On a roll in Ho Chi Minh City

Because the Sergeant loves cars, we started our first full day in Saigon touring the city in a 1954 Citroen Traction-Avant. One of our first stops was the Reunification Palace. It used to be the presidential palace, until North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gate in 1975. It has since been preserved as a museum, and its meeting and banquet rooms are still used for ceremonial occasions.

The Sergeant had a great time chatting with the driver, who also has a war-era Jeep (and photos of it on his iPad) ...
... while I watched the traffic from the back seat. Never seen so many scooters in my life!
We drove all over Saigon, taking in the sights, and even stopped at a shop that sells old car parts, so the Sergeant could take photos. Our tour guide, a lovely young woman in a traditional ao dai, was a bit put out that we didn't want to stop and do some souvenir shopping, but you don't need an expensive antique vehicle to do that.

She did recommend a good pho place for lunch, not far from our hotel. Pho Quynh was also a great spot for people- and traffic-watching.
I was glad to slurp down noodles and a couple glasses of Vietnamese iced coffee. Boy, is it good.

Dodgy deal

The Sergeant likes cars and is very happy to have a decent garage in which to work. If the weather is bad, I have dibs on the indoor parking at night, but he can use the space for projects the rest of the time.

Helping to bleed the brakes is a rite of passage for anyone in a relationship with a car geek, he says.
"Push it down slowly. Hold it. Let it out. Push it. Hold. Release ..."

That's bonding, American-style.

Direct marketing

Out walking yesterday, I spotted this classic gem, a first-generation Capri. I'm going to guess 1974-ish, because of the bumper covers.
I'm always on the lookout for interesting cars (along with bee trees) when I'm walking the dogs. It keeps me entertained.

But what really caught my interest here was the notice on the windshield:
Talk about enterprising! I'm not sure how I'd feel about someone taping their offer to my windshield, though, even if it's obvious that I'm not driving the car, and especially not if I consider it a "classic car." I might call my car junk, but that doesn't mean you can.

Toy cars

I started hearing about tilt-shift photography not very long ago. It's probably been around for a while.
I was impressed by Karen's toy jeep and today found tiltshiftmaker.com (via Cool Tools), where I made my own crude examples from photos of cars in my neighborhood. That's a 1956 Lincoln Premiere above and a 1963 Chevy Biscayne below.
A very particular kind of photo lends itself to this treatment: preferably taken from above, with lots of foreground and background and small points of interest near the middle. The manipulation of focus is one part of fooling your brain into thinking you're looking at a miniature. The other part is using photos of things that could conceivably be miniatures, such as cars or boats or model railroad scenery.

I don't take a lot of such photos, as it turns out, but maybe I'll try snapping a few now with tilt-shift in mind.

Jump it forward

When the neighbor's battery died, I knew just how she was feeling. My brand-new battery came to the rescue, and another neighbor did the honors with my cables.

I should be ashamed to admit I have never jumped a car or changed a tire all by myself. Every time I've needed to, someone has come along and said, "Here, I'll show you how."

Classic car watch in the 'hood

When this car carrier pulled up in front of my house the other day, I was hoping the '56 Lincoln Premiere was being dropped off. But no, the new neighbor was having her boring Audi delivered instead. The Premiere was sold for $5K on eBay to some guy in Chicago, and that was where it was headed.
On my walk today, I spotted this '67 Fairlane. It's a daily driver recently purchased by another neighbor. He hasn't had to do any exterior restoration on it, but added carpet, a new headliner and cruise control. The tailgate can swing open sideways, or fold down. Sweet!

If you could paint the wagon, what would you do with it? I'm fond of the wicked ride treatment, but that's been done.

I want this truck

1954 Ford F100 with 300,000 miles on it. Still with original owner. He paid $1,200 for it new.

(Posted from my cellphone.)

Turning Japanese

Spotted these three Japanese classics in one block the other day. You don't see many like these around anymore. They're not what you might expect to see in a "classic" lineup, but their rarity makes them interesting.

The guys, gals and cars of Billetproof 2008

Here's a photo-heavy post! I was going to break it up into smaller ones, but I like the overall effect of all the photos together.

One of the people in this post is very famous, but it's not this guy.
We were at the Billetproof auto show in Antioch, Calif. The cars were cool, but the people were cooler.
We're talkin' lots of tattoos.
OK, the cars were neat, too. None can be newer than 1964, and none can have any visible parts made from custom-molded steel (a.k.a. billet).
People of all ages were there.
With a high concentration of hipsters.
And piercings.
White beards.
And stuff for kids.
Those who dressed up stood out.
Some opted for period costume.
I thought this outfit was quite fetching. Nose ring and all.
There was some most excellent music. Lots of rockabilly, and surf music à la Dick Dale. These are the Pyronauts. The guitarist did a lot of hair-flanging.
I went up to a lot of people and asked to shoot their tattoos.
Nobody turned me down.
Some people were getting shaves and haircuts. I was reminded of the street barbers in China.
Others were just hanging out.
This guy's tattoo took 35 hours to do. He still had 20 hours to go.
Many of the girls were as heavily inked as the guys.
Even the old guys' scooters looked vintage.
Sunscreen was a must. Big hat optional.
Shorts or short pants showed off more tats.
I was amused by the cigar.
A solemn little boy whose name was not Freddy.
Some were cooking out.
Everyone was there to see the ratrods.