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When you have a car show the last thing you want to show up is RAIN... but that is exactly what happened Saturday in Denison as hot rods and cool customs were on display at Forest Park. I got there around nine-thirty in the morning and it was just beginning to cloud up... Great weather for photos!
I parked my pick-up and this truck was right across the street from where I parked. It is a 1933 Ford pick-up. I loved the fact it still had a flat-head V-8 engine in it. These were the engines that brought the sport of hot rodding to the forefront. This one had Offenhauser heads on it with two 2-barrel carburetors. If you have ever heard a flat-head engine running through glass-pak mufflers, you would throw rocks at overhead valve engines. Unfortunately, a flat-head does NOT put out the horsepower of the overhead valve engines and fell by the wayside.
One of the more unusual cars on display was this 1941 Hollywood Graham. I spoke with the owner and told him I thought it was a Cord when I first saw it, and he gave me this story. Cord made automobiles from the 1920's through the mid 1940's and went broke. They sold out to the Graham Company, who continued to make cars for two more years before they too went busted. Earlier model Cords had a knob under the dash, allowing you to turn the headlights so you could see around corners before you actually made the turn.
This is a 1948 Ford Anglia.. It was a joint venture between the Ford Motor Company and an English company to make a small economy automobile. American Hot Rodders took to the Anglia like bees to honey. Out came the little four cylinder engine and in went the souped up V-8... Presto!! The perfect NHRA Altered Coupe. Check the top of the dash where it says 'quarter-pounder'.. and he ain't talking about any hamburger.
This is a 1955 Chevrolet El Camino... The kicker is that Chevy didn't make an El Camino until 1959. This car originally was a station wagon that has been converted. Growing up in Dallas, my family used to live next door to Jack Simon, and his shop turned out Mercury pick-ups much the same way. Back in those days Mercury didn't make a pick-up, so Simon's finished products were in high demand.
1941 Ford Coupe.. The 1940 has always been one of my favorite cars and is considered a classic among car buffs,..but the 1941 has it followers also. This is a very good version of this car. It is now powered by a Chevrolet engine... and check out the air conditioning. The transmission shifter remains on the floor, just like when it came from the factory.
1932 Ford High-Boy Roadster.... This was really one of the cleanest and most admired cars on display today.. and like most good Fords, this one is powered by a Chevy engine. Super looking car and I am a sucker for those giant 12-inch headlights. The interior and exterior was simply outstanding. The '32 is the iconic year for hot rodders and this is a great example of what the sport is all about. Nice paint job too.
1932 Ford 3-window Coupe... First thing to catch my eye was the Buick V-8 engine. Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Oldsmobile all have angled heads on them, but a Buick's heads & valve covers are straight up and easily identified. The drawback is the lack of after-market parts for the Buick engine. True to form solid front axle and headlights mounted on the frame since the fenders are not being displayed on this model. Great looking gangster whitewalls.
1960 Chevrolet Corvette... Great looking car in almost mint condition. Red outside and inside was a great selling package that year. I had a 1961 Corvette and mine was black inside and out. The 1961 and 1962 Corvettes look similar on the outside but there are major differences in the engines and transmissions. 1961 was the last year for the 283 cubic inch engine in the Corvette.
1948 Mercury Coupe... Radically changed from its original condition. Completely lowered all the way around..and those headlights are from a Buick, but I am uncertain about the front grille. The interior was done complimentary to the outside color and the chopped top was really evident from the inside. Floor shifter for the automatic transmission... How about that Norwegian flag?....
Sorry I didn't have more room for ALL of the cars, but I have picked a few that were different and stood out from the rest. Most of the entries were really well done, but time and space prevent me from showing more.
I had been there about two hours when the light drizzle turned into a downpour and I headed back home. Sunday is suppose to be a better day and the cars will again be on display.. Come out and see them. Vintage cars reveal a time never to be repeated in American history... and they put a lot of shame on the cracker-box cars of today, which all look alike, despite which side of the ocean they came from.
A Health Fair was held at Texoma Medical Center in Denison today...and a good size crowd turned out to take advantage. Booths were set up outside allowing the kids some activities to have fun while parents found more important stuff on the inside of the hospital.
