Tag Archives: Cars

Our World Tuesday – Darryl Starbird’s National Rod and Custom Car Show – 2017

The Darryl Starbird Car Show is a must see for me. I like car shows of all kinds but the Starbird Show is special because it is for custom built and modified cars and people can get best car dealerships from Scrap Car Pickup for Cash Ottawa. In this day and age where the cheapest and most expensive cars all pretty much look like Toyotas it is nice to see custom built cars. Apparently there used to be twenty-one Starbird shows a year but they have dwindled down to just this one in Tulsa. People don’t work on cars like they used to do. When I was a kid there were lots of car guys out there, modifying engines, transmissions, and suspensions and the bodies. Cars are too computerized these days and emissions regulations strict (which is a good thing). People can also check The Car Finder Used Vehicle Dealership, if they need the best car dealership.

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1970 Plymouth

These cars are like works of art to me. The ideas are born in somebody’s mind and carried out, sometimes they take years of  trial and error to reach final form. Sometimes they don’t ever get to final form.

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1964 Thunderbird

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1981 Cadillac- I am thinking this may be a low rider or a derivative. It has machinery to jack the car way up and down.  They were big in New Mexico when I lived there. Years ago, our family went back and in old town Albuquerque a bunch of cars showed up and drove around slowly honking their horns and rocking the cars up and down and making them tilt side to side. It was quite a show.

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Ultra sleek and streamlined. I love the wheels and the clean lines. I also loved how they went with a different finish with the engine than the expected chrome.

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1932 Ford Coupe – I love the modified old cars also.

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1932 Ford Coupe – I love the paint job on this creation.

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1960 Corvette – You just can’t beat a corvette, they have stayed ahead of the curve for years.

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Alright car guys what is this. Is this eight carburetors, or a supercharged engine. I’m so ignorant. It is a very manly looking engine is what I think.

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1970 Chevy – How about this? I love the low ride, and the boat.

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How about this hippie lovemobile??

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Here is a VW Camper. My wife’s family had one when she was a child.

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Cool interior.

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How about another hippiemobile.

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Another VW hippie surfmobile.

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1949 Ford – Another manly engine.

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1925 Model T

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And I’ll finish up with this rat rod. I love the saw being used as a headliner over the front window, the backwards doors, and the most obviously phallic hood ornament. Not that it has a hood.

So another year down for the Starbird Car Show.

I’m linking with Our World Tuesday

Wizard World Tulsa

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Logan and his friend Q trying out some of the games.

Sunday Logan and I traveled downtown to see WizardWorld Tulsa. A popular culture event. Popular culture in this case goes toward superhero movies, videogame characters, cartoon characters, and so on.

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A car from same famous Zombie movie that I didn’t see.

I find it fascinating although I miss most of the cultural references.

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Cool little Jurassic Park Jeep.

I gravitate toward the cars. I get cars. Mot of them anyway. Many of the cars you could sit in them and get your photo taken. No thanks. No way my face adds anything to the car.

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Remember back to the future? Remember the Delorean?

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And the Ghost Busters car. We watched the new Ghost Busters on video this weekend.

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A big reason that people go to a Comic-Con is to Cosplay, or dress up as your character. To see and be seen and get your photo taken. I have trouble walking up and asking somebody if I could take their pic.

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I told Logan that next year we need to Cos-Play. I think I’ll show up as Walter White, the chemistry teacher gone meth cook from Breaking Bad. I love that guy. Talk about pure evil. Logan said he is just going to get a mask.

The Tulsa World has a photo gallery with some of the Cos Play costumes.

This is our third year to attend Wizard World. Check out our 2014 and 2016 visits.

2016 Tulsa Leake Car Auction

Friday is my day off, Heather had to teach an exercise class, and Logan is out of school so I dragged him to the Fairgrounds to the Leake Car Auction.

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Lots and lots of cars there. I’m partial to red cars, lIke this Mustang above.

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Or the Porsche being cleaned up. It is hard to be a Porsche for styling.

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I also love the big American cars of the 1950’s like this 1954 Crestline Victoria. I love all the chrome, that beautiful blue color, and the swoopy curves.

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I don’t mean I ever want to own one I just like looking at them.

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I like the more homely but distinctive cars also such Trifun quarter ton truck. The three wheels are a gas.

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And the tilting bed. They said only 300 miles since new but the seats and everything else in the cab was very worn. It was a very hard 300 miles.

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And who doesn’t love a land cruiser. These are classic vehicles. 

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How about an air boat for hunting alligators?

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I love the camo but don’t you know that thing is loud.

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By far my favorite of the show was this heavily modified1967 Land Rover

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It had the best and most puzzling hood ornament.

