More Memorabilia

During the last car show of the season a couple of weeks ago I decided that I should spend my ‘pocket money’ on a couple of goodies to prop up my fledgling memorabilia collection. Each show I allocate myself a certain amount of money to take with me for things like memorabilia and car cleaning products etc. If I don’t limit myself I would just spend it on loads of stuff that I really didn’t want in the first place, or on dubiously prepared junk food. I have my credit cards with me just in case I need something worthwhile of course, but cash is king at these shows and you can do a bit of bartering for the best prices.

So my first purchase was the sales brochure for all the ’66 Fords’. I have attached a link to the full brochure here, or can be found under the Articles Menu/Press & Promotional Items on the header. This is an original brochure in fantastic condition with no creases. The staples have gone a little rusty, but what do you expect for fifty-two years old?

The pages are vibrant and full of the classic sales talk of the time like, ‘Stereo sonic Tape System’ and ‘Automatic Speed Control’. This is just little selection of a couple of pages from the brochure to give you a flavour of stepping back in time.

My next item was this great little ‘Ford ’66’ lapel pin. It looks old and feels old, but I’m not sure it’s vintage though. I got myself a nice little deal though as I am now starting to see the same guys selling the memorabilia a bit more often now.

At another show I purchased some Ford tie/hat pins that started my collection of which was these three. I mounted them into a little piece of cardboard to stop the pins getting damaged and keep them together for now, until I find a better storage solution that is.

I have tried to research these lapel/hat pins without much luck so far, so if anybody can point me in the direction of some information or history about them I would be very grateful.

When I was very young I remembered some adverts by Esso. Those ads featured a nameless Tiger, with the slogan that started in 1959; ‘Put a tiger in your tank’.

The various ads run for many years up until the oil crisis in the ’70s where Esso also changed its global name to ‘Exxon Mobil’. There was a set of six tie pins issued and this is the full set.

That ‘Tiger’ campaign remains close to my heart as my dear ol’ Grandfather always used to take me on his rounds then to the Esso station and fill up his lorry on the way home. Some of my earliest memories when I wasn’t even in double figures of age. He would often come out with something cool with the tiger on it, and some tokens to save up for a toy, key-ring or poster of some sort. I just loved this poster at the time.

A little bit of trivia for you;

Exxon Mobil contributes $1 million a year to support the Save the Tiger Fund, which helps conserve Asia’s remaining wild tigers.

My memorabilia is around Mustangs and ’60s Fords for obvious reasons. But, I find myself being drawn back to the things I once had as a kid! There is no logic to my collection strategy, even that is the wrong choice of word I feel. Who knows what I might buy from eBay next!

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Americana Finishes The Season

Last weekend a Classic Car Show at Stonham Barns was pretty much the last car show for the year officially for me, unless I go on a winter organised cruise that is, providing it doesn’t rain of course. It seemed fitting to end this year’s season with a show just for American Cars. There was a nice mixture of classic, not so new and new with some real beauties on display. I arrived about nine in the morning I meet up with Yogi from Mustang Manic who had made a long trip for this show. We were shown into the main arena and parked next to each other, me with my ’66 and Yogi with his red rocket ’69 Mach1 that will run ten seconds down a quarter-mile!

After a quick buff over to remove the dusty road residue, we both found ourselves ‘broken down’ (in joke) with our hoods up. Yogi’s beast got a lot of attention for all the trick bits he has under the hood. Also it’s not often that he;

1) he opens his hood to the public to see his engine

2) he cleans his car

On the Mustang Maniac blog last weekend they had a rare photo of him cleaning it so I have borrowed it with their permission I might add, just to show that miracles do happen!

The other cars that followed us in the gates were parked around the main area until the area was pretty much full, then they filled the outside areas of the field.

My overheard quote of the day came from a woman who looked at my car and said to the guy walking next to her; “Look at the seats in that car, they are disgusting, I don’t like them, they should be taken out.”

To that woman; you came over to my car to look at it, if you don’t like it – don’t look at it, so kindly keep your opinions to yourself! Far from being upset by the comment, I just smiled to myself and thought; if I gave her the keys to my car, she would have happily driven it away sitting on those ‘disgusting’ seats.

Throughout the day there was ‘Uncle Sam’ taking selfies with lots of people and a beautiful bald eagle how much more American do you want to get?

There was the odd car for sale, this one for £8,000, a little bit to much of a project for me at that sort of money.

It was a good day and I even bought a couple of little bits for my memorabilia collection too. Great cars, great company and a great day.

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Cars On The Green

Over the weekend I attended perhaps my favourite car show, Cars on the Green in Bury St Edmunds. Sunday morning I looked out the window and there was a tiny few specs of rain. Now I don’t take the car out in the wet in case it shrinks in the water. So I waited for a while before I made the decision to go. I arrived some twenty minutes later and I almost had to put the wipers on and was uttering the odd colourful blue words at the rain. It must have done the trick as the sun showed itself as I pulled in to the show.

There was some great cars there and it’s always a nice atmosphere at this show. I was on the Bury Retro Car Club stand (patch of grass) shared with some great people from the club too. I took up station under a tree unfortunately, which was leaking sap like water through a cheese grater. So much so, that as I was sending a message to my wife I could feel the sap on the phone screen.

