Drive Safely...

The Pegasus was registered as a corporate logo in 1911, however it wasn't until the mid-1930s that it began to appear as a promotional device on automobiles. Mobil started using it for their 1936 coast-to-coast "Economy Runs" by painting it on cars entered.

Post WWII Mobil became more engaged with motor sports and the Pegasus soon became a symbol in its own right. All kinds of racing could be seen sporting the red flying horse, from Indianapolis roadsters to sports cars, including Porsche, and other SCCA competitors, particularly those in Southern California. The Bonneville salt flats saw John Cobb's Napier Railton Special streak along at over 400mph in 1947 with two large Pegasus logos emblazoned on its streamlined nose. However, times change and by the end of the Fifties Mobil drifted out of direct sponsorship in racing and the Pegasus painted on cars also drifted away. But, that is not the end of the story. Porsche hot rods today have begun to wear the red horse again as if to say, "Don't count the red beacon out."

The one pictured above is a 1940s vintage license frame topper showing a life well lived. Interesting, back in the day, Mobil actually issued instructions for the correct positioning of their flying horse. Sheets of Mobil-licensed decals stated that the Pegasus MUST be positioned such that its nose is parallel to the ground.

The image that you see is printed on archival metallic photo paper and is matted and signed ready to be framed. I have it in two sizes an 8"x 12" for $55.00  or a 12"x 18" for $105.00. Both prices include shipping in the US. It's totally awesome looking in person! If you want to hang one in your man cave reply to this email post. Until then..."Drive Safely!"

To This Day When I Hear That Melody

In the mid 60's many adults viewed drag racing with disdain, a pastime for hoodlums and delinquents. To them, drag-strips were one step up from seedy bars, pool halls and other dens of no-good, so kids took to the streets. Racing on the street back then was an every Friday and Saturday night adventure fueled by speed, noise, and beating the guy next to you at the stop light. The good part, there were far fewer cars on the streets back then. When I came upon this green beauty, it took me back to those days, the days of the melody of weekend nights on the boulevard. .

Message me if you're interested in possessing, acquiring, obtaining or stealing an image of this. You can reach me, here.

Sometimes Things Just Click...

I just love it when things are unplanned and go right.

I had taken my camera down to Palm Springs to take some shots at a Porsche RGruppe weekend, and one of the other events going on at the same time was a Cruisin' Association cruise night. One thing led to another, I met some friends, Robert and JoAnne Trinkle with their new gorgeous '32 rod at the cruise and grabbed my camera and snapped this image. The Eight Ball...

The cool thing is, I posted it on Facebook, they emailed me and said they just had to have a print. A 16" x 24" printed on archival metallic paper is on its way to hang in their great room! Sweet!

Car Kulture Kalendar....Update

Hey guys, I've been updating the "Car Kulture Kalendar." You can check it out at this link by clicking Kalendar. If you don't see an event that you're interested in listed, email me here.

In the mean time, here's a shot I call "Caddy Daddy" for you to check out. By the way, I got this one juried into the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar coming up in June along with two other non-car related shots.

While shuffling along at the recent Viva Las Vegas rod event, I rounded a corner and this sweet baby hit me in the face. Grabbed my camera and snapped a Kodak moment.

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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.

Things You Learn...

I posted this photo of Eugene "Red" Case back in 2011 with little knowledge of whatever happened to him. Since then, I've received two comments about Red that I thought you guys would like to read.

Eugene "Red" Case getting ready to make pass. Getty image.

Almost a Mean Mugging...

The backstory goes like this. I'm rounding the corner by the Cypress Inn in Carmel, and spot the "Moal" built rod sitting on the street. I was there to shoot photos for the Carmel Concour the next day, but this baby was too much to pass up. Grabbed my camera and prepared to get the shot, but before I knew it, a grocery getter pulled up inches from the back of the rod. I sheeplessly asked the driver to please back up for a minute so I could get a shot. He just smiled, winked at me and left it in place. I winked back all the well knowing, that in little more than a "Bam..." with post-processing he would no longer exist. Hope you enjoy the shot with a vintage flair.