This is the lobby of the hospital and it was filled with booths and tables of various groups displaying the latest thing in healthcare and affiliate groups. Food was also in abundance today and naturally I took advantage of that.
Momma and our oldest daughter helped out at the Texoma Health Foundation table. If anyone in your family has become a victim of breast cancer, you need to be in touch with this group. That is Susan Hooper on the far right in the photo and her office is in the Reba McEntire Building behind Texoma Medical Center. The table is filled with informational packets for interested parties..but also note all the pink hats.
The hats will be judged and then auctioned off on October 22nd.. Think Pink Day! The hat closest to the camera was made by my daughter Laura (sitting beside Susan behind the table) and the smaller hat in the middle of the table was made by my granddaughter Lilly. The hat at the far end of the table belongs to Susan. She is also accepting raffle bids for the beautiful quilt on the far left of photo.
This is just one of the many tables or displays that I found amazing today. It is an example of how robotics are being used in healthcare to cut down on mistakes and to show how precise the robot can be. The procedure being performed by the robotic arms can be viewed on the TV monitor in the upper left hand corner of the photo. This tells me the doctor can be in Dallas while performing an operation in the Sherman/Denison area... and thankfully, TMC is right on the forefront of this amazing advancement.
There is a new hamburger joint in town and we stopped there for lunch yesterday. Momma and I are not in the habit of critiquing food establishments, but this one really stands out from the crowd. The first thing to get our attention was the ordering process. When you arrive, there is a counter where YOU fill out your own order-form.
This way you can get your burger exactly the way you like it and with all of the ingredients you wish (lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, and either mustard or mayo). A couple of customers didn't care for the process and walked out while we were dining, but I kind of liked it. They have a friendly staff that helps you with the order form since this is their first restaurant north of the metroplex of Dallas-Fort Worth.
The atmosphere was quaint and the food was super. Most of the time when I order a burger at Applebee's, Burger-King, or another chain store, the burger is large enough to feed two or three people. Remember I am among the senior sector of the population, so maybe it is just me. They do offer a LARGE BURGER, but I was a little hesitant to try it. The french fries were also good as MooYah's is one of those places that leaves the potato skin on the fries (I love that). Mine was just your ordinary burger, but Momma had a turkey-burger and she also said it was super.
Caught her with her mouth full.. MooYah's is located in the Town Center Shopping Center in Sherman and is right behind the Wendy's Restaurant (ironically). They have a drive-by window if you don't want to leave the comfort of your car, and you can also call in orders (903-771-2616).
It is a new establishment and you owe it to yourself to at least give it a try. We enjoyed our visit and chances are it will not be the last time we stop there for lunch.... Moo-Yah!
As you can probably surmise by the title of this posting, it was a downer day for the Eastern Division of the NFC today.. Every team in the division suffered a bitter defeat in this second week of the 2013 NFL season.
Since the Dallas Cowboys are near and dear to my heart,..I will start with them.
The Cowboys won last week against the New York Giants in a game that saw them with six turnovers courtesy of the guys from the Big Apple. Today they traveled to Kansas City to face a team with over twenty new players added to the roster since last year... New Coach Andy Reid has a history of beating the Cowboys and he lived up to that history as the Chiefs defeated Dallas 17-16 and moved their record to two wins so far this season. They only had two wins total in all of the 2012 season.
The Washington Redskins made the playoffs last year and the off-season has been filled with a lot of hype about how good the team will be this season. Well, a funny thing happened to the Skins the first two weeks of this season; they have lost both games, last week to Philadelphia and today the Green Bay Packers trounced Washington 38-20 in a game not that close.
Aaron Rogers and the Packers revealed that highly prized quarterback Robert Griffin III of Washington is indeed human after all. The Redskins are a better team than in previous seasons, but they are not Super Bowl contenders just yet.
The Philadelphia Eagles were on cloud nine after their opening season game against Washington. New Coach Chip Kelly and his up tempo offense has been the talk of the league...but apparently the San Diego Chargers were not impressed.
San Diego quarterback Phillip Rivers threw three touchdowns and the Chargers handed the Eagles their first loss 33-30.
In New York the Giants were hosting the Denver Broncos and all week it was billed as the Manning Bowl. Denver is led by their quarterback, Peyton Manning, and Eli Manning is the quarterback of the NY Giants. Younger brother, Eli, tossed four interceptions and the Broncos won 41-23 going away.
