15th-Annual Fall Redneck Rumble

When you schedule a car show on a day as nice as it was Saturday, you are going to have a huge turnout. That was the case over the weekend for the 15th-Annual Fall Redneck Rumble, which roared into the Wilson County Fairgrounds with the always-popular car show and swap meet. If you could survive not getting run down by an ATV or golf cart, which seem to multiply every time they have this event, you will enjoy one of the more unique automotive events in the Nashville area. I was there for quite a while and took a lot of pictures, so if you read all the way to the end you may check out the album.

Boogie down at the Hot Rod Boogie Car Show

The Nashville Palace was the place to be for the 5th-Annual Hot Rod Boogie Car Show, which was part of the big Nashville Boogie Weekender event. While musical acts like the B-52’s rocked inside, the cars kept people outside. Sure, it was over 90-degrees this weekend, but these cars stayed cool in spite of the temperature. They also had some vendors out there selling vintage clothing, stickers, and whatnot. You see a lot of promotional material for this show throughout the year, so it’s no surprise that they draw a nice selection of cars and trucks.

Street Rod extravaganza at the 42nd-Annual Frog Follies

Here’s the basic recipe for building a typical modern street rod. Take a pre-1949 car. Under the hood you’ll have an aluminum radiator, electric fan, fuel-injected Chevy crate engine, Vintage Air compressor, modern master cylinder, and an Optima battery. This will all be sitting on a sub-frame with modern suspension components, power disc brakes, and a set of aluminum-finish American Racing Torque Thrust wheels or something similar. Inside, look for a modern seat recovered in tweed or leather, molded door panels, new gauges in a billet aluminum bezel, an aftermarket steering wheel, modern stereo, and an automatic transmission shifter coming out of the floor. Outside, expect to see shiny paint, less chrome, some kind of painted or air brushed graphics, Halogen headlights, and LED taillights. Why is this combination of components so popular? It’s the same reason there were 3,500 (!) of them at the 42nd-annual Frog Follies Car Show in Evansville, Indiana. They’re enjoyable, they’re reliable, and they allow you to ride in new-car-comfort with old-car-style.

Nice cars indeed at Art & Speed

I was watching the Memphis news Wednesday morning when I heard about a food truck event at the Memphis Botanic Garden, and they mentioned that there would be a car show. That sounded like a good reason to eat a grilled cheese sandwich out of a Step Van. The “car show” turned out to be a display put together by Art & Speed, a classic car gallery in Collierville. I’m glad I saw them there, because it prompted me to go visit their showroom the next day. This is a really nice place with a great selection of cars. I mean it—seriously impressive. Let’s take a look at some of the standouts.

2015 AACA Car Show at the Wilson County Fair

The Wilson County Fair in Lebanon, Tenn., has something for everyone. You like looking at fuzzy chickens? They’ve got them. You like smelling pigs? Take a whiff at the fair. Chocolate-covered bacon? Yep. Want to be so violently spun around on a ride that you puke? Tell your friends to stay clear of projectile corn dogs. Personally, I wanted to go there for the same reason I want to go anywhere—for the cars. The Mid-Tenn Regional Car Club hosted a big, one day car show, and it was a good one. More than 200 cars greeted visitors right at the entrance of the fair. It almost made me forget to check out the world’s tiniest woman in the carnival area.

2015 Vette City Classic Collector Car Auction in Bowling Green

Bowling Green, Ky., is the location of the factory that builds the new Corvette Stingray. That should be enough to draw any car guy to the Bluegrass State. But last weekend there was an even greater incentive, as the Vette City Classic Car Auction rolled through Bowling Green’s ABC Auto Auction. Auctioneer Phillip Traylor presided over 100 specialty cars, trucks, tractors, and motor homes during this one-day event. Naturally, I went up there and took some pictures. Let’s take a look at some of the standouts.

