Car Show and a Model T

I enjoy going to car shows, but most times I am disappointed. I went to the Arvada car show this past week end. As a fund raiser, I forked over five dollars. That should have made me change my mind. Pretty sure I wasn't going to get five dollars worth of enjoyment out of the visit. Okay. The five dollars went to a good cause -- Children's Hospital.

When I go to car shows, I like to see the style, the lines, the elegance of the car body. I know it is silly me. That car body is there for the engine. That means that almost all of the hoods are open so the browsing public can see the engine.

Wonder if this engine runs. Or is it just a pretty piece of hardware that looks like an auto engine. Seems to me that a chromed engine would have to be washed and cleaned after every errand to the grocery story. If that was where the car went.

Of course there are other cars that don't even pretend to be interested in the body of the car. It is to hold the engine. In this case it is a carburetor for every cylinder. Okay. So this one you couldn't put a hood over the engine.

The 1962 Corvette was one of those very few cars where the hood wasn't open.

There are times that I have a difficult time finding a parking place for the Silver Slug. Sometimes, covered garages aren't high enough for me to park in there. This vehicle would have a problem in either case. Looks like an eight foot width. That might even be a problem on some narrow roads.

Then there is the novelty of cars. Could this vintage VW pursue a speeder, or more likely the vehicle is a siren with red lights.

The best car show was when I returned to the Elks Lodge. Mel brought his 1917 Ford Model T to the lodge to show us how he spends his spare time. Mel bought the car about 1960. It has been a work in progress ever since and continues as such. Someday it will have fenders again and other amenities so it could be driven in rainy weather. With no electric starter, Mel was the starter with a hand crank. Two speeds forward and one reverse, what more could you ask for in 1917.

Mel was offering rides. Ernie took a ride down hill to his RV -- about a 100 yards.

It was a great day.