i sometimes take pics of these rat rods. canabalized old cars frankensteined into something more interesting, usually feature fun, unfinished textures.
there weren't too many at the super cruise, at least during the few hours i was there. this one happened to park across from the dukes' cars i was shooting, so when people stepped away from it, i took a quick detour to it. only took a couple of shots. liked this one best.
found this thing parked between two semi-trucks. just random. so i randomly shot a picture of it. no hood ornament, so otherwise, i don't know why i did.
i do like the sunrise light.
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just back from a weekend in san diego. probably will be down there a few more times this year.
sunday morning, we hopped the little red train down to barrio logan to get some breakfast at the market. was fun watching my better half ordering from the lady at the register, who didn't seem to speak english.
his mom was born in and grew up in new mexico, of mexican parents, but refused to teach his sister and him to speak spanish—figured they were in america, they should speak english. still, he knew enough words to get the order right. i took years of spanish in school, was married to a mexican, and still can't speak it at all, so good for him.
after we ate, we walked around chicano park a bit. never went there when it hasn't been full of cars. mostly empty, with some sketchy people hanging around the edges and under the overpass. they must move them out of there at car show time.
love hood ornaments. non-standard ones are often more fun. found this one on some random rat rod.
maybe i'll collect them some day, but not now, as i really don't have a shelf to put them on. maybe on my desk at work, next to to giant fox tail hanging there already.
found this rat rod around back of the industrial park at the super cruise. its pretty beat to shit, and seemingly haphazardly put together. but if you look closer, the small details are really fun to discover. seems to have a thing for skulls too. wonder what freud would say to that?
the mottled paint is the color of rust, but it really isn't rusted at all, and it adds a wonderful layer of texture to the thing. and hells yes, real bullet holes instead of the stupid stickers!
work in progress, or will they stop here?
quick pic. already running late on somewhere i'm supposed to be.
found this rat rod way out at the end of the street, on the other side of the railroad tracks, at the rialto run whatcha brung show. i think the owner next to him said they'd arrived late, so parked out there in the shade. they did also get out and drive the circuit once in a while. the other owner also said i'd made this guy's day because i bothered to take a picture of it. such small things can make people happy. don't think i gave him a card, so i suppose he'll never see it, but its here, hiding on the internet in plain sight. you never know.
ttfn
darn rain. love it, but not when i plan to go to a show. weather guys can't call the weather right either. stupid idiots.
anyway, i tried to stop at hooters on friday night...no rain, as was previously predicted...apparently no real show. not the first time either. think i'll stop trying this friday night show anymore. there were two cars over by the tommy's burger, very nice, but i didn't feel like setting up without asking if the owners minded—and i assume they were having a burger and wondering where the hell the other cars were, just like me.
would have stopped again at hooters for their monthly show today, but by the time it would've/should've started, the rain had finally arrived. and it poured. so, pfft.
so now, i'm going to just play with my cars all evening, since my better half needs to get some work done, and i apparently distract him, so i'll leave him alone in the other room.
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here's a rat rod i saw a couple of weeks ago at the broiler. sun really is setting early by the time i get there now. doesn't bother me; just the people that get in the way, walk through the shot, and aren't polite enough to move out of the way. at least these people were on the other side of the truck in this shot; they'd already messed up a previous shot, and were heading back this way, so at least i got one ok pic. they couldn't hear me yelling "numbnuts" and worse under my breath, which is probably a good thing.
so i'm in a rough and dirty mood. been too long since i threw a beater up here. a nice rat rod made of bits and pieces of various years. i'm tired and don't feel like spit-shining pixels tonight.
this assembly seems to be based on a ford body of some sort. i like the unfinished surfaces, with the engine compartment a matte black with pinstriping. interesting to the spend the time and money for a touch like that, or even for the dice on the tire valve stem, when the rest of it seems destined to remain “aged.”
at least it doesn't have a huge, obnoxious engine, which in a chop top would inhibit the view from the driver's seat. i don't believe i've seen it back again since then, so maybe its been transformed into something more interesting by now...
i only know fer sure that it has firestone tires. otherwise, i can't figure out what part came from what car. i also know that i could not leave without a picture of it, but there were always so many guys gathered around it, i almost did give up. i finally just walked over and set up my tripod, and just started shooting one side, then when i moved to this side, which was the side i really wanted, the group got a clue and moved back a bit. not sure if the owner was in that cluster of dudes, but if he was, someone tell him thanks for moving. i like these cars for no reason at all, but they do make for interesting images.
just home from a weekend in monterey. was taunted by the unloading of lots of classic cars for a car auction this week. public not allowed in, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. no real opportunity to get the shots i wanted, though there was one really nice buick skylark i should have taken, but just didn't. the driver was waiting for his signal to bring it into the fenced area. i figured i couldn't set up in time to get my shots, so kept walking. two blocks away, and i saw it still waiting...my husband is not letting me forget the one that got away.