Had a fantastic time last weekend at the annual C.A.R.S. Motoring Festival at McPherson College, home to the country’s only college where you can get a four year bachelor’s degree in automotive restoration technology. The show features a handful of the nations rarest cars and GM always brings out a couple of concept cars from their collection. Here are just a few os the cars that caught my eye while there.
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#carshow #mcphersoncollege #autorestoration #classiccar #vintagecar
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@mcautoresto@mcphersoncollege@carsclubmc
Another great feature of the Goodguys event in Del Mar last weekend, was the low rider pavilion. You don’t really see the level of detail executed on these cars back in the Midwest like you do in California. Between the vibrant multi color paint jobs and extensive engraving, there is so much to see when looking at each car. Additionally, there were some pretty neat mini trucks scattered about the show as well. Really enjoyed this added section to the sea of traditional hot rod, customs, and muscle cars seen at most Goodguys events.
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#lowrider #goodguysdelmar #lowered #lowlife #cruisin
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@goodguysrodandcustom
It’s a wonderful woody wagon Wednesday! It seems like people either love or hate woody wagons. I don’t really come across many people who are lukewarm on them. It’s usually “I love ‘em” or “not a fan”. I personally have always been a fan of these wagons. They make me think of the beach, surfing, or just having a great time cruising with the family. I know they can be incredibly irritating to maintain…especially with the way wood moves around with weather changes. Nonetheless, I’d still park one in my garage. These woody’s were all spotted at the Goodguys Del Mar event this past weekend. There are definitely some rare ones in the group, most notably the 1937 Plymouth! Don’t think I have ever seen one before and if my research is correct, they only produced 602, which would explain why. Then again, I didn’t catch if the Oldsmobile in the first image was a 1946 or a 1947. If it is a ‘46, they only produced 140 of them compared to a little over 1000 in ‘47. One things for sure, no matter which make or model is in these photos, they are all fairly rare. Which one is your favorite?
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#goodguysdelmar #delmar #goodguyscarshow #woodywagon #wagon
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@goodguysrodandcustom
Here is a look at some of the post-48 goodness from the Goodguys event this past weekend in Del Mar.
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#goodguysdelmar #goodguys #goodguyscarshow #delmar #hotrod
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@goodguysrodandcustom
Great weekend in Del Mar for the Goodguys event. Here is a look at some of the pre-49 goodness that was there. Stay tuned for more over the next few days.
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#goodguysdelmar #goodguys #goodguyscarshow #delmar #hotrod
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@goodguysrodandcustom
If you happened to listen to last weeks episode of the Strange Motion Way podcast (@thestrangemotionway ), Tim asked about some of the art I created while I was in college @washburnuniversity . He specifically called out the teapot project that I did in ceramic’s class my junior year. The final project for the class was to create a series a five teapots with a common theme. Of course, my theme was cars of the 1950’s, specifically tailfins. I constructed a set of ceramic teapots modeled after the following cars: 1959 Cadillac, 1957 Ford, 1954 Corvette, 1959 Chevrolet, and a 1957 Dodge. Once they were fired, instead of glazing them, I opted to prime and paint them to look more like a car. Thanks to my friends Michael and Brian, they were able to help me pull off the finishes I was after on each one. Tim had asked about photos of them, which I knew I had, but wasn’t sure where they were. It took some looking, but I finally found them on an old external hard drive. Here there are for your viewing.
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#automotiveart #autoart #tailfins #50scars #earthenware
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@rodbuilder@washburnartdepartment
Just dropped last night, the latest episode of The Strange Motion Way Podcast, featuring yours truly. Always enjoyable to reminisce with friends and that was just what I got to do with Tim and Carrie Strange on their podcast. Have known them for a long time, photographed a couple of their builds, and you can hear about all of it on this episode. I went ahead and included a picture of Tim’s ‘54 Chevrolet from the first time we met at Des Moines Goodguys over 30 years ago! Check it out if you have the time.
