Chicagoland HAMBers - Some cool finds in Des Plaines

[Mike Zenor]

Found a couple of HAMB-worthy establishments in Des Plaines yesterday, courtesy of the local NAPA parts counter guy...

TIN LIZZIE - 1549 Ellinwood. Musty little shop sells antique Ford parts, 1920s-1940s. Lots of NOS and vintage parts for Ts, As, Bs. A real time trip, this place had the feel of a 1926 hardware store.

DAD'S SLOT CARS - Holy 1965 1/25 scale slot car palace, Batman! Right in downtown Des Plaines, they had a 10-lane road course, a banked oval and a dragstrip.

LOUNGE BOWL - Didn't go in here, but exterior was straight out of 1950, with barrel roof.

Got me thinking about a weekend HAMB meet during the winter doldrums -- we could check out the car parts, grab some beers at the bowling alley lounge, then settle grudges on the slot car track. Anybody interested?

[Chris 50]

Count me in Mike. I've been lookin' for an reason to wipe the dust off my 1/25 scale drag cars.

[Junkyard Dog 32]

[ QUOTE ]
Got me thinking about a weekend HAMB meet during the winter doldrums -- we could check out the car parts, grab some beers at the bowling alley lounge, then settle grudges on the slot car track. Anybody interested?

[/ QUOTE ]

Great idea MR ZENOR! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
I'll be there, and I don't live anywhere near there.
I'm not a "Chicagoland HAMBer" http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif am I still invited?
SCALLOP53 and I used to bowl on the same team about 25 years ago. We were good, too. I bet we still got it.
And slot cars?!? Oh man...
It sounds like a blast.


JOEhttp://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[bobbleed]

Slot cars RULE! You guys should come up to Lucky Bob's in Milwaukee.

[tinsoldier]

Hey Mike-
Another place for slots of the 60s variety is Tom Thumb on Davis St in Evanston.
I used to go there back in the 1970s. When I was last there almost 20 years ago they still had some tracks. This place might be worth some further investigation.
rb

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I was arrested and jailed in Des Plaines driving this thing back in '68. I jumped bail. 'Spose it's safe for me to go back ? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Mike Zenor]

Hey y'all, I'll see what it would cost to rent out that slot car place for a couple of hours. I was thinking that it'd be a perfect for some January/February weekend when it's 15 below.

Joe - I'll go you one better... how about a slot car grudge match pitting you Cheeseheads versus us Flatlanders? Wisconsin v. Illinois, winner takes all! That is, loser buys beer!

Rich/tinsoldier -- cool, I wanna check out that place too.

SJfast - no shit? You actual got busted for driving the Batmobile in Des Plaines?

[Mike Zenor]

Hey bobbleed - How about a Wisconsin v. Illinois home-and-home series: SLOTS OF DEATH, I and II! Have one at Lucky Bob's in Milwaukee, the other at Dads in Des Plaines or the toy place in Evanston... we could come up with a point system, including points for best wreck. I can donate some old trophies.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Mike Zenor.....Yep ! I was traveling with a show promoter doing "Autorama" rod and custom shows. We were partially sponsored by STP Corp. whose offices were in Des Plaines at the time. We wanted to hit them up for more money and thought it might be "cute" to drive up to their offices in the Batmobile decorated with STP stickers. It helped, BTW.

After the meeting I was driving it about a mile back to its trailer when the Des Plaines police tried to pull me over. I wasn't about to let them tow a million dollar car so I kept going. I drove the car into the trailer and they arrested me. I got three tickets. The one shown for noise (car had a Holman & Moody 427 with headers), one for the flashing red light (on the arch between the seats), and one for Gotham City plates.... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I spent a couple of hours in the slammer 'til the guys bailed me out. We then left town.

Here's a poor scan of one of the tickets. On line 3 you can barely read "Make of Car...Batmobile". Violation occurred at Mannheim and Prospect, and you should be able to read "Des Plaines" in the box at the lower right.

Chicago area cops have NO sense of humor !