The Jalopy Journal

East Vs. West Showdown

Ryan — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:06:46 +0000

So a couple of HAMBers got together with CarTech and made a book. Both Jospeh Alig and Spike Kilmer have been working on “East Vs. West” for a couple of years now. In fact, they even gave me a couple of pages… Which is totally cool, but what I really appreciate is that the book was dedicated in part to our own HAMB Andy. It was unexpected, completely honorable, and just a damn cool gesture.

The rest of the book is great too and I love the concept. Essentially, they took a number of cars built from each coast and put them together in an effort to compare and contrast the differing styles from various periods. And it’s not just hot rods – customs take some space as well. The end result is a book that you want to read as much as you want to just stare at.

I don’t review books that I don’t like. I like this one.

Get yours here.

And how about a pat on the back for both Alig and Kilmer – they deserve it.

Shelf Treasure: Scale Model Offy Motor in Brass

Jive-Bomber — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:58:43 +0000

We are slowly starting to clear out some of my dad’s archives, and one of the nicer ‘shelf treasures’ he had was this 1/6 (?) scale brass Offenhauser engine made by a company called Vintage Power out of Charlotte, NC. I don’t know too much about it, except for what I’ve learned from an Ebay auction listing: “This is an ultra rare 1999 Vintage Power Offenhauser Engine replica in 1/5th scale. It is cast in pure brass with more than 100 jewel-like components. It is mounted on a rosewood finished base affixed with an authentic Offy engine data plate and limited edition serial number plate.”

Mine is number 214 out of a reported 500 made, and judging by the prices people are asking for the few I’ve seen listed for sale, it’s a pretty valuable little model. I’ve found a very familiar looking one offered from GMP a year later (hence my 1/6th scale guess), but here are some significant differences. Anybody else have one of these brass Offy 255 motors from Vintage Power, or know anything about them?

Purpose Built

Ryan — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:38:41 +0000

I love early purpose built race cars. Jack Kuehn’s, as seen in the April, 1959 issue of Hot Rod Magazine, is one of my favorites and it always makes me wonder why we don’t see more modern renditions on the same theme. These early cars were just so damned specific to their being. So simple. So raw. They feel like real-to-life Hot Wheels that you can imagine pushing around on your parent’s carpet while making motor noises with your mouth.

And I guess that’s it… These cars are just dreams. I mean, what do you do with one these days? They aren’t street legal and it would take a junky track owner on a binge just to get the opportunity to REALLY drive one. So I guess all we really have are these old features, a few museum pieces, and our dreams.

Enjoy:

Hold Your Horses!

Ryan — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:33:27 +0000

Wow. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks here at The Jalopy Journal World Headquarters. My planned two week hiatus is just about over and I feel like I’m drowning under a load of dirty laundry. I’m so behind in so many places, that I’ve pondered the idea of inventing some new kind of personal bankruptcy. Under such protection, I could just ignore all of the emails, private messages, and other obligations that are currently tugging at me like a noose. I could be free debt!

I wasn’t all that far behind until this past weekend. That’s when, just a few days after our new baby was born, I drove myself to the ER in the middle of the night figuring that I must have ingested something terrible – like battery acid or something. Turns out my gallbladder was all kinds of sick and had to removed, pronto!

So, for the past four or five days I’ve been laying around my house in agony while the rest of my family cares for our newborn. I’ve been pathetic… Really, I have.

And, as a result, I’m currently a week behind doing the following:

1. Answering emails

2. Answering private messages

3. Shipping merch

4. Shipping Alliance tags

If you are waiting on one of the above, your patience shouldn’t be tested much longer. I don’t feel quite as miserable as I did yesterday and I’m gonna attempt to get back in the office real soon. Thanks for your patience fellas… I really appreciate it.

Next week, shit is gonna go back to normal.

……….

1954 Kurtis 500KK Roadster

Jive-Bomber — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:59:18 +0000

I’m pretty darn spoiled when it comes to my work location. We are situated in the east Bay Area of Northern California within spitting distance of Fantasy Junction. For those of you not familiar with the iconic name, it’s not an adult bookstore as you may have reckoned. No sir, the fine folks at the Junction sell extremely high end luxury, race cars, and exotics, as they have for the past 36 years. They are passionate about all pedigrees of vintage cars, historic racing, and really know there stuff when it comes to Enzo-era Ferraris. The best part about this place (besides the fact that they are amazingly kind and good people), is that the inventory changes almost daily and the doors are always open. You can walk in one day and find a 100 point restored ’57 Fuelie Corvette, and 24 hours later a pristine Nash Healey roadster or AC Cobra will be sitting in it’s place.