I always give the car a quick spray with some ‘quick detailer’ to take off the dust from the road just so the car looks her best while on show. With the sap falling like it was, I decided not to touch the paint in case I damaged it. Yes, I always carry (a lot) cleaning products, but in the location where I was it would have pointless to try to keep clean. So with a heavy heart I let the car get dirty, well what I call dirty anyway. 🙁

The public was allowed into the show from ten in the morning onwards, it was great to see lots of Dads on Father’s Day with their little ones for the day. I think I may have spotted the odd spouse or two who was, erm – not into cars should we say! I started my slow stroll around the massive venue and took some pictures of the cars that caught my eye. I tried to limit myself for the number of pictures otherwise it’s just picture overload. I will start with some UK cars which are starting to command some quite serious money now.

Then some good old American Muscle.

The Cars on the Green show is classed show for all cars, classics, modern, vans, trucks, modified and new, all of which were well represented. On a side note I have spotted over the last few shows that I have attended, there are a few almost new cars creeping into the classic car events. Now I am petrol head and love cars, so if somebody wants to show their car then fine with me. But, what is the point of taking a two-year old Volvo (example car), that is plain standard stock and parking it next to a genuine classic car. Perhaps that is such a controversial thing to say, and I certainly don’t want to offend anybody. I can sort of understand it, the car show scene is full of great people who always seem to help each other out when another car is in trouble.

Perhaps when the organisers of the events say “classic car show” the cars should be at least fifteen years old? What do you think? That way I can get to see more of the old cars that I personally go to see. I really hope that I haven’t upset anybody with that statement, it wasn’t my intention to do so. Perhaps I need to wind my neck in?

Back to this show, there was a couple of live bands and singers, fairground rides for the children, plenty of food stands and stalls for all things cars and couple of random ones as well nothing to do with cars. Lots of people turned up for the day along with a number of seriously well-behaved dogs too.

Perhaps my favourite pic? This one, where the Land Rover stand had an electric toy version of their vehicles for sale. This little lady just loved it and the guys all to their credit let her stay in it for a while. Well done guys, I think they made that little girl’s day.

After my walk around I sat back in the comfy chair and watched the world go by and had some great conversations with people I have been talking to via email; hi Simon!

I can’t wait for this weekend as it might be two shows, Saturday and the Sunday.

If it doesn’t rain of course.

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End Of Car Show Season

It looks like the classic car season has come to an end like a balloon bursting. Where has the summer gone? I have been to a number of shows this year and made some new friends, meet old friends many times at the shows. I know that I haven’t posted for a while again, my excuse is that I have enjoyed my car so much I can even begin to tell you just how much. Opening the garage door on a Sunday morning and getting that smell of classic car. The smell of metal, engine oil, transmission fluid and petrol all mixed together in a very fine subtle unmistakable aroma. It’s like women smell a bunch of flowers with passion. Petrol heads just can’t get enough of that classic car smell. Pulling the cover of still makes me smile stand back and look at her before I get in her. I shut the door, I don’t slam it. Pump the gas to prime the carb and turn the key, the V8 rumble bites the air and fills my ears with decibels. It’s all very poetic and mushy maybe. But, I still feel like that driving the car to a show. I look at every single person on the road a nutter and they are going to something stupid and drive into me. I am in a state of hyper alertness driving as a result.

That way of thinking is the safest way to be, the only time I can relax is when I see other classic cars near the venue, they all have the same opinion as me and also think that everybody else is a nutter who is going to drive into them as well. The thrill of driving a classic car is with me and will never go, I meet up with the guys from Mustang Maniac and drive in convoy. For four years I was driving in my daily driver to the shows just longing to be a part of the scene. Now when we park up we hand out the statutory banter and men type abuse as we do. After wandering around checking the other cars out I get my chair out and watch the world go by the front of the car. It’s a bit like fishing without catching anything. Every so often I get comments on the car and lots of questions about the car from interested people. My best day was where a father had just bought a Lincoln Continental as a project car to do with his son. The questions they were asking me was the same questions I was asking four years ago when I started my journey of restoration. I tried to help them as much as I could with hints and tips. It was a joy to be honest to spend what was an hour or so of having my brains picked. So I have a few of my favorite pictures of the shows I was attending to finish the year off.

Although this is not an actual picture of my car, I just love the reflection in the back of this van. It was taken as a real quick snap shot from inside the car waiting to get into the show.

There remains only one more event that I will be going to and that is the Birmingham NEC CLassic Car show where I exhibited last year. I won’t be exhibiting this year as I didn’t see hardly anything last year. Although being a part of that show was amazing, I was hard work and there was the odd moment where people didn’t give a fig about the cars and would rub their hands all over them, coats being dragged over the paint, etc. I don’t want to risk the damage to be honest.

Car Detailing:

I have been very busy cleaning my car obviously at the shows and after when I get back home. I have been adding reviews under my newer section on the menus “Car Detailing Reviews”. The products have all been honestly reviewed from Meguiar’s, DoDo Juice, Chemical Guys, Poor Boys World, Autoglym etc. Some I liked and some I wouldn’t even give away from the likes of Simoniz. I have one or two products that I shall eventually get around to reviewing at some point. Some I have already done, and there is even a few detailing tools to be tested as well.

