It never made it...

Kicking in the time machine door again, this time in the summer of 1963, GM's truck studio was working on a pickup version of the slab windshield Chevrolet G-Van. This concept model appears to be a combination of the traditional pickup and a Corvair ramp sided transporter, remember those? Could've been a cool way to get your surf boards to the beach back in the day. No idea why it never made it into production because both Ford and Dodge had van-based pickups. Could it be that Chevrolet put all it's eggs into the Corvair basket and we know how that turned out...

Have a great Thanksgiving guys!

Del Mar Motors...A San Diego Connection

Being raised in San Diego, I always feel a connection to my hometown past. How many of you know San Diego had its own manufactured automobiles? Well, check this out. This one called America's lowest priced car, named the Del Mar! Who could turn down $1170 for a 4-Cylinder, 63 H.P. beast? Can you imagine going around a corner in this, the tires squealing like pigs? It was to be built at the Convair plant on Pacific Highway after World War II left the building available. It didn't last long, in fact never really made it into production, only a prototype. However, this wasn't the only car to be built in San Diego, more on that in a later post.

A Warm Breeze Brings Back Memories...

I know it happens to you too. You're minding your own business and a smell, sight, or sound can take you back to a time forgotten, vanished by everyday life. It just happen recently to me. The sun was warm on my face and the smell of Fall, I was gone...

I remember as a kid in 7th...8th grade walking home from school on a Friday afternoon, and the excitement thinking one of my favorite TV programs aired that evening. "Route 66" and oh, those 1960 and '62 Corvettes that Todd and Buz drove to places unknown was just to die for. My imagination inevitably would travel with them, mile by mile. It played to viewers from 1960 to 1964, always to the sounds of Nelson Riddel's instrumental theme. Why am I telling you about this?  Well, growing up in San Diego I recently found these images of one of their episodes filmed in my home town. I'm here to share them with you, as you may also remember. As much as I can figure, they headed to San Diego, then TJ, stopping at a BBQ joint and then onward to Caliente. No doubt there was a pretty girl involved in some kinda' trouble as usual...

I just loved it!

Sometimes They get Printed...

Most photographs I make are personal pictures and never end up in print. Sometimes they do, as this one did, went on to show, and on to a collector in Corning, New York. Oftentimes, however, they are simply photographs I hope resonate. They end up on Facebook, or here. I guess the moral to the story is, that if you see something I post and you would like a print. Feel free to contact me.

A/P and one of one printed, © John Straub  

On the road...Decaying Dreams #14

I shoot this area a lot, and decided to take a detour off the main road and into the community of Salton Sea Beach. Just the name attracts. Turning onto Desert Dr. I came across this triple wide. The look I love. One of those places where you imagine what memories there were. How hauntingly appropriate the ghostly clouds look over the corner of Desert Dr. and Frontier St.

Decaying Dreams #14

This is from my "Decaying Dreams" collection and is archival pigment on cotton rag B/W paper. The image is 12"x 18" and is matted, with a black museum frame 18"x 24", ready to hang and enjoy in your B/W collection. It's the A/P out of a limited edition of 25, signed and was shown at the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park.

You may purchase it here and have it shipped to your door, or if you're in San Diego, pick it up at my studio on 30th Street, and I will refund the shipping. $395 + $40 to ship anywhere in the continental U.S. or Canada.

Speaking About Road Trips...Decaying Dreams #22

Yep, speaking about road trips in the last post, this image was captured while I was researching areas around the Salton Sea. I happened on this bullet ridden abandoned shack and water tower. Standing and staring, the bright silver belly tank perched upon the tower just spoke to me. I think the best images, impress some kind of emotion on the viewer. How about you?

Decaying Dreams #22

This is from my "Decaying Dreams " collection and is printed on special B/W archival paper. The image is 12"x 18" and is matted, with a black museum frame 18"x 24", ready to hang, and enjoy. It's the A/P out of a limited edition of 25, signed and was shown at the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park.

You may purchase it here and have it shipped to your door, or if you're in San Diego, pick it up at my studio on 30th Street, and I will refund the shipping. $395 + $40 to ship anywhere in the continental U.S. or Canada. A/P SOLD.

George Barris at Monterey Car Week

I was going to post about George Barris some time ago, but you know how things go...

I shot this about three years ago during the Monterey Car Week
 at the Automotive Fine Arts Society show at Pebble Beach. 

The self-proclaimed "King of the Kustomizers" passed away at his home in Encino, California last November 5th. He was 89, and even at that age he was a regular at car events, constantly shaking hands, signing autographs, and bringing his classic smile to warm the hearts of everyone. The last time I saw him was two years ago at the Los Angeles Auto show, and as I did always, posed to get a selfie with him.

George started out like a lot of us, building model cars and modifying them as a kid. It was only natural that he should do the same thing on a larger scale. He started a customizing business with his brother in Lynwood, L.A. after the war, there chopping and sectioning countless cars, including the era-defining Matranga 1940 Mercury and the Hirohata 1951 Mercury. He built cars for television shows as well as celebrities such as Sonny and Cher, Elton John, even John Wayne. He truly was a classic, just like the cars he created and I'm sure he will always be remembered by the rod and custom community. Godspeed, George!

Andreas Feininger

This is a rather unusual image for Andreas Feininger. I'm sure it was captured while he was on assignment for "Life" magazine, freelancing from 1943 until 1962. The reason for posting, I think it's just classic route 66 for those of us just that enjoy going on road trips.