This brings me to an amazing ride they currently have sitting on the floor: An S.C.o.T. supercharged Stovebolt 6 powered, aluminum bodied Kurtis in a drool worthy black on black livery (with black wire wheels!). This car is the embodiment of Bad Ass, and I wouldn’t change a single thing if I won the lottery and she were actually mine- It’s just that perfect. But don’t take my word for it, study the pictures and see if your pulse doesn’t speed up just a hair.

You can read the entire fascinating history of this black beauty here.

A car guy to the end…

Jive-Bomber — Wed, 09 May 2012 05:06:09 +0000

I won’t lie- It’s been a pretty hard week me, and I’m still digging myself out of the blues. To make a sad story short, my dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January and he passed away on Tuesday this week. In four very short months he had to get his affairs in order, finish up his last car project, and close up business at the shop. Day by day he was getting weaker and the pain increased, but he kept going to the shop trying to get the 62 Plymouth all buttoned up for the big Mecum auction at Indy happening next week. Dad was a car guy till the day he died, and he didn’t have time to sit around and complain, or get depressed. He was too busy assembling, detailing, and cleaning cars like he had almost every day for the past 50+ years.

His memorial service was on Saturday, and each of us three kids were presented a suprise box with our name on it. Inside was a metal, flexible spout oil can filled with some of dad’s ashes for us to each spread as we see fit (I’m thinking Bonneville for starters, cause he never made it there with me) and a goodbye note he wrote a few weeks before he passed away. The rest of dad was placed in his favorite old hand-painted gas can that we kept in the garage. Dad didn’t like unnessisary flash, or doing things that screamed “look at me”. He was low-key, and he preferred that the quality of his incredibly finished cars speak on his behalf.

I lost my car show buddy, a killer mechanic, my best friend, and my dad. What I will never lose is learning how to be a real car guy till the day I die.

……………

Editor’s Note: In the last two weeks, I’ve seen my good friend lose his best pal and father, I’ve welcomed a new baby girl into the world, and I’ve dealt with my own mortality on a very small scale. It’s been a strange ride. It’s been a roller coaster. It’s just life… and death.

For the past couple of months, I’ve been watching Jay from afar as he deals with what will probably be the hardest thing he will ever have to do. He’s done it with such grace and such pride that I found myself in tears a number of times. I guess I’m just in awe of his strength and love and… Somehow, I just know his dad is so proud of him right now. And as sad as the whole deal is, it also makes me smile a bit. As a father, I know Jay’s old man died knowing he did one hell of a job raising his son to be one hell of a man.

Keep your chin up Jay. We love ya.

- Ryan

Project ’38: Motor Mounts

Ryan — Tue, 08 May 2012 08:27:38 +0000

I’ve had a crazy week that was capped with a scalpel just a few hours ago. I’m now sitting before you loaded on piss and morphine. Literally. If I were to write… I mean, really write… right now, there is no way to be certain that what came out would be appropriate or even comprehensible. As such, I’ve decided to let some images do the talking for me this morning.

Mr. Tardel is presently dropping the Y-Block between the rails of my ’38. I mentioned that we were running a Y-Block, didn’t I? Well, we are… But not just a regular old Y-Block – a Y-Block that runs on piss and morphine forcefully aspirated through a 4-71 blower topped by Stromberg’s finest… four of them…

More later.

Pat Pryor’s ’32 Project

Ryan — Mon, 07 May 2012 11:31:47 +0000

I bet that I never own a 1932 Ford. It’s not that I don’t love them, it’s just that I don’t have the disposable income… and at the rate of which I’ve spit out kids in the last decade, I don’t see that dynamic changing much anytime soon. Of course, there are others in my boat due to differing circumstances. Take Pat Pryor for instance. He’s a young man in school and without a pot to piss in, but has always had a thing for deuces. How in the hell could he ever afford one? He couldn’t…

So, he’s building one. From scratch.

At the moment, he’s getting ready to tackle what might be the most important part of the job – the rear quarters. Follow along with the rest of us.

Boston Accidents

Ryan — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:26:40 +0000

Late last night or early this morning, (depending on how you look at it) I was feeding the new baby and cruising the internet in a half awake/half asleep trance. At some point, I ran into a series of images liberated from the Boston Public Library. They all feature disasters of one sort or another… and I find them oddly fascinating – like a train wreck. Maybe you will too:

Esquire’s 1935 Automotive Preview

Jive-Bomber — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:18:32 +0000

My last post on the 1936 GM brochures got me fired up to look at more pre-war Automotive illustrations. I came across this interesting gem from the then 3 year old magazine Esquire, touting it’s 1935 Automobile Parade. I love these hand-drawn profile drawings by the famous Russian-American industrial designer Alexis de Sakhnoffsky (who later became famous for the streamline Lebatts beer truck). They are slightly crude and lacking some color and detail, but somehow that adds to the 1930s-era simple charm. I couldn’t upload the individual images for all 24 cars, but I’ve featured each spread and some of my favorite models from the guide.

……….