The Urban Outlaw ...

One of my buddies Magnus Walker has stepped up to the plate and made a documentary on Porsche 911 cars as seen through his eyes. He's been residing, along with his collection of early 911 cars, in a downtown L.A. converted warehouse, before it became fastionable. This is the trailer to the film that is going to be released and submitted to numerous film festivals, such as the Sundance, Austin, London, Montreal and others. It was produced and directed by, Tamir Moscovici.

The trailer is short, but worth the time to watch...very cool use of lighting and placement of the cameras. Here's the link to check out: https://vimeo.com/43035679

Time to hit the road with the "Urban Outlaw." Image © Tamir Moscovici and Urban Outlaw.

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On any Main Street...

Armed with nothing but my cell phone camera, loaded a with few apps, I jumped in my ride a few weeks ago and headed to the "MotorCars on Mainstreet" show in Coronado, California. For that matter it could have been, anywhere U.S.A. Shows like this have popped up everywhere...It's a good time to be vertical.

So, here you go, some shots with different filters via "Instagram" and another camera app. By the way, a filter is an effect you apply to the photo, not the type that fits on the front of an SLR camera lens. When not shooting with my Nikon, I shoot with 3-4 different camera apps, Instagram being just one. Enjoy...

MotorCars on Mainstreet, Coronado. Image © "Along For The Ride" 

Preaching in the Passion Pit

What do "Drive-In" movies and church have in common? Well, all over this country cars have been used to not only spend a Saturday night at the passion pit, but the following morning they could be the private resting place to be forgiven for whatever happened the night before. This practice started in the 40s and continues today. However, with drive-ins struggling to keep people driving though their doors to watch their flickering screens, as they fall one by one, it's becoming a rare happening. But, read on.

Unknown photographer.

Boulevard Beauty Queens... Muller Bros. Oldsmoblie

There was a day when gas stations actually tried anything they could to get men drivers to make the turn in for a fill up or car wash. It was certainly a different time, before Gloria Steinem came on the scene, and women started objecting to being used as props to attract customers.

In 1951 the Muller Bros., an Oldsmobile-Firestone Tire-Car Wash-Cafe-Body Shop-Home Appliance-Auto Supply Dealer located at Sunset and Ivar in L.A., California named their complex "The Landing." With good reason, they had everything you could want on one lot. It was giant compared to most new and used car dealers of the time, even had a control tower. They came up with the idea to hold a beauty contest to celebrate the 3,000,000th car to be pulled through its car wash. Life Magazine was there to photo-document the PR event for the rest of us to look back on.  Obviously, all the girls, the winner of the beauty contest, and the car wash winning dude, look pretty happy. Hummm, which one would you vote for?

Muller Bros. Oldsmobile, image via Life archives.

Carroll Shelby Cobras honored at Monterey Motorsports Reunion / Load em' up...

Heading to Monterey this summer for the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion? If not, give it some thought. They will be honoring the 50th anniversary of the Shelby Cobra. The car is iconic and this also promises to be one of those events not to be missed, August 17-19, 2012 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

It could be said, when Shelby and chief engineer Phil Remington along with some hot-rodders decided to shove a V8 into a British AC Ace roadster and then completed the first Cobras, they had no idea that they were making car history. Between 1962 and 1967, 998 Shelby Cobras were constructed, 289s and 427s. It is estimated that 120 of the 998 were competition cars.

Load it up, let's go kick some butt.

A Porsche Dragster 356 style...

For all my Porsche friends...how about a beautiful little 356 Dragster? Well, Doug Church ran a badass 356 powered rail back in the '60s. He tried out the rear engine idea way before it became a popular mainstream way of getting down that quarter mile strip.

There was no expense spared on this Porsche 356 powered dragster as evidenced by the use of chrome on the widened wheels, chassis, four megaphone stingers and valve covers.

Related post: 4-Cam Dragster

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Larry and the Emerald Eagle

OK...I'm a sucker for a good story. I found Larry and his "Emerald Eagle," as he calls him, parked and taking in life. What's this got to do with cars? Well, Larry lives out his life 365 days a year in his faux wood grained Dodge minivan, not unlike the early 30s American dust bowl refugees lived in their rides searching for a better place.

Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend #15, 2012 ... Sin City at the Best

"Snap, snap," as I thumbed the cards in my hand, laying them flat on the black jack table. Out of the corner of my eye, two spades, both black, a ten and an ace hit the orange felt. Glancing over to the guy with a "tatted" sleeve next to me, I asked, "Your first time at Viva?" He raised two fingers marking his second outing here. I said, "Me too," then I gave him a good luck wink as I got up and shuffled along the red and purple laced broadway with bandits standing tall, each side. The visual, guys and girls dressed in their best 50's garb crowded the landscape everywhere. How cool is that?

Viva Las Vegas, the weekend starts here. Image © "Along For The Ride"

From Puppets to Speed Records / Sir Malcolm Campbell's Bluebird

It's so cool to connect someones personal history with you, the blog readers. Here's how it went, the phone rang, Clint Campbell, of the Shafters Car Club on the other end. He goes on the tell me about one of their members that has a great story to be told, Milt Davies, whose dad was on the team of Sir Malcolm Campbell's record breaking run at Bonneville in 1935. Here's how it happened...through the memories eye of Milt.

