Winnipeg World of Wheels, part 1

As mentioned previously, the annual World of Wheels car show was this past weekend. Most people think of it as the unofficial start of the car season, given that there’s usually too much @%$*# snow to do any cruising or hold an outdoor event–which is why the Convention Centre exists. Well, it helps support the local economy too, but that’s more of a bonus–it’s really there for showing off sweet rides.

This is Kenny Lang’s ‘53 Corvette drag racer, debuting it’s new paint design. The car’s 526-ci Brad Anderson hemi pushed it to win the ‘07 Torco shootout, finishing #6 overall in the IHRA (International Hot Rod Association) standings.

The above two pics are of an “Elanor” GT500 Shelby Mustang, modeled after the Mustang seen in “Gone in 60 Seconds.” This car appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press area as part of a “Cars of Hollywood” tribute. The rest of the co-stars included this “General Lee” ‘71 Charger, and ‘76 Trans-Am–nearly identical to Burt Reynold’s car in “Smokey and the Bandit.” When the current owner picked it up, it still had the original tires. So, he took them off and stored them so he’d still have the original tires.

That’s it for today–come back Thursday for more pics from World of Wheels 2008!

Want a sneak preview of the 2009 show?  Check out a preview from the Thursday night setup here!  Or to see more of the 2008 show, check it out here!

Big red toys for…

…people with a lot of money.

But for those of you with only $12 in your pocket, I’ve got good news: World of Wheels starts tomorrow! They aren’t paying me to say this, so click here and use all their bandwidth instead.

And when you’re done getting tickets, check out these pricey toys. They were in Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto while I was still going to university at Ryerson. I think they were being given away for a hospital lottery that year. I guess that’s the kind of donations you can get when there’s multiple Italian sportscar dealers in your town.

Of course, there was top representation from the American team as well:

Come back Monday to see some great pictures from World of Wheels!

Last year’s Rolling Sculpture Car Show, Canmore Alberta

We’re starting off this week with a few shots from last year’s Rolling Sculpture Car Show in Canmore, Alberta. Although the show was small, there were still a lot of really great cars (and trucks) that came out to the Rockies. Everything from brand-new limited edition Volkswagens to a phantom ‘57 “El Camino” were there, against a perfect backdrop of scraggly peaks.

This first-generation Camaro RS was so shiny, I had to put a filter on the camera to tone down the reflections–and it still didn’t take them all away.

This vintage Chevy is a great throwback to an earlier, mid-80’s style of hot rod. The two-tone paint, the metallic purple, and the shaved doorhandles are all a great homage to the ZZ Top style of oldskool.

Little known fact: Chevrolet built only a handful of ‘57 Bel-Aire El Caminos to test the market for a luxury car-truck hybrid. And by “a handful” I mean one. And by “Chevrolet,” I mean some guy. Even the current owner (as of last summer) wouldn’t say who built this weird and wonderful machine.

This ‘67 Ford Econoline pickup was by far one of the most popular trucks at the show. And why not? For a lot of people, it was the first time seeing an Econoline pickup cleaned up so well.

And of course, the fully-restored, non-hotrodded contingent was there in full force. Although a lot of these guys (and gals) don’t always get the ink they deserve, they still put a lot of TLC into keeping their old cars in such perfect shape. Keep in mind that this car is nearly 60 years old, and could be driven on a daily basis. I’d like to see a modern car do that 60 years from now!

Finally, there’s this sweet Mustang. When a car is this stunning, there’s not a lot you can say about it–so I won’t.

Don’t forget, World of Wheels is this Friday through Sunday, at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. This blog’s coverage of the show will start next Monday, with more pics going up in the weeks to come!

2007 C7 Corvette in the Rocky Mountains

Today’s pictures are from an impromptu shoot with John, a Canmore, Alberta resident who happens to own this beautiful, new C7. The “impromptu” part came after I’d first talked to Terry Denomme at Canadian Hot Rod & Classic Magazine about doing some freelance work. Terry was interested, but naturally wanted to see what I could do.

Sadly, it seemed like a bad year for hot rodding in the rockies, where I was living at the time. Canmore’s annual “Rolling Sculpture” show got rained out, and all that came through Banff were Greyhound-sized motor homes and shiny, new SUV’s. Granted, some of the motor homes were pretty pimped out–it’s amazing what someone with no taste (and usually no driving skills) can do with a diesel-powered house.

Thankfully, I ran into John. We chatted for a bit, and he agreed to let me do some shots with his car up by the Three Sisters Village outside of Canmore, just to show Terry what I can do.

Have a happy Easter, and don’t forget to come back next week for more great pictures!

Porsche Museum & Factory Dealership, part 2

Last Thursday, I posted a few pics from the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. And as promised, here’s the rest of the best pics from the tiny museum on the Porsche Factory grounds.

