HOT RODS, CUSTOMS & DRIVE-INS

Posted on August 10, 2022 by MartynL

Rod & Custom guru and automotive journalist Pat Ganahl has spent his hot-rodding career on the left coast and just posted this short-course on HOT RODS, CUSTOMS & DRIVE-INS. Before social media and cell phones, hot rod and custom car owners communicated with each other at club meetings, shows, drag strips and drive-ins. Drive-ins were where you took your dates and showed off your wheels, finished or unfinished. In some locales, drive-ins were the places to go looking to hook...

ELKS LODGE 613: GROOVIN’ IN THE GROVE

Posted on August 1, 2021August 3, 2021 by MartynL

This annual gathering of car enthusiasts - ELKS LODGE 613: GROOVIN' IN THE GROVE - reaps big rewards for Santa Barbara area veterans and their families. CGC's Jim Palam brought his support and camera to capture some of the good things that can happen when Car Guys with a Cause gather in The Grove! The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was founded in New York City in 1868. Part of their stated mission is "To inculcate the principles of Charity, Justice, Brotherly Love and Fidelity – and to...

SANTA BARBARA DRAGS: THE RACE OF GENTLEMEN (WEST)!

Posted on March 20, 2019March 22, 2019 by MartynL

Revisiting the way it was in 1949 when modified Ford Flatheads and Fours ruled the roost at the Goleta Drags – only updated to include later-model cars and OHV V8s. Our intrepid reporter and consummate carguy, Jim Palam, brings us coverage of TROG (WEST). It took some doing, but after 70 years drag racing returned to its American birthplace – Santa Barbara, CA. It was back in 1949 that the first planned and permitted drag race took place on an access road at what is now Santa Barbara Airport. T...

HOT ROD HEAVEN: 54th ANNUAL LA ROADSTER SHOW!

Posted on April 12, 2018 by MartynL

Hundreds of hot rods, customs and classics will be on display alongside the event’s historic swap meet on June 15 & 16. The LA Roadster Show produced by the LA Roadsters car club, America’s premier showcase for pre-1936 hot rods and customs, car, returns to the Fairplex in Pomona, CA on Father’s Day weekend, June 15-16, 2018. One of the longest-running roadster exhibitions in the world, the event will feature the world’s largest gathering of pre-1936 hot rods as well as its historic swap me...

NITRO REVIVAL: DRAG CARS AT LAGUNA SECA!

Posted on January 2, 2018January 2, 2018 by MartynL

Spring Classic hosts vintage Nitro-fueled drag cars and legendary racers from the 1960s to 1990s. The distinct cackle of Nitro Revival will be coming to the Monterey Peninsula during the second annual Spring Classic on May 18-20. The gathering of vintage and restored Nitro-fueled drag cars and legendary drag racing personalities will take place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca during the iconic facility's vintage racing event. Feature activity will occur on Saturday, May 19. Nitro Revival: Drag Car...

CTEK BATTERY CHARGERS: CONNECT & FORGET!

Posted on July 11, 2017 by MartynL

High-tech plug & play chargers insure peak battery performance for all cars, especially exotics and Supercars with difficult to access batteries. Consider one as ‘cheap life insurance for peace of mind.’ You’ve come a long way, baby! When I bought my first trickle charger in the 1970s to keep the battery in my ’67 Corvette convertible at full strength during cold New Jersey winters, it was a multi-pound, steel cased green “brick.” It had a power cord, Charging and Storage warning lights ...

WILD-EYED & REVVED-UP: RODS AND ROSES!

Posted on July 6, 2017July 6, 2017 by MartynL

It's become a tradition: The High Noon Engine Rev at the Rods & Roses Car Show in Carpinteria, CA. The show celebrated its 20 Anniversary on July 1st – and the roar of the engines this year was a loud salute to local automotive legend, Andy Granetelli. There were over 150 wicked, wonderful and wild-eyed customs, classics and musclecars lining Linden Avenue, Carpinteria's main thoroughfare that delivers you to the "World's Safest Beach" on the Pacific. Proceeds from this always-enjoyable sho...