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#strangemotion #rodbuilder #strangemotionway #podcast #hotrod
In honor of 3/2 day, here is a photo I was excited to snap at this years Roadster Show. Here we have the original Boydster in the foreground, built in the mid-90’s proving you could actually modernize the ‘32 Ford. The car was designed by Chip Foose, body crafted by Marcel’s, and built at Hot Rods by Boyd. The car won AMBR and was driven on the Rod and Custom Americruise, which is the first time I ever saw the car in person. Also in this photo, you can see David Pillado’s period perfect stock bodied ‘32 roadster in the background. Slick black paint, fenderless, wires, and a fully dressed Flathead. A true ode to the origins of hot rodding. I love the visual contrast between the two. Both styles are magnificent, but I really enjoyed seeing the styling from each end of the hot rod spectrum in one spot.
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#hotrod #32 #1932ford #deuce #32fordroadster
Who’s it going to be today? Who is going to win the 2026 Ridler Award at the Detroit Autorama? Been lucky to attend the event seventeen times and see some folks celebrate an emotional win. I wasn’t able to locate pictures from all seventeen trips, but here are a few of the winners over the last twenty years. Who are you picking this year?
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#detroitautorama #mhra #ridler #ridleraward #winning
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@michiganhotrodassociation@hotrodshows@butchpatrico
Since the Detroit Autorama is this weekend, it got me to thinking about all the Autorama’s of years past. The other thing I came to quickly realize is how electric that event was during the early 2000’s. The car quality was reaching new heights. In 2007 Ross and Beth Meyers won with a 1936 Ford dubbed “First Love”, which was built by Troy Trepanier and his crew at Rad Rides by Troy. That car made everyone rethink what could be done to the underside of a car. However, this isn’t a post about that car, I will make one, but right now is about a couple of the other cars in that field. Those cars I am referring to could have won on a number of other years, including this year and many of the most recent years as well. Additionally, 2017 was another year that I feel the same way about. The whole group of cars in this post are all cars that participated in those two particular years.
When I worked for Buckaroo Communications, Butch Patrico and the judging crew let me tag along during the judging process. It was a great experience and an opportunity to see behind the scene. I included a couple of pictures from that occasion.
There is not enough space in this caption to talk about all of the cars, but if you want to know more about one of the cars, just let me know. Tell me, which one would you feel confident taking to Detroit to compete this year?
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#autorama #detroitautorama #ridler #ridleraward #great8
This week the hot rod world lost another outstanding car builder and all-around great person. Roger Ward of Ottawa, Kansas was not only an amazing painter and a Midwest legend, he was the first person I ever knew who actually built hot rods for a living.
When I was a kid going to car shows with my grandparents, we’d often find ourselves at the same events as Roger. He always had the best stories and the coolest cars. In the early ’90s he was a true trendsetter with his taupe roadster—a bold move away from the sea of red, black, and other traditional hot rod colors. At the time, it felt completely different, and that’s probably why it stuck with me.
Not long after, he built a chopped 1951 Chevrolet tin woodie wagon that was twice a Goodguys Custom Rod of the Year finalist, a feature car in Rod & Custom, and finished with painted woodgrain so convincing it looked absolutely real. That was the first time I had ever seen anything like it. Keep in mind, this was around 1992, so it was a pretty fresh concept. I still remember what I believe was the car’s first appearance at a show in Lawrence, Kansas. Believe it or not, I was able to track down the photos I took that day and have included them here.
He built many more cars after those two, but those were the ones that made the biggest impression on me during my formative years. Being from Kansas, it always felt like making a living in hot rods was something reserved for the West Coast. Roger proved that wasn’t true. He showed all of us that it could be done right here at home.
Years later, I was working full time for Buckaroo Communications as a hot rod photographer and ended up shooting a few of the cars he painted for magazine features. Eventually, everything came full circle when I had the chance to photograph his personal 1964 Chevrolet pickup. It was a memorable afternoon. I couldn’t help but smile when I noticed a photo of his roadster pinned up in the shop—one where I happened to be riding shotgun. It was probably just a coincidence, but it meant something to me.
I know there are a lot of guys around here who probably have similar stories about Roger. He was one of a kind, and he will be missed.