Touch of Gold Fall Open Car Show brought hot cars to O'More College

If you wanted to see some of the nicest cars in the Music City last Saturday, you needed to be at the O’More College of Design for the Touch of Gold Fall Open Car Show. This was a great location, with plenty of shade trees, food vendors, and a bake sale. I was having trouble figuring out why it was so hot and humid in the shade, though. I wonder if they can air condition the campus next time. Oh, well. The cars almost made up for it. Sit there at your air conditioned desk and check them out.

Vintage hood ornament extravaganza

When I’m out taking all these car show pictures, there are some design elements that I almost always have to stop and shoot.  Hood ornaments seem to be one of them.  I love thinking that some designer said, “you know how we can make this look better?  Put a twenty pound, chrome-plated, flying naked woman on the end of the hood.”  That is just awesomeness right there.  And you can be sure that nothing like that is going to turn up on any new cars anytime soon.  With that in mind, I thought we’d take some time today and check out a few notable hood ornaments from the good old days.

Wrecked old cars and crashes

Most of the new cars I have been reviewing lately are so loaded with safety features, you wonder how anyone can crash them at all.  I mean, with lane departure warning systems, traction control, backup cameras, and crash mitigation braking systems, what excuse do you have for running into another car?  And yet, we still manage to do it.  They don’t keep running those traffic reports on the news for nothing.  This is nothing new, though.  Take the old cars in these pictures.  They were equipped with nasty biased-ply tires, fail-prone drum brakes, and lethargic manual steering.  These weren’t the pampered classics we see at car shows today.  People drove these cars, and sometimes, they wrecked them.

2014 Buick LaCrosse test drive review. The pride of Kansas City

One of the most underrated luxury cars on the planet is built right here at the GM Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas City.  Take a look at this 2014 Buick LaCrosse.  Yes, Buicks are often considered old folks’ cars.  Yes, this is the biggest car in the Buick lineup.  And no, that chrome tri-shield is not going to impress your neighbors like a three-pointed star or a blue-and-white propeller.  But if you can put all of those pre-conceived notions aside, you’ll realize that this is one of the most well-appointed, quality-built luxury cars there is.  Pay attention, folks, because this became a mighty nice car while everyone was looking over there.

41st-Annual AACA Car Show is rich with history

One of my favorite car shows happens each year about this time in Lawrence, Kan.  Yes, I like hot rods, customs, muscle cars, Corvettes, and so on.  But the Lawrence Chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) is something different.  This is where you find older, mostly original cars.  You aren’t going to see people doing burnouts when they leave the parking lot of this one.  And with this crowd, no one has to remind them not to.  This caters to a more mature clientele.  These are the guys that have been in the old car hobby longer than the rest of us, and know how to take care of an old car better than most of us.

Dad nails the Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Cadillac Car Show in Colorado

I have made fun of my dad’s photography skills for most of my life.  He hardly ever took a car picture that didn’t have half the car cut off.  I just never thought he was any good at it.  But last weekend, dad went to the Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Cadillac Car Show in Colorado.  He was willing to take a camera along, but honestly, I didn’t expect much.  I was dead wrong, though.  I have to give him credit; he took some great pictures.  Turns out the ‘ol man can find his way around a camera after all!

2013 Regal GS test drive review. Not your grandfather's Buick. BUICK WEEK

For anyone who has their doubts, I am here to tell you that Buick has made a complete departure from their geriatric image with the 2013 Regal GS.  Don’t let that waterfall grille and stylized version of David Dunbar Buick’s family crest fool you.  If you are expecting any remnants of the deceased Park Avenue, LeSabre, or Lucerne, forget it.

To illustrate that point, I took a new Regal GS to a place where the old Buick reigns supreme: Branson, Missouri.  It has been a running joke around here that you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting some kind of big, old Buick in the country music capital of the Ozarks.  Apparently, the Andy Williams Theatre draws them in like moths to a bright light.

