Chevy '57

A while ago I was driving by a garage that specialises in restoring old cars, and saw this lovely girl.

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I shot these on my film camera, which seems to make the colour so saturated and divine.

What a gorgeous cruiser she is.

xx

I Love Your Attention to Beauty

There are some things a girl wishes for, but thinks they only exist as a peculiar whim. One of those, as I have mentioned in a previous post, is for her admirer to exhibit a fine eye for her attention to detail.

As this 1957 Chevrolet advertisement says:

Close inspection marks the merit of a man!

 

As you know, dear readers, a little motor vehicle aesthetic is quite rewarding!

 

I love how you notice the beauty in so many things.

 

xx

Dashboard

I love the word "dashboard". Besides our blogging engine room here, it is that fine stretch beneath the windscreen which forms the bottom of the frame of all things lovely and long distance.

Recently I took another eleven-plus hour road trip with the pup and a dear friend. Here are some of the lovely sights we found along the way:

If one little church isn't enough,

why it just makes sense to build another church about the same size right beside it.

Car graveyard. Such lovely old beauties.

Matching signage. How gorgeous!

Everything here was just as we had imagined.

And of course something sweet for the trip home.

Write and tell me what you have been doing!

xx

Tail Fins and Chrome

If you love your cars as I do, you will understand why I cannot write anything in this posting besides "please, click on this link".

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=WbN_BAn55a4&pop_ads=null

Art and Tradition of Cars and Skin

This city is fortunate to have many exhibition spaces which cater for diverse interests. During the weekend I was able to indulge both classic and more subversive curiosities in its most modern and traditional venues.

One of our distinguished postmodern buildings hosted the Austin Healey Car Club. Normally these rounded English vehicles do not garner my attention, but I appreciate their period appeal and similarities to those more audacious American models.

Even in the 1950s the conservative Austin is remains reminiscent of 1940s styling, which we can see in this 1954 Somerset convertible.

If someone came by in one of these, who could say "no" to a country drive?

Her cousin was a utility vehicle, with customised spats and hubcaps.

And why shouldn't a girl like running boards on a car like this?

Look at the hardware on the steering wheel!

I liked some of the recurring features, like the inset turning indicators, and Bakelite knobs on the interior of the more prestigious models, like this 1950s Atlantic.

The Austin badges and emblems were variant and rarely ostentatious, even when applied in multiples.

Interestingly, in the space-age conscious design of the 1950s the badge became more reflective of  Art Deco streamline on this Cambridge.

The general conservatism of this make, and this exhibition was starkly contrasted by my second exhibition of the weekend: a Tattoo and Arts Festival.

This had Madame Lash's vehicle for a mascot: A hell-fired 1959 Chevrolet.

Although there were also bands, clothing and merchandise, the focus of the festival was tattooing. Artists from United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia whirred and buzzed in scores of stalls, as living canvasses lined up to be indelibly coloured. The array of design was surprising, from the fantastic to the traditional, applied to head, feet, nether regions, and everything in between.

I watched stoic youths, burly men, and an array of women quietly succumbed to the artists' needles for hours.

Most interesting was a traditional Indonesian application of ink by a needle attached to a wooden pole and hit with a small mallet. The tattoo artist and his assistant stop every few minutes to wipe the fluid that raises to the surface of the skin. It is a laborious process, but reiterates the traditional roots of this art as forms of initiation, commemoration, and its related spiritual connotations as well as its aesthetic value.

I did not want to encroach on the privacy of the artists or the people being tattooed, so I do not have any photos of the individuals. Even when I asked to photograph merchandise, I was firmly rebuffed. I have, however, a collection of their commercial presence, which also manages to give an insight into their work.

xx

Chrome ~ Cars ~ Cinderella

As you know, last weekend I went to that sweet little chrome car show where everything was dated pre-1969. I rushed through all my Cinderella chores and made it there with two and a half hours to spare. How disappointed I was to find that many of the gorgeous automobiles I would have longingly languished over had hot-tailed it out of there soon after the awards were shared amongst the divine.

I wasted no time at all and whipped around snapping madly at the gorgeous remaining babies, as I heard V8 engines, one after the other, rumble into life and begin their slow, delicious haul out of there. Some were showing off some of their hydraulics before departing, which can be rather entertaining even though such vehicles are not strictly my style, but today I had no time for playful shenanigans.

Snap, snap, snap I went, inside (if the windows were open) and out. I met all sorts of boys who were so happy to talk about both their and the other cars on the lot, as well as some gorgeous lasses as well. Although their vintage is a little early for me, there were some incredible Mercurys on display, and I was of course so happy to see a nice contingent of Chevrolets. (My ol' time favourite!)

I even managed a quick scout of the merchandise, and purchased a few little goodies for a dear friend, (shh, it's a secret ...), then back I went to get some extra pics. Here is a sample from the day, but please forgive my framing. Although I was not happy with my fixed f/stop lens, I did not dare change it for fear of losing a moment.

Dear lord, just looking at them again makes me all excited!

xx