Reflections

My cars have always been an important part of my life. I have always thought that a person's car should be a reflection of their personality, especially when that person is a car enthusiast. When I'm out in public, I want to be proud of the vehicle I'm seen driving on the streets. Maybe this is mainly a "car-guy" thing, but I believe it is somewhat true for everyone out there, even if they are unaware of the part of their personality they are displaying to the public.
Now days, there may not be many of us true car enthusiasts on the streets, but we can often spot each other instantly by what we're driving. Even if we're not in our favorite "specialty car", what ever we're driving is usually a nice vehicle, kept clean, and and in good mechanical condition.
Then there is the other end of the scale. We all see them every day, an older, dirty, beat up, ugly, piece of crap, vehicle on the streets. Makes me wonder what type of person would drive such a vehicle, and would want to be seen in public that way. I know there are a lot of things going on in peoples lives, and many circumstances out of our control, but those thoughts cross my mind when I see those vehicles on the streets.
On a recent 2000 mile road trip, over a two day period of time, I witnessed three different instances of very poor, very discourteous, and dangerous driving, displayed by other motorists on the highway. Two out of those three were driving the type of  "piece of crap" vehicles I was just talking about. I can't help but think those vehicles must be a true reflection of those driver's personalities.  We don't want to ever be lumped into that group.

I always hope my car is a reflection of my personality.

The Road Less Traveled

We got to spend some time with family and old friends several times in recent weeks. I have been thinking about some of the conversations we had, and the many twists and turns we have experienced in all of our lives. Nobody could have imagined how our lives would have turned out, for better or worse, right or wrong, we get what we get. The only thing we can do is live the best life we can, try to make the best choice when we get one, and hope and pray it all works out.
There is one reality that keeps running through my mind, the same as it has for the major part of my adult life; "you better be enjoying every day, doing something you love as often as possible, because we never know how long this life will last.".  None of us should look back on our life as an old person and think; "I should have had more fun in my life". 
If you love the outdoors, get out there more. If you love playing music, or singing, do it. If you're a sports fan, go to that "big game" and watch your favorite team play, or play the game yourself. If you're a car enthusiast, drive a car that you enjoy. Go to the car shows and associate with like minded people. It may be the road less traveled, but it will be worth the trip.
What ever you do, don't forget to share it with the younger generation. We live in a turbulent world. The young people need something good to look forward to. Help them find a way to have some fun in their lives as well. These are the things I wish for my kids, and grand kids.
Many readers of this blog have also checked out my book. You can read sample pages at; "Grab Some Gears"

My current passion, my 2015 Mustang GT, on the streets of our Southern Utah home town.

Choosing the Right Tires

Recently I needed to replace the tires on our Dodge Charger. I started weeks ahead of time doing the homework to choose the perfect tires for our car. It was a job I take seriously, choosing the perfect tire type for the type of driving we do, and the weather conditions we expect to be driving in. I wanted tires that improved on some of the features provided by the original equipment tires that came on the car.
The "Tire Rack" web site is a good place to start doing your homework, where you can compare the specifications on many different brands of tires. You can search by the tire size you need, and compare features like; speed rating, tread wear rating, tread design, and cost.You must decide if you need all-season tires, or can use high-performance summer tires. The handling characteristics will vary greatly.
Our Charger originally came with V speed rated tires, so I wanted new tires with W speed rating, that would give me slightly improved high speed handling. I also found tires with a higher tread wear rating, which should add to the miles I expect to get out of the new tires. The cost was right at a local tire store, so the tires were ordered and installed a couple days later.
We have made a couple road trips since getting the new tires, and I'm happy with the handling at high speeds, so all is well. They are all-season tires, so they should do well if we have to make a trip up north in cold weather.
In the past I have had more specialized tires on some of my Mustangs. Like wider rear tires, and narrower front tires, for better drag racing performance. I even had a set of "Drag Radials" on the rear of my 96 Cobra. Having specialized tires always comes at a cost. It's a trade-off, where you loose the ability to rotate tires between all four wheels, in exchange for improved performance.
Lots of things to consider, but making the right choice can be rewarding in your driving satisfaction.

My 87 Mustang had wider tires on the rear, and narrower tires on the front for improved racing performance.