Where do I start with all this lot? 😉

Some of these products I have had for a while now and used on my various cars over the years. Some are very new as I move into the complex world of car detailing, and not just cleaning a car. I already have a few favorites of the new breed, but how do they compare to the old school products?

Meguiar’s Ultimate Wax Paste reviewed click here

DoDo Juice Red Mist Tropical reviewed click here

It will be interesting to find out. What will I be doing with my time now as I won’t be showing the car and I wont be restoring the car? I know – clean it!

I will be posting again soon don’t worry. 🙂

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Stamp Of Approval

Just like every bank holiday here in the UK you can guarantee one thing, bad weather. Easter has been no different I’m sad to say. I was sitting looking out the window waiting for any chance to get my car out. yesterday morning the sun was out and the roads were dry. I guessed that it wouldn’t be long before the rain set in as the sky was looking pretty grey and dismal in the distance. I decided to take some back roads and get some petrol while I was out. The blast through some twisty lanes was amazing and the window was down (even though it was chilly) just so I could hear the angry bark of my V8 exhaust. I “accidentally” managed to engage kickdown a few times as my confidence grows with my own ability to drive the car with respect that it deserves. The petrol station brings me to a smile as people going about their own business fill their own cars up glancing over to my car being filled up. As I was paying at the counter and getting a newspaper, I saw through the shop front window an elderly gentleman walking towards his car via a detour to look at mine. He stood for a few moments looking inside and then walked away. I wondered what he was thinking? I hope it made him smile, maybe brought back some memories maybe. I managed to get home and in the garage before the rain fell down about half an hour later. Now my V8 fix had been attended too, I could relax and read my Mustang Monthly magazine. After only a few trips so far in my car, I can’t imagine life without her now.

During my last visit to Mustang Maniac I just had to get a new part in order to replace something on my car that was driving me mad now. What was that part? The trunk lock, yes it looks fine, it works fine and there is nothing wrong with it, except that the chrome had a very slight crazing to it on close inspection from all the years exposed to the elements. It didn’t bother me before, but now when I pull the car cover off the car now in the garage, I see the tiny craze line where my eye is drawn to them and it just does my head in. So I had to replace it, the process was dead simple in fact. Two bolts on the inside of the trunk and a large nut holds the tumbler in place. Undo that and it all pops right out. Ten minutes (if that) to change it. Now I have a sparkly new one which looks just like the old one! only when you get up close and compare the two side by side could you see any difference. What next can I find to do on my car? I genuinely miss working on my car, but enjoy driving her so MUCH more. Soon it will be the season for car shows and I’m looking forward to that very much where I can take my little lady to them and park her up next to the other proud owners at these shows.

Last week I came home to wonderful surprise that had been posted to me by my blog buddy Debbie Nuessle from the USA, on the other side of the pond (private little joke here). Debbie started her blog hoodscoop03.com in December 2012 and we have been good friends since we started blogging. Debbie is a true petrol head (gear head) which has run in her family ever since her father was racing, you only have to look at her blog, (which I recommend you do), to see her love for Mustangs and all sorts of muscle cars, this is made clearer by buying another new GT to reluctantly replace her 2003 model Mustang. My surprise was that Debbie had kindly joined me into her “Mustang Club of St. Louis” paying for my annual membership, to celebrate my car being officially on the road now. Just how cool is that? What this means is that I have joined my very first Mustang Club, I don’t even belong to one here in the UK, yet. In my pack I had personal messaged card, a couple of blog cards, and a window sticker for the car with the “Club” logo on it and my enrollment confirmation form.

To round of such an awesome surprise was something that I have been after for a while now. My very own full set of Muscle Car stamps.

A little history of the Muscle Car stamps:

They were issued on February 22, 2013. These Muscle Cars stamps celebrate an exciting era in American automotive history. The cars were typically equipped with big, powerful engines, these high-performance vehicles first roared onto our roads in the 1960s. The stamps feature five iconic muscle cars: the 1966 Pontiac GTO, the 1967 Shelby GT-500, the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, the 1970 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda, and the 1970 Chevelle SS. The artist Tom Fritz based his artwork on photographs of the cars, using bright-colored oil paints on hard board to try to “capture the emotive quality” of each one. Growing up in Southern California, Fritz became familiar with the power of muscle cars and calls these paintings “a projection of my memories of the vehicles.” This set of stamps Muscle Cars is the third issuance in the America on the Move series. The stamps were designed by art director Carl T. Herrman. The first two issuances in the series were 50s Sporty Cars (2005) and 50s Fins and Chrome (2008). This latest sheet of stamps were issued as Forever® stamps in self-adhesive sheets of 20 with 4 of each design. My favorite? It’s fairly obvious but I would mind any of these great American Classic cars.

So this is a first for me again, I am now a member of a Mustang Club in America thanks to my first true blog follower, apart from friends and family that is. Thank you very much Debbie, I appreciate it.