Event Coverage 6,000+ trip around the USA in a Flathead '32 Roadster to LA Roadster Show- Part 2

Part 2 of 3

See Part 1 here:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=377711

Part one left off at the Friday night festivities hosted by Walden’s Speed Shop the night before the LA Roadster show. So, without further ado, the LA Roadster Show!

The next morning we got up bright and early to head over to the Roadster show. This was a day we had both waited on for a long time and wanted to enjoy every minute possible!

There wasn’t a line going into the gate


Entering the show


And getting that all important LA Roadster sticker!




Parked in line with all of the other roadsters


We decided while it was cloudy and cool to hit up the swap meet. It was kind of bittersweet walking the swap seeing as we didn’t even have room for the things we had with us lead alone anything else We could always ship something home if we HAD to have it!

The swap was a little different than I’m used to back East. Of course the prices are higher than Ohio and there are a lot of display pieces, cars and things that aren’t necessarily for sale, just there. People kept telling me how big it was but they haven’t been to Hershey None the less it was fun walking around checking out stuff. Here are a few of my highlights…

Tom and Diana Branch were there with their roadster and sedan along with the Bean Bandits streamliner. It is always nice visiting with them, hot rodders to the core.

 

His and Hers Barnfinds


One of the coolest arcade games EVER! I so wanted to buy this for my nephew and put it in my living room right next to the pinball machine!




I loved this parts vendor’s van




They had a NOS V8 60 cam still in the crate!


An Ignatius plate topper a long way from home. Cool but not worth the $250 asking price!


Neat plate surround on a project car


A sweet little coupe with an even sweeter banger motor




Someone said this was a survivor, it was really cool




I think this was a Plymouth dash?


Lots of nice literature there


Our own Jungle Pam

 

This coupe had some racing history but no for sale sign. Guess it was one of those display pieces


I’ve never seen heads like this before, are they for real? Anyone have any info?




I was stoked to see as many midgets as I did there, you can never see too many!






Probably one of the most surprising things I saw all weekend was an ALL ORIGINAL, and I mean ALL Ford ’32 roadster. The guy said it wasn’t for sale. I can only imagine the money he was offered for it that weekend!






With a 4 cylinder


And even the ‘T’ nails which is super rare to see. I was walking around with a ’32 expert and he says he has never seen the T nails still in place!


It was awesome to say the least!

 

Nice coupe, with some cool louvers in the rear




Some helmets for sale, reminded me of blacktopbandit and his collection


This used to be or should I say could be again or should I say still is a ’32 roadster!




Taildragger Tbird, love it!


A cool little heater


A ’37 or ’38 Ford limo? First time I’ve ever seen anything like it


Weesner’s whip, sweet


H&H had a nice display of Flatheads
From the mild


To wild


These coupes are growing on me

 

HAMBer Bushwacker’s roadster. I really liked it and I rarely like white cars but it was simple and to the point; what a hot rod should be.








This was behind H&H’s tent, not sure if it was theirs or not




My big purchase of the day, a NOS Miller High Life cooler with the cardboard still inside!


I also bought like 10 pairs of Ray-Bans too, one in every color

 

After we finished the swapmeet we headed over to the roadsters area. One of the first cars I saw was one of my favorites, the 99JR car with the 302ci GMC engine.




Ed Justice’s roadster


And a lot of other really cool roadsters






Gorgeous!

 

There were a lot of different eras and genres of roadsters represented at the show. I thought this was a pretty good 60s example, maybe it’s the green

 

By then it was about 4 so we had an hour or so before the LA Roadsters BBQ. I had heard about an Ed Hardy tag sale in one of the buildings so there was no way I was missing that! Hot rods and shopping—can’t beat that!

Walking over we passed this cool mock diner


When do they use all of these mock buildings and set ups on the fairgrounds if they aren’t open for GNRS or LARS? Just for the fair or something?

The Ed Hardy sale was in the building they used at the last minute this year for GNRS, the one where Tom Branch’s roadster was.


By this time I had conned CrazyBackyardBuilder into coming along as well. So I had him and Matt looking for anything purple, red or with checkered flags or pistons. The place was an absolute mess, clothes just dumped everywhere!






It was a successful shopping adventure, I found 3 hot rod shirts and an awesome green hoodie, bedazzled hoodie as the guys would say

 

We then headed over to the hill where the LA Roadsters host dinner for everyone that brought a roadster to the show. It is really nice of them to have a yummy dinner and good fellowship for Roadster families. We both had nice time meeting new people and eating a great BBQ dinner. I took this picture for Denise


You can spot all of the LA Roadster club members in the red shirts with white pants




Dave Bell chatting with a Roadsters member








After dinner we walked back towards the roadster but stopped to admire one that ended up being HAMBer Fogger’s. It was a nice clean car, I really liked the simple touches

 

After that there really wasn’t anything going on which I thought was kind of crazy for a Saturday night of such huge event. Maybe we just didn’t know where the party was! So we drove through the swap meet and then cruised around Pomona.

A few things I had missed during the day…

 

The next morning we checked out of the Motel 6 and hit the road. It was a nice motel, clean and tidy but no parking lot parties at night. Lots of hot rods in the parking lot though.



We got to the show a little later and grabbed a prime parking space by the big slide. Unfortunately it was not open but it provided the perfect platform for some nice aerial photos






















The ‘32


And the security guards that called me a violator for entering an open gate


At least I didn’t slide down!

