Hot Rods – Timing Tower

DR. GEORGE CHARITY CAR SHOW, FEBRUARY 8, 2025

admin — Sat, 08 Feb 2025 04:12:24 +0000

The 22nd Annual Dr. George Charity Car Show was held February 8, 2025 in the Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, CA. Below we have posted the award winners and the pedal car races. Now we’ll fill you in on the rest of the show. In keeping with past tradition, as the show opened the Palm Springs Air Museum provided a flyover by a Douglas C-47 Skytrain. The C-47 was the military version of the civilian DC-3 airplane and was primarily used as a troop carrier. The C-47 was in use by the military for over 35 years and was retired in 1975. The wings and fuselage of this C-47 were painted with a highly visible paint scheme – alternating black and white stripes. The stripes were added to the C-47 planes used during the assault on Normandy in World War II. The stripes, known as invasion stripes, allowed for ready identification of friendly forces by the allied artillery. Below is the C-47 flyover by the Palm Springs Air Museum. Again this year, the show did not disappoint when it comes to the variety of vehicles in attendance. The newest generation of the Ford GT shown below is but one such car. The new Corvette Z06 with a 670 horse power 5 liter mid-engine. The 1953 Corvette, the first Corvette introduced by Chevrolet is another. Custom creations, such as this 1955 Cadillac, were on display. As was this iconic 1934 Ford hot rod. And one of the most popular classics – the 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air. Military vehicles remind us of our history and are always interesting. According the the website Kaiserwillys.com the white 5-pointed star on the bumper identifies this jeep as belonging to a tactical unit. All the visible numbers/symbols mean something. For example, on the hood “Jeeps always had the prefix 20, which stood for ‘reconnaissance’ followed by the vehicle’s registration number. For the first 99,999 jeeps, this was a 5 digit number; later jeeps had 6 digits.” On the front bumper the Arabic numeral followed by a triangle 3 inches high with ¼-inch stroke denotes an armored division. There were many vehicles in the Tennis Garden, however, space allows only a few to be highlighted here. For those who don’t know, the proceeds from this show are donated to the Desert Cancer Foundation. Next year the Dr. George Charity Car Show will be held February 14, 2026. As you can see, it’s well worth attending. TROPHY WINNERS AND PEDAL CARS COVERAGE IS BELOW. The 22nd Annual Dr. George Charity Car Show was held February 8, 2025 in the Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, CA. This year, like all past years, found the Tennis Garden filled to capacity with some very amazing vehicles. A special few of these vehicles took home a trophy. This year in addition to Best of Show and Best of Show Special Interest, the David George Memorial Trophy was awarded. David George, who passed away in 2010, was the son of Dr. George, the namesake of the event. BEST OF SHOW – 1956 FORD PICKUP BEST OF SHOW SPECIAL INTEREST -1957 CHEVROLET PICKUP THE DAVID GEORGE MEMORIAL AWARD – 1947 CADILLAC All of the winners displayed a tri-colored ribbon. Below are other award winners. One of the more popular events held during the show is the pedal car races. The racers line up, get a push start, and race to the end. The racers give it all they’ve got. Below is the winner of the 2025 pedal car races. When the races are over, all the pedal cars are auctioned off with all auction proceeds going to the Desert Cancer Foundation. This year one of the pedal cars sold for $800. More photos and a complete run-down of the show will be posted by Monday evening. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ FRIDAY – FEBRUARY 7, 2025 The Dr. George Show will officially be open on Saturday, February 8, 2025 in the Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, CA. However, the event began today (Friday) with parking selection. From 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. show participants could pick out and save a parking spot for Saturday and could leave their car in the Tennis Garden overnight. Many participants took advantage of the early parking. Some of the cars in the Tennis Garden today are shown below. T Tomorrow the Tennis Garden will be filled with cars spectators and vendors. The show will kick off with singing the National Anthem. As all the shows in the past have been, we expect tomorrow will be an outstanding event. And if the today’s weather repeats tomorrow, there will be sunny blue skies with temps in the upper 70’s. We’ll post complete coverage of the event with photos Monday night.