Itty-bitty Buicks. Models and toys of the Buick brand. BUICK WEEK

You don’t have to be a grown-up to develop a passion for Buicks.  Over the years, General Motors’ “Doctor’s Car” has been rendered in miniature hundreds of times.  What youngster wouldn’t want to imagine themselves in a powerful ’87 GNX or a luxurious ’53 Skylark?  With that in mind, today’s “Buick Week” entry examines all kinds of Buick scale models and toys.  Some of them may still be favorites among kids today.  Some of them may be full-fledged adult collectibles.  But they all convey the enthusiasm that people have had for the tri-shield brand over the years.

When better cars are built, Buick will build them. A look at 110-years of history and innovation. BUICK WEEK

If there ever were a car company that was accused of being too old fashioned, while at the same time achieving its greatest success by looking into the future, it's Buick. It is one of the best-kept secrets in the industry today, yet has one of the most colorful, eventful histories imaginable.  My first car was a Buick, and my dad has had a few over the years, so I have kind of a soft spot for the brand.  So let's take a look at the history of this storied company.

David Dunbar Buick founded the company that bears his name in 1903, and the first cars were sold to the public in 1904. Those first cars, known as the Model B, were reliable because of their durable valve-in-head engines. So bulletproof was this design that Buick's mantra, "Valve-in-head is ahead in value" served the company in advertising pieces decades later.

2013 Buick Verano Turbo test drive review. The youthful Buick. BUICK WEEK

When some people hear the name “Buick,” they think of retirees and grandparents.  And while it is hard to argue that point, I am not one of those people.

You see, my first car was a Buick—a 1974 Century 350 Colonnade coupe.  And while that car will never be considered a big-time muscle car or highly sought-after collectable, it sat pretty high on the pedestal to me.  As far as I was concerned, when I got that car in 1987, it was in the same category as a new Regal Grand National, or a ’70 GNX, or a ’65 Riviera Grand Sport. 

Memorial Day Weekend at the Liberty Car Cruise

The place: historic downtown Liberty, Missouri.  The time: Saturday night, May 26.  The event: the Downtown Liberty Cruise.  Your mission: go there and have a good time.

As it turned out, lots of folks accepted that mission, because as is often the case with this one, the cars were lined all the way around the courthouse on both sides of the street.  Sure, it was a little on the muggy side early, but the temperature dropped a bit eventually, and everyone seemed to be having a great time enjoying all the cool cars.

The Petersen Automotive Museum features '41 Buicks, Italian masterpieces, and automotive history galore

Last week I was in Southern California test driving some new cars. I really wanted to hit one of the many local car cruises that this area is known for, but there just wasn’t time at night to pursue that. Luckily, I had one more shot to check out some vintage vehicles on my way to the airport when we stopped in at the legendary Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

I’ve wanted to go to the Petersen for a long time. I mean, it was founded by the guy that started Hot Rod Magazine. Any car lover worth his salt should go there at least once or twice in his lifetime. There’s some real automotive history here

NAFA Fleet Ride and Drive offers insight into the cars you see everyday

When you think of exciting cars, things like hot rods, sports cars, and performance sedans may come to mind. The idea of Fleet vehicles certainly doesn’t stir the soul. Rental cars, cargo vans, and police cars typically aren’t the stuff that dreams are made of.

On the other hand, I really like to learn about all types of cars. Sure, old Chevelles and Corvettes are great, but time never stands still, and there’s a whole world of new stuff out there. That’s why I always look forward to attending the annual National Fleet Management Association (NAFA) Mid-America Chapter Ride and Drive, which was recently held at the Ameristar Casino in Kansas City.

Lamborghini Countach? If I was a kid, I'd hang a '74 Buick poster on my bedroom wall!

What is the car that most people lust after more than any other? Lamborghini? Ferrari? Cobra or Corvette? Well, for most car fanatics, the make and model that brings the fondest memories is often your first car.

That’s certainly the case for me, as my ’74 Buick Century is the only car that I still have dreams about. Apparently, I still have the old Buick at the back of the garage, and I drive it every once in awhile just to keep things oiled up. Actually, I sold it more than 15-years ago, but the sleep-induced fantasy that I still have it squirreled away makes me sleep better.