Cars and Music

Do you know people who don't care much for music?  I have been around a few, but that is sure not me. I have been a music lover from even before I became a car lover, and that started in my early teens. As soon as I started driving, music was always part of the experience. You will almost never find me in the car without some of my favorite music playing.
It may have been some of the early 1960's music that sparked my interest in cars, and girls for that matter. The early Beach Boys cars, beach girls, and cruising songs come to mind. My all-time favorite group is still the Four Seasons , especially their hits from the early 1960's. But, my love of music is not limited to the oldies of my youth. I love a lot of different music, and have many favorites, old and new.
We have many ways to listen to music in our cars these days. I enjoy several channels on Sirius satellite radio, and I also have CD's, USB drives, and Bluetooth play lists on my phone to choose from. I'm always discovering forgotten favorites that I download and add to my playlists. A recent PBS special on TV re-introduced me to a forgotten favorite Bee Gees song "Alone" , that I downloaded and added to my play list, right between the Echosmith song "Cool Kids", and "Hello" by Adele.
For me, cars, driving, and good music just go together. Even if I'm in my garage, cleaning, pampering, or working on my cars, I like to have my favorite music playing. To me, it doesn't get any better than that.

Early photo of  The Beach Boys , and some cool cars, a natural combination.

The Lucky One

Car enthusiasts all over the world share a universal love of cars, and we all have those we aspire to own, and those we admire from afar with no chance of ever driving. Many of us are lucky enough to have a car we love, at least once in our lifetime. Some of us get to own several of our favorites over the years. A few of us are blessed to enjoy many cool cars for much of our life. We are the lucky ones.
I have always admired high performance cars, and had the privilege of owning and enjoying many for the last 50 years. At least 17 of which have been Ford Mustangs, including two Mustang Cobras and a Shelby GT 500.
A recent comment by one of my car friends on Twitter made me stop and think. The comment; "you are a lucky man" about one of my posts, with a photo of two of my former Mustangs, made me think about how lucky I have been through out my life. Not just my cars, but with my wife and family as well. I am "The lucky One", and I am very thankful for that.
For more of my story, check out my book at: "Grab Some Gears"     You can also follow me on Twitter at: "Cobra3dD"

Me with my 2007 Shelby GT 500 Mustang, back in the day.

First Driving Experience

In the fall of 1954, I went with my grand father in his jeep pickup to check on the cattle a couple miles away from the house on our farm/ranch in southwestern South Dakota. As we were leaving the pasture, we got stuck in some mud as we were crossing a field about a mile from the farm house. We walked back to the farm to get a tractor and chain. Nobody else was home at the time, so he took me back in the tractor to pull the jeep out of the mud. He hooked up the chain to the jeep, and stood me on the seat to steer it straight as he pulled it out. Granddad got back on the tractor and slowly pulled the pickup out of the mud.
He was impressed enough with my performance that he asked me if I thought I could do that all the way back home. I said I thought I could, so he agreed we could give it a try. I stood back up on the seat of the jeep, he got back on the tractor, and we were off. It must have taken us at least a half hour to get back to the house at the slow speed we were traveling, but I did just fine. Granddad was happy, and relayed the story to Mom and Dad when they got home later that afternoon.
Mom got out the camera and took a picture of me in the jeep to remember the event, (the photo you see below). That story was retold many times for years. That was my first driving experience, and I was 4 years old at the time.

That's me in Granddad's jeep pickup in 1954.

First Favorite

I have been a Mustang fan for the entire 50+ year history, and have developed many favorite models over the years. Several models come out as my all-time favorites, a few of which I have owned myself, like my 03 Terminator Cobra, and my 07 Shelby GT 500 for instance. But, for this blog post, I want to talk about my "first favorite".
Sometime in the fall of 1967, my brother Ken and I were on the Ford dealer lot in Rapid City, South Dakota, looking at the new Mustangs. We were delighted to discover they had several new Shelby GTs setting there. One was a just arrived 1968 model and the rest were 67 models. As we looked them over, I came to realize that I preferred the 1967 GT 500 over the 68. I liked the cleaner, simpler style of the 67 front end, more than the 68 models. I also liked the hood scoop and taillights better on the 67s. When we opened the hoods, we discovered the twin 4-bbl carbs under the cool oval air cleaners on the 67 models were replaced by a single carb on the 68 model. For many reasons, the 67 Shelby GT 500 has remained one of my all time favorite Mustangs.
Others have remained at the top of my list as well, the 69 BOSS 429 in particular. I used to see a beautiful black one on the edge of a parking lot in Phoenix we often drove past in 1970. The 1969 BOSS 429 might be my all-time favorite Mustang, but the 1967 Shelby GT 500 will always be my "first favorite".
That may be why I have such a problem with "Eleanor" Mustangs. They are a custom Mustang movie prop introduced for the movie "Gone in Sixty Seconds"  in the year 2000. A whole younger generation of Mustang fans now think that "Eleanor" is what a 67 Shelby GT 500 really looked like. On the Eleanor movie car, they changed many of the best styling features of the real 67 GT 500, in particular, the entire front end styling.  Enough said on that matter.