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THE 75TH GRAND NATIONAL ROADSTER SHOW, FAIRPLEX IN POMONA

admin — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 00:58:53 +0000

The 75th Grand National Roadster Show (GNRS) opened on Friday January 31, 2025 at the Fairplex in Pomona and ran through Sunday night February 2, 2025. AMERICA’S MOST BEAUTIFUL ROADSTER The winner of the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster 2025 is this 1936 Ford Roadster owned by Ross Myers. THE AL SLONAKER MEMORIAL AWARD WINNER This 1933 Pontiac sedan is the winner of the Al Slonaker Memorial Award and is owned by Bill Barbato. This was the 75th Anniversary of the Grand National Roadster Show. In addition to the 11 AMBR contenders and 11 Slonaker contenders there were about 650 cars in 9 buildings and over the three days of the Drive-In there were a total of 1,000 cars parked outside around the buildings. Below are some of the great cars parked outside at the show. This young car lover is Kent. He found a very nice 1956 Chevrolet to admire. Since this was the 75th anniversary of the Grand National Roadster Show, one building was devoted to former America’s Most Beautiful Roadster winners and former winners of the Al Slonaker Memorial winners. FORMER AMBR WINNERS: Bill Neikamp’s 1929 Ford Roadster was the first AMBR winner named at the show held January 19-20, 1950 in the Oakland Exposition Building. The current owner is the Petersen Automotive Museum. The pair of 1927 Roadsters shown below have a story. The yellow roadster “Shishkabob” and the black roadster “Inky Black” tied for the AMBR title in 1955. Shishkabob was owned by Ray Anderegg and Inky Black was owned by Blackie Gejeian. This was the only tie in the AMBR history. Inky Black is still owned by the Gejeian family. Over the years Shishkabob had been modified until it was unrecognizable. Luis Anderegg, Ray’s nephew, set out to reproduce Shiskhabob and was advised by his uncle. Unfornaturely, Ray passed away before the build was complete and Ray finished it on his own. Shishkabob proudly sits in the show honorably taking the place of the original winner. “Ala Kart” a 1929 Ford Roadster Pickup, shown below, is an iconic show car. It was built by George Barris for Richard Peters and won the AMBR trophy in 1958 and 1959. It has won more than 200 trophies, has had numerous appearances in movies and been featured in dozens of magazine articles. It was reproduced as a 1/25 scale model kit by AMT in 1961 and became one of the best selling kits in history. It was also released as a Hot Wheels car. Ala Kart is now part of the Petersen Automotive Museum’s collection. FORMER AL SLONAKER MEMORIAL AWARD WINNERS: This 1961 Corvette Roadster was the Slonaker Award winner in 2003. The original and current owner is Rich Stadelhofer. Building 9 also had a collection of George Barris built cars. One of his more notable was the Dragula Coffin dragster. The ever popular Suede Palace had many great cars on display. This year the pinestripers auction gathered nearly 50 pinstripers together to create some anazing works which were auctioned off during the show with the proceeds going to benefit the GRS Foundation for childhood blindness. The Grand National Roadster Show of 2025 was another great event. We are looking forward to next year. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This year there are 11 contenders for America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR)- all of them Fords and all of them worthy of being the winner. 1932 Ford Roadster – owner John Mumford 1936 Ford Pheaton – owner Mike Curtis 1932 Ford Roadster – owner Scott Lorenzini 1932 Ford Roadster – owner Tony Jurardo 1936 Ford Roadster – Owner Ross Myers 1923 Ford T Roadster – Owner Chuck Stanfill 1931 Ford Roadster – Owner Ken Green 1931 Ford Roadster – Owner Peter Grant 1932 Ford Roadster Pickup – Owner Mike DeVriendt 1936 Ford Pheaton – Owner Glen See 1932 Ford Roadster – Owner Mark Bentley There are 11 contenders for the Al Slonaker Memorial Award. 1932 Ford Coupe – Owner Beth Myers 1971 Volkswagen Thing – Owner Roger Weihel 1963 Ford Fairlane – Owner Dean Nesbit 1935 International Pickup – Owner Bruce Charles 1932 Ford Coupe – Owner Amadeo Angelo 1933 Pontiac Sedan – Owner Bill Barbato 1955 Ford F100 Pickup – Owner Patrick Kelly 1938 Chevrolet Canopy Express – Owner Oscar Munoz 1932 Ford Coupe – Owner Cody Walls 1973 DeTomaso Pantera – Ower Greg Paboojian 1935 Chevrolet Coupe – Owner Greg Heinrich The GNRS continues tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. In addition to the 650 cars in the buildings there will be 1,000+ cars outside between the buildings and around the show gathering for the 19th Annual Grand Daddy Drive In. This is the 75th Anniversary of the GNRS and Building 9 holds 50 past AMBR winners and several past Slonaker winners along with historical memorabilia and displays honoring the GNRS Hall of Fame members. We’ll continue to post and will have the AMBR and Slonaker winners posted Sunday night as well as a complete article with photos posted on Monday night. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The 75th Grand National Roadster Show will be held in the Fairplex in Pomona on January 31-February 2, 2025. Above is America’s Most Beautiful Roadster 2024. The iconic show will also host the debut of dozens of incredible custom cars competing for the 75th America’s Most Beautiful Roadster and Al Slonaker Memorial Award, two of the industry’s most coveted and competitive awards. Above is the 2024 Slonaker Memorial Award. More than 50 AMBR and Al Slonaker Memorial Award winners will come together in the Feature Building, presented by the Petersen Automotive Museum, marking the largest collection of past […]

