this project, so hopefully it won’t be a terribly overwhelming project. I’m working toward a big goal, and I have 9 months to do it, so I’m sure I’ll be busy for a while, but I enjoy the work. I hope these books fly “off the shelves” and people thoroughly enjoy them.
My first book--Street Sleepers: The Art of the Deceptively Fast Car...a new book is in the works!
With my first book being about street sleepers (how to build them, as well as more than 20 awesome examples of well-built sleepers) I decided the next book should lean a little more toward history. I’m not talking about wars, presidents or the Declaration of Independence…I’m talking about the history of drag racing. I can’t disclose too much information about the book just yet, but it will be about abandoned drag strips in the United States. I’m still laying out chapters and getting all the details ironed out, but I should be able to really get started on it when the car show season winds down a bit. The book should be fun to assemble, and I’m hoping it’ll be fun to read when it’s all said and done.
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