Car show, Manufacturer news, Uncategorized

Scion Coming to SEMA

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SEMA Signage
SEMA Show in Las Vegas

Toyota’s Scion brand is prepping for the upcoming SEMA Show in a big way by teasing out two sketches of some customized, tricked out Scion’s. Scion will showcase in Las Vegas at least two models; a Slayer Mobile Amp tC themed after trash metal band Slayer and a Riley Hawk Skate Tour xB named for the pro skateboarder.

Scion

Scion’s have always branded and positioned themselves as an entry market for coming of age drivers and buyers and offer many ways to customize the cars right off the dealer’s lot.
Last year Toyota had some neat racer inspired cars plus a “Tanked” Highlander which we showcased here. Now we’ll have to be sure and check out the Scion cars this year!

Scion SlayerSlayer

You’d expect a Slayer dedicated show car to focus on the music and you wouldn’t be wrong.

The music is going to be pumping out of this tC for sure. Slayer is a California formed heavy metal band and has won two Grammy awards. It will be interesting to see if any of the four band members make it out for the debut of this Scion.

Riley Hawk

Riley Hawk’s ride, an xB, will present a flashback to the 70’s van craze. His ride will have shag carpet, bubble windows and wood paneling on the interior. Can’t wait to see it in person at the SEMA show in Las Vegas. There is bound to be enough room for his skateboard in this tricked out Scion!Scion Hawk

Riley Hawk is the son of Tony Hawk, who revolutionized skateboarding on the West Coast. Riley is only 21 years of age and is already an award winning skater, but suspect Dad had to explain what shag carpeting was about!

SEMA

The sketches are a bit limited in presenting what the final version will look like, but can’t wait to see the outcomes in a month at the SEMA Show. We’ll keep our eye peeled for more progress updates.

 

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Artwork courtesy of Toyota ©

 

Tool Chest

GearWrench Gimbal Ratchet

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Gearwrench Gimbal Ratchet Closeup

GearWrench makes some great tools. It is known for their time-saving closed end box wrenches and we previously posted about there two Gimbal Ratchets.  Now we show you how effective and helpful they can actually be.Gearwrench Gimbal Ratchet

Gimbal Ratchets

These ratchets debuted at last year’s SEMA Show and we were mesmerized by the engineering and thinking behind these ratchets. Unlike a typical thumb drive ratchet, the GearWrench Gimbal Ratchet floats inside two rings, so that like a gyroscope, you can tweak and twist what plane these ratchets match up to.

The beauty of these two ratchets,  in both 1/4″ and 3/8″ drive, is they can always easily line up with the fastener you are working on, regardless of where they are in a car or other application.

Toyota Camry

Camry Firewall

Now I love my tools but before adding to my inventory, the tool has to prove its worth.  Here is a real world application.  On the firewall of a 2012 Camry is a bolt, arranged around a variety of metal  tubing and some slightly flexible rubber tubing.

Camry Firewall Closeup

Clearly a box or open wrench will not fit.  A typical socket wrench will need a few extensions and flexible joints to make it work and even then you’re going to have to be a contortionist to get decent use and leverage on that fastener.

Gearwrench Gimbal Ratchet

Gearwrench Gimbal Ratchet on Fastener

Now the GearWrench Gimbal Ratchet can easily reach the fastener without any more extensions or flexible joints. The two gimbals allow the ratchet to clear the metal tubing without any worries and your hand can control the exterior drive mechanism easily with your hand (and body) in a convenient place.

Gearwrench Gimbal Ratchet with hand

Gearwrench Gimbal Ratchet in use

You can order these ratchets directly from GearWrench or find them at your favorite tool dealer.

Gearwrench Gimbal Ratchet Obstructed

 

Do you have another favorite tool from GearWrench?  Let us know.

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Car show, Uncategorized

Encinitas Classic Car and Truck Cruise In and Show

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Encinitas, California is located just a short hop up the San Diego coast and offers a laid back surfer vibe.  It is known not only for the surfing action and fish tacos, but also local one of a kind shops and furniture showrooms.  But twice a month during the summer months the downtown streets come alive with  a classic car show.

EncinitasThursdays are for Cruising

On the  third Thursdays in the summer, from May through September, the Encinitas downtown group sponsors this car show along historic Pacific Coast Highway 101.

Woodie for the SurfAlong with the cars, bands can be heard performing and of course cars are always cruising the main drag. Plus many adjacent bars and restaurants are open with specials offered for the onlookers.

