Taillight Tuesday

    On Twitter we call this #TaillightTuesday , and we post our favorite photos of some of our favorite cars, shot from a rear view, featuring the best taillight shots we can find.  It’s the same type of thing for almost every day of the week. There is a different automotive theme every day. 

    The photo I’m posting here today is one of my favorite taillight shots of all time. It’s from the photo shoot for my book cover, shot back in 2006, featuring my friends Viper, and my 2003 Mustang Cobra.  A race between these two cars is featured in chapter 15 of my book; “ Grab Some Gears - 40 Years of Street Racing “.

    For those who my be interested, you can check out my book by following this link; Grab Some Gears

Just a Picture

 The internet is full of them these days, photos of anything and everything you can imagine.  Following the auto enthusiast sites on Twitter, I see thousands of them every day.  Most of them are not anything special, but a few of them stand out from the normal, and once in a while, one just catches your attention and stands out from the rest. 

  These are the ones that you sometimes have a hard time explaining just what it is that makes them different from the rest, but something about it makes it special.  When we post so many on our Twitter pages, it’s easy to see which ones stand out, by the number of “likes” they attract when we retweet them.

   Yes,  they’re just a picture,  but many will agree,  there is something special about some of them.

             ( photo from Twitter )

       

Looking Back

 There is an old saying amongst car people, that if you park your car, and don't turn and look back at the car as you walk away, you're not a true "car guy".   I believe that, and I have always done that myself, for as far back as I can remember.

For us car lovers, our vehicles are much more than just a means of transportation.  They are an extension of our personality,  and an important part of our well being.  This is true for most of our vehicles, not just our performance cars, or favorite specialty hobby vehicles. Those times when we happen to be driving some less than desirable vehicle, it feels like part of us is missing, and we are not our true self.

That is why we keep our cars looking their best at all times. and why we are so particular about making the right choices when we're picking out color options, or wheel choices, when selecting a new vehicle. Even when it's a daily driver, and not a specialty enthusiast car we're shopping for.

Follow this link to check out my book: Grab Some Gears

             My 2007 Shelby GT 500 , ( from 10 years ago ).

The Road Trip

 Going to make a little road trip today, to visit some family a few hundred miles away.  That may be the only road trip of this year, if too many other things get in the way. That just seems to be the story of the last few years. 

No matter what family business gets us out on the road for a few days, there is still one road trip on the back of my mind, and one of these years, I’m still going to get there.  The one I’m talking about is the road trip to Monument Valley. 

I’ve been thinking about it for years, and it’s really not that far away from our home here in Southern Utah. It would make a long trip to try to work into just one day, but it could be done.  Still waiting for the right time, but always on my wish list.  One of these days. . . . 

The Mustang

 There have been a lot of cars in my garage over the years.  For most of those years, at least one of those cars has been a Mustang, and just occasionally, another model of Ford performance car in place of a Mustang. The 2015 GT we have now has shared the garage with 3 different cars over the last six years.

Compared to the other vehicles that take a space in the garage, the Mustang has held a special place in my heart.  I think it’s mostly because of the history I’ve had with those models over the years. It takes a little effort now just to recall all the different Mustangs I’ve owned over the last 50 years. 

Most of the car show trophies, drag racing victories, street racing stories, road trip memories, and a million other moments of my past, were accomplished in a Mustang. 

To read more of my story, check out my book. Just follow this link: Grab Some Gears

The Future is Here

 We bought a new vehicle last week. I traded the Chrysler 300 S for a new silver 2022 Hyundai Tucson hybrid. This model is an early release of the 2022’s , so yes, “ the future is here”. 

This vehicle will be the the latest to wear our “SKYNET” license plate, and easily the most deserving. The things that it can do, and the way it acts, is really a slice of the future. The quiet, eerie, sounds it makes just moving out of the garage, and down the street, is truly something that makes you think you’re witnessing something out of the future.  

                                    2022 Hyundai Tucson advertising photo.

The 700 XX

    For most of my life I was around motorcycles and ATV's of many types. My brother and I played on the old Indian 4-cylinder monster that my dad rode as a young man, then retired it to a shed on the farm, where it sat for years. As young teenagers, we had motorcycles of our own to ride, and I did light mechanic and assembly work in the Honda shop that our family owned for a few years. There are a few motorcycle stories, and several motorcycle pictures in my book. Over the years since I was first married, and back when I was still in the Air Force, I usually had a motorcycle of some kind, and even several ATV's of some type. After all these years, a few still stand out as my favorites, and hold a special place in my memories.

   A few years ago, after we got our first home in Southern Utah, I was taking my classic Honda 200 X three wheeler out to the best riding reserve in the area, Sand Mountain. I was also looking over new ATV's at local cycle shops, where I first spotted a Honda TRX 700 XX.  After I sold my 200 X to a collector, I finally found a 700 XX for sale in Northern Utah and bought it , my dream ATV. As it happens in life, many things were going on at the time, and I had sold my Ranger pickup. We were getting ready to make our permanent residence in Southern Utah. I drove the 700 around the neighborhood, off and on for several months, but another pickup was not in our future at the time, so the 700 XX was sold.  I still miss it very much.