Campbell poses for photos with his Bluebird in England before leaving for America, 1935. Getty Image

Peking To Paris Motor Challenge 2013 ... True Grit!

In 2010, "Along For The Ride" followed Ahmet in his Turkish built 1967 Anadol as he tackled and finished the "2010 Peking To Paris Rally." Now, back to the present, the blog is going along for the ride with owner of Shamrock Racing's, Stanley Gold and Shamrock's Director of Operations and good friend, Brant Parsons as they prepare to take on the 2013 Peking To Paris. They're using a 1965 Porsche 911, the first 911 to compete in this event. If you frequent vintage racing events, you've probably seen Stanley participating in one car or another, choosing from his 356, 911s, a 910, a RS 60 to a 904 with great success.

The team will first tackle the Trans-America Rally from New York to Anchorage running the second leg from Vancouver to Anchorage as a pre-run for the car, this coming May. So come along with the blog on this lifetime adventure.

The '65 911 as it's being prepared. Image © "Along For The Ride"

A little history on the Peking to Paris Rally. In 1907 the first-ever trans-Continental motorcar Rally between Peking and Paris became an epic challenge. Five cars set out from Peking, four made it to Paris to a tumultuous welcome and world-wide fame...they had set out to confirm that man and car could now go anywhere, they hoped it would make borders between countries redundant. They had left Peking with no passports – these had been confiscated by Chinese authorities who suspected they were spies, and had no interest in seeing the success of the motorcar having just invested in shares in the trans-Siberian railway.

Now to the relative current time. The second Peking to Paris was not held until the summer of 1997, with the first-ever rally for classic and vintage cars to cross China, and the first-ever rally to cross Tibet...and camping at the foot of Mount Everest. They also cracked open the border between Tibet and Nepal. The border at Friendship Bridge between Tibet and Nepal had been closed for 40 years since it was slammed shut by Chairman Mao. However, in 1997 the Peking to Paris organizers negotiated the re-opening, and it remains open today. They drove on into India and Pakistan, and were the first rally to cross Iran since the 1977 London to Sydney Marathon. Of 96 cars that set out, all but nine made it to the celebrations in Place de la Concorde.

The 2013 event will go through places such as; the Gobi Desert, Mongolia, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland and into France. The event dates are May 28-June29, 2013.

The blog has a separate page entitled "Peking To Paris Motor Challenge 2013 Build" listed just below the header, here. You can read the full story on the build by clicking on the link. Check back on this separate page to see the build along with photos as it progresses and to follow them along on both rallies.

Don't for get, please forward this to a friend.

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La Jolla Concours d' Elegance ... A Replay

What do loafers and shades by Gucci, Seersucker suits and Ferrari's have in common? Well...the new, improved and renamed La Jolla Concours, of course. The weather was a bit cool and breezy, so layering was the order of the day for spectators. Oh yeah, cameras too.

Keith Martin of Sports Car Market Magazine was the emcee for the day and the music played long and hard. Friends met and renewed bonds with a common interest, cool cars-that is, works of art that designers from years past had scribed onto paper hoping to create what people could dream of owning some day.

As the engaged enthusiasts cruised back and forth weaving in and out of the arty machinery, many smiles could be seen with fingers pointed to details. The paint, feet deep, chrome sparkling and leather interiors that just wanted to be rubbed. Now is not too early to start looking to next year, for the day the "Jewel of the Sea" will put  its best dressed rides back on the grass to be admired along with its beautiful people. Watch the "Along For The Ride" calendar as new dates are published. Check out the Kalendar link here.

Enjoy the photos...

The Shelby King Cobra, once raced by Parnelli Jones at the 1964 L.A. Times Grand Prix (Riverside) finishing first.
 La Jolla Concours d' Elegance.
 Image © "Along For The Ride"

La Jolla Concours d' Elegance ... Rubies on the Grass

This is one of the "big boy" shows on the Concours schedule here in So-Cal. So guys leave the sweatshirts at home and break out the classic Ray-Bans, straight leg jeans, white tees, fitted leather bomber jackets and loafers by Scarpe Di Bianco ala James Dean, with your best girl on your arm to check out the machinery.

This is one of the few concours that I know of that honors not only the cars, but the restoration shops and restorers that perform their magic on the metal. All of this plays out in one of the most beautiful settings on the west coast...La Jolla's Ellen Browning Scripps Park.

Image courtesy of the La Jolla Historical Society

The date for the show is this Sunday, April 1st, the weather looks like it's gonna' be dynamite and the waves big to rock the good vibes on the grass.

As a side note, this year, several blog followers have entered their rides; Skip and Leslie Shirley, Steve and Araceli Lopez, Tom and Bev Gould, Dale and Lorena Sommerfeld. John Bessey will bring an MGC/GTS and Donn Vickrey will be showing his radical Shelby King Cobra. Remember, this is not an event to be missed...be there!

You can find more info at this link: La Jolla Concours d' Elegance

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