The Pacific Northwest isn’t exactly well known for being a hot-rod hot spot, but Portland International Raceway hosts what must be one of the best weekly cruise-ins in the country. From June to September, hundreds of classic and collectible cars converge at the racetrack every Wednesday evening for the Beaches Cruise-In (http://beachesrestaurantandbar.com/community/cruisin/) — a laid-back show-n-shine that takes place alongside PIR’s Wednesday night bracket racing.

On the last Wednesday of this past September, we Read More

The process of writing for and contributing to the publication of a magazine can, at times, feel a bit like a long, lonely, one-way conversation. We report, we analyze, we predict, and we assess — all in an effort to create content that we hope you find engaging, thought-provoking and relevant in ways that are both entertaining and insightful.
There are times, however, when I just can’t help but wonder where all those words land once they’re shot out Read More

I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting out of my first trip to the SEMA show in Las Vegas, but the event somehow ended up being both everything and nothing I thought it would be.

Let me put it this way — I can say with some confidence that whatever it is you’ve heard about SEMA, it’s true. All of it.

The event is carried out on a scale that is virtually impossible to articulate on paper, and the Read More

Ispent a LOT of my teenage hours nose-down between the pages of one hot-rod magazine or another.

I read them cover to cover. Over time, I eventually grew weary of reading what seemed like the same feature article intro over and over.

I’m sure you know the one — guy reluctantly parks old car for decades to build family/house/life, but finally gets around to car of his dreams.

The only sorrier story was guy reluctantly sells old car to build Read More

Sometimes I don’t always plan as far ahead as I should. Some may call it procrastinating, but I’m not ready to cop to that. Rather, I see planning for things at the 11th hour as a sign of extreme flexibility and a way to make every day a new adventure. My wife, however, vehemently disagrees.

However, for this year’s Shelby American Automobile Club’s National Convention, known as SAAC-42 to the faithful, I was pretty damn proud of my advance planning. Read More

Half-life” (denoted in scientific equations as t½) is the principle typically used to measure how long radioactive decay takes to reduce something to half of its initial value. Scientists, of which I am certainly not one, seem to think t½ is constant. I, perhaps due to the previously mentioned lack of education in this realm, do not — at least not as it applies to old car parts. To me it seems like this half-life thing is accelerating at an Read More

Ijust bought a 1966 Chrysler New Yorker. Why? Pure, blind nostalgia.

I purchased my first “winter beater” when I was in high school. Yep, it was a 1966 New Yorker. Mine was a Town Sedan — the bottom-of-the-line 6-window, 4-door post car. It was your typical Midwestern Mopar, its white exterior under siege by rust, yet its bright red interior decidedly mint. But the real attraction was its 440-ci 4-barrel engine with 350 hp and 480 lb-ft of torque.

I Read More

A few months ago, I wrote about my decision to sell one of the two 1965 Shelby GT350s I owned, also known as my Noah’s Ark problem, and tried to explain it as being more than a coin flip.

In the end, I kept the one I had a lot more history with: 5S249. As I wrote, I’ve owned it for 14 years and driven over 20,000 miles. I know every nut and bolt on the car.

I’m not the Read More

I’ve never had a decent garage.

That isn’t to say I haven’t had good shop space to keep cars in over the years, because I certainly have, but that is different. Of course I’m thankful for that ability, but I’ve always wanted a garage to keep cars in at home. Not just to easily grab something and go for a ride, but also the ability to wander out to a garage with a cup of Read More

I returned from Car Week in Monterey with a bad case of seller’s remorse. Why? Because I sold two cars I had never planned to sell.

First, a little background. I’ll admit I’ve always been a lot better at finding stuff I “have to have” then I’ve been at realizing I have stuff I should sell. That doesn’t mean I’ve never sold anything. Quite the contrary, as I’ve often sold one car to make room for a better or different Read More