Category: Cars

I am a “car guy”… I love old cars.

Car Photo of the Day: When men were men, and dashboards were wood!

A 1910 Brush Runabout’s dashboard with its dual ignition control.

I’d love to drive a brass era machine some time. A Brush would be a nice choice, since the engine rotates counter-clockwise, so the hand crank starting won’t break the arm of the starter if it misfires!

Anyone need a co-driver for the London-to-Brighton run? I’m available! 😉

Car Photo of the Day: Rain.

Summer is officially over. Yes, I know that was last week, but around here we had an extra few days. Things changed rather suddenly last night. The temps dropped precipitously and today we had rain. Oh well. At least I ran a few errands on Sunday in the E-type. It might get out one or two times more this year, but it will likely go into winter storage soon and that list of “things that must be fixed” will start being whittled away (fix the tach, fix the window mechanism on the passenger side, finally finish that console mod?)

Yes, I’ve used this photo before… what can I say? I have thing for Aston bonnets!

Car Photo of the Day: Emblematic.

I thought about calling this post “Still life with Jesus-easting snake” but thought better of it. This is a photo of the emblem on Alan Chockie’s 1958 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider. As I photographed it at a rally rest stop a notable Alfa Romeo expert wandered by and commented that these emblems have always confounded him. Not their imagery but their construction! Made of flimsy pot metal, they are very hard to restore or reproduce. He said that Alan is very lucky that his is still in such great shape.

It is one of those mysteries that we find in old cars. Funny why they chose to cut corners here, while spending lavishly in other areas of construction. Likely these tales have simple answers in human frailty and pettiness. Corporate infighting? Parts bin raiding? Somebody’s nephew with a contract? All I know is never attribute to malice that which can be explained by incompetence.

I still want an Alfa though.

When X1/9 Marked the Spot | Affordable Classics | Sports Car Market

When X1/9 Marked the Spot | Affordable Classics | Sports Car Market.

I admit it… I have always wanted an X1/9. My older sister’s boyfriend (now my brother in law!) had one in high school. It was maroon. I lusted after it. I love their 70s Zeitgeist. I don’t care that they are Fiats, or that they go 0-60 in a quarter minute.

I don’t have a photo to illustrate this article because I haven’t seen a good X1/9 in a LONG time. If you have one in the Seattle area give me a holler. I’d love to shoot it.

Car Photo of the Day: Weekend Stumper

Sorry for the crappy cell-cam shot. I saw this car one day while out running an errand and all I had was my cell phone to capture it. This might be an easy one to ID if you are familiar with the obscure origins of this car or know the place in the Seattle suburbs where I saw it parked. If you fall into the latter category (you know who you are!) hold off on naming it if possible and let’s see how the other folks do in the mean time.