Car, Cars, Cars

Saturday was a busy day for MagicCityMotoring, a quick look at the calendar showed more events than one could do in a day,so we made the best of it. A quick pre-lunch visit with MOB INC at their almost weekly gathering at Logan's Roadhouse on 280. ("The MOB" gathers Saturdays at 11:30ish each week unless they choose to do a a cruise for charity). A great turn out of 15 or exotics and then a few more more from members who prefer a car payment be less than a mortgage.

After our quick visit on 280 we raced out to the Helena Amphitheatre for the annual Birmingham British Motoring Club picnic. We were able to sit back and visit with a few clubs members (over 70 came out for this event). The club welcomed their new board. And a member brought out her new car, once owned by a club member who had a terrible event in the car. It was good to see the former owner reliving memories and the new owner starting to make her own.

After a quick break we rushed out to the Fultondale cruise-in. This small event has exploded into a major 4th Saturday of the month cruise-in. It has numbered 400 cars each of the last three months. With vendors on site now, the Ashley Furniture lot begins to fill at 4:00 and lots of luck getting a spot after 6. This is a must go on any car lover's list. Numerous Mustangs, 3 or 4 late 60's Charger R/T's, a Volvo P1800, a few Miata's, and even a few "donks", were some of the cars scattered throughout the 400 or so cars in attendance.

12,000 Street Rods! Priceless.

August 6th – 9th 2009 was the 40th annual NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, KY. Over twelve thousand rods filled the Kentucky Expo Center to display one of the largest gatherings of pre 1948 custom cars. The show can only be described as a sensory overload due to the extreme number of cars that can be seen in every direction. The best builders in the world display the jaw dropping craftsmanship that only money can buy. Perfect is the only word to describe cars that leave a lasting impression in the mind of the viewer.

Perfection seems to share the spotlight with the growing popularity of nostalgic rods and rat rods. While the nostalgic cars feature beautiful flathead engines and period parts, the rat rods seem represent the original concept of a hot rod. The innovative designs of these rods parallel the desire for speed and simplicity. The Street Rod Nationals is an excellent show to attend. The mixture of styles and the wonderful atmosphere make this show exceptional. Whether it’s flawless or patina that you consider beautiful; this show displayed them both. Although the cost of perfection is extreme and the price of vintage is still considered high, the experience of twelve thousand unique rods is priceless.

This post was written by one of our new editors, Blake. Remember MagicCityMotoring.org may be at your event.

A quick congrats

To be clear I am not a motorcycle guy. I may be around them every day, but I just don't quite get it. Sort of the way some never got Sports Nite or Arrested Development great shows but...

I however must congratulate The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, George Barber, and his team in the motorcycle restoration department (Chuck and Denis) for bringing to Birmingham the first ever First in Class Award for Motorcycles from the 2009 Pebble Beach Concour Event. Chuck and Denis worked their fingers off (and probably polished the nubs to nothing the Saturday before the show) to get Barber's 1952 ALS E95 Porcupine restored and ready to show in a matter of months.

I will assume this motorcycle will be back at Barber's and on display in time for the 2009 Vintage Fest. www.barbervintagefestival.org/

AutoX, Alabama, August- Not to bad today

I set out to play pit crew today at the August SCCA Autocross at Birmingham Race Course. I went to bed thinking what a hot miserable day it will be tomorrow. When the alarm sounded and I made it outside outcast sky's greeted me with a very light mist. Then the unexpected happened the clouds sort of went away a light breeze showed its face, keeping the morning very comfortable. It made for a very nice autoX. The SCCA has now been pushed to the far side of the parking lot at BRC, now that you can gamble on Sunday. This made for completely different course, paddock and staging areas. In my shear amazement everything worked smoothly. Even with a novice group of 19 the day appeared to go off with out a hitch. I am sure it was different at race control but it appeared smooth and that always takes some doing. It was an exciting day with everyone getting 6 runs in on a 1-minute course. With the novice group, Honda showing up with 2 modified Odysseys (the Orange one running high 50's), and a full field of entrants FTD was 51.? by a Miata running CSP, with most of the novices in the mid 60's. Heck even the second to last run was by a Tundra @ 68 seconds. If you ever wanted a nice easy way to learn your car, or get into racing on the cheap with little chance of damaging anything (I said little not no). Check the calendar and make it out to one of the SCCAs monthly autocross events.

Let's get it started...

I have been saying for some time that MagicCityMotoring.org would begin blogging about the car world. The intention of this blog is to cover some of the car shows and happening that Magic City Motoring friends attend. If you have been to a car event- a cruise-in, a car show, a car race, a steam engine show write a quick article in word (I am not looking for a publishing deal, but please let's closely edit what we write.), attach a few pictures and email them to magiccitymotoring@gmail.com. We will see what we can get done about posting it.