 

Steve Moal built this sweet Rod.

Standing in Line Markin' Time...

Some say, "Hey man, you can't make an image like that...it don't look like it should."

"Said, hey old man, how can you stand to think that way? Did you really think about it, before you made the rules? He said, sure. That's just the way it is, some things will never change, that's just the way it is. Haaa, but don't you believe them." - Bruce Hornsby and the Range...The Way It Is

Standin' in line to take on any fool...

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Getting My Head Screwed on Straight...

This image doesn't look straight to me. Either I held my camera crooked, my glasses are crooked or maybe my head is crooked. I'm not sure. It could be my ears are a different height. Also what to do about it. I'm not taking any meds, even if they had a crooked head med. Maybe I could buy one shoe with a thicker sole. But that wouldn't help me sitting at the computer working on a photo for the blog. Maybe a single-cheek butt prosthesis would help.

Anyway thought I would share what I've been up to. Taking these shots makes me nervous, very nervous. A snapped rear axle and I'd be a gonner. I click the pic and run...come to think about it, maybe that's why they're crooked.

Nothing like a ol' Willys to get your blood pumping...

One of Those Days...

Just sitting along side the midway looking back on memories as they drove past at the last Del Mar Goodguys Show, it was a day to soak in. Glancing down the asphalt corridor, I spied Pete Smith approaching in his badass rod, grabbed my camera and got the shot. If a car looks mean, it better back it up, his does. Read on for the details.

Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend 16 Replay...

It's one of those weekends that you'll think back six months from now and be glad you drank it in. Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend 16 is now nothing but great memories of badass rides, music, burlesque shows, vendor rooms, bowling tournaments, pool parties, vintage fashion shows, jiving competition, a pin-up contest, tattoo contest, burlesque bingo, more cool people than can be crammed into one casino, and a tattoo lounge. More to come on that later.

Just a Memory in the Gutter...

There is no distance walked too far, that a memory can't reach back...

Nothing disturbs the notion of your ol' granny until you remember gettin' her stink-eye. And who wants to have their notions disturbed? Not me, that's fer sher. But, that's what I got every time I pilfered her pin cushion when I went to visit. Occasionally I would try a pitiful look attempting to gain sympathy for my plight. Then a, "What ya gonna do?" gesture. What's this got to do with cars you ask?

When I spotted the pin in the gutter, it shot me way back. Back to the days I would pirate one or two away from her to use as shifters and cool shifter knobs in the minature interiors of my plastic AMT model hot rods. It was worth the stink-eye, wouldn't you say...

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On Any Main Street #2... Burger Run

Rocketing up the road with a windshield sunrise, do I meet up with some of my Shafters Car Club buddies for a morning bite, or head straight for the Burger Run Car Show? Not much of a decision...the show can wait, as you know, golden time spent with friends is never time lost.

The Burger Run at the Pepper Tree Frosty is the first show of the year in SoCal, and is touted as the largest one-day show, with an excess of 600 intoxicating rides. The camera started clicking with euphoria the moment of arrival. Enjoy the pics...



Pepper Tree Frosty at its best...

Brisket Grease and Burn-Outs...

It was a wide open, full throttle, sweetheart kinda' New Years Day for the So-Cal Fallbrook car club, the "Shafters." As a club, they always like to start the year off with a bang, and what better way to do it than having a "Burn-out" party, the 5th of its kind for the locals. Professional drag racer, car builder, and all around good guy Mike Hayden donated his home, shop, and private burn-out strip for his fellow club members to fill the air with tire smoke.

You could say, that's wicked enough. However, there was more to the celebration, including a bitchin belly busting BBQ with all the fixins' prepared by fellow racer, George Sevelle during the lunch break. It was just a year ago when this gathering became so popular, the club decided to put it over the top by collecting donations for the "Wounded Warrior" project, and again that was repeated, as the donation can was stuffed full, to say "Thank You" to those that have given for their Country.

Tom Sceberras starts the day off with smokin' some massive meats.

Signatures...

