Unusually beautiful weather at the Fall Redneck Rumble

Twice a year, the Wilson County Fairgrounds becomes the site of one of the most unusual car events in town. The Redneck Rumble combines elements of a car show, swap meet, motorcycle racing, camping, and a big, crazy party. Usually it seems to rain, making everything that much grittier. But this time, sunny skies and mild temperatures ruled the day. I’ve never seen so many people lined up to buy tickets for this. There were a ton of vendors, there were a ton of cars, and there were a ton of motorized vehicles, scooters, bikes, and ATVs recklessly bombing through every conceivable road and path. This is not your normal parking lot cruise-in. It’s a manic spectacle that crackles with life from every direction.

AACA Antique Car Show at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Lawrence is a nice change from the typical car show

For four decades, the Lawrence chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America has been hosting one of the better car shows in the area at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Lawrence. No, it might not get the most cars. But it gets some very good cars. I really enjoy it because it has sort of a flavor that you can’t get at the typical hot rod/muscle car-packed extravaganza.

This is more of an original old car show. Heck, this is an original old car guy’s show. It represents one of the best facets of the old car hobby, and a group of people that unfortunately seems to be fading away as time goes on.

15th Annual Basehor-Linwood High School Project Grad Car Show packed 'em in again

I don’t know how they do it, but this Basehor-Linwood High School Project Grad Car Show packs ‘em in every year.  This was the 15^th edition of this event, and although the car count may have been a little bit down from last year, there was still plenty to look at.

As you can see from the pictures, this is quite a diverse car show.  You might get an interesting car that belongs to one of the high school kids, and it’ll be parked next to a high-dollar muscle car.  Over here you had a car that was built by George Barris in the early ‘50s, and over there was a Yugo (I kid you not).

Amazing automotive assembly lines

Did you know that in 1985, a record 11-million cars and light trucks were sold in the United States? Today’s sales are about half that, but 5-to-6-million cars each year is still nothing to sneeze at. When I think about those kinds of numbers, it seems like a miracle to me that the world can build that many cars. I mean seriously, how is that even possible?

History of the Model T Ford. The car that really did change everything

When many people think of the Ford Model T, two things come to mind—they came in “any color, as long as it’s black,” and Henry Ford invented the assembly line to build them on.

Neither one of those things is true, of course, but why would anyone be expected to know or care about a rickety old car that went out of production 84-years ago? Well, we do lots of stories here about the history of certain makes and models of cars. But an overview of the Model T is more than just the history of another car. It is American history. It is world history. The Model T impacted us in ways that are still felt today.