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It looks like it could be chasing down lions and elephants in Africa.

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I like the “scouting seats” up above. Scouting seats my butt, I bet rich Texans sat up there and shot at critters. If somebody wants to buy it for me I would sit up there and shoot critters also, with my camera.

Tulsa Auto Show 2016 Edition

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Saturday I ventured out to the Tulsa State Fairgrounds to the annual Tulsa Auto Show to see what is going on. I found a Porsche Carrera is one thing.

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And an Audi A8. Earlier in the week my cab driver, Mohammed,  said look at that Audi! I said, is that Audi special? And he said, yes, it is their flagship car and is very expensive. I told my friend Mohammed that I thought the car looked like a Toyota and he just laughed.  So I had to check it out. I didn’t write down what this cost but i think it was over $100,000. It has a twin turbocharged twelve cylinder engine and generates over 700 horsepower.  That is all great and everything but it stil looks like a white Toyota to me._DSC0554

This is the car where all the guys were hanging out. Most cars you can wait until people clear out but they don’t clear out on this one. Women tried to get close to it but they kept slipping on all the testosterone on the floor. It is the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. It has a supercharged 6.2L V8 and is regarded as the most powerful family sedan on earth.

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This is what was causing all the gasping and such.

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The nice sales lady in the miniskirt told me that the $70,000 price includes the custom Hellcat badge. I asked her how much for just the badge. I thought it would look good on my Kia Soul. She moved on to somebody else.

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The Mustang GT is nice also. I don’t have the stats. Lots of car guys I know hate the Mustangs. I don’t quite understand why. I have to say though that at first glance the Mustang and the Charger look like Toyotas to me. Not that I have anything against Toyotas.

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I like the older model Ford Thunderbirds. Nobody is going to mistake this for a Toyota.

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And here is something I had never seen before. A Chevrolet Corvair pickup truck. Imagine a rear engine pickup. Imagine a gate on the side of the bed. That is a unique vehicle. For Comparison /Explanation of OEM /OES /Aftermarket /Used truck parts and other parts, people can click here to buy wholesale.

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I always liked how the Corvairs looked but they sure got a bad rep when Ralph Nader’s book Unsafe at any Speed came out. The rear engine cars tended to spin out and cause accidents and the steering column, all one piece would impale the drivers. The car seems to have a loyal following. I don’t want one!!

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The flat six cylinder engine with turbocharger sure is compact. The spare tire went into the engine compartment. Too bad they did not get a chance to address the problems with the car.

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I am seeing fewer and fewer British Sports Cars as time goes by. I think this is an Austin Healy but I am not sure. These and the MG’s and a few others are the true sports cars in my book. The Jaguars and such are glorified Fords in my opinion. Except for the Porsche Carrera. It is still cool.

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Speaking of, here is an older model from the late 50’s When I was a kid the only people who had Porsches were like airline captains, lawyers, and doctors. I had an Uncle who had one. He was an officer in the Navy and single and I think he had a Porsche. Then he got married and had kids. Adios Porsche. I was involved in a federal trial back in the late 80’s in Oklahoma City.  His offices were out of downtown. On trial days I met him at his office and we road his Porsche to the courthouse downtown. He hardly ever got out of second gear. Plus he just parked where he wanted to downtown and nobody ever said a thing.

I’ll have to write a post about the trial. I wasn’t on trial, my employer was. I think I am waiting for the judge to die though before I say anything online. Buy me a beer or two though and I’ll tell you the whole story.

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Here is the star of the show, in my eyes. It is a 1966 Auburn Cord Duesenberg Auburn 866 Speedster. Only a few hundred were made in the factory at the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow. I love it. I don’t think that I have ever seen one before. It is one of the most beautiful cars I have ever seen.

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This is the vehicle I coveted the most though. A Nissan Frontier pickup. I miss my Toyota Tacoma that I traded in for my Kia Soul. The Tacoma has bloated to almost full size. The Frontier is still kind of small. No new cars for the Bates family though until the price of oil comes some more, A LOT more. Plus I’ll get mine used, thank you very much.

So, do you like to go to car shows?

Rat Rods! at the Starbird Car Show

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I went to the Daryl Starbird Car Show here in Tulsa a couple weeks ago and I learned something new. I’ve learned the term “Rat Rod.”

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Rat Rods are like hot rods only with no chrome, rough or nor paint, and just generally look kind of homemade.

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Wikipedia talks about Rat Rods being a reaction to the pretty show hot rod show cars of today that are meant to be shown and not driven.