My first favorite Mustang, a 1967 Shelby GT 500, in my favorite color combination. (internet photo)

Always About Muscle Cars

My automotive passion started at an early age, as a young teenager in the 1960's. What grabbed my attention first was performance cars. In the early 60's, performance was a big selling point for american car manufacturers. Every year they kept putting bigger and badder V8 engines in their performance models. At that time, their performance model was usually a full size two door hard-top, with V8 engine and four speed transmission. NASCAR stock car racing was also a big part of the growing popularity for American car manufacturers. About 1964, they finally got the idea to put those powerful motors in their mid-size cars. The muscle car was born. The Pontiac GTO was one of the first, being followed by the Chevelle SS 396, and the Ford Fairlane GT, and others were close behind. By the late 60's and early 1970's, the most powerful engines they made were available in these cars.
I was always attracted to the biggest engine in the lightest available car. The Shelby 427 Cobra was the ultimate dream, but way out of the range of possibilities for most people. The more attainable muscle cars were a more realistic goal for the average car guy like myself. My early experiences with V8 Mustangs would start me down the path that has lasted for more than 50 years.
In the late 1980's and early 90's, I did get my chance to own a couple big-block muscle cars. I restored a 1970 429 Cobra-Jet Ranchero, and also owned a 1970 Torino Cobra. The top shelf Mustangs were putting out equal performance by then, so I went that route from then on. From big-block monsters to supercharged Mustangs, it's always been about muscle cars for me.
For more of my story, check out my book at; Grab Some Gears

My restored 1970 Cobra-Jet Ranchero GT. (photo from 1987)

Photos in a Box

When we get old, will our lives be reduced to just photos in a box? For people of my parents generation, sometimes that's about all we have left once their gone. When we look through those old photos, it will trigger some fond memories of time spent with departed loved ones, and that's why we keep them, usually tucked away in a closet somewhere.  These days, maybe its not boxes filled with old photos of our lives, but rather thousands of images stored on our computer. But the future result will be much the same.
For those of us who post photos on Facebook, tweet them out to our followers on Twitter, or post them to a blog, we are putting them out to a much wider audience than just our family. If those photos are a reflection of the passions that are important to us, and we are sharing them with like minded people, we get some satisfaction from the positive comments we receive.
For us car enthusiasts, we feel a real connection to some of these people, most of whom we will never meet, and many from the other side of the world. We know they share some of the same interests, and have had many of the same experiences as ourselves, and we consider many of them our friends.
For me, that's why I share these personal images of my life. It makes them more than just photos in a box.

My 2015 Mustang GT , in the beautiful red rock country, near my home in Southern Utah.

The Last Street Race

Yes, street racing still goes on, but for me it ended 10 years ago. My last street race was with my friend Mike, a Viper owner, and me driving the 2003 Mustang "Terminator" Cobra I owned at the time. This race is detailed in the last chapter of my book. (This is something I haven't done on this blog before), here are a couple paragraphs from Chapter 15 of my book;

"We cruised down the highway, often trading positions, so we could observe each others cars from all angles. As we were reaching the outskirts of town, the traffic thinned out, just as expected. It still took some more waiting and maneuvering before we would have the needed space to run the cars.

Finally, things opened up a little more, Mike moved the Viper into position along side my Cobra, and we started slowing and confirming our intentions with signals and nods. We slowed to about 60 MPH, down shifted to third, bringing the engine RPM to mid-range where the most power would be instantly available.  We confirmed our status to each other with three fingers raised and a nod.  A few more seconds passed as we insured our pace was matched, then, in an instant we both floored the gas and we were off. I felt my Cobra lunge forward as the superchargers mechanical howl tried to drown out the roar of the exhaust, and the tires strain as car is thrust down the road. Instantly, I’m moving ahead of the Viper, and by the time I make the fourth gear shift, a few seconds later, we had just blasted past 100 MPH, and I catch sight of the Viper in my mirror, a couple car lengths back.  We let off, braked to cut some speed, and fell back in line as we were quickly approaching the traffic ahead. We took the next exit and pulled over, both grinning from ear to ear, and discuss the results of our little race. We both agreed that the outcome confirmed the Cobra had to be putting out 100 more horsepower than the Viper. We pulled back out onto a secondary highway and tried an encore, this time from a slower speed, at mid-range in second gear. The results were the same, further confirming our estimate of the Cobras 510 horsepower".
Check out my book or read sample pages at; Grab Some Gears 