It was a good game, but the Giants gave up too many turnovers for the second week in a row, and now must start some re-evaluation.
Here is a quick glimpse at the standings after two weeks of play..
NFC Eastern Division
W L
Dallas 1 1
Philadelphia 1 1
New York 0 2
Washington 0 2
One member of the NFC East will have little time to try and right the sinking ship as Philadelphia will play again on Thursday night as they host the Kansas City Chiefs. It will be the return of Head Coach Andy Reid to the City of Brotherly Love as he led the Eagles for fourteen seasons before moving to Kansas City this past off-season.
Coming up next Sunday the remainder of the division needs to get back to their winning ways if the division is to retain its highly regarded attitude. Dallas will be at home to host the St Louis Rams, who are also coming off a loss. Detroit will be in the nation's capitol to test the Redskins in week three, and the New York Giants will visit Carolina to try and not fall to 0-3.
Tuesday I had to make a trip to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Bonham,...a trip I have made many times over the years,..but I discovered something new has been added since my last trip... As I turned into the hospital I noticed an old friend now graces the front lawn of the facility.
This is a UH-1 Iroquois helicopter...It is better known as a Huey, a term hung on it by the ground pounders of Vietnam because no one knew what an Iroquois was. Beginning in the 1950's when the Army decided they were going to have a fleet of helicopters, someone decided they needed a one-name title and the various tribes of native Americans filled the bill. Other choppers are named after the Blackhawk tribe..the Comanche..Chinook.. Sioux..and Cheyenne to name just a few.
Being a Vietnam Veteran, I have had my share of experiences with the Huey helicopter. The above example has the side doors on both sides,..but most of the time in Nam the doors were removed to allow entrance and exit by the most expedient means.
Usually the Huey had a crew of three men (pilot, co-pilot, and crew chief, who doubled as the door gunner) and could carry eight to ten combat ready grunts (Marine or Army). In 1963 the Army converted an entire division into a mobile unit to be called the First Air Cavalry Division. Instead of horses, these cavalry troopers rode into battle in helicopters. Vietnam was the first conflict where entire units were carried to hot spots via the helicopter.
When I first arrived in Vietnam (January 2, 1965) I had to travel from Dak To to Phu Bai in a Huey and it would be the first of many trips in the iron bird. Huey's are made by Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, Texas and I took it as a good omen. My second day I was introduced to a radio that I would be using (R-390 super-hetrodyne receiver) and it was made by Collins Radio Corporation of Dallas, Texas... Another omen of good luck for me.
The Huey was used in all regions of the Vietnam conflict. I was stationed in the jungle and mountainous regions of northern South Vietnam and when the chopper could not land, we dropped thru the trees on ropes. Sometimes we were inserted into uncharted areas and we made our way back to Phu Bai while making new maps of the local terrain. There is no greater feeling of stark terror than the one when you are dropped into a unknown area and have to sit there while the sound of your only means of transportation fades out in the distance. Anyone who tells you they were not scared is lying.
The new Huey at the Bonham Hospital is not armed...but some of the Huey's brought some serious armament to engagements.
Here is an example of some of the hardware loaded on Hueys.. This particular chopper has not only rocket lancher tubes..but also a remote controlled mini-gun capable to firing three-thousand rounds per minute. When the mini-gun was firing it looked like a continuous stream of red trails right to the target. A thirty caliber machine gun is mounted on a bi-pod for the crew chief to use...and this is just on one side of the Huey,..identical stuff is on the other side. Like I said, the later models were well equipped. A model of the Huey was not armed and had red crosses painted on it. These air ambulances were called 'slicks' but despite the international markings, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces shot them down too.
If you have been keeping up with my blog,..then you know by now that I am a car nut and have a love for 'older cars.' Everything produced in the last ten years can be hard to identify because basically they all look alike. That was not the case when I was growing up. Every Fall we use to hang out at car dealerships to get the first glimpse of the new models arriving so we could brag to our buddies...
