Antique & Classic Cars Blog

Careful how much coffee you drink before you start the show. Hitting this many amazing cars at one time with a fully alert brain might cause a sensory meltdown. Any person who can wander this show and not be pulled hither and yon by amazing sights has not a car loving cell in his or her body.

These tail fins–no need to tell anyone here they’re from a ‘59 Caddy–a Series 62 flat top, to be exact, from Menomonie, WI. Bill & Rose Jardine bought the car four years ago with 60,000 miles on the clock. They resprayed some of the paint in the original color; other than that, about all they’ve done with the car is put on some smoooooooth miles.

Not 50 feet from the Star Tribune booth is a trio of real deal vintage rods that’ll blow your mind. Each of these cars was built in the ‘50s with period speed parts, then sat for decades waiting to be found–by the right person. Brothers Pat and Jon Shimota were two of those right people.

Pat’s ’34 runs dragster-style no-brake front wheels, and a Chrysler Marine hemi engine. Awesome! A ’57 Chrysler three-speed sends power to the back wheels. This was built to race in ’58 or ’59, blown up on an early ET quest and left to sit till the mid-‘90s outside, down South. Every rodder fate took down that road knocked on the owner’s door to learn the car was Not For Sale. That is, till a recent shift in marital harmony changed his mind. Pat was in the right place with the right size money roll in his pocket.

Brother Jon likewise scored a ’34 barn-find with flathead V8, trick intake and dual carbs. These 3-window coupes have terrible paint, no amenities and gobs of old-style charm. As Pat says, all you do is care for the running gear. The bodies can fend for themselves. There’s lotsa older rods at the show. Heck, there’s lotsa eeeeverrything.

Every once in a while, a vehicle whistles for you when you weren’t looking. This ’57 Chevy pickup is flat-out beautiful. Looks stock, no fancy wheels, no bold pipes, no flames or fancy lettering. But if it makes your peripheral vision, it’ll pull you over. That’s what happened to Jim Popilek, who wasn’t looking for a truck. Well, soon as he saw this one, yes he was. Says he got a killer deal on it too. When the right vehicle calls for ya, keep an open ear.

Yesterday I cruised down to Bloomington to see a pristine 1954 Buick Skylark convertible for a Locals in Motion piece (e.g. LIM1, LIM2, LIM3, LIM4**note: this is 2002 piece; this year’s Back to the 50s is June 22,23,24) running July 6th. Wouldn’t start.

We jumped it. It died. Wouldn’t start again. We jumped it. It died.

So we photographed it in owner Rene’s driveway. (Naturally, after the shoot, it kicked over immediately when she shut it off and turned the key.) Point is, it’s time to get those trickle chargers out, check fluids, check for leaks, air up the tires and get a few miles in to get your car over to the Back to the ’50s next (not this) weekend.

Here are two weekly stops you can make to get in a few miles, make sure everything’s working right and talk to fellow enthusiasts.
Every Tuesday night, cars from the ’50s, ’60s and before meet informally in the parking lot by Caribou Coffee in Glen Lake. There are usually a couple cars there by 6:30 and a dozen or more on a good night.

A bigger gathering happens on Thursday nights on Shoreline Drive in Spring Park at the Minnetonka Drive In. Lots of cars, lots of good people, plus burgers, excellent fried chicken, fries, and shakes. Gathering lasts from about 5:30 to dark. Time was when cars would light off on departure, giving the crowd a taste of vintage hot rod muscle. Now John Law is typically on hand–though not necessarily in view–to enjoy the festivities, so keep things cool to avoid unwanted paperwork.

I’m sometimes asked if the annual Back to the 50s weekend is a good place to source parts, or is it just a show? (This year’s event occurs June 22 to 24.)

When it comes to finding cars and parts, there are two types of people: those who can find any part for any car, and people who don’t like to talk. Talk! Ask! Not being able to find the part you need has little to do with rarity and a lot more to do with not tapping available resources. The accumulated knowledge among the car owners at the Back to the ’50s show could fill the Library of Congress (maybe). Together, the people have chased parts from vendors and junkyards around the globe. If you have a hard-to-find part, ask someone with a car like yours. Go to the swap meet.

Talk to people! Your part is out there and the person you ask might just have an extra one taking up shelf space that could better go to something else. Don’t tell your loved ones and co-workers and buddies you can’t find it–tell the guy or gal with the car like yours you’d sure like to find a whatsit “like that one.” I told my buddy Tom Porter, owner of Adelmann Engine, I wanted a Smiths clock for my Triumph TR6. He said, “OK,” went to a shelf and handed me one from an Austin Healey. It’s positive ground, so I’ll have to work on it, but it has the right look and it’s gonna look sweet in my Olds-V-8 equipped British hot rod.
Ask, ask, ask…and you may receive. Finally, any time you call a wrecking yard that doesn’t have what you want, remember to ask, “do you know anybody who might carry something like that?” At least half the time, they do know somebody and that info can save you a lot of chasing around.

Old school or new school? Two pedals or three? At the Back to the ’50s event June 22 to 24 at the state fairgrounds in St. Paul, you’ll find a wide selection of hot rods, each its owner’s own vision of the coolest ride.

Hot rods were built to go fast on the California dry lake beds in the 1950s. The idea was to take an older car that could be had cheap — that’s what young people could afford — put in or soup up the V-8 engine and make it light and fast to outrun your buddies and challengers. Old schoolers like their hot rods done up the old way, with drum brakes, a flathead or other vintage engine and old parts from the ’50s and ’60s and before. The other school values useable and safe and dependable — why build up with old parts when you can keep those curvy lines and have all the modern amenities, like power seats, windows, CD player or satellite radio or even satellite navigation?

The best hot rod is … the one you want the most. Is that a cop-out? Walk around the fairgrounds the fourth weekend in June (22-24), and then ask again. You’ll find yourself gaping at machines from both camps, done up with a boatload of care and a lifetime of rodding enthusiasm. If you want stock, buy stock. If you want to tweak it, build it your way.

Hey car fans. Welcome to MotorMouth, where, to steal from Henry Ford’s famous quip, we can talk about whatever you want as long as it’s cars (bikes are OK too–the motorized ones).

The big news on this front is the Back to the ’50s event at the state fairgrounds June 22, 23, 24. How big? How about roughly 12,000 cars covering the entire fairgrounds? If you have even one cell in your body (more OK, too) sympathetic to cars, you ought to check it out. Join enthusiasts from around the country–and other countries too–celebrating the golden age of automobiles, from pre-war models up through 1964. You’ll see creations and hear engines as outrageous as anything in the magazines or movies, plus subtler builds that retain the original car’s looks. Stop by the Star Tribune booth too, and tell me your favorites. Or post ’em right here.