Annual Seal Beach Car Show   April 26th 2014

I know a lot about cars. I can look at a car's
headlights and tell you exactly which way it's coming.

Off To See The Old Cars...

We had a wet Saturday night... Raining like mad when we were driving home from the Santa Ana Elks!  It was pouring at midnight when we hit the sack but ny 6:00 am the rain had cleared out and we had some wind.

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
It was a great day... The rain from last night cleaned everything up

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Time to walk! (Click to see full sized collage)

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Our regular parking place was full!

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
We kept looking at the ocean to see if any pastrami's were on their way!

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
This one wanted to race a Cadillac but to no avail

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
A real classic....

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
"I do NOT want to see any more feet!"

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
"OK... I will look"

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
"Daddy didn't know but I can slip out of my collar easily!"  

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Daddy is proud of his baby!

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
The Chevy Nomad

Did You Know? - The Chevrolet Nomad was a station wagon model made off and on from 1955 to 1972, and a Chevy Van trim package in the late 1970s and early 1980s, produced by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors. The Nomad is best remembered in its two-door 1955–57 form, and was considered a halo model during its three-year production as a two-door station wagon.

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
James knew each car and what year they were.... Kinda like Dave

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Over 600 cars this year....

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Flames were everywhere

When did they start painting flames on the fronts of cars?

After the the end of World War Two, in California, in the late 1940's , the age of early hot rod car building began. One of the "looks " was to imitate the kind of "nose art " tnat had been painted on WW2 fighter and bomber aircraft, including sharks's teeth and flames and girl friends names.

Most of the early hot rod or custom car builders were young single and had been in the military where they learned to repair things such as trucks and jeeps, so they had skills that they used to improve their cars performance and looks. By reducing the weight of a car and increasing the engine horsepower, they wre able to go faster and faster, and by the mid 50's they had cars that could go over 140 mph on a quarter mile drag strip run. The ideal then was a car that could be " steet legal" with the high performance of a race car. By removing the street tires and putting on " cheater slicks " , and disconnecting the muffler system, they could get good times on the strip.

In those days, racers did their own engine work, from shaving the cylinder heads to get higher compression to regrinding their own camshafts and crankshafts, and installing "fuelie valves " to get bigger intake and exhaust openings in the cylinders heads. Drilling parts to lighten them was also very popular, so brackets and frames were spider cut to take out weight. Mixing exotic fuels was also a trend and alcohol and nitro benzine were used with some spectacular blow ups, if the mix was too powerful for the engine to stand up to it.

Hot rods evolved to full out race cars that were only for the strip, and the beginnings of the NHRA was born, to set rules and promote safety in drag racing. By the early 60's some racers were making a living at it, week after week. By then the flame job was a standard thing on cars that had been modified in some way.

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
A Bentley was on display

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
James needed his checkbook

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Fuzzy dice??

Did You Know? - The use of fuzzy dice originated in the U.S. in the 1950s and is considered one of the first items sold specifically to be hung from a rear-view mirror. The exact meaning and origin of fuzzy dice is unclear, but one theory holds that U.S. pilots in World War II used dice in their cockpits for good luck, and they continued the practice when they came home from the war.

Fuzzy dice were at the height of their popularity in the 1970s and the 1980s but have since become increasingly rare. In the US the practice of hanging any object from the rear-view mirror is prohibited in at least one state (Minnesota). A 1993 study showed there to be no correlation between the use of fuzzy dice and the degree of a driver's reckless driving behavior.

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
A pair to draw to!

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Where was Del???

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Great vintage signs

Did You Know? - Indian is an American brand of motorcycles[1][2] originally manufactured from 1901 to 1953 by a company in Springfield, Massachusetts, US, initially known as the Hendee Manufacturing Company but which was renamed the Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company [sic][1][2] in 1928.

The Indian factory team took the first three places in the 1911 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. During the 1910s Indian became the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world. Indian's most popular models were the Scout, made from 1920 to 1946, and the Chief, made from 1922 to 1953.

The Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company went bankrupt in 1953. A number of successor organizations have perpetuated the name in subsequent years, with limited success.

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Remember these prices???

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Checkout out the signs

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
"I remember some of these!"

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
James wants to take this to Old Ranch

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Great burgers and memories

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Another Nomad....

Did You Know? - The two-door Nomad differed from other station wagons of the era by having unique styling more reminiscent of a hardtop sedan than that of a standard station wagon. Chevrolet shared this body with its sister Pontiac, which marketed their version as the Pontiac Safari.

The Nomad's unique design had its roots in a General Motors Motorama show car of the same name that was based on the Corvette. The Concept was introduced at the GM Motorama in 1954 as one of Head Stylist Harley Earl's "dream cars".

GM approved production of the vehicle if the design could be transferred to its standard model, because top GM brass felt that they could sell more models if it were attached to the popular Bel Air model.

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
1926.... 500HP engine and a hand-crank

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Remember simple dashboards??

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
The old Buick straight eight....

Did You Know? - The Buick Straight-8 engine (Fireball 8) was produced from 1931 to 1953 and sold in Buick automobiles. Like many American automobile makers, Buick adopted the straight-8 engine in 1931 as a more powerful alternative to the previous inline-6 engines.

However, unlike most other car makers at the time, Buick had been using a valve-in-head OHV overhead valve design or I-head since its inception and continued this practice in their inline-8 designs. The engine was sold in different displacements depending on the model of car and the year and was constructed upon two distinct (possibly more) block castings.

The smaller displacement versions internally resembled the inline Chevrolet straight six, with additional cylinders.

The large block version (used in large chassis models such as the Roadmaster) was considerably heavier and this weight adversely affected vehicle performance and handling.

As with other General Motors products the engines used cast-in-place bearings that were then machined, which made engine rebuilding an expensive procedure. The last year for Buick's straight-8 was 1953, a year in which the 263ci coexisted with its successor, the new V8 322ci Nailhead in the same basic chassis.

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Original six-volt battery...

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Paul had one of these but it was NOT orange

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Easy to work on!

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
The DeSoto was a good looking car...

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
OMG... What was under the hood??

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
No way to get the exhaust outside except external plumbing

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
The Seal Beach red car was busy with visitors

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
When Paul see's the old truck he can still smell the donuts

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Almost every moring during the summer Paul would make
selections from these magical drawers

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Then the new style truck came along

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
The Ford Thunderbird of thre 1960's

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
All engine with a seat attached

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Hats off guys

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Corvettes were everywhere

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
A yellow Caddy just does not look right

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
The Bentley

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Sounds suspicious

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
The mile long car

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014 Classy car

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Semper Fi Pete

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Paul's 1962 chevy ... Paul's was white with red interior

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Remember these????

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
This is how a burger and a malt are supposed to be served

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
You can see it coming for miles

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Whaddya mean 57 and aging???

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
They didn't make a lot of these....

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Great looking truck

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
An original... Just like it was driven off the show room floor

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
$2,800.... Wow!

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Cousin Kat had one of these

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Crown Victoria convertible

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Hated to change the tires.... Contanental Kit

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Two tones were in

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
All fibreglass....

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Original condition

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
1953 Cadillac Model 63...

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Where is JR when we need him?

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Whoa! Who chose this color?

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Putt-Putt-Putt

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Looks like it is ready to fly

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Get up and go!

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
Back to basics... The BelAire

Seal Beach Car Show April 2014
See you next year