 

There were some different roadsters there than the day before. This wood one was really unique. I overheard the guy say he used ABS pipe and a wall paper steamer to shape the wood, how crafty!










It wasn’t all show though, it definitely had some go power as well!






I’m really digging blue lately…




TONS of red and black roadsters

 

Matt’s favorite roadster of the show


A roadster pick up


With a surprise in the back


I liked this car, except for the top


This had a Rajo head


A neat shot of a group of friends then and now, same car


Someone said this car was fiberglass?


Heading up into the Brizio display this coupe was hot


Talked to HAMBer Butcherboy doing the 9,000 miles in 9 days, he had his there as well




To support his cause and learn more about his trip please visit his site:
http://www.49in9.com/the-latest/44-49in9

 

Next stop was the Motor City Flatheads booth to check out how the aluminum Flathead project was coming along. Matt would LOVE to have one someday. Playing with the parts




Then a stop to see Troy/Hollywood Hot Rods and his diverse collection of hot rods he brought to display.
Of course the Black Widow


The Pan-American race car


And the new roadster that I saw the chassis for back in January. It is quite the car, so many details about it…










Chain steering!

 

Next to Troy was JimA of SoCal LA. He of course had neato hot rod parts but also these really cool trailers made by Kendon. They are lightweight and foldable, perfect for hauling bodies, hot rods, or cars less than 4,000lbs here and there.








After chatting with Jim and checking out the trailers we headed over to visit with Don Montgomery to see if he knew anything about George Kirk or the roadster. Unfortunately he didn’t have any info but was really encouraging to keep looking.


If you don’t have his books you are missing out!


Don recommended we talk to longtime LA Roadster club member and Santa Monica resident Lee Titus. It took us most of the day to chase him down but he did remember a George Kirk. He said he remembered him racing. It was fun talking to him even if he didn’t remember the exact car though
Cool guy none the less


After talking with Lee we went back to check out the vendors under the tent area. This guy did awesome work with steering wheels and was really reasonable in his pricing which is hard to find.








Matt picked up a tool to adjust Ford juice brakes from Limey Steve. He is so impressed with it. I think he’s shown everyone he’s met since then. Here they are talking about it

 

I saw a crowd forming and low and behold who/what was in the middle


Of course George stopped for a picture and chat


This roadster reminded me of Denise’s old Pepto Bismol convertible


A couple new Hurst edition cars






The Mooneyes racer


By this time it was time for Roadster drivers to get their coveted pewter mugs so we headed over. Here is Matt getting his


Matt and Frank by the ’32. Take care Frank, see you down the road! Thanks for everything!

 

After that we headed over to the NHRA Museum since Matt has never been there and it might not be there much longer Some of the display was the same as January but they had changed the gallery on the right hand side. They are now featuring Gale Banks and his various speed endeavors.
There were a lot of neat trophies he has won




And cool molds




Matt and Wally


Wally’s roadster


A pair of super neat goggles I don’t remember seeing there before


Veda


Someday I’ll have a real copy of this

There was lots of Navarro stuff in there too I don’t remember seeing in January

 

I get goosebumps everytime I see this car


They had these cool light box pictures in the conference area




A great idea for my outdoor metal chairs


Isky’s T, hot rod perfection




And Gray


A lot of this trip was about Gray. Matt and I both grew up reading Gray’s ramblings and seeing his pictures of the places he went and the people he met. He made his trips simple—t-shirt, shorts, flip-flops, a hat and a roadster--what more does a person need? Matt and I both really tried to embrace his outlook on life and hot rods on this trip. I think by going the simple way, the Gray way, we both had a better time, the trip of a lifetime!

By then it was 5 and the host wanted us out, so we left but not without a few pics first

 

We then made our way over to Santa Monica and started up the coast. I love driving that road and in a roadster it was all that much better!




We found a cool campground on one of the cliffs in Malibu to camp on. It has to be the prettiest place I’ve ever camped (well the coast of Hawaii was just as nice too )


Looking south from our tent space


Looking out over the cliff


Matt and the tent


We hiked to a local restaurant and had a good salad and pasta, too bad all of the seafood places were closed

Stay tuned for the final installment tomorrow—the coast of California, the Hearst Castle, the Flathead Ranch, Bonneville, and the ride home!

 

Fantastic. Thanks so much for posting.

 

Great trip...!

I wish I was capable of those kind of miles in my roadster... I'd need a new spine after the first day and sleeping in a tent has been out of the question since the Military in 1975!!!!

 

Great post...driving the coast looks awesome!!

 

Thanks Meagan for posting. Looks likea great trip. I am very jealous.

 

Again, nice collection of pics from what seemed like an awesome trip. Thank you so much.

 

Tease

 

well your certinaly give denise a run for her money with the documentation of your trip, great job!!! truley an awesome trip!
and no issues or problems with the flatty

 

Great trip, sure looks like fun! Car looks great Matt!

 

FANTASTIC TRIP (you've had so many!!!) , you're livin' the dream!!! Amazing pics! The roadster looks GREAT but what's that I see.... a top???!!!

 

Thanks for the awesome picture essay Megan. I always look forward to your driving season and your reports from on the road! Its great to see that you are enjoying the journey as much as the destination. That campground on the clifftop must have been such an incredible place to be, especially at sunrise!
Looking forward to part 3 tomorrow.

 

Thanks a lot for posting you´re incredible trip. Can´t wait for part 3. Hearst Castle are one of the most beautiful places i´ve ever been to.