Car Show in Tombstone

First show for our new Tombstone Car Club, and, surprise! On a freezing December morning, 67 cars came, and 58 of them entered to be judged for trophies. Again, K-70 with the 18-270, on Av at f/10 this time, mostly -1 ev.
I love cars, and my Pentax helps me find something good to show about any of them, even the most boring generic modern sedan. Which luckily never came here today. Instead, roll back 50-60-70 years into the past, or further. To a time when you could actually tell one brand from another, imagine that. Like today, as the sun rose to the rumble of un-smogged gasoline engines spewing clouds of unburned hydrocarbons into the crystal-clear Cochise County air. Glorious, to those of us at a certain age!

There are disconnects. Our friends Mark and Joe at Borderland Chevy down in Douglas on the border -- they brought a truly huge new GMC Denali HD pickup truck, Duramax 6.6 liter engine, Allison transmission. Only $118,900, and they'll get you into either a 12 or 20 year loan to keep the payments low. By contrast, they can only go 96 months for cars. This truck is a fantasy in chrome and glass and steel, as alluring here in flyover country as a new Tesla Plaid in coastal California, equally priced. Which gets my yellow turn warning signal flashing, wondering when our long boom after the 2008 crash will finally end.

Jon Donahue wrote:

She wants to drive it Jon.  Great shot!

Very good Jon.

All Plants are carbon and water, they get water and nutrient from the ground and carbon from the air; CO2 is essential for plant growth.

Little Gianna is 5, and is working her father to sign up for either a 12 or 20 year finance deal on that huge truck, so she can drive it either in high school or after college. The truck here qualifies under some sort of RV scheme for what is basically a mortgage. Long-term loans like this are interesting. Right now, the dealer can only go 96 months on cars, but if they extend cars out to 12 years... then the mfgrs can raise prices even more, as long as that monthly payment stays within reach of the middle class. This is very similar to the college racket. Ultimately, we may say that a home and car are American birthrights, and have the government underwriting long loans that last... well, forever. Who needs to own when you can rent for much less?

Well dam* it all, that's why we don't have any o' them purty redwood trees here in Tombstone. Not enough cars! Not enough smog!

Which leads into my current crusade to proclaim the wonders of <$5,000 autos. So many to be had for $3,000 or so, add new tires and a bit of work and you're off again for another 100,000 miles. Found a 2004 Cadillac DeVille sedan a few months ago, and recently a 1997 Chrysler Sebring JXI convertible, with its For Sale sign parked outside our local psychic shop. The car line on my palm said 'buy', and so I did. Longer term, am on the lookout for a 2001 Toyota Avalon sedan with less that 65K miles. Maybe the best car ever made, boring, but that's nice when you are 78.

This financial wizardry can also apply to cameras. I'll bet you can get a very nice used K-5 IIs for about $200 right now. And as the old song goes, 'Who could ask for anything more?'

Jon, as a car enthusiast, just gotta share a couple images of my youthful first car project.

1956 Chevrolet 210 Sedan, bought used as a Coca Cola company car.  Pulled engine and trans, replaced with 327 Chevrolet short block, blueprinted, balanced, forged pistons, Three two barrel modded Stromberg carbs,  Duntov 30/30 camshaft, solid lifters, and other stuff, coupled to Borg Warner T-10 close ratio 4 speed.  3.70, 4.56, and 4.88 Posi-traction gear sets.

This was all when I was in high school and college. Ran it several times in class B Modified Production at the drags and always got beat.  Sure learned a lot tho...

Worst mistake I made was selling it when I went into the USAF in 1966.   I've had several better cars since then, but this is the one I most fondly remember.

These are cheap scans from color neg shot with a Kodak Pony 35mm.  And stupid me, I never thought to take a photo of the engine compartment, which was really clean (in my young opinion at the time)  Hey, it never caught fire....

What a black beauty! Love all the gauges on the dashboard. Love that pool ball shifter. And you put in seatbelts! I can imagine the 327 engine, no problem. What a terrific car, a real sleeper, I'll bet you raced it now and then against surprised unsuspecting victims.

I also had a Kodak Pony years ago... with a big knob on the top, a big spring, that you could wind up to advance the film for a bunch of shots. I remember it for a good sharp lens, and your scans here sure show that! Thanks for sharing your car story.. did you go on to be a mechanic or car designer?

Jon Donahue wrote:

What a black beauty! Love all the gauges on the dashboard. Love that pool ball shifter. And you put in seatbelts! I can imagine the 327 engine, no problem. What a terrific car, a real sleeper, I'll bet you raced it now and then against surprised unsuspecting victims.

I also had a Kodak Pony years ago... with a big knob on the top, a big spring, that you could wind up to advance the film for a bunch of shots. I remember it for a good sharp lens, and your scans here sure show that! Thanks for sharing your car story.. did you go on to be a mechanic or car designer?

Thanks Jon.  I wish I still had it.  I'd drive it out to Tombstone to show it off to your club.  I'm pretty sure it would make it. Probably.  It would be fun to try...

No, I never went into the car business.  My real love was airplanes, but I washed out of flight school early on due to my eyes.  My second love was photography.  After my 4-year stint in the AF I went to work for a commercial photo lab for about 6 years, and then joined ILFORD.  I stayed with ILFORD for 30 years in various positions, all in the Western Region.  But I still love cars, and bikes, and planes!