Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Almost Time for a Ford Overload!

Just two more days to get through in this insane muggy heat, then we're off... to roam around for two days in the insane, muggy heat. But we'll be at Carlisle so that makes it fun, right?

Well of COURSE it does! Thousands of cars to admire and appreciate, a display celebrating 40 years of the Bronco, a collection of Ford police vehicles... and a whole lot of guests and other special collections. We won't be there until Saturday morning but we'll spend the whole day and probably come back Sunday after we hit the flea market. (About the only thing that can drag me away from the car show; besides, they have tires there and we wanna price-check. So it's related.) ETA: Flea market site has been razed! Anybody wanna buy a backhoe?

I am SO glad we reserved a room when we did! (Had I been thinking ahead a bit more, I'd have booked one for Friday night as well, so we wouldn't have to hit the road by 6AM Saturday morning.) There are none in the area, except a few at exorbitantly jacked-up rates... come on, $115 for a night at the Super 8 Motel? And they sold out! The ritzier places still had some rooms 2 weeks ago ($250 and up) but if that was our only option we'd have either come back home Saturday or found a place to camp instead. We paid a little bit of a markup (about $20 more) booking over a month ago but I learned that most regular showgoers book their rooms six months to a year in advance. Since it's a set date, you know the hotels already factor in the markup for the weekend. I just can't plan that far ahead... most of the time I can't plan as far as next Saturday without having someone call me on Friday night to remind me what I'm supposed to be doing.

Anyway... The Husband and I just browsed through car show photos for half an hour and we are totally pumped and ready! I hope somebody has a Ranchero GT this time. Though I'll be happy with a late-50s model. Here's hoping! Check back next week for a recap and photos!

Monday, May 15, 2006

More Car Pics

You know how your saliva glands go nuts when you eat something sour right after something sweet and your mouth just fills instantly with drool? This past weekend was like that. I'm recharging my drool glands right now... here's why:

This is the lowered Chevy I mentioned in a previous post. This lot also had a bronze & cream '57 Chevy Nomad wagon in the showroom.

They don't make grills like this anymore! Mmmm, chrome....

Not a classic per se, but one of my favorite trucks. Particularly the V-10 version used to haul out the first Viper R/T in the same color scheme. I built a model of that truck. Nicest looking "modern" Dodge pickup, in my opinion.

For sale between Reading and Hamburg on Rte 61. Love the two-tone paint!

Three portholes... not the top of the line, which had 4... actually I didn't look at the other side, cause if there was 4 on the left fender I was SO outta there. I did keep my distance from the trunk... oh, just read the book, you'll understand! ("From a Buick 8")

The Olds Super 88 whose grille is posted above.

My own highlight of the evening: Look at those lines! Look at that chrome! LOOK AT THOSE TAILFINS!!! *end hyper mode* Oh, if I could buy a Caddy, this would be the one. Sigh...

Of course, there were some abandoned/neglected cars too. I'll post those next time, don't want to ruin my feel-good moment right now. Enjoy!

Monday, May 01, 2006

Random Car Pics

Some random photos taken recently:^ Dark blue Trans Am WS-6 convertible. Just dreaming here... 7K miles, for sale at Viking Motors on Rte 11 outside Norry.
^ Mazda I really liked. Costs too much, but nice styling.
^ The new Toyota. Ooh so pretty!
^ Buick for sale locally. I read From a Buick 8... *backs away*
^ My hubby's favorite new car: Muskrat GT. In blue, of course.
Just slowly rotting away. Sad.

Weekend Retread

One of the things I don't like about city throughways is that when we see a nice old car, we're going by too fast to get a picture of it. I try, when possible, to get permission to take pics from the owners. However we were in traffic and couldn't stop or turn into a lot to see the parked ones without risking an accident. (Some photos coming later; Blogger is acting up and won't load them.)

Yesterday would have been a photo bonanza! We counted at least a dozen, including:
  • Dark blue early 60s Vette, and a slightly later green Stingray
  • Yellow and white 57 Bel Air
  • Mid-70s Caddy convertible, triple black
  • Lemon yellow late 60s Buick Skylark
  • Blue/white stripes Chevelle SS (for sale! major drool)
  • Black 58/59 Impala or Bel Air, rusting in a row of junkers, only saw the tail sticking out
  • 70s Cutlass, silver
  • Teal 64 Impala lowrider (er...um... hey, it was old)
  • Blue late 60s Firebird
  • Late 60s Barracuda coupe, dark green
  • 63/64 Nova, bright red, in a showroom window (drool!)
As far as sightings it was a great weekend! But not a picture could we get. Fooey.

I've been trying to get a list of car shows in the area, since it seems like we miss quite a few except the major ones. And sometimes we miss those too. Love to see more, and maybe take the Buick out for a drive...
If you know of any shows, cruise-ins, fundraisers, etc. in Central/Northeast PA, please drop me a line!

Moving on...
We spent most of the day yesterday on Car Hunt 2006.
  • I still like the Mazda 6, 5, and 3, in spite of the fact that those odd-sized tires are hard to find (and not cheap either). However the three we found were out of range or dinged up.
  • Found two 05 Corollas, both blue, one base model and one LE. I have to call and find out if the LE has cruise control because according to Edmunds it was optional, not standard. With the highway driving we do on the weekends CC is nice to have.
  • I don't care for the new Chevy Cobalt coupes. They look too much like their predecessor Cavaliers, which I never really liked style-wise. But we saw a sedan that was pretty nice and discovered we could afford a brand-new one, so I went digging around... the reviews were not all that great. It's basic cheap transportation. Ironically, one review said if you're looking for a good quality, dependable go-getter, buy a Corolla instead. Ha!
  • Then we stumbled on a lot full of Impalas and Malibus. I fell in love with a Malibu Maxx SS but the 27K price tag put me off right quick. The standard Malibus were neat but the interiors were all tan and very flat and cheap looking. There was a blue 05 Impala I really liked, and the price was right... reviews are so-so but on the other hand everyone I know who has one loves it. The interior was much nicer than the 'Bu even though it was a base model. May call on that one too. (They also offered 3.9% financing, which we should easily qualify for.)
  • Note: All the cars I liked, with the exception of a toad-green Subaru, were medium/dark blue. After looking them all over I was reminded of why my dad would never buy a dark blue vehicle; even minor scratches really show up. Guess we'd have to get some more Meguiars...
  • Note II: "No Haggle, No Hassle" dealer means "What's on the window is what we want. Don't even ask us for a better price."
  • Note III: We aren't getting a Ram Air Firebird. We can't afford to insure it. ;-P