Put two or more guys with cars together and one if not both things will happen...a race and/or a club. In the latter, it's a chiseled out signature that you belong. With that signature comes a brotherhood, one with pride, standing tough and tall. The cars may wear a decal or a plaque, but there also needs to be a visible testament for ones body. Enter the club jacket or shirt.

Maker of Tires... Robert Newton

Robert Newton along with his wife, Joyce started their racing tire company called Hoosier Tires in an old horse barn in South Bend in 1957. Bob had started racing stock cars on weekends at tracks in the Midwest. Back then they were running on regular street tires and Bob had lost some races because the tires were coming apart. Bob and his wife got the idea to start recapping street tires with softer rubber, which gave them more grip which meant more speed and lasted longer. The company grew from that small beginning to the largest race tire company in America.

Just a night at the track with Bob and Joyce Newton. Image via Hoosier Tires.

Some Old Salt... Bonneville

It's been on the bucket list for some time now...maybe some day I'll get there. In the meantime here's some "Old Salt."

A look at the early SoCal '34 Ford coupe that set a 153 mph record in 1951. Two years later, in 1953 it would be back with a different engine to set a new record of 172 mph.

Just a Day on the Strip... / Barona Antique Drags

The pungent smell of burning rubber wafted through the air. As the smoke cleared, another run of 6.45 was layed down on the black as tar strip.   Barona’s Antique Drags were well launched into the day with over 150 entrants, the 42^nd installment. This twice yearly event grows larger time and again. The rides on the track are ’75 and older, so this totally retro event takes one back to the day before the corporate spitting drivers with cars that barely resemble their ancestors.

The cars had pulled in early and were bound to leave late as plenty of rubber had been vaporized. It is truly a run what ya’ brung gathering with straight axle gassers, old school dragsters, rods, even muscle cars. As usual for this event, there were air filling burnouts, side by side strip long battles, and sky reaching wheelies.

Barona Antique Drags. Image © "Along For The Ride"

The Art of Lowriding...

The exhibition, "Cruisin' Califas: The Art of Lowriding" is running until the end of September at the Oceanside Museum of Art. I got word of it and took in opening night to find out more about this lifestyle that's part of our car culture.

After World War II, the car culture exploded as returning Anglo service men started buying used cars and reaching for more speed by building "Hot Rods." It had been simmering for a long time, but was now at full tilt. As the Mexican-American servicemen returned, they reached back to their heritage to reignite their car culture, and lowriding.

El Moises, "La Catrina y Su Vida Loca." Acrylic on wood. Image © El Moise

L.A. River Basin Drag Racing / The Nights Rocked...

It was the mid-fifties and not unlike the streets today when it came to drag racing, the allure of going fast and getting away with it, you and your friends, was hard to resist. And, what could be better than night racing?  Sure there was a strip to the south in Orange County, California that held weekly events, the first on its kind, where John Wayne Airport now sits. But, that wasn't like impromptu racing that was conjured up at Bob's Big Boy Drive-in, Grisinger's, or Harvey's Broiler after a burger and malt in front of your best girl.

Naturally, there were plenty of places to race, San Fernando Road, North Sepulveda Blvd., Ventura Boulevard, anyplace with a stop light to "choose off" and light them up to find out who was the fastest. Sometimes it would even come down to racing for "pinks." But the cops weren't amused.

The law was trying to crack down on the hoodlums any way they could. They were cruising along side the kids on the street trying to nab them, so the kids came up with the idea to take it off the streets down into the L.A. River Basin. It was called, "The River Road," a wide concrete channel with a trickle of water running down the middle during the summer. It was smoothed out from water running over it for years during the winter, long, wide, and straight, with banked sides, perfect to sit and watch the action below.

The cops finally figured it out and would sit at the top of the entry/exit road to the channel, and when the kids would leave they would hand out tickets for equipment violations or exhibition of speed. Life Magazine was there to capture the images with a long shutter.

The river basin would end up being a place to film movies such as, Grease, Gone in 60 Seconds, Repo Man, The Gumball Rally and more, with racing no more.

L.A. River Basin Drag Racing,1950s. Image © Life archives