roddingandracing
roddingandracing
.PHOTOS
2015 HOT ROD POWER TOUR
CAR SHOW COVERAGE
Had two shows scheduled this past weekend, Houston Coffee & Cars on Saturday and a Tourq'd Houston show on Sunday up in Spring. I found out the night before that a "Lowrider" show was being held at
Macgregor Park just East of the Medical Center. Macgregor Park is just 2.5 miles out of my way heading back home to Pearland so we decided to swing by. (Coffee & Cars left, Macgregor Park right)
Between 2012-2019, we su1bmitted 96 car show coverages to HOT ROD HOT LINE. Since the Pandemic shut everything down, we had sent zero! I decided this past year (2025) to begin submitting Houston area car shows and chose the SHOWPLACE CLASSICS Bayou City Cup Series. I submitted the three shows posted above and plan on sending one more from 2025 covered a couple of weeks ago in Katy. If you click on the HOT ROD HOT LINE logo, it'll take you straight to our coverages.
Been busy this holiday season. Since Christmas, we've had three of our photos used as Facebook Group Cover shots, two on a Mopar Group (left) and one on a Pro Street Group (right). The Pro Street was taken just a week ago but the Mopars were from years back. The
big Plymouth was taken in 2018 in Bowling Green, KY and the Hemi Barracuda was taken in Sealy (TX) many years ago. I posted them on the Group Page on October 31 and December 6.
FREDERICKSBURG, TX
DALLAS, TX
MEMPHIS, TN
.....DIECAST, PLASTIC MODELING, ARTWORK COLORING BOOKS
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After stripping off the botched paint job, I applied the black base coat to my Anglia "Gasser" project (above). Chassis is waiting for the resin front wheels I ordered, and the chute and resin hood scoop are prepped. I'm going to attempt a flame paint job with an unusual masking technique. If you overlap the masking "strips" (above, center), you actually get a flame pattern (above, right). We'll see!
My son bought me this MPC BARRIS "T" BUGGY for Christmas, and this is the type of kit I like to use for "spare parts".
The kit had a nice set of deep-dish wheels with low-profile tires. As soon as I saw them, I almost immediately pictured a new "project" in my head.
Since I like "exaggerated" vehicles, I opted for a smaller, 1/32 scale Chevy Van to use the 1/24 scale tires and wheels.
Because of the scale difference, I decided to flare the Van's wheel openings using aftermarket, resin pieces. I'm ordering two sets, one in each scale to see which works best.
The only "glitch" with the above "project", is I can't currently find a Van kit still in the box, unassembled! There's a handful on Ebay, all already assembled. It's a Snap-Tite kit (no glue required) so hopefully the one I get won't have any glue on it so I can disassemble it pretty easy. Of course since it is an old kit, prices are between $40 - $70.
Since I didn't cover any car shows in 2020 and very few in 2021, I decided to join several private and public Facebook Groups to share my old pictures, some going back 50 years! Below are the latest images I shared.
Before heading out to cover the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green (KY) back in 2018, I made some prints of a handful of pictures that I had taken of "Big Daddy" Don Garlits. He had made surprise appearances in the past so I was hoping that he would show and I could get the pictures
autographed. As you can see above and right, he did and so did I. My old images, now autographed, were taken years ago at Alamo Dragway in San Antonio and Green Valley Race City in Fort Worth (top row). Both bottom images were taken at Eastex Dragway in Porter just north of Houston. Now as far as the political bumper sticker above, Garlits ran for Congress in Florida back in 1994.
After a couple of years with a two-door 1962 Chevy Bel Air which I wish I still had, I bought my first brand new vehicle; a 1972 Datsun pickup (left). Once I got used to working the manual shift, I slapped on some big-meat Goodyears on Ansen wheels. It got plenty of attention
whenever I picked up my younger siblings at Junior High and High School.
Check out my admission ticket from Houston International Speedway (above). Not sure of the year but only $3.00, it had to be from quite a while back.
Right after the Pandemic shut everything down, I joined several Private Facebook Groups to share my old images. As I share, usually 8-16 per week, I also post them further above. Before the Pandemic, I
also had a "RACING" page where I posted my old racing images. I've decided to post a condensed version of that page below. What I'm trying to show is the variety of motorsports that I frequented back then and as you can see, it was quite a few!
Yes, all the images above were taken by me over the years but this image was not. It's the only image I've ever seen posted that actually has me on it!
Although I never use my camera's motor-drive feature, I do get lucky enough sometimes to get an action sequence.
That's me on the right side (w/beard) leaning on the trailer at Eastex Dragway when Don Garlits was there.
GREEN VALLEY RACEWAY HISTORICAL AREA
Several years ago, I received an email from someone on the North Richland Hills (TX) City Council concerning a Green Valley Race City Historical site that was in the planning stages. They were asking permission to use several
of the images that I had taken at the track back in the '80s. I of course told them that it wouldn't be a problem. Below are the latest images of the site that were posted on a Green Valley Race City Facebook Page.
A quick check of the three information boards that are already put up (top, right) shows eleven of my images! I posted those images below and I hope I can make it up one day to check it out. (On the right image, you can see some of the original track that's still there)
It was a lot more fun to be 20 in the '70s than to be 70 in the '20s!
Time is precious,
Don't waste it.
2018 NHRA
HOT ROD REUNION
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Before heading to the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion in 2018 (Bowling Green, Ky), I decided to make some enlargements of images I had taken over the years including some of "Big Daddy" Don Garlits and Tom "the Mongoose" McEwen in hopes of getting them autographed. They had both showed up in previous years so I decided to give it a shot. As you can see above (left) and below, Garlits did show up and I was able to get some of my personal images signed. Not sure if he had planned on showing up or not but sadly, McEwen passed away three days prior at the age of 81.
All the images above were taken at Texas tracks that I frequented when I was a lot younger. Left to right...Alamo Dragway in San Antonio, Green Valley Race City in Fort Worth and the final two were taken here (Houston) at Eastex Dragway in Porter. The tracks have been closed for years.