1954 Chevrolet truck, loads of vintage patina

Patina is beautiful. Junkyard savants know that patina doesn’t come easy. It is an acquired change produced by age, wear or exposure to the elements. It’s a different breed of owner who drives a vehicle wearing patina. I met one such owner who made no excuses and had no plans of changing his truck’s historic look.

This 1954 Chevrolet 3100 wheeled to the curb at a busy Birmingham, Alabama intersection. I spotted the peerlessly patinaed truck and made a bee-line for my camera. I had to be quick if I was going to head off the driver for some details. 


I caught the fleet-footed, silver-haired gentleman as he made his way back to his truck after wrapping up his business matters. "It's a 1954," he said. He batted away a few other questions, "No, you can't have my name. I live on the west side of town." I pressed on. This five-window truck has the historic look of millions of miles and a million stories.


He did not seem flattered with the fuss I made over his old truck. “I’ve owned the truck for 20 years,” he said as I took a photo and followed him across the street. I asked him if I could take more photos. "Sure, as long as I'm not in them." He paused long enough for me to snap one more photo before he climbed aboard. I couldn’t resist taking another from the tailgate view as he slammed the door shut. Parting words from the eccentric driver. "Everybody wants to buy it, but all they want to give is $300." He fired up the truck, shifted the manual transmission into gear and drove away.


Got cool car stories, photos? Send them to junkyardlife here.

Readers Rides: 1972 VW rail with a Chevy Big Block engine

 

Drive your dragster to work lately? Birmingham, Alabama's Bryon Hall drove what he calls his 1972 Volkswagen rail to work recently. Hall, a City Action Partnership (CAP) patrolman, has to keep his vehicle registration and insurance papers handy whenever he takes his radical VW out for a spin. Law enforcement officer's eyes light up when they see the tube frame chassis mounted with a Big Block Chevy engine on the street. "They want to see if I have insurance on it," Hall says.

Don't call it a funny car
The 18-foot long VW resembles a top fuel dragster. Hall and his dad spent two months building the 'rat rod' rail job from start to finish. They started with a chromoly tube frame, flexible steel that has an excellent strength to weight ratio, and extended it by 6 feet. The VW's centerpiece is a 550 horsepower V8 Chevrolet engine. Hall shifts the gears of his winged ride with a 4-speed transmission. A 4.56 gear ratio 12-bolt rear end sits right under the seats of the VW. The powerful engine has lifted the front wheels a time or two but Hall says he does his racing at the track, not on the street.


Easy to park?
Hall says wheeling the VW rail into a parking spot is a snap. Parallel parking downtown, no problem. Hall has excellent visibility from the cab of the VW. The lack of body panels does have its drawbacks. If not careful, the driver can easily skin their elbow on the left rear tire while the VW is moving.


Future plans
Hall plans to add some type of doors to keep the wind down in cooler weather. He has been caught driving in the rain and was forced to pull over and wait it out. Plan on seeing Hall's VW at your local cruise-ins and car shows this year. "I'm going to put it in a lot of shows. I might even drive it to a car show in Montgomery," Hall said. When asked what his wife thought about his wild ride Hall smiled and said, "she upped my life insurance policy."


Got cool car stories, photos? Send them to junkyardlife here.

 

 

 

Hot rod Ford Pinto: An example of junkyard economics; cure for the blahs

Junkyards can be the cure for cabin fever. Winter doesn’t offer the best weather for exploring junkyards, but any trip away from home during a bleak winter day is my chance to discover some new old cars. I spotted this 1974 Ford Pinto on a cold, wet Saturday at Quinn's Automotive & Wrecker located here in Locust Fork, Alabama. The winter blahs were quickly forgotten at the sight of Ford’s combustible compact car. You think Toyota has image trouble now? The Pinto was the NHTSA posterchild for recalls. Pintos were originally built to battle imported economy cars built by Toyota, VW and Datsun during the gas crunch of the early 1970s. During their 10-year production run, 1971-1980, Pintos earned a reputation as a time bomb waiting for a rear-end collision to happen. That image soured public opinion and made for some screaming deals. Used Pintos were prime race car fodder for gearheads looking for a lightweight home for their V8 engines. This hood-scooped relic is a prime example of a muscle-bound Pinto waiting to be reclaimed for quarter-mile glory. 