Mike's Dodge Viper and my Mustang Cobra. (Picture from the photo shoot for my book cover, taken in 2006)

Ones That Got Away

Most car and motorcycle enthusiasts have a few vehicles in our past that we wish we still had. Some people attach more "sentimental value" to these past loves that others, but we all have these attachments to some degree.
Recently a story was relayed to me about Fred, a brother-in-law to my brother-in-law, about a 55 Chevy he owned years ago when he was first married. It was sold when the family started to grow and money was tight. He has missed that car ever since. He is now retired, has more time on his hands, and his family recently surprised him with a 55 Chevy like the one he used to have. Its a fixer-upper in need of complete restoration, but he is very happy and the work has begun to make it the car of his memories.

I have never been one to hold on to vehicles for sentimental reasons, there is always something new in my sights that I'd rather have instead. I have been lucky to have owned so many over the years, but I do admit there have been some that I wish I still had. It would take way more money, and storage space, than I have, but I do have a few sentimental favorites. The ATV pictured below is examples of one that got away.

The Honda 200X that I bought new in 1985 and owned for many years. My brother and nephew owned it after that, and I bought it back several years ago. It was in "like new" condition when I sold it to a collector in 2012. This is one I really miss.

Time on Two Wheels

Most car enthusiasts also love motorcycles, many as riders themselves, and some as admirers from afar. I myself have a long history with motorcycles, starting when I was very young. Growing up in the rural farm country of southwestern South Dakota, my brother and I would play on a 1940 Indian 4 cylinder monster that my dad road in his younger days, and still stored in a shed on our farm. As a young teenager, our family owned a small motorcycle shop in town, selling Honda models up to 160cc. I did minor mechanic work, and finished assembly of the new motorcycles, after they arrived in crates. My brother and I, and our cousins, all had cycles during our high school years. We thought that was pretty cool, the girls always wanted a ride, and we didn't want to disappoint.
One of my first street races with a stranger was on a motorcycle, and I won.  The whole thing is detailed in Chapter 1 of my book. That kind of stuff would continue, off and on until I was over 40 years old. For all those years I usually had a motorcycle of one type or another, from dirt bikes to street bikes. In recent years, I have enjoyed several ATVs, though I haven't owned a regular motorcycle in over 20 years. But I will always have fond memories of my time on two wheels.

Vintage photo of me on my Honda 160 Scrambler, taken in 1967.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

"Obsessive Compulsive Disorder", or OCD as it is commonly referred to, is a condition that many people have. It can be mild or severe, anything from an annoyance for those you live with, to a debilitating mental condition that rules your life. Psychologists call it a disorder, and my wife will tell you I have it, but it has served me well for many years.
People with OCD like things neat and organized. A place for everything, and everything in it's place. We also like things to be neat and clean, that goes for our house, our clothes, and for us "car guys" it is especially true for our cars and our garage. Readers of my book, or this blog, will recognize this trait from many of my stories. One of my first jobs as a teenager was doing light mechanic work and detailing cars for a used car lot. That job suited me well, and the experience taught me many skills I use to this day.
Anyone who may be interested can check out my book and read sample pages at: Grab Some Gears

Keeping my Shelby clean, a photo from 9 years ago.

Most Popular Picture

For several years now, I have been on Facebook and Twitter, in addition to posting on this blog. Most of these social media platforms track the responses to your contributions in one way or another. It's interesting to me to see which of the posts I make attract the most attention from the followers who see my pictures and read my comments. Often, it's not the ones I would expect, but sometimes it's the ones that I also found the most interesting.
The statistics on Twitter are some that I pay closest attention to, because most of those who see my twitter posts are like minded car enthusiasts, and many like the same kind of stuff as I do. Of all the photos I've posted, or re-tweeted, in recent weeks, one stands out above all the rest as having been the most popular. It's the photo I've included below, of a beautiful red "67" Mustang GT. I'm not sure if it's the angle of the shot, the brightness of the colors, the subject matter itself, or a combination of all these things, but it just makes a very attractive photo. Others must agree.

A great shot of a beautiful 1967 Mustang GT. (photo from Twitter posts).