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47th ANNUAL WESTERN STREET ROD NATIONALS, April 26-28, 2024, Bakersfield, CA

admin — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 04:13:56 +0000

The Kern County Fairgrounds was brightened both by the appearance of over 1,000 hot rods and by the weather which changed from a rainy Friday to a Sunny Sunday. In addition to trying to see 1,041 cars, A lot of activities went on throughout the week-end; i.e. The Safety Team was busy inspecting cars; Women’s World offered a lot of hand-made items, a Swap Meet offered many needed parts as did numerous vendors. More photos of cars that were at the show are below. Sunday was the final day of the show and the day of the awards ceremony. The ceremonies started at 1:00 pm but in the morning all of the winners were gathered in the Winners’ Circle. The Winners’ Circle gives everyone a chance to see the cars up close and to talk with the owners. The first award, was not to a car, but to Dave Cahill (on the right in the photo below). After 37 years, Dave retired this year from his position as the NSRA Division Director. Those of us who have been used to seeing Dave every year at the Western Nats, will miss him. We wish him well and hope he’ll return to the Western Nats as a spectator. This year the timingtower.com award went to David Fleeman and his 1932 Ford Coupe. This Coupe brings back memories of the Coupe driven by John Milner in the movie American Graffiti. David’s Coupe only improves on the American Graffiti Coupe. There will be more photos of this car as well as a feature article posted soon. Here are the award winners in the order of presentation: Once the awards were given, it was time for the prizes to be handed out. Nick Donovan, who provided the music for the week-end, was on hand to give out the prizes; and as always, a willing, young volunteer was recruited to draw the numbers. In addition to merchandise prices, three cash prizes of $2,000 each were given away. Mitchell Guillen, Chuck Perdue and Jimmy Shannon, II, all of Bakersfield were the winners of the cash prizes. The three winners along with event director, Mike Adams are shown below. Once the prizes were all given away, the show was over and we waved goodbye to another great week-end. Next Year the Western Nats will be held April 25-27, 2025 in the Kern County Fairgrounds. ____________________________________________________________ SATURDAY – UPDATE Like Friday, Saturday was a great day for looking at cars and trucks at the Western Street Rod Nationals in the Kern County Fairgrounds and there were a lot of beautiful and unique cars and trucks in the fairgrounds to look at – like this Ford truck and those in the slideshow below. Car enthusiasts of all ages enjoyed the day. Below is Levi who said this Ford truck was his favorite. Levi has very good taste. One unique car we saw was this Chevrolet demonstrating it’s hydraulics. This Chevy truck came with a matching camper trailer. This 1932 Ford coupe was reminiscent of the coupe driven by Milner in American Graffiti. This Willys coupe was a drag racer back in the day. Below are a few more of the nice cars at the show today. Tomorrow is the last day of the show and will include the award ceremonies and prize give-aways. We saw some of the cars that will take home an NSRA award and they are spectacular. Monday evening we’ll post photos of all the award winners as well as a wrap-up of the show. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ FRIDAY – UPDATE The 47th Annual Western Street Rod Nationals opened on Friday, April 26, 2024 in the Kern County Fairgrounds. And the weather forecasters were wrong – predictions of rain and wind did not materialize in Bakersfield. The day was sunny, with a few clouds, and the temperature was around 70° Couldn’t ask for anything better. The event registration on Friday was about the same as it was last year on Friday – about 1,000 cars. Saturday is, however, the big day and, no doubt, tomorrow the fairgrounds will be full again. Below are a few of the cars we saw today: The entertainment started around 6:00 pm with Orphan Jon and the Abandoned performing live. Although the band was excellent – the main attraction was the cars and trucks. The cars will keep on coming tomorrow. We’ll be back at the fairgrounds tomorrow and will post again tomorrow night. Take a look again to see more of the fine cars and trucks that will be at the show. ————————————————————————————————————— The 47th Annual Western Street Rod Nationals will be held in the Kern County Fairgrounds, Bakersfield, CA on April 26-28, 2024. Registration for the show will take place at the Doubletree Hotel, 3100 Camino Del Rio Court, Bakersfield beginning on Thursday, April 25 from 12 noon to 6:00 pm, Friday the 26th from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday the 27th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Throughout the week-end there will be comercial exhibitors, a swap meet, Women’s World, kids games, live entertainment and cruising on Friday and Saturday, The Streets of Rods will be held on Saturday and on Sunday there will be an all denomination Church Service. Also on Sunday the award winners will gather in the Circle of Winners on Sunday before the awards ceremony. Nick Donovan’s Rockin Road Show will provide music all week-end as well as drawing numbers for prize giveaway.. Timingtower.com will be there for the week-end and will post on Friday and Saturday evenings with a full article and photos posted on Monday evening.