The museum itself was opened in 1975, and has a rotation of 20 cars, ranging from the first Porsche prototype to famous LeMans series race cars from more recent times. In 2005, Porsche released architectural images for a bigger museum, which is expected to be open in December of this year. The new museum is expected to feature cars that previously were not open to the public.

This silver Boxster was sliced away to let people see exactly what makes a Porsche tick. At first I thought it was pretty cool, but then I began to realize that a Porsche had to die for that. I’m still traumatized….

This all-wheel-drive 959 is one of three that were built to compete in the Paris-Dakar rally in 1986. After suffering three DNF’s (Did Not Finish) a year earlier, Porsche put everything they had behind these three cars, leading them to take 1st, 2nd, and 6th place–not shabby for a race that would tear even the toughest 4×4 to shreds. Supposedly, the 959 was even able to hit 150 mph on longer stretches of the race.

Finally, here’s a tractor. Yes, a freakin’ tractor. Dr. Ferdinand Porsche started laying down designs for an air-cooled diesel tractor in 1934, and made three gas-powered prototypes. Later, the German government commissioned a “People’s Tractor” (volkstractor?). In 1950, the Allgaier tractor company started producing tractors using Porsche’s diesel engine design. Production continued officially until 1963, when the assembly line was re-tooled to produce engines for NATO tanks. However, a few more tractors were put together in 1964, in the open.

That’s it for Monday’s post, but come back this Thursday for more of the madness of my camera shutter!

Porsche Museum & Factory Dealership part 1

Hey all,

Since I haven’t been able to see any cars on the road here in Winnipeg lately–just the rolling piles of mud cruisin’ the ‘peg this time of year–I decided to put up a few really old ones from the Porsche Musuem & Factory Dealership. I made a side trip to Porsche’s hometown of Stuttgart, Germany, while I was backpacking across Europe in 2001 specifically to see the Mercedes Benz and the Porsche Museums located there.

This was the first Porsche ever built–Dr. Ferdinand’s prototype #1. The latest Porsche Boxsters still bear a striking resemblance to this first model.

These two, and the one following were actually at the factory dealership next door to the museum. Several of Porsche’s retired race cars are parked there, including the legendary #23 “ham” racer pictured above. As well as race cars, they have several new and used examples of German engineering such as this mid 80’s 911. They also had a “cutaway car”–that is, a car that’s been sliced away so you can see exactly what those crazy German can do with steel and plastic composites. Don’t forget to come back on Monday to see pictures of the cutaway and more!

Canadian Hot Rods & Classics Magazine almost sold out in Winnipeg!

Although it’s only the first issue that’s really been flogged in the ‘peg, the Jan/Feb issue of Canadian Hot Rods & Classics Magazine is almost sold out here in Winnipeg–in fact, Chapters is already sold out!

All this demand has me thinking–Since Winnipeg keeps proving itself to be the hot rodding capital of Canada, maybe what we need–rather, what we deserve–is to have our own book. Say, two hundred or so pages of cars, shows, and community from across the city, in hardcover?

So far it’s just an idea I’m still tinkering with, but what do you think? Leave a comment below, and let me know if the Winnipeg cruising scene deserves its own book!

Something from the archives…

As I mentioned last time, I really haven’t been shooting as much as I should lately. It probably has something to do with suddenly having a full time day job (finally!) sapping up 40 hours a week.

At any rate, here’s a couple pics that were kicking around my old hard drive. This crazy V-dub was parked on the streets of downtown Vancouver when I was there about a year ago. The thing was not only covered in trinkets of every shape and size, it also had at least three separate water fountains–one of which took up the entire backseat. Enjoy!

Winterlude

I’m mildly ashamed to admit that I really haven’t been shooting much lately. It’s probably been a couple weeks since the last time I took a picture–I mean, really took a picture. You know, set up the portable studio or drive out somewhere, and put time & effort into making a great photograph. Not that time & effort are required for a great picture, but they tend to help. At the very least, time & effort give you the feeling of hard work & accomplishment that comes with taking a great picture.

Anyways, since it might be a while before I dust off the camera again, I’ve dug through the hard drive to find something to post here. These pics were from two weeks ago (just before the last time I took a “real picture”) at the Winterlude winter carnival in Ottawa. My fiancee and I were there visiting family, and decided to go down for some maple taffy and beaver tails.

On a final note, I should point out that Chapters in St. Vital is now completely sold out of Canadian Hot Rods & Classics. If you don’t have yours, you can head down to McNally Robinson at Grant Park, where they still have a few copies–in the very back corner of the bottom shelf, behind a bunch of import/tuner magazines. However, if you don’t want to crawl around on the floor looking for it, you can always visit the magazine’s website at http://hotrodsandclassics.org to subscribe