The Champion Speed Shop 1934 Ford pickup truck is a running legend of hot rod history. Champion Speed Shop founder Jim "The Smiling Irishman" McLennan built the truck for his son Bob McLennan, who now owns and frequently operates the supercharged Chevy powered truck. Not so long ago an opportunity arose to drive this piece of history from South San Francisco to Bakersfield and … [Read more...]
Austin Bantam Not Once But Twice
Taking the castaways of the automotive world and transforming them into race cars through ingenuity and steel tubing is nothing new in America. This sixties-built dragster was at one time a thirties-built Austin. Opportunity Washington's Duke Cornell first constructed this Bantam bodied drag coupe 1961. Duke claims he ran 10-second quarters at the drag strip with alarming … [Read more...]
Corvette Time Capsule
Rick Nightingale's 1965 Chevrolet Corvette is a California custom time capsule still rolling strong. Rick bought the car in 1969, and took until 1970 to bring the car to the customized state it remains in today. He's owned, driven, and raced the American sports car for the forty years since. Along the way the custom Corvette has been shown at the LA Roadster Show, and graced … [Read more...]
Stuttgart Comes to Steinbeck Country
At the risk of sounding somewhat NorCal-provincial, the Monterey Historics are the one can't-miss automotive event of the year. And within that cornucopia of delicious machines from bygone days, the IMSA GT-class race that closes out Sunday features machines (Dekon Monzas, Porsche 935s, Ferrari 512BB LMs) the children of the '70s and '80s grew up with. What's more, this year's … [Read more...]
Astro Van Wagon
From the Clunkbucket far western island division comes this 1990 Chevrolet Astro Van with a mere 79K on the clock. While the Astro Van is a native of the mainland, it is a citizen of the big island of Hawaii, and currently owned and driven by on Hilo resident Richard Walker. The Astro Van served as staff wagon for the Hilo Shopping Center before being pressed into further road … [Read more...]