A Picture Worth a Thousand Words.

Everyone has heard the old saying "A picture is worth a thousand words". I truly believe that. Sometimes it seems especially true for a particular picture that for some reason just grabs your attention. I've thought a lot about that recently when I came across a picture on Twitter.
That's a big part of why social media sites are so popular anyway, because it's the pictures that catches us first and draws us in, to pause and read more about it.
We can take some time to study a particular picture, trying to determine exactly what makes it one of our favorite, but find it hard to describe why we find it so appealing to us. Sometimes it would take those "thousand words" to try to explain it to someone else.
I have around 2000 photos saved in my computer, with over 500 of them being various car pictures, many of which I took myself, the rest saved off the internet.  The picture I've included with this post happens to be one that may not be as hard for me to explain why I like it, lets just say, I just do.

A picture I like, from a recent Twitter post I came across.

Trucks in the Life of a Car Guy

I have be an automotive enthusiast my whole life, a "car guy" to the core. I grew up on a farm in Western South Dakota, so for many years, there were more trucks in my life than cars. Most of my first driving experiences were in trucks, not cars. Sure, the first performance cars I saw had a lasting effect on me, but so would some pickup trucks.
In my book, I have a chapter titled; "The Automotive Dark Ages" talking about the 1970's and early 1980's when car manufacturers were trying to get the whole emissions control situation figured out. For a time, we thought our beloved muscle cars were a thing of the past.
During those years I was an avid hunter, and a building contractor, so trucks were an important part of my life. But, even then, performance was a big consideration in my vehicle choices. As soon as I got a new truck, I would start making some performance modifications, often using parts intended for muscle cars, and it worked wonders with the trucks I owned.
Of all the trucks I owned, modified, and loved, one stands out above all the rest; my 1978 Ford F-150 short-bed 4X4 pickup. I had special ordered it with the biggest V8 engine available, 4-speed manual transmission, and limited-slip axles, front and rear. Then the modifications stared, and within a couple years, finished with swapping in a high performance, bored and blue printed V8 I had built in a college auto class I was taking at the time. I sold the original engine to help pay for some of my parts bills.
That truck would win three off-road rallies, many street races, and would take us to the best hunting spots for several seasons. It was a very important part of my automotive history. To read more of this story, check out my book at; Grab Some Gears

My 1978 Ford F-150 in the mountains of Northern Utah.

High Tech Muscle Cars

Most automotive enthusiasts will agree that the fastest, most powerful, best handling, and highest quality muscle cars ever produced are being made right now. Many are available on the showroom at a dealership near you. Looks, styling, and esthetics are a matter of personal preference, but I think today's specialty cars are among the best looking ever produced as well, though we all have a love of the looks of many of our favorite classics.
The main improvement in recent muscle cars, compared to the classics we all love, is the availability of all the latest technology we have come to expect in our cars these days. We can have a car that will out run a "67" 427 Corvette, and still answer our phone calls, play our favorite music over satellite radio, blue tooth, or several other methods, and provide traction control, anti-lock braking, and dozens of other features we could never have dreamed of 40 years ago.
Through the magic of computer controls and fuel injection, today's cars are much more reliable, and get much better fuel economy than our beloved classics. There is an old saying; "they don't make them like they used to" but I suggest that is a good thing.
To get more of my automotive history, check out my book at; "Grab Some Gears"

The 435 horsepower, 32 valve, double overhead cam, fuel injected, aluminum V8, in my 2015 Ford Mustang GT.

Details

What is it about being a "car guy" that makes you appreciate automotive styling details that other people don't even notice. I guess it is just part of what makes us "car people" in the first place. Like how we can instantly tell the difference between a "67" and "68" Mustang, or how we can recognize a "63" split window Corvette from a block away.
When we walk through a car show and soak in all the fine details of the vehicles we are looking at, while other non-car people just see red ones, blue ones, and green ones.
Over the last 50 years, I have developed a great appreciation for the details that make our hobby so great. The shape of a "34" Ford radiator shell, the gas cap location of a "56" Chevy, or the taillight shape on a "68" Dodge Charger, are but a few of thousands of examples I could name.
Most of us are more of an expert on our favorite brand of vehicle, from a narrow range of model years. But I have met some who are like a walking data file on a wide range of cars, both old and new. But even the newest car enthusiast among us, has noticed details that have peaked their interest, and made them one of us.

Some beautiful styling details of the 2013 Mustang GT.