This was the first car to attract my eye when I arrived downtown. It is a 1964 Ford Fairlane.. Back in the mid 1960's I had a Corvette and one of my best buddies had a '65 Ford Fairlane with a high performance 289 engine in it.. We raced at Cedar Hill Drag Strip many times without my Vette ever winning. Needless to say, I have a grudge against Ford Fairlanes.
1934 Ford 2-door sedan...and the favorite car of Clyde Barrow (Bonnie & Clyde). Clyde even wrote a letter to the Ford Motor Company thanking them for such a fast car that allowed him to escape the police back in the day. This one was really clean inside and out.
1946 Chevrolet Coupe.. This car was also clean enough to eat off of.. Powered by 350 Chevy V8 engine and also equipped with air conditioning.
1957 Chevrolet Corvette... This is about the time that Corvette's started to really be considered sports cars. The earlier ones were just for show without any power.. This one has two 4-barrel carburetors feeding a Chevy shortblock.
Another 1934 Ford... but this one is a 3-window Coupe! Really a clean car and I believe it is a local car as I have seen it in other shows recently. The interior was as nice as the exterior and the owner has obviously put a lot of work and money into this car.
1938 Pontiac 5-window Coupe... I'll admit I was thrown for a loss on this one.. I knew it was not a Chevy or Oldsmobile but I had to walk right up to it to solve the mystery. Really a clean car and as you can see by the interior, a lot went into the detail of this fine ride.
1940 Chevrolet Coupe... I have seen this car many times and it drove past my house this morning on the way to this car show. I love the detail and how the two-tone paint is something out of the norm. The dash retains a lot of the original gauges and I love the way the top of the dash and the window sticks have been painted.
The 1940 Ford Coupe is one of my all-time classics,..but the 1940 and 1941 Chevrolet Coupes are not far behind.
1955 Ford Victoria... Another local car but still a good looker. Owner told me he and his wife had just returned from a trip to Tennessee in this car. Ran like a top without a single problem. The original 292 engine has been replaced with a current 302 to eliminate any parts problems.
1933 Ford Coupe... Okay I'll admit it... I thought this was the cream of the crop at today's show...therefore it rates 3 photos instead of just 2.. The paint job looked like it was inches thick and the interior shows a lot of originality.. Air conditioned with electric windows go with the automatic transmission. I remain a sucker for those dropped solid front axles and the rear end also featured wishbone suspension with a quick change third member.
1955 Chevrolet Bel-Air.... The first year of the 'Shoebox Chevrolets'.. I had a '55 Bel-Air when I was in high school and loved it. I don't remember this color blue as being a stock color from Chevrolet but it still looks good. How about those louvers in the hood? The bucket seats come from a late model and the car was really well presented. Super!!
1932 Ford 5-window Coupe... Hard to go wrong with a Deuce. This is probably the iconic year of hot rods down through the years. The paint was well applied and the color unusual. The dash could not be any simpler.. and like most good Fords, it has a Chevy engine.
1956 Chevrolet Bel-Air 2-door hardtop... Year number two for the Shoebox Chevys...This too was a well presented car. 350 engine with an oversize cooling system to prevent overheating. The 4-speed manual transmission is an item you don't see too much of any more.. Nice car, simple as black and white !
1965 Pontiac G T O... This was Pontiac's attempt to be a player in the muscle cars of the 1960's...and they succeeded. A couple of my buddies from the 60's had GTO's and they were extremely fast cars. I didn't see any dents in this one and it has survived the years well. The 389 powerplant was an original. Now days one plant makes all the engines for Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC.
1935 Chevrolet 4-door Sedan... This is a year almost left out in the hot rod world.. This is a great job refinishing a grand old car. As you can see by the interior, no expense was spared in returning this car to the current condition. The black paint usually reveals any imperfections in the body work..but not a blemish on this beauty.
1951 Plymouth ?... I'll close with this one. It has not been reconditioned in any way, but remains a perfect example of how the car came from Plymouth in 1951. I walked up to the car expecting to see Savoy....or maybe Belvedere...or something similar on the car, but NOPE.. I'll let you take your best shot at it.. I never heard of this model Plymouth, but you have to remember I was just a little tot in 1951.. Give up???
I never even heard of a Plymouth Cranbrook... but see...we both learned something today.. and you were wondering why you keep coming back to my blog page.. See you next time !!