You’ve been warned. Hop on the Ford Pinto bandwagon before prices jump, or possibly explode, should Hot Rod magazine bombard us with future Pinto coverage overload. Want to know more about Ford Pintos? See this site.


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Car auction, swap meet moving to Talladega Superspeedway

1954 Pontiac - runs good, $3200. For sale in 2009 Fairgrounds car corral. 

 

Old car auction, swap meet forced out from landmark racetrack site. Bill Chapman's Alabama Antique & Classic Car Auction, Car Corral & Swap Meet is moving from the Alabama State Fairgrounds in Birmingham to Talladega Superspeedway's infield. Chapman's annual automotive event is Alabama’s version of Barrett-Jackson’s mega buck auction seen on SpeedTV. It has grown every year since 1980 when Chapman started it. "We had outgrown the Fairgrounds but had not planned to move," Chapman said. For the past 28 years the event has been held at what was the home of the oldest race track in Alabama. Circumstances forced Chapman to move the event 52 miles away to the notorious infield of NASCAR's Talladega Superspeedway the weekend of February 26-28, 2010.

"Last year's event almost didn't take place. Buildings that we were supposed to have access to at the Fairgrounds were being torn down the week of the show," Chapman said. "The city of Birmingham destroyed a source of revenue." Former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford, convicted of 60 bribery-related counts on Oct. 28, 2009, spearheaded a plan that proposed to build an Olympic-style village in the place of the historic 5/8th-mile race track known as BIR or Birmingham International Raceway. The race track, grandstands, along with most of the buildings, excluding the Bill Harris Arena, were demolished last year.

I wrote about Chapman's final antique auction at the Fairgrounds, (here and here).

Chapman says the Talladega car auction/corral and swap meet will be a full 3-day event. Spectators will enter through a gate near turn 3 and drive across the backstretch of the track into the infield. If you attend the show be sure to check out the cars in the parking lot too. At past shows I have seen a large number of spectator's classic cars in the parking lot with for sale signs propped in their windows.

More than 400 cars are expected in the car corral. That's where you can sell your own car from an assigned spot. Cost is $100 per car.

Saturday at 11 a.m. the car auction takes place inside the Sprint Cup Garage. "This will allow a travel day for those from out of town." Chapman also said he "expects this to be the largest show he has ever had." Last year more than 100 cars went through the auction.

This should be a good time to find a deal on a classic vehicle or that hard to find part you need. That is, if junkyardlifers have cash to spare? Also, the Dixie Vintage Automobile Club is also hosting a car show on pit road during the 3-day event.

DETAILS

Alabama Antique & Classic Car Auction, Car Corral & Swap Meet
February 26-28, 2010

Schedule
Friday, February 26        8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday, February 27    8 a.m. - 6 p.m.        Auction Time: 11 a.m. Saturday
Sunday, February 28      8 a.m. - 11 a.m.

Tickets
Three (3) Day Ticket    $25.00
Single Day Ticket         $10.00
Children 10 and under FREE  

Flea Market
10' X 20' Outside Space    $100.00
10' X 10' Limited Inside    $100.00 (Pre-Registration Required)

Car Corral
Sale Your Car Outside      $100.00

Auction
Attention Sellers - All you pay is $100.00 Entry Fee (5% Commission Charge Buyers & Sellers)
Bring Cars and Proper Papers. Minimum Seller Fee $200 or 5%

Attention Buyers - Bidder Registration is $10.00
Bring Cash, Cashier's Check or Irrevocable Bank Letter of Credit. Bring your car haulers and trailers.  Minumum Buyers Fee $200 or 5%

For more info contact Bill Chapman 205-426-5256 or email here.

Send your car stories and photos to junkyardlife.

1955 Chevrolet hardtop - complete, $8,950. For sale at 2009 Fairgrounds car corral.

 

 

“General Lee’ clone 1970 Dodge Charger 500 for sale at 2009 Fairgrounds car corral.

1964 Oldsmobile 442 convertible for sale for $13,900 at 2009 Fairgrounds car corral.

 

 

1961 Chevrolet Impala ‘bubbletop’ for sale for $24,500 at 2009 Fairgrounds car corral.

 

1953 Chevrolet ambulance for sale at 2009 Fairgrounds car corral.