{"id":721,"date":"2004-03-27T19:29:39","date_gmt":"2004-03-28T00:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/?p=721"},"modified":"2009-07-22T17:23:08","modified_gmt":"2009-07-22T22:23:08","slug":"hot-rods-in-pleasanton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/2004\/03\/27\/hot-rods-in-pleasanton\/","title":{"rendered":"Hot rods in Pleasanton"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Goodguys Rod & Custom Association’s 22nd All-American Get-together<\/a> is happening this weekend at the Alameda
\nCounty Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, which is just down the road from us. Thousands
\nof people and cars show up at a massive car show\/swap meet\/flea market. These
\nare some highlights. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This wacky yellow inflated guy zig-zags about at the entrance to the show.
\nI was there Saturday, the first day. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This old Ford has a beautiful paint job — though you can’t tell so much in
\nthis photograph. I love the torpedo grille on this model. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

My dad and I rebuilt a 1965 Ford Ranchero like this one. Ours wasn’t quite
\nas slick but we had the satisfaction of knowing we’d built it ourselves. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In California, people will make a stretch limo out of anything, including a
\n’57 Chevy. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some folks are prone to getting carried away with the Stars and Stripes. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The ’55 Chevy Nomad was the coolest car ever manufactured in North America.
\nI strongly suspect this is not the factory paint job.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

The grille makes this big ol’ Buick look like somebody’s crabby uncle. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A chopped-and-channeled ’51 Mercury with exquisite custom paint. This body
\nstyle was immortalized in the movie "Rebel Without a Cause," though
\nJames Dean drove a ’49 Merc. My dad owned a snazzy ’50 Merc that he gave to
\nhis brother, who promptly wrecked it. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

No word on whether Jack Nicholson posed for this paint job.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I’m pretty sure this is a 1940 Mercury; I just love that robin-egg-blue color.
\nSeems like it ought to have Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in the front seat.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There’s something vaguely pornograhic about all these cars having their hoods
\nopen and their engines wagging in the breeze — this classy Jaguar seems a bit
\nshamed by the experience.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cadillac’s tailfins got totally out of hand when the ’59s came out. Which makes
\nthis model the second-coolest ever built in North America.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Remember how Bob Seger talked about doing the nasty in the back seat of his
\n’60 Chevy? Well, this is the back seat of a ’60 Chevy. It looks better without
\nfumbling teens practicing their Night Moves in it. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

These dolls could well be possessed by the devil. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Think of "Time" by Pink Floyd. And ask yourself why the organizers
\nof these things think we all want to listen to classic rock over the intercom.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At least half the fun was checking out all the spare parts for sale, like these
\nspeedometers. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

$250 or best offer buys you this swell Continental kit. You must supply your
\nown Continental. (NOTE THIS IS NOT FOR SALE TODAY — this event was in 2004). <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

These are necessary because, you know, the car manufacturers have this strange
\ndefect which causes them to install really sucky steering wheels.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At last, some collector cars that I can afford. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

One guy was even selling these really snazzy antique gas pumps. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Goodguys Rod & Custom Association’s 22nd All-American Get-together is happening this weekend at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, which is just down the road from us. Thousands of people and cars show up at a massive car show\/swap…<\/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\/721"}],"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=721"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1208,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721\/revisions\/1208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}