Classic Cars and Trucks

Now being a surfer city you just know Encinitas will dust off a few woodies for the show.  But all varieties of classic cars and trucks come out for this once a month laid back car show.Cadillac at Encinitas

Pacific Coast Highway

The car show spans the 101 Highway, from D to J Streets, along with some adjacent parking lots from cooperative shops.  Portions of the Ppacific Coast Highway 101 hug the coastline of California.Pacific Coast Highway 101

Unlike other local events there is no signage reserving the on street parking for the classics so you often get a mix of classic Detroit Iron next to a plastic swoopy car!  Awards are given out but there is more interest in the cars presented than the picks and awards.Corvette at Encinitas

Cruisers

Now parking for the public is a bit intense so if you go, plan on your own “cruising event” looking for a parking spot, but you’ll be rewarded with a sweet show.  The season, alas, has ended for the Encinitas show, but you can relive the fun times with our pictures.  Enjoy the snapshots and let us know your favorite.

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Car show, Uncategorized

El Cajon Classic Car Cruise

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El Cajon Cruise Night Street SignEl Cajon

During the summer, downtown El Cajon, CA sponsors a free car cruise-show each Wednesday night. There is a theme each week spotlighting select cars or car clubs. The main street through downtown is reserved for classic cars and trucks. A DJ spin some classic rock and folks have a chance to see some great looking cars.

You get all variety of cars and trucks and best of all some will cruise the streets so you can see them in action.

This tricked out rod was done with a sense of humor and style.El Cajon Cruise Night Salt Driverand it obviously is not a trailer queen as evidenced by these deals on the rear window.

El Cajon Cruise Night Decals

Cruisers

Did we mention cars cruise down the streets?

El Cajon Cruise Night CruisersEl Cajon Cruise Night Cruising

Where else can you see a CamaroEl Cajon Cruise Night 68 Camaroand a Rolls Royce at the same event?El Cajon Cruise Night Rolls Royce

Enjoy the pictures and it is not too late to take in this show if you are in the San Diego area on a Wednesday night!  It runs through October 29, 2014. Many restaurants stay open and there are usually some sidewalk vendors as well.Cajon Cruise 2014

Here are some selected pictures of some classics? Which is your favorite?

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Uncategorized

Lamborghini 5-95 Zagato Supercar

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Lamborghini 5-95 Zagato

 

Front end view passenger side

Take a Lamborghini Gallardo and let Italian design firm Zagato have at it and you end up with the Lamborghini 5-95 Zagato. It’s a classic Lamborghini covered with a unique carbon fiber and glass combination. Purists may dismiss the alterations to the classic Gallardo lines, but never the less; the 5–95 makes a statement.

Originally the Lamborhini Zagato was commissioned by a Swiss collector as a one-off design and was unveiled in May, 2014. Later word came out that a limited edition might be produced of this supercar and a yellow monster was spotted at the Milan factory.

This probably is the same unit, now sporting Montana plates and discovered at the Scottsdale, AZ Cars and Coffee event on Saturday September 6, 2014.

It was hard to get a full set of pictures with the crowds around it, and the owner actually parked it off to the side amongst some other more routine exotics that are seen at Cars and Coffee.

Zagato

The Lamborghini 5-95 Zagato commemorates the 95th anniversary of the Milan design firm. Looking at the supercar shows many of the critical common elements found on Zagato designed cars. Plenty of aerodynamic flowing glass and a double bubble roof; with an air scoop to help deliver sufficient air volume for the engine. The hood has an addendum attached closer to the windshield, which is claimed to help make the car more aerodynamic and gives the front end a longer, rakish view.

DSCN7898

The Zagato’s “floating” front spoiler is also a unique look, with a love it or leave it attitude. The side intakes on the Zagato are smaller, hence why the roofline now has an air scoop. The rear end is chopped off, making the front end even more pronounced and emphasized. The circular rear taillights are different as well.

Since Zagato is a Milan design firm, nothing mechanical was changed on the Gallardo framework. The GallardoLP 570-4 was the best selling of the Lamborghini models with a 5.2 liter V-10 engine producing 570 horsepower and nearly 400 foot pounds of torque. The outcome is an official Lamorghini supercar, which will be a limited production run.

It’ll be interesting to see how many collectors jump at the chance to get this Gallardo model and what the actual production will be. Any guesses?

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Car show, Uncategorized

SEMA Car Cruise Ignited

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SEMA’s Friday Night Cruise

SEMA Cruise

SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) is the car show of all car shows, held in Las Vegas each year.  But because SEMA Show is a trade show, only qualified attendees may go past the security guards.

Friday Night Cruise

But one of the secrets of SEMA is the cruise out on Friday night.  For years the Las Vegas locals would hang out at the driveways of the Las Vegas Convention Center to see the cars and trucks roll out from the convention floors.SEMA Cruise 32

A few years back, SEMA latched on to this phenomenon and made an official event for the cruise starting at 4 PM on Friday, the last day of the SEMA Show.  Last year was a hoot as we mentioned in this article.