Andreas Feininger image, Seligman Arizona, 1947

Feininger became famous for his dynamic black-and-white photographs of New York, other frequent subjects among his works were science and nature, as seen in his bones, shells, plants, and minerals in the images of which he often stressed structure. Rarely did he photograph people or make portraits.

During his career,  he wrote comprehensive manuals about photography, of which the best know is The Complete Photographer. He passed away in 1999. If you have some time google his name, and check out his very cool images of scenes of Manhattan back in the day.

Amelia Island Concours Lands Two Rare Porsches...

I received this notice from one of my friends, Burt Propp. Thought I would share it with you guys.

With the automotive celebrations at Amelia Island looming (March 13-15, 2015), Porsche let us know that they'll be bringing two very significant racing cars from their museum to display on the concours field. While there are certainly some great Porsches for aution, the level of rarity is kicked up another notch out on the green show field. The first of Porsche's entrants being the venerable, one-of-two 909 Bergspyder, and the second is a one-of-one powerhouse in the form of the 917 PA Spyder 16-cylinder. Both were extraordinary engineering exercises that helped to develop Porsche into an international sportscar racing leader. The late 1960s and early 1970s were an exciting time at Porsche, and these two racers exemplify the type of out-of-the-box thinking that helped them to win multiple world championships.

909 Bergspyder, Factory Photo Archives

Laguna Seca...Happy Birthday!

As one grows older, fifty-seven years ago seems like not so far in the past. This weekend that many years past, motor racing on the West Coast was changed forever with the first race at Laguna Seca Raceway.

The official opening on November 9th. Photo, courtesy Laguna Seca

Busted...

Shortly following a brief pursuit, a California Highway Patrol officer points out the new state speed-limit sign to the pint-sized speeder. As it turned out, the slick-haired pedal pilot had a long list of priors, such as driving on the wrong side of the sidewalk, popping wheelies in front of kindergartners, and excessive use of pomade. What were they really doing? Well, they were really posing for a PR shot in 1934 for the CHP and new signs.

Just One of Those Days...

To all you blog followers... Have a "Safe and Happy 4th of July." And don't forget, have a hot dog for me.

An Iconic Image of Our Road...Route 66

I've been off line working on photos for the past couple of months and I hope this post finds you all well. During that time, I came across this story of an image and the iconic road that all of use have read about over and over, Route 66. 

A few years ago Monique and I had the opportunity to retrace that strip of pavement from its start in Chicago to its finish at the Santa Monica Pier in California. Many times since, I've thought, "I gotta' do that again, another road trip." The one thing that sticks with me, is there is no better way to connect to the past Americana that we all think about.

Image by Andreas Feininger of Route 66 in 1947.

Now for the story about this image.

Swerving into the Pigeonhole

As I was cruising the Internet, I swerved into this item that has been making its way around the car blogs. Through a little digging, here's some info you may not have read. The name for it, the "Pigeonhole" parking lot. It's what you do when you want to park bunches of cars in a small space. Interested in how it worked, read on.

Pigeonhole parking in Portland, Oregon. Not so sure I would want to work at the Texaco booth.

When Driving Fatigue Sets In...

I have this gift for being able to tell what people are thinking. And everyone in Starbucks Coffee this afternoon was thinking about Baby Ruth candy bars, oddly enough. Hey, it's no skin off my nose if people want to waste their time thinking about Baby Ruths.

Then on the drive home, I was dozing off sitting at the stop-light, I thought, hummm...what do they know that I don't? 

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Pig Juices and Ribbons of Smoke...

Car clubs are perceived at times to be ruffians that just want to race around, and are often overlooked for the good they do for a community. The Shafters in Fallbrook, SoCal, do something quite unusual for their local community every New Years Day.

Screeching Hell on Wheels..."Road Racers"

Movie time... How about the "Road Racers" vintage, 1959. Directed by the godfather of "B" movies, Arthur Swerdloff. Wait a minute before you tune me out, it's worth tracking down just to check out the cool old cars, American '50s V-8 specials.

Only a Dreamer...

You know what I would do if I were one of the founders of YouTube? I would buy Roy Orbison's remains and also his 1958 T-Bird, because I love his music. Then I would set up the car with him sitting in it at a busy downtown corner. And then have a bumper sticker on the car that says, "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." That would be awesome....

The Everly Brothers covered Roy Orbison's "Claudette" as the B-side of a record. "Claudette" was written in 1955 and it was named for Orbison's first wife Claudette pictured above. The first thing Orbison did with his royalty earnings from the Everly Brothers release was to purchase a new 1958 Thunderbird, which he loved. Sadly he left us and we can only listen to #1 hits such as "Oh, Petty Woman" and dream...

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Being a Kid...

I think most of us had some variety of a pedal car back in our younger days. Mine can be seen on the home page of the blog. This brings up the idea for a new post...the "Brits" and their pedal cars, Austin "J" Forty's to be exact.

Image Goodwood Revival

Coronado Speed Festival...Caught by the Lens

If you road race up Laguna Seca way, you may recognize this image of the ultimate car cantina, shot in Carmel Valley. However, this post is not about that hangout. It's about the recent Coronado Speedfest and shots of some badass machinery. The photos from this event form a bridge between past racers and current drivers looking at time through the rearview mirror.

Given voice by their authors, all photographs are storytellers. Weather the engine is not beating, or the car is sliding through the corner teasing the edge, a photograph is a moment suspended in time. I've been asked by friends to capture their rides with a digital image.

You can find them at the link below. If you ran the event and don't see a shot of your car, contact me, I have others.

Along for the Ride...Image Works / Coronado Speedfest.

Baja Cantina in Carmel Valley

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