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Rat Rods are often associated with Rockabilly or Greaser culture. They are supposed to be a throwback to the hot rods of the 1930’s to 1960’s. I love them. They have that Mad Max home built slopped together look about them. The safety people among us are going nuts I’m sure. Exposed exhaust pipes, drive belts, and fans. Whoops there goes your fingers, please don’t bleed on the cars sir.

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Apparently conventional hot rodders loathe the rat rods. I just love controversy like this. Reaction and counter reaction, yin and yang. I’ll be looking into this more.

What about you? Have you ever heard of rat rods before?

2016 Daryl Starbird Car Show – Ford Model T Skull Bucket

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I love the yellow and purple… and all the chrome, don’t you??

This latest weekend was the latest installment of the Starbird Car Show here in Tulsa. The event is just mind boggling. There are hundreds of cars on display and they are almost all one of a kind in one or another and the display of creativity, craftsmanship, hard work and pride that the owners put into their machines is just amazing. I took hundreds of photos but don’t worry, I’ll spare you.

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The spoiler and those big ole wide tires…

The guys that build the machines are car guys. I am not a car guy but I know several. I hardly ever pop the hood on my own car let alone do anything to the car. My Dad taught me how to do all the now obsolete skills. Change the points, adjust the timing, gap the spark plugs, all that stuff. All that has gone by the wayside now. But there are still lots of people who modify engines, change transmissions, put in new rear differentials. Others who do their own body work and have learned wire welding and how to paint. I salute them.

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So, is that a legal turn signal. Have you ever had a skull wink at you?

The cars at this show are done by the professionals and dedicated amateurs who have poured hundreds of hours into these creations.

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The small little death’s head on top of the headlight. Does your car have that feature?

I hardly ever miss the regular Tulsa Car show held in the Spring of the year. The cars are great but are not very distinctive. All the sedans look like Toyota Camry’s in my opinion. Nothing wrong with that mind you but I like looking at bright colors and outrageous designs.

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Well, I don’t think it gets good mileage and the tank is rather small. I think it will get you a quarter mile which is long enough.

Anyways, you may wonder why I take hundreds of pictures of great and unique cars and yet show only pics of one car. Hey if you figure it out let me know and then we will both now. I am just simply overwhelmed so I decided to just start with one of my favorites.  I’ll be doing other posts on this cars and dribbling out on Instagram as time goes by.

So, have you seen a car you like lately?

2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat

 

Dodge Challenger Hellcat

Heather and I went to the Tulsa Car Show on Friday. I’m just freshly turned 60 and hey guess what, I got in for half price!!  I have to tell you that I have mixed feelings about that. Of course the worse thing was that the lady taking the money didn’t ask for ID or anything. Same thing happened when I turned 21 and went out to bars with my friends. Not a one asked me for my ID except at a strip bar and then the guy didn’t want to let me in anyway. I talked him into letting me in so that I could see the snaggletoothed strippers. And really it is not so much that I wanted to see the strippers as I didn’t want to be outside on my birthday while my friends checked out the snaggletoothed strippers.  Oops, I’m digressing and offending at the same time. Hey folks, that was 39 years ago!!! Get over yourselves. Anyway, back at the car show.

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Anyway there were lots of cars there. Most of them look like Toyotas. Sorry if hurt your feelings but there it is.

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They had one car there though that was special. The Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. It has a supercharged engine with 707 horsepower.

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For people of a certain age, like those who turned 60 +/- recently and are reluctantly enjoying senior citizen discounts, the Dodge Hemi Challenger has a special place in our hearts exemplified by one of the strangest and wonderful movies of 1971 starring not an actor but a car, the Doge Hemi Challenger, which back then generated a measly 426 horsepower. Of course the naked girl on a motorcycle generated some interest also with me, especially back then.

I can’t tell you how many times I watched that movie. I like cars but I don’t generally covet cars. The cars that I own have tended to be practical and economical. The Hellcat is an exception.  I hope that the people who buy them really enjoy them.

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What about you? Have you ever wanted a muscle car?

2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat – Overview from driveSRT on Vimeo.

 

Foto Friday Fun – Unknown Lilac Automobile

This week I went the number 1500 in honor of Gaelyn, the Geopsy, aka Seasonal Park Ranger at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon’s 1500th post. As usual I’m a week or two late but at least I showed up. I put 1500 in my archive search function and this is what a I got!!

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It’s a car, I know that, and it is purple or lilac or something. I’m not really sure. In fact I don’t even know what kind of car it is. I do know that I shot it at at the Leake Car Auction here in Tulsa a couple years ago. I like the looks of it though. So its kind of like “give me one of those.” Also, led lights for trucks exterior truck electrics can be bought here!

Somebody help me so Gaelyn will know what kind of car (photograph) that I’m giving her.

FotoFriday Fun