Road of Life

There have been many books and movies that have involved the subject of time travel. The movie; "Back To The Future" is one of the more well known, but there have been many others. I have often wondered what it would be like to go back in time, and have a conversation with your younger self, or travel into the future and see how your life might turn out. For me, these thoughts usually involve cars. What would it be like to travel back in time and show a modern day car to your 16 year old self?
I was inspired by a post my daughter-in-law Stephanie put on her blog last week titled; "Life". She was thinking of a question raised at the end of a book she had just finished; "What would surprise your younger self most about the life you are living"? In her examples, she was talking about going back maybe 10 years, but at my age, I was thinking more like 50 years.
These type of "time travel" ideas usually involve going back and trying to chance something that happened in your younger life, that you wish you could change, that would somehow alter the life you have today. This idea was touched on in the Garth Brooks song; "The Dance".  You might be able to miss some pain, but, how much of life would you miss in the process?
For those people that have suffered a lot of pain and disappointment in their life, I can see the reasoning. But, we never know what the future holds for us, and no matter how much we dream, we cant go back and get a "do over", or change the past.
All things considered, I am thankful for the life I have been able to live. I guess that's why they call it "the road of life" and all we can do is travel it the best we can, and try to enjoy the trip.

My "Road of Life".    I try my best to enjoy the trip.

Tell Your Story

If you're anything like me, you have been a car enthusiast for a long time. We have been a lot of places, owned a number of interesting cars, and seen many changes in our hobby over the years. They may never make a movie of our life story, but maybe a few fellow "car guys" would like to hear our story.
In my case, I went on, year after year, just doing my thing. I was a street racer since the 1960's, spent many years also racing on the drag strip, and just enjoying my love of fast cars. One night in the late 1990's, I was out at the local street race spot about midnight, and was talking to some of the young racers in the crowd. One of them asked me,"how long have you been doing this"? "Since I was a teenager", I answered. "Things must have changed a lot, you should write a book about it" was his reply. That started me thinking about it, and the thought kept crossing my mind, and a few years later, I started writing my book.
Now, social media has given us many options of how we might share our story with other like minded enthusiasts. You might not go to the trouble to write a book about your car obsession like I did, but you can connect with other car people on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media site, and spread the word that way.
You can check out my book; "Grab Some Gears - 40 Years of Street Racing" just follow this link; "Grab Some Gears"

Me and my 2015 Mustang GT.

Once in a life time car, a tribute to my Shelby.

I put this together a few years ago when I still had my 2007 Shelby GT500.

Home Town Car Culture

Anywhere you go, you will find car enthusiasts. You will spot them on the streets, easy to identify by the kind of vehicle they drive. They might not have your exact taste in the brand or style of car, but you can see they are a car enthusiast, at least in some degree.
In most communities around the country, they have some organized car clubs or owner associations, of like minded people, who enjoy a particular type of vehicle. Maybe it's Mustangs, Corvettes, old style hot rods, classic cars and trucks, new performance cars, old muscle cars, or rat rods, but they share a passion that brings them together. You may find some that only like their particular flavor of cars, but, for the most part, these are "car people" in general, and they will support other car enthusiasts, no matter what brand, or year of car, they prefer.
In my area, as in most other places, some of these car clubs will organize small, low key, local car shows on a regular bases. Some of them will welcome all enthusiast cars and trucks, no matter what brand you happen to drive. These are my favorite type of car show. You can show up, park your car, join the crowd, and rub shoulders and have great conversations, with all types of car people.
I highly recommend that you search out some of these local car shows in your community, bring your car, join in, and have a great time. Also, check out my book at; "Grab Some Gears" .

A local car show in St. George, Utah in February 2016.

Car Guys Care

Anytime you move to a new place, it takes awhile to get to know the local car culture. I've been a full time resident of this Southern Utah community for over a year and a half now. Over the last few months I have been working on getting to know the major players of the local car associations. It all started to come together when I attended a special car show and fund raiser last month.
"Car Guys Care" is an association of car enthusiasts, classic car clubs, and hot rod guys, who organize local car shows, and support various fund raiser events in our area. These events usually involve a show and shine that attracts many car enthusiasts from around the area. The event I attended last month was organized to support the "Toys for Tots" drive, and it was a great success. There were about 100 cars there, from hot rods and classic cars, to modern performance cars, and everything in between. They collected a record amount of toys for the needy kids and families in the area. It was proof that car guys do care, and will come out and show their support.

The "Car Guys Care" - "Toys for Tots" car show in St. George, Utah, December 2015.