Photo Shoot

 It’s been a few years since I put together a real photo shoot. I mean loading up my good camera, and the tripod, into a perfectly clean car, and going to find some great backdrops, to get some good car photos. The last time I can think of, was the first couple years after I bought my current Mustang. Those photos are still some of the best in my collection.

Some other great automotive photographers I’m familiar with, have to be well familiar with the process, as is evident from their work. The one that comes to mind is Bill Dutting. Check out his website at; Bill-Dutting.Pixles.com , you will be impressed with his work.

Seeing some of these people’s work reminds me I have yet to get out and do a proper photo shoot of our newest car, the 2018 Chrysler 300S we bought a couple years ago. It’s really a quite beautiful car, and I need to get some good photos of it for my files.

      My 2015 Mustang GT   (from a photo shoot I did a few years ago)

    

Mustang Week

 The Ford Mustang was introduced to the world this week back in 1964. From the very start it was setting sales records that have never been equaled. Within the first couple years of production, they had sold over a million cars.

It was a car that all kinds of people loved. There was a model for everybody. Young working ladies bought their favorite model to drive to their office job. My mom was a nurse, and drove a new 66 coupe to work at the local doctors office. Performance enthusiasts could find several performance models that fit their expectations. I was a young teenager at the time, and the Mustangs were something new and much different than the usual cars on the street in the mid-1960's. I was a fan from the very first one I ever saw on the streets.

The first one I drove was my Mom's 1966 V8 coupe. The first one I owned myself, was also a 66 V8 coupe I bought in the early 1970's. I've owned many in the last 50 years. 

You can find the rest of my story in my book. Follow this link to see my book and read sample pages: Grab Some Gears

                                                             My first Mustang

What's Next

 If a lot of car guys are anything like me, we are always watching the car world, trying to picture what our next car might be, when it comes time to trade something in. I am always wondering what I might like to own next, and will it be another performance car.

In the past few years, I've had a couple Dodge cars to go along with the Mustangs in my garage. The Chargers were always good road cars, especially for long trips. The performance image was there, they got great gas mileage on the interstate, and they looked a lot like the Highway Patrol cars in several states. It was a win, win, situation for traveling.

Now, I'm almost at the point again, where I'm wondering what I might like to replace our Chrysler 300S with, when it comes time to trade it in.  I keep thinking back on how much I liked the white Charger from a few years ago. Always something to keep a car guy's mind churning. 

Performance car enthusiasts, or anyone who would like to check out my book, and read sample pages, just follow this link; Grab Some Gears  

                                                    Our 2014 Dodge Charger

The Interview

 A few weeks ago, I did a podcast interview with automotive journalist JP Emerson, and it became available to the public last week. It was about how my history with the car culture began, and where the inspiration for my book came from.  The interview was an hour long, and JP knows how to ask the right questions to get us car enthusiasts to really open up about our lives. The memories just came pouring out. His theme is "Tell Your Story", and he does a great job of getting to the real heart of our automotive stories.

Check out his podcasts, and you can find my interview by following this link: Interview

Car Shows

 The time of the year has arrived that we start thinking about attending some car shows. In the last couple years, I haven't been to any, mostly because of the Covid-19 situation. But, with a little luck, this year might be a little better.

We always enjoy the small, local, sometimes monthly, car shows. Those are always fun, and we get to know some of the people we meet. It's a perfect time to get our favorite car cleaned and detailed, and show it off a little, to like minded enthusiasts.

The big car shows are a little fewer, and sometimes more distant to attend. In years past, I even got to some of them on a yearly basis. The ones that come to mind are: The Peach Days car show in Brigham City, Utah,  and the big Mustang show in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  The Steamboat Springs show is the largest, and best I have ever entered my cars in. It's an awesome show, check it out if you get the chance.

The story of a Steamboat Springs Mustang trip is in chapter 14 of my book. You can check out my book, and read sample pages by following this link: Grab Some Gears 

                           Steamboat Springs Mustang Show

Automatic Transmission

 When I think back on the high performance cars I’ve owned over the last 50 some years, most of the top performers have been manual transmission equipped. Only one stands out as a top performer that had an automatic transmission. That would be the yellow 1970 Torino Cobra that I owned over 30 years ago.

The car was equipped with a 429 Cobra-Jet engine and 3-speed automatic transmission, with a column mounted shift lever. The car was in rough shape when I bought it, and needed a lot of cosmetic touch up, and some mechanical work. I got busy, and soon had the awesome machine looking and performing great.

The car was great on the drag strip, and also won most of the street races we found ourselves in. The story of this Torino Cobra, and a picture of it on the drag strip, can be found in chapter 8 in my book. You can check out my book, and read sample pages by following this link; Grab Some Gears

                                                                         (Twitter photo)

Ready For Spring

About this time every year, us "car guys" start looking for signs of spring. Especially if you happen to live in the parts of the world where it snows in the winter. Even in the warmer climates, like where I live here in Southern Utah, we are anxious for the warmer weather. 

We all are in need of the changes the warmer season brings, especially with the chance for some car shows, or some nice day trips in our favorite car. I'm lucky enough to live in an area where I can drive my performance car all year around, but it's still nicer when it warms up a little more.

We're only a few weeks from the first day of spring, and most of us are ready for that. I'm looking forward to some nice days to get in some cleaning and detailing, so the Mustang is ready for the first car shows. I'm sure the rest of you "car guys" are thinking the same thing.

Those who would like to check out my book can follow this link: Grab Some Gears