{"id":525,"date":"2004-01-17T18:44:22","date_gmt":"2004-01-17T23:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/?p=525"},"modified":"2004-01-17T18:44:22","modified_gmt":"2004-01-17T23:44:22","slug":"classic-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/2004\/01\/17\/classic-cars\/","title":{"rendered":"Classic cars"},"content":{"rendered":"

I promised a tryout of my new Canon A-70 digital camera. Yesterday I took it
\non the road to a place I’ve been meaning to go for years now: The Blackhawk
\nAutomotive Museum<\/a> in Danville, a town about 10 miles north of Dublin. <\/p>\n

The musem has about 90 cars in it. Most are either racers or playthings of
\nthe rich and famous. Nevertheless they are wonderful examples of style, design
\nand mechanical prowess.<\/p>\n

All of these photos were taken without a flash using existing light. The camera
\nshutter slowed down to 1\/8 of a second to get enough light in. I’m impressed
\nat how nice these came out. I figured they’d all be fuzzy as hell because of
\nmy unsteady hands, but the A-70 is pretty forgiving. And keep in mind this is
\nCanon’s $300 consumer camera, not one of the expensive models for hardcore shutterbugs.\n<\/p>\n

Simply no way an auto-focus\/exposure point-and-shoot film camera would have
\ndone this well with neither flash nor tripod. Interesting aside about the museum:
\nthey let you take pictures but don’t allow tripods. I suspect the darkened rooms
\nwith overhead lighting hide a lot of the flaws in the cars, which are really
\nold and bound to show their age in the harsh light of day. <\/p>\n


\nThe foyer<\/b><\/p>\n

Backlighting creates an interesting effect, and it’s still in focus. What I
\nlove about digital is how it allows rank amateurs to get cool shots that never
\nwork on film without tons of tinkering with shutter and aperature settings.<\/p>\n


\nHow about those headlights<\/b>
\nA 1930 Ruxton with really wacky-looking headlights. It’s sitting at the
\nentrance to the museum.<\/p>\n

\n
\nWe got wings<\/b>
\n1957 Mercedes, the famous gull-wing door model. I was tempted to ask the guys
\nwho work at the museum if they’d open the doors so I could takea picture, but
\nI chickened out.<\/p>\n


\nTucker’s dream car<\/b>
\n1948 Tucker Torpedo, the star of "Tucker: A Man and his Dream."<\/p>\n


\nFrench twist<\/b>
\n1949 Delahaye, one of the great French-built cars of the Post War era.<\/p>\n


\nStutz deluxe<\/b>
\nStutz Bearcat, one of those most famous open roadsters of the early 20th
\ncentury.<\/p>\n


\nCall it a woody<\/b>
\nYes, this car is coated entirely in wood. It’s a 1924 Hispano-Suiza "Tulipwood
\nTorpedo."<\/p>\n


\nFat man’s tires<\/b>
\nThis the front wheel of a mammoth beast of a sedan that belonged to early
\nmovie star Fatty Arbuckle. It’s a 1924 Pierce Arrow with 38-inch tires on
\n24-inch rims.<\/p>\n


\nAs white as it gets<\/b>
\nThis 1929 Mercedes-Benz touring car belonged to Al Jolson of Jazz Singer
\nfame. I heard the tour guide saying Jolson was obsessed with whiteness.<\/p>\n


\nStrictly gangsta<\/b>
\nI liked the way these clips held the spare tire in place. Gotta love the
\nclassic Gangster White Wall.<\/p>\n


\nYou sure that’s not a boat?<\/b>
\nI forgot to note the maker of this fine machine, which was once owned by
\nIndian royalty, if memory serves. Note the back deck more aptly suited to
\na speedboat.<\/p>\n


\nBefore there were wings<\/b>
\nStylish rear fender of a dream car built on the frame of a 1937 Cadillac,
\nwhich came with a 454 cubic inch V-16 engine.<\/p>\n


\nOn the road<\/b>
\nOne of several bronze statues around the museum.<\/p>\n


\nOutside the museum<\/b>
\nThe Blackhawk Museum from the front.<\/p>\n


\nThe neighborhood<\/b>
\nThe museum’s in a scenic setting — a tony shopping center full of fancy
\nshops and expensive food.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I promised a tryout of my new Canon A-70 digital camera. Yesterday I took it on the road to a place I’ve been meaning to go for years now: The Blackhawk Automotive Museum in Danville, a town about 10 miles…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}