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24th ANNUAL CRUISIN FOR A CURE, September 9, 2023

admin — Sun, 10 Sep 2023 01:55:25 +0000

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2023 the 24th Annual Cruisin’ for a Cure kicked off at 4:30 a.m. when the gates opened to allow registered cars to entry into the Orange County Fairgrounds. For those that didn’t pre-register, registration was available at the Gate from 4:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Gates opened at 6:00 a.m. for spectators. And thousands of cars and spectators filled the Fairgrounds, including this impressive line-up of tri-five Chevies. Cruisin’ for a Cure was started to raise awareness and money for KSK Cancer Center of Irvine for prostate cancer research. Each year the show offers free prostate cancer screening both with PSA tests and physical examinations which are the best way to detect prostate cancer. The screening began at 7:00 a.m. and continued until 3:30 p.m. In addition to screenings, individuals from the Orange County Prostate Forum were present. This organization provides information free of charge on many aspects relating to prostate cancer including imaging and therapies. The gentlemen below were on hand from the Forum. See Prostate Forum of Orange County Cars were spread all over the fairgrounds, both outside and inside. The inside buildings offered reserved parking for the Women and Wheels in the Costa Mesa Blvd., VIP Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos-Santa Pavilion, the OC Promenade and the Meguiar’s Hanger. This fine Mercury was found in the Meguiar’s Hanger. This terrific T-Bucket was also located in one of buildings. This Model A Ford in the Huntington Beach Building was chopped and sported a flathead. When was the last time you saw a Model A coupe that wasn’t chopped? The Model A below was in the Meguiar’s building. With several modifications to the side of the body, this 1975 El Camino has a clean look. However, not all the great vehicles were found in buildings. Look at this 27 T Modified. A Ford Fairlane Retracable. A 1933 Ford 3-window Coupe and other cars from the 1930’s. A lot of nice trucks were at the show. And a lot of nice cars were on display. Some pretty rare cars were were at the show.. The official cruising began at 9:15 a.m. with a parade lap by the California Fire Museum Fire Trucks. The Fire Museum had a table with information on display as well as the trucks. It was interesting talking to retired firemen who staffed this display and learning about the workings of a fire truck. Clover liked the fire trucks, too. If the vehicles on display didn’t keep folks busy, there were a lot of vendors selling everything from car parts to t-shirts as well as a model car contest, a raffle, and a silent auction. And when it was time to sit down for a minute, tables were available and there were food and beer booths. Next year, the 25th Annual Cruisin’ for a Cure will be held on it’s traditional day of the 4th Saturday of September. Mark your calendars for September 28, 2024 when the fun will once again continue.

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