SEMA does it right with bleachers brought in specifically for the cruise.  Mix in a DJ, an emcee and some personalities like Chip Foose and you have all the makings for a fun event.  Chip Foose at SEMA Cruise

And nowadays every event needs at least pone drone sighting!SEMA Cruise 38

 

SEMA Cruise 2014

SEMA just announced that for this year, the vehicles will cruise over to a lot at the “Linq Promenade“, where the public is invited for one last change to check out the cars.  SEMA is calling this event the SEMA Ignited and promises to be a nice event with manufacturers getting one more chance to promote their products, cars and gear.

While not all the thousands of vehicles inside the SEMA Show go out in the cruise, those that do make for an awesome display of lights and sounds.

Here’s just some of our favorite car shots from last year’s Cruise

Which is your favorite?

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Car show, Uncategorized

Drew’s Garage Spotlighted with 68 Charger

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Drew’s Garage in Tempe, AZ is featured in the August, 2014 issue of Performance and Hot Rod Business.  Our friends at the publication did a nice feature on this local garage.

logo for Drew's Garage

Here’s a link to the six page article.

We recently featured Drew’s Garage with this article on Larry Fitzgerald’s 1968 Dodge Charger.  Here’s the link as well.

Rear end of 68 Charger

In the article. the owner Drew Tennant discussed the origins of his shop and how showcasing his cars at Barrett-Jackson and Goodguys Rod and Custom helped his business grow.  It is interesting to read that most of his employees are auditioned and hired from out of state.

Nice compliments to a true class act.

 

Auctions, Car show

Boyd Coddington Cars from Ron Pratte Collection

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Boyd Coddington built a great variety of award winning cars.  This Southern California icon left us way too soon.  But fortunately his cars remain to showcase his vision and talent.

Ron Pratte Collection

Ron Pratte collected plenty of cars over the years and will be selling them at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Arizona in January.  While specifics haven’t been finalized, it is thought that all his cars will be sold.  Here’s a link to our first article about Ron Pratte selling off his cars.

Pratte never has opened his car collection to the public but we got an exclusive peek a few years ago.

Boyd Coddington

Amongst his collection, Pratte owns the largest collection of Boyd Coddington built cars.  Coddington earned fame after winning an AMBR award but many first heard of him on a reality TV show, American Hot Rod – that set the theme for car building TV series.

In Pratte’s collection are a stylistic version of the classic 57 Chevy – Chezoom,  a homage to a 32 Delahaye called the Whatthehaye and the AlumaTub.

All three cars reflect Coddington’s iconic style, long sweeping lines and smooth bodysides.

Here’s a link to an article we contributed to eBay Motors on these Boyd Coddington cars.

Which is your favorite?

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Auctions, Uncategorized

Pratte Collection Selling Soon

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As we previously posted here, Barrett-Jackson sources confirmed that they are selling Ron Pratte’s collection of classic cars and automobilia in January during their auction in Scottsdale, AZ.

Car Collection of Ron Pratte

Ron Pratte

Ron Pratte has amassed an impressive collection of classic cars over the past few years.  He has been a fixture at the car auctions, but rarely opened his collection to the public for viewing.  But we were able to get some exclusive photos of just some of his massive storage warehouse.

Barrett-Jackson officials haven’t yet confirmed the details of which cars will sell or how they plan to package these classics during the January, 2015 auction.

Automobilia Sign Collection from Ron Pratte

Here’s a link to the first of our 2 eBay articles on Ron Patte’s collection.

 

Auctions, Car show, Uncategorized

Pratte Car Collection Selling Soon

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Classic cars from the Ron Pratte Collection
Collector automobilia from Ron Pratte’s display
Classic cars from the Ron Pratte Collection

Ron Pratte has been a prolific classic car collector and is known for the size of his private collection and his generosity in buying “charity” cars, with the  proceeds going to specific charities.

Arizona Auction

Recently Barrett-Jackson confirmed the swirling rumors that Ron Pratte was selling his entire collection next January at their Scottsdale, AZ auction at Westworld.

Ron Pratte Collection

Ron Pratte stored his cars behind closed doors in Chandler, Arizona and only rarely allowed outsiders to see these cars.  These pictures are rare glimpses of some expensive and profound historical cars.

Here is a link to an eBay Motors article we recently wrote highlighting three vehicles from Ron Pratte’s collection that presumably are selling.  What do you think they’ll sell for?  Subscribe to this blog for